>> good evening. it is 10:00 on the east coast. we begin keeping them honest with president obama doing what presidents do in election years with proposals they know will win votes and don't have the votes to pass in congress. they try to pass them anyway even if they expect them to fail. sometimes, especially, if they expect them to fail to make a point. two examples tonight. one in texas and one on gas prices which the president appears to be doing with just a couple weeks ago he mocked. >> this has been going on for years now. every time prices start to go up, especially in an election year, politicians dust off their three-point plans for $2 gas. >> president obama, that was march 15th mocking challenger newt gingrich. today he wasn't promising $2 a gallon gas or dusting off a three-point plan. he did unveil a five-point plan to lower prices by cracking down on speculators. >> we can't afford a situation where speculators artificially manipulate markets by buying up oil, creating the perception of a shortage and driving prices higher only to flip it for a quick profit. we can't afford a situation where some speculators can reap millions while millions of families get the shortened of the stick. it is not the way the market should work. >> keeping them honest, not even his own advisers could say how it would affect gasoline prices. brian dees saying image not going to speculate about the provision or the provision and the specific effects it would pump. president obama is pitching it after spending the last few months arguing this. >> there is no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to high gas prices. there is no silver bullet. >> what i also said about gas prices is that there is no silver bullet. >> no short-term silver bullet when is it comes to gas prices. >> there are no silver bullets, short-term, when it comes to gas prices. >> there is no silver bullet for avoid being spikes every year. >> there are no quick fixes or silver bullets. >> in fairness, president obama has not forgotten that line. he used a variation today. he is not promising his plan will fix everything. there are a lot of economists of all political stripes that don't think it can fix much of anything. as we have been reporting there is not much a president, or drem accurate or republican can do but it hasn't stopped any of them from trying to dodge the pain while prescribing unlikely cures. president obama talks about silver bullets and quick fixes. here is george w. bush using almost identical language. >> if there was a magic wand to wave, i would be waving it of course. i strongly believe it is in our interests that we reduce gas prices. >> like president obama, president bush downplayed any easy solution to the problem and two months later the proposed one, legislation to expand offshore drilling, legislation that could not get through congress and could and did become a large campaign issue. president obama seems to be doing pretty much the exact same thing and as we said at the top, he has been following the same playbook on taxes. >> on this vote the yays are 51 and nays 45. three fifths dually chosen and sworn not voting in the affirmative the motion is not agreed to. >> that's a so-called buffet bill winning a majority in the senate and not the 60 needed to proceed. every republican but one voted to block t every democrat but one voted for t the bill would have required people earning more than a million dollars a year to pay 30% in taxes. president obama talked up the idea in several ways, first to put a dent in the debt and when a congressional study revealed it may only make a tiny dent the white house changed course and last week on a conference call jason affirmative said it was, quote, never our plan to bring the deficit down and get the debt under control significantly through the buffet rule. president obama later said even though the legislation wouldn't do enough to cut the deficit it would help the economy grow. economists are skeptical about that. what is clear, it shows 72% support among americans and 53% among republicans. where it different have support is in the senate. the white house expected that, pushed the bill anyhow and as anticipated they blocked it and moments after the white house put out this statement from president obama. quote, tonight senate republicans voted to block the buffet rule choosing once again to protect tax breaking for the wealthiest few americans at the expense of middle class. was the white house playing politics here? you can decide for yourself. the lone democrat that voted thinks they were. i spoke with mark pryor earlier today. >> i have heard you call the buffet rule a political ploy which essentially is agreeing with republicans that say the white house was pushing it knowing full well republicans would kill it. supporters say what's wrong with one party putting something up for a vote and getting congress on record? >> well, you know, that happens up here all the time. i decided i don't want to play that game anymore. i think people in arkansas are sick and tired of the partisan games up here. it didn't have the votes to pass the senate. it was never going to be brought up in the house. i understand it is a good political issue for the president. i think he is sincere about it, and i think that what will happen is that will get folded into tax reform either at the end of this year or as we do major tax reform next year. it is political season up here and with all due respect to the president and the republicans, i think both sides are trying to be very political with it and let's get back to governing and stop the games up here and get back to govern zg how much of this is about politics for you? your critics say you're going to be up for re-election in 2014, you're a democrat in a conservative state, don't want to be a top republican target. is that fair? >> i know people say that. i wouldn't say that's particularly fair. that was not my motivation. i wasn't trying to position myself somehow in arkansas. by the way, i voted for increasing taxes on millionaires and i will not first to tell you that i think millionaires should pay their fair share. i have no reservation about that. trying to do it right now under these circumstances didn't make sense to me. we should do it as part of a larger package. i supported something like this with a larger package before but we need to get back to really focus on our deficit. we need to connect our tax policy and our spending policy to the deficit and do serious deficit reduction. >> you are, though, in an awkward position. you really are the last national democrat standing in a red state like arkansas. >> well, i am, let's say two of us in the delegation, one house member and me and several election this is fall and we'll see what happens. you're right. the state's politics have gone through a change and who knows if that's a permanent change or if that