from the presidential election and at a turning point in the campaign. considered a boxing match, today was the day political equivalent of when the referee brings the fighters into the middle and says, shake hands, come out fighting. the president phoned mitt romney congratulating him on clinching the republican nomination. governor romney went over the top in delegates last night. both campaigns described the conversation as cordial and brief. gloria borger is here as we start the conversation. i want to start over to the magic wall for a minute. why was the conversation brief. a lot of work to do. the blue states leaning or solid for president obama. the red states leaning or solid for governor romney. 247-206, advantage, obama. a half dozen toss-up states. an easier path for the democratic incumbent. a very competitive race. some numbers getting better for romney. look at the washington post abc poll. 52% to 41%. the president still is liked by more voters if you will. if you notice, the president is down a bit and governor romney is up a bit from april. where are we at this turning point? mitt romney is consolidating his report, the primaries. the divisive primaries are over. republicans are coming back to him. women, believe it or not, unmarried women, are coming to mitt romney to a certain degree. he is doing better with women. the number that really interested me, though, is the number among independents and the view of president obama among independents. you can see from looking at this, john, that the president's favorability rating among independent voters is down eight points from mid-april. romney is up with independent voters by six. >> is it economic anxiety and independents are caught up in that or the tone of the campaign? they don't like that the president has been on the attack? >> i think it is all of the above. let me point out, both candidates are under water with independent waters, which shows you they are kind of saying on all your houses. when you look at who has made up some ground, it is really mitt romney. i would have to say because the primaries are over and they are now sizing these two gentlemen up. we still have yet to figure out whether it will be a choice election or a referendum on president obama. >> lay out the battle lines for each candidate. i think the president wants to turn this into an election with mitt romney, whom he is portraying as extreme and unsuccessful when it comes to the economy. we have seen the ads on bain capital. now, they are starting to come out and talk about the state of massachusetts more. remember, mike dukakas said, massachusetts miracle. the democrats are pointing out, guess what, you are were 47th out of 50th when it came to creating job. you had a debt there. you didn't cut taxes the way you said you would. they are going to start now, the obama campaign, start talking about mitt romney's record in massachusetts and the romney campaign is going to say, what about your record as president? >> that would be a fair fight. >> 160 days to go. >> who is counting. >> i am. let's turn now to today's scary accidents at one of country's biggest airports. the cargo jet clipped the tail of a commuter plane at chicago o'hare's airport. thankfully, nobody was hurt. both planes on the ground. liz o'leary is here. if you look at the pictures, luck can i nobody was hurt. >> an eva cargo jet, a 747, a great big plane, its right wing clipped the tail of a 140, their commuter airline, flying in from springfield missouri to should go. 18 passengers on board, three crew members. nobody hurt. that's a pretty significant intersection, certainly with a very, very large airplane. that smaller plane was heading in towards the gate. the larger plane was going to be flying out of anchorage with a load of cargo. we don't yet know what happened unlike air traffic control. you can't always listen to communication between the ground controllers in a plane. so we don't have that information yet and don't know if this was a controller error or a pilot error or just simply they were way too close. certainly, they should not have been that close, john. >> that's the key point. they should not have been that close. as we try to figure out, communication breakdown, somebody do something wrong. it is not the first time something like this has happeneded at o'hare. what do the busiest airports try to do to prevent. >> o'hare is the sixth busiest airport in the world if you look at some of the monthly traffic numbers. o'hare has a history of some problematic things going on with its controllers, the "chicago tribune" did some excellent reporting showing that the number of operational incidents had doubled from 2009 to 2010. a number of things were going on at o'hare. they were expanding the airport. at the same time, that means a lot of runways and construction, some being shortened, lengthened. a lot of different things to go around. think were also training new controllers. so senator dick durbin representing illinois asked the faa and the department of transportation to look into this. the d.o.t.s didn't know what the status of that report was. it is something they are watching. this is a very big and very busy airport job. >> we are glad nobody was hurt. lizzy, thanks so much. apple chief executive, tim cook, gave everyone some interesting hints about what's ahead in the tech world. he says, apple has, quote, intense interest in new technology to technology for televisions. he would also like to see more apple products manufactured here in the united states. >> will there be an apple product ever made again in the united states? >> i want there to be. >> so will it ever say on the back of an apple product, designed in california, assembled in the united states? >> it may. even though it doesn't say that today, you could put down there, several parts are from the united states. >> cnn's dan simon tracking all this at the all things digital conference and annual meeting of technology and media executives. how real is that possibility? apple has been criticized for that big plant in china. how real is the possibility manufactured right here at home? >> reporter: i don't think it is very real, john. i was very surprised it hear tim cook say that. i think the people in the audience were as well. things are humming along just fine for apple despite the fact that they have had these problems in china. they have record profits. they know what they are doing with those plants in china. they can do them to scale. the problem, tim cook put it this way, the united states doesn't have the infrastructure to manufacture something like an iphone or an ipad. there aren't enough companies in this country who could make the machines that make the iphone and the ipad. until you have that infrastructure, i don't think we will see it happen. apple has billions of dollars at their exposure. if they want to will this and make it happen, they probably can. i think it is unlikely. >> he is going to face a lot of political heat now from politicians and the like who would like him to bring it home now that he put that on public record. we are about a month away from apple's big annual show when we used to e-steve jobs come out and say, hey, this is an ipod, this is an ipad. what new products down the pipeline. >> this is the worldwide developer's conference in san francisco on june 11th. when apple says they have big stuff coming up, people pay attention. they are notoriously secretive. we don't know what's going to come out. there is a lot of buzz that they are going toof new laptops and desktop and the much rumored apple television. apple currently has a set top box called apple tv. the question is will they actually come out with their own television. there has been a lot of speculation. you mentioned tim cook said they have an intense interest in that area. we will have to wait and see. that's june 11 lth. all eyes will be on that. >> busy couple of weeks for our dan simon. mitt romney is demanding nora certificate tiff measures to stop the slaughter in syria. we will ask one of his top advisers for spa sieve if i cans. >> they warn the romney campaign to reach out to latino voters now. >> that will be a challenge for governor romney. he has to make some kind of personal connection with the hispanic community. [ male announcer ] this is corporate caterers, miami, florida. in here, great food demands a great presentation. so at&t showed corporate caterers how to better collaborate by using a mobile solution, in a whole new way. using real-time photo sharing abilities, they can create and maintain high standards, from kitchen to table. this technology allows us to collaborate with our drivers to make a better experience for our customers. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ helping you do what you do... even better. see life in the best light. [music] transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses. there are a lot of warning lights and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning.. you can feel. introducing the all new cadillac xts, available with the patented safety alert seat. when there is danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward. the economy needs manufacturing. machines, tools, people making stuff. companies have to invest in making things. infrastructure, construction, production. we need it now more than ever. chevron's putting more than $8 billion dollars back in the u.s. economy this year. in pipes, cement, steel, jobs, energy. we need to get the wheels turning. i'm proud of that. making real things... for real. ...that make a real difference. ♪ so why exactly should that be of any interest to you? well, in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. like the transatlantic cable that connected continents. and the panama canal that made our world a smaller place. we supported the marshall plan that helped europe regain its strength. and pioneered the atm, so you can get cash when you want it. it's been our privilege to back ideas like these, and the leaders behind them. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping people and their ideas move from ambition to achievement. and the next great idea could be yours. ♪ >> among those warning the republic republican party of a crisis in the hispanic community, says mitt romney needs to rethink his policies and a tone described as mean-spirited. >> the answer is self-deportation, people decide they could do better going home because they can't find work here because they don't have legal documentation to allow them to work here. >> alberto gonzalez teaches law at belmont university joining me here in washington. when you hear governor romney, the presumptive nominee of the republican party talk about self-deportation. he was at the white house who spoke favorably of what we called bush-kennedy-mccain, a path to citizenship. now, he says, no way. what does he have to do to get the latino community to say, let's take a second look? the latino community is going to look first at his policies. then, the way he talks. >> self-deportation, is that a good policy. >> they are going to respond to the notion of we are a country of laws, the rule of law, where security is important. he spoke favorably of push, kennedy, mccain. no path to citizenship or a path to status for those who are here illegally. should he go back to status and citizenship? i think for the hispanic community, there is less concern about the pathway to citizenship. what i think is important is that anyone in this country needs to be here under some kind of legal status, either a temporary work program or visa. we need to know who is in this country and why, john. it is very, very important. i think the hispanic community will respond to that. >> he also said that he would veto the then democratic version of the dream act. if you are a child, brought into the country, you had no choice in the matter, your parents