was just one or two cycle blip and it will return back to the way it normally is. >> the flip side is there is probably plenty of democrats that are fine to let you vote whatever the way you want as long as it keeps you getting reelected. >> from my standpoint this tax issue is not about getting reelected. like i said before, i actually voted previously to increase taxes on millionaires. i think millionaires should pay their fair share. i don't think we should single them out and pretend like and present that it is really going to change our deficit number because it doesn't change it that much. it doesn't move the needle that much. we need to do overall tax reform and again i did not try to be political with this. i thought the best policy is to wait on this and do it later as part of a larger package. >> senator mark pryor, appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you. >> bring in the political panel, democratic strategist and pollster cornell bol cher and mary madelyn. your response taking putting the buffet rule up for a vote was basically a political ploy? >> you know, i am a little confused. i have to get this straight. so the senate majority leader, senator reed puts forward a measure that 72%, 72% of americans think is a common sense goody deal measure to but forward, and it is not a toss up, not even close. 72% of americans think this should be done and he puts it up for a vote and quite frankly you have 72% of american that is support this and you have a majority of senators who would vote for it, so i am a little baffled. the question shouldn't be why senator reed put this up for a vote. clearly the american people want it. the question is where are republicans blocking common sense legislation that a majority of americans want? that's the question, not why senator reed put up something that's common sense in the 72% of americans want. >> mary, is this common sense legislation or a political ploy? >> of course it is a political ploy. the problem is it is not an effective political ploy because the voters are concerned about the deficit which senator pryor properly point out, this buffet rule doesn't do anything for the deficit f we took all of warren buffett's money, 44 billion, the third richest man in the world, that would get us through about four and a half days. the president will not reduce the deficit or stabilize the debt which is another rationale he gave. he just wants to be fair, fair, so if you ask cornell is an excellent pollster. if you say to a voter do you want somebody else to pay more taxes than you, they will say yes. when you say it is not helping the deficit, not helping debt, it will hurt small business that is do create jobs, they don't have the same fear and loathing of millionaires, successful people, that this president seems to have. he has been attacking them forever and it might be good with the base but it is not going to have any long-term political impact on independents who are not, again, do not despiez or loathe and it is a limited half shelf life. >> the who's has changed the reasoning several times. >> here is the thing. 69% of independents support this rule. i feel sorry for mary having to sort of spin her way from that number of 72 but truthfully the fact of the matter is there is not one solution. there is not a silver bullet solution to the ideal of one thing will fix the debt. we have to take four steps to fix the debt. part of the first step for fixing the debt is asking very wealthy people to pay their fair share. we have to stop asking the middle class to carryall the burden and that's what the middle class in this country get and that's why it is so overwhelmingly support the rule. it is a common sense rule, built on american values that everyone should pay their fair share. the question shouldn't be why they bring it for a vote. the question should be why is it a small majority of republicans in the senate can stop the majority of american people and stop the majority of senators in the senate. >> it is a political calculation in bringing it up for a vote even though you know it is not going to pass. >> there should be a political calculation. you should pay a political cost when you go against the overwhelming majority of this country. this is a democracy. the will of the people should have some play, some say in this and when you go against the overwhelming majority in this country there should be a political cost that's paid. >> mary, both sides of political aisle do this. this hamz all the time, especially in election year. >> yes. i appreciate cornell's concern about me that in this occasion i don't have to spin. the numbers don't add up. i will say when you ask particularly independents, they have been saying research and republic, cornell knows it is a good outfit, we keep finding they want the president to focus on economic opportunities, not these inequality arguments, not the fairness arguments. they don't think that warren buffett paying higher taxes is going to create anymore jobs. they do think this unsustainable debt and run away deficit is going to impede job creation. that's what they care about. that's what the general election will be about. you can be concerned for me but you don't have a message. you just have the tricks and they're cute tricks to be sure. they're good for your base. >> we're going to leave it there. mary, cornell, appreciate it. you can find more political insight cnn.com and facebook and google plus. follow me on twitter. breaking news, warren buffett has cancer. we'll talk about the outlook in his case and someone right in the middle of this and may have died as so many syrians have in the middle of what's supposed to be a cease-fire. we'll have the latest in syria. 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[siri] ok, i'll remind you. excellent. today, we're dancing. play 'shake, rattle and roll.' ♪ want only is the cease-fire not holding, it is happening you should the noses of unobservers now in syria because of a cease fair. several members of the team were out on the streets today and should be able to freely move any place according to the u.s. secretary general. the very same day observers were in the city, however, this was going on. crowds being fired on. we don't know by whom, but the targets fit the familiar pattern of government snipers shooting at civilians. there is new video claiming to be from muhammed. take a look, appears to be a military sniper's nest and one of the troops holding a camera while the rest of the troops ham it up and dance. snipers are still in cities. people are still getting shot and especially in homes the shelling goes on. listen. >> opposition members say at least 70 people in killed in syria today. we can't independently confirm the number or the video. the pictures haven't lied. the regime however has and does and the american unambassador is saying plainly. >> you deal with syrian