brought you over, you were too young, you go to high school, serve in the military, you are contributing as a taxpayer. you may be here illegally. he said he would veto that. now, he says he will look in what marco rubio might develop. how damaging might that be? the child who wants to join the military? no, can't. >> some people may remember that but as we get closer to the election, people are going to listen to what governor romney is saying. i am heartened by the fact that he now understands that perhaps it does make sense. it will be important if you support some kind of legislation that puts these children, innocent children, in some kind of legal status. the bathway to citizenship is less important for the hispanic community. they want to know that our leade leaders are going to provide for these children. >> if he changes positions, will they say he is pandering or will it be credible if he evolves? >> that will be a challenge for governor romney. he has to make some type of personal connection with the hispanic community. >> some say he should surround himself with people that can help. you know the names that come up from the latino community. i mentioned marco rubio, from flor florida, susana martinez, brian sandoval. should governor romney be looking at those three? >> they are all very talented people. i don't think the hispanic community is going to vote for governor romney based on who he selects as his running mate. >> are they qualified to run for vice president? >> i think that's a decision for governor romney. from my perspective, that should be the number one criteria. if i were the nominee, the person i would look to to put on the ticket would be the person i knew they could be president. as i look at the slate of candidates, there are a number of good people in the republican party that i think have more experience and would be better suited on day one. when you combine that with the principle that i don't think hispanics are going to vote for a nominee based on who is number two on the ticket. i think it behooves governor romney to can loo at other candidates. >> of the three i mentioned, senator rubio gets the most buzz, a rising star in the party. when you have said in the past and you just hinted at it, you don't think he meets the number one test to be ready to be president. why? >> again, he is extremely talented. i honor his service. i think that the job of president, i have seen it firsthand, how hard it can be and how important it is to have someone with wisdom. wisdom comes from experience. it comes from living, comes from success. it comes from failure. i just think that the country needs to have people in positions of leadership who much that level of experience that's important to serve effectively as president and as vice president. >> appreciate your time. good to see you. >> good to see you. oil prices crossed an important benchmark, not up but down. down a lot mu. down a lot. the details in a minute. ♪ jimmy bond i'm done. my skin's so raw. try new gold bond friction defense stick. it soothes skin and reduces friction. thanks, jimmy. think gold bond. ♪ this stuff works welcome back. here is lisa sylvester with the latest news you need to know. seattle police are hunting for one suspect after a pair of deadly shootings. a gunman killed two and critically wounded three others at a coffeehouse in the city's university district about the same time a carjacker shot and killed a woman in downtown seattle just a few miles away. kr. nn affiliate krro reports schools in the area are on lockdown. a judge today refused to put off next month's sex abuse trial of former penn state assistant coach, jerry sandusky. jury selection is now scheduled to start june 5th. sandusky is charged with sexually abusing ten boys over a 15-year period. today, his attorneys asked the judge to drop the charges relating to three of the boys claiming the evidence is hearsay. crude oil closed at a seven-month low today, $87.49 a barrel on the new york market. it was $110 a barrel as recently as just march. experts attribute the drop to worries in economic slowdown in europe will reduce demand for gasoline and gas in the united states by the way averages $3.63. so pretty good news there. here is something to think about. the next time your alarm clock buzzes. sleep experts say you should resist the temptation to hit the snooze button and just get out of bed. health.com points out it takes at least 25 noints slip into a deep restore tiff sleep. so you are not doing yourself any favors with the nine-minute snooze, john. >> i make take issue with three. i like my little snooze. >> i think a lot of people will take issue with that. >> it may not help your physical but maybe your mental. >> it is all good news. >> i will read the study any way. lisa, we will see you in a little bit. mitt romney calling for tougher action against syria. we will ask one of his top advisers what a president romney would do different. the important truth behind today's courtesy call between the two rivals for the white house. as a culinary manager i make sure our guests have an over the top experience. being hands on is key! i make sure every plate looks just right. [ male announcer ] don't miss red lobster's four course seafood feast, just $14.99. start with soup, salad and unlimited cheddar bay biscuits followed by your choice of one of 7 entrees. like new coconut and pineapple shrimp or shrimp and scallops alfredo. then finish with something sweet. all four courses just $14.99. [ reza ] it's so much food for such a good value. i'm reza, culinary manager. and i sea food differently. mcallen, texas. in here, heavy rental equipment in the middle of nowhere, is always headed somewhere. to give it a sense of direction, at&t created a mobile asset solution to protect and track everything. so every piece of equipment knows where it is, how it's doing or where it goes next. ♪ this is the bell on the cat. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement, if your car is totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. liberty mutual auto insurance. >> this half hour mitt romney slams president obama's policy. we asked his foreign policy adviser what would be different in a romney white house. the president places a congratulations call. >> a flurry of papers and a 93-second rant on the floor of the illinois state house. why a discussion of a pension bill struck a nerve with that law maker. day by day, hour by hour, it seems we are watching the situation in sear ra deteriorate. more bodies found overnight after a massacre in hula over the weekend that left 100 people dead. half of them children. this photo says it all. the body of a little girl and an adult man placed on the hood of the united nations suv. they wanted to show the observers what had happened to their loved ones. images like that come in daily and they are feeding calls for more action in syria. republican presidential candidate, mitt romney, is among those voices slamming president's, quote, policy of paralysis on syria. joining me now is norm coleman, governor romney's special adviser on foreign pol sichlt if the current president has in your candidate's view a policy of paralysis, what would be different today if mitt romney were president today? what would the united states be doing differently in syria. >> if mitt romney were president today, we wouldn't be in this situation we are here today. we have had a year and a half and lack of leadership. hillary clinton called out a reformer as the movement against the side was stepping forward. "the washington post" is not a romney sfin machi romney spin machine but they talked today about the president behinding behind the plan for two months and called it the most costly of diplomatic failures in u.s. history. it is the bottom line. leadership, with he should be arming those who are supporting opposition. you have to do that very, very carefully. the bottom line is we are at a point we are at today because of the failure of leadership, whether it is hiding behind cofc cofionics for two years. this is not about emotion. this is about a difficult area of the world. iran supporting syria, syria supporting hezbollah. >> you say arming the opposition, a step president romney would take today. what about air strikes? john mccain and lindsey graham say air strikes might help? >> i don't think direct action at this point is needed. you don't rule anything ou. the bottom line, the syrians are showing an ability and a willingness to face this oppressive murder, to sacrifice. if you give some support to the opposition, you may not need some of the other things. you don't rule anything out. the bottom line is assad has to go. this president, obama, has talked about it but done little to make it happen. he has stood behind the plan. he is now looking for the russians to some how come in and desave the day. depending on putin to save the day doesn't sound like a good game plan. >> what president romney take more action? the russians have been stalling with the chinese, dreadfully so. if they won't move and you can't get anything tougher, would president romney act unilaterally or try to form a coalition outside of the united nations. you had the arab league inviting folks in. >> you have others in the league understanding there is a serious problem. lebanon should be concerned. if there was a president romney, you wouldn't have this leadership void that we have. therefore, you might be in position to put a little more pressure on the russians. right now, we are playing mother-mmothe mother, may you in the u.n. we are asking for permission before we go forward. the president is depending on putin and the meeting they are having. he decided not to come to camp david. governor romney becoming president romney is not going to be about asking for permission. i think you would see a lot more pressure being put on the russians and chinese to be part of an international community that understands assad has to go. >> what magical diplomatic influence would he have to move the russians. >> you are not going to hide behind that plan for the last two months and depend on vladimir putin to become the savior. the bottom line is you would have a president with a lot greater strength and leadership who wouldn't have waited a year and a half to be in the position we are in where your viewers are looking at those heart-rendering, horrible scenes, the slaughter that took place the other day. >> appreciate your time. thank you. let's get more perspective on the blood shed in syria. fareed zakaria. i want to start with the criticism from the republican nominee to be, mitt romney. he says there is a paralysis in the obama white house when it comes to this. his adviser, norm coleman, we heard him say the president is hiding between kofian. he is reliant that the russians will come in and save the day. valid points? >> i think it is mostly political to be honest. most of what governor romney is attack president obama for is an unspecified lack of assertiveness. we should be tougher and somehow force the syrian regime out. for example, contrast that with senator mccain or lindsey graham who are very tough on the president but they have a specific course of action they are advocating. they are advocating military intervention. as far as i can tell, a pretty open-ended military intervention. they may have several conditions. in the case of romney, it is unclear what he would do, being tough for getting out ahead. what does all that mean. at the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves, what tools do we have? how do we use them? president obama has decided he is not dgoing to use the militay yet. he is using diplomatic and economic tools. if president romney has a better strategy, we need to hear it. >> what tools do we have and what tools do we use. i don't think there is any disagreement. the cofian mission has failed and failed miserably. what other tools does the president have diplomatic cli? >> the effort to try to get the russians to stop shielding the regime are important. the russians obviously are never going to cooperate. at some point, they might realize that the assad regime's days are numbered and they better get on the right side of history and reposition themselves in the right place. that might provide an opening. at the end of the day, i think you have two choices. one is to try and economically strangle this regime, i with is frankly quite possible. this is not an oil rich country. the regime does not have an unending supply of cash. >> do you see a viable military option? when you talk to folks at the pentagon they say you would have to have at least 75,000 boots. they are worried about other mass destruction around syria, a complicated ethnic situation and a tougher, stronger well-trained army than in libya. >> i think it is very tough. the libyan case is quite differ. syria is about 10% the size of libya with about three times as many people. in other words, in libya, you had vast areas where the rebels could hide. they could get resupplied. that's why they were able to detach almost half the country or a third of the country in a major city, benghazi, from which they could get resupplied and claim independence. syria has no such geography and as a result, notice that the syrian rebels do not control anything. they do not control a town or a piece of territory. so it is going to be very hard. the syrian opposition is quite divided, quite diverse, and in that mix, to say that western no-fly zones would work when most of the butchery is taking place using heavy artillery and tanks, i think again it is more rhetoric rather than an actual action plan that would work. >> as always, fareed zakaria, thanks very much. >> pleasure. >> check out far reread zakaria recording. president obama picked up the phone to congratulate mitt romney. the sign of a truce? don't count on it. the truth behind a close race next. myself in the middle of this parade honoring america's troops. which is actually quite fitting because geico has been serving e military for over 75 years. aawh no, look, i know this is about the troops and not about me. right, but i don't look like that. who can i write a letter to about this? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. at bank of america, we're lending and investing in communities across the country. from helping to revitalize a neighborhood in brooklyn... financing industries that are creating jobs in boston... providing funding for the expansion of a local business serving a diverse seattle community... and lending to ensure a north texas hospital continues to deliver quality care. because the more we can do in local neighborhoods and communities, the more we can help make opportunity possible. see life in the best light. [music] transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses. there are a lot of warning lights and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning.. you can feel. introducing the all new cadillac xts, available with the patented safety alert seat. when there is danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward. my dad used to say, shiflry isn't dead, it is just wounded. maybe the same can be sid of common courtesy. mitt romney mathematically clinched the republican nominee. this morning, he got a congratulatory phone call from the guy that lives in the big white house that romney wants to call his own. >> it was very collegial and friendly, not particularly long. >> nice, courteous and, of course, temporary. >> a prairie fire of debt is sweeping across iowa and across the nation. >> he left out some facts. his speech was more like a cow pie out of distortion. >> over 8% unemployment. 39 straight months people are suffering because this president has failed them. >> i have to ask, why is he running around with the same bad ideas that brought our economy to collapse this last time out. >> you get it. 160 days out. the truth is, this one at the moment about as close as they come. president obama is more likeable. look at these new numbers from "the washington post" abc poll. li likeability matters, favorability matters. when you have an incumbent. right there is governor romney's opening. a majority disapproves of how the president is handling the economy. presidential campaigns are very rarely settled in june and july. this is so close. both the president and his challenger have very important work to do in what used to be the summer lull. let's talk truth about the challenges ahead. maria car doe na, democratic strategist and mary madeline, the republican strategist and cnn political theater. i want to start with the republican theater. you worked for bush and you have been in the room when they make these phone calls but they have to say congratulations, how is the family. see you when we debate. what's it like? >> it is theater. it is funny. there is a collegiality that goes to the small club of people that run for president, who have been president, as you know today. the bushes and the clintons are very close. it is a tiny little club. i am laughing at your saying there is a summer lull. when was there ever a summer lull with all the cam papers we have done together. it is 24/7, 365. this was a nice great note for the president to take one day before they start contrasting and having a big debate. >> the obama campaign after spending some time, a week, ten days at bain, they say they now want to look at the record as massachusetts governor. do you think as a strategist that is a better place than bain capital or what's the combination? >> i wouldn't necessarily say it is better. i think that is one of the tools in the obama campaign's arsenal to show the biggest picture of mitt romney in terms of how he is not equipped to be president. bain is a big part of that. i agree they will absolutely go back to bain. the massachusetts governorship is a huge part of that. he was governor there. he doesn't talk about it all that much, which is so interesting. normally, you think that people who have been governor are the ones most equipped to be president as we've seen in the past. his record there is not one that you would think that he would want to tout, 47th in job creation. taxes and fees hiking up. so i think that absolutely is part of the birger package to show who mitt romney is. the romney campaign would dispute some of those records. he sort of blows through four years as governor when he is campaigning. i don't think the president will let him do that. does he have to come up with a narrative about being governor. >> i think so. it is too important a part of his record for him to ignore entirely. you have this very problematic cornerstone in that record, which is the health care law he passed. he doesn't want to talk about it, because of its similarities to obama care. >> even now, does he this i he will scare conservatives away? >> conservatives don't like it. it just clashes with a core part of his platform. obama care is a bad thing. although he has an explanation of why the state law is different from the federal law, it is complicated and easily lost on people. i don't think he wants to go there. >> the challenger has the biggest next decision. he is out in california. condoleezza rice will endorse him. she says, no, no, insert a word that rhymes with bell, no. should she be on the list? >> she is an amazing human being with a stellar record. when she says no, it means no. when men say no, it means yes. we don't need to continue going on. she has a great life and loves it out there. my personal favorite is rob portman for his deep resume in both chambers, the house, the senate and at the executive branch, from a good state, brilliant, cheney's debating partner. i talked to the former attorney general and alberto began gonza. a lot of people think marco rubio would be a good vice president pick. a lot of people, not judge gonzalez. >> wiz come comsdom comes from and failure. the country needs to have people in positions of leadership who have that level of experience that's important to serve effectively as president and vice president. >> ouch z i actually agree with mr. beggonzales. marco rubio has said he doesn't think he has enough experience to be president. i think he is focused on having a very successful senate career and perhaps down the line dog this on his own terms. >> he is part of a new growing critical mass of conservative senators in that body. >> what happens if romney, in a very competitive place. this is in some ways a foolish conversation. what happens if he loses in 2016. you have jeb bush and marco rubio from the same state. shouldn't he be campaigning to get a head start? >> rubio insists he doesn't want to be considered but he is doing the kinds of things to do to raise your stature in your profile. he seems to be trying to demonstrate he is a guy of substance. if it were not for the sarah palin debacle, rubio would be a much more serious contender. gonzales would make it harder for him. >> marco rubio, i don't think, will be an asset in terms of attracting the latino vote. he is not very well known outside of florida. his stance is not where most of the latino community is. >> that would be an an@ma to conservatives if we did the group identity business. democrats are so famous for. going back to your point about the things that rubio is doing to enhance his stature. he would be doing anyways. to be a leader in the senate. >> i keep going back to the kind of senators that are getting elected on the republican side and will be that are going to be the critical that we need to do, entitlement reform, debt reform. he would be the issues. >> we have 160 days and i hope we sfend spend a lot of time on them. it is not a primary but a recall election. first, erin brunette out front. coming up at the top of the hour, stocks fell more than sharply because of worries about europe. just to give a human face, a 61-year-old man was found in an athens suburb hanging from a tree in the park. a horrific story saying he made one horrendous choice in the life going to work for the greek government and hopes his grandchildren aren't born in greece. what you saw on the market, a taste of what has and is going to continue to happen in this country. why this story is so crucial. we are going to talk about that. the bath salts or was it really bath salts in that horrific face-eating case in florida. we have the mr. is chief who came on the scene says he has seen several cases like this of bizarre superhero like strength behavior. is it some sort of a new drug concoction? why is it spreading? we are going to find out the details on that. back to you. >> fascinating mystery. look forward to that. see you in a few minutes. >> poland gets an apologize from the white house after misspeaks about nazi death camps. how the administration says sorry. plus. >> these damn bills for congress all the time. >> the state lawmaker says more than a mouthful about pension reform. see what happens after all the papers settled. >> you should be ashamed of yourself. i'm sick of it. we're america's natural gas and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing. what can we help you build? nice shot kid. the nba around the world built by the only company that could. cisco. when we got married. i had three kids. and she became the full time mother of three. it was soccer, and ballet, and cheerleading, and baseball. those years were crazy. so, as we go into this next phase, you know, a big part of it for us is that there isn't anything on the schedule. we're back talking politics. there's a big election out of wisconsin on tuesday. wisconsin will be a huge battleground state come november but it's a recall election. they're trying to recall the republican governor, but yet the republican governor consistently has been governor walker at 52% in this poll. he's been above 50 in the last three polls. tom barrett, 45%. mary, how important is this, number one, for the state? this has been a conservative, liberal conservative liberal labor class but what does it tell us about november. >> it tells us where the country wants to go and what it wants to do. >> the governors are leading it because the feds have done nothing about our structural debt. so chris christie, mitch daniels and in the time since walker initiated those policies, his employment has gone up. property taxes have gone down. he has a good record to talk about. huge waste of money, even though the democrats didn't buy in at the end here, huge waste of money and it says something to the unions. that people want pension reform. it's not about collective bargaining, it's about saving our states, one state at a time. walker, will be a huge signal for november. very excited about it. >> but this is why it is about collective bargaining. because the pension issue and all of the budget stuff has been an issue in other states and other governors have found a way to sit down with the unions and create an actual deal. where they don't take away the collective bargaining rights. this was something scott walker was focused on. i do have to say something about the polls because i've been getting calls from all of my friends in wisconsin saying that the internal polls and there have been several, several that have been released, neck in neck, 49-49. it's going to be a turnout game. they don't want all the pundits and everybody saying scott walker is seven points ahead when the internal polls show it head to head. >> so the democrats not giving money to that effort means they're not looking at those polls? democrats would have funded that if they thought they could be walker because it would be a huge message. >> there's been a lot of money going into that. >> why isn't the president going out there? if this is so important. if this is a defining test for the obama turnout, for the future of the labor movements in politics, why isn't the president of the united states going? at least he's not scheduled and we're only a few days away. >> unfortunately, i think that may be an indicator of what their polling is telling them. i think it doesn't look good. >> so it doesn't look good, you don't go? that's courage. >> well, yeah. i mean sometimes -- sometimes you don't want to board a ship that's going to sink. and the larger problem is that this could -- this could 'em bolden republicans -- i believe republicans haven't carried wisconsin since 1984 and it will put some wind at their backs, give them some momentum, make them feel like they could pick one off the white house wasn't going to defend. so the white house might want to start that defense now. but for the moment they don't want to be associated with what looks like a losing call. >> it's a day in the life of politics, it's all about turnout. so everybody in wisconsin, go vote. it's not over. >> i think everybody in wisconsin should go vote. we're going to spend a lot of time on wisconsin between now and tuesday night. right now let's get back to lisa sylvester with the news you need to know. before president obama awarded the medal of freedom yesterday, he said this. >> for one trip across enemy lines, resistance fighters told him that jews were being murdered on a massive scale and smuggled him into the warsaw ghetto and a polish death camp to see for himself. >> that reference to a polish rather than a nazi death camp provoked outrage and demands for an apology, including from polish officials. here's what they got. >> the president misspoke. he was referring to nazi death camps in german-occupied poland. as we made clear, we regret the misstatement. >> and now to the hague where the former liberian president convicted last month of war crimes was sentenced to 50 years in prison today. charles taylor is 64, so that's essentially a life sentence. he was found guilty on 11 charges of aiding and abetting the rebels in the civil war that left 50,000 people dead or missing. taylor is appealing his conviction. and in italy, a woman has been found alive under the rubble of her collapsed home ten hours after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake. fire crews used their hands to clear rocks and debris to get to the woman, who was protected by a cupboard that fell on her. that was one of the happy endings. but the death toll from that earthquake has now risen to 17. and in newfoundland, a parade of icebergs is making its way along the northeastern coastline. it's spring, which happens to be primetime to watch these glacial giants float down 1800 miles from the arctic. and you know the boy scouts motto, always be prepared? well, now that includes knowing how to weld. it is the newest merit badge a scout can earn, part of an organized push to get young welders into the workforce. right now there are 450,000 welders in america, and the average age, john, 55. so they're trying to get these young people into a new craft, learn a new skill. welding. >> it's not fair. my dad taught me how to weld h i was a kid but they didn't have that badge when i was in the boy scouts. >> so you're a welder. >> he taught me how to do it. i'm not saying i'd be any good at it. lisa, stay put. finally, tonight's moment you may have missed. if you yawn thinking about the politics of pension plans, here. this might be enough to change your mind. watch. illinois state lawmaker shouts, punches paper, quotes moses after getting a new version of a pension reform bill. >> total power in one person's hands, not the american way! these damn bills that come out of here all the damn time, come out here at the last second and i've got to try to figure out how to vote for my people? how ashamed are you, you should be! you should be ashamed of yourselves! i'm sick of it! every year we give power to one person. it was not made that way in the constitution. he wasn't around when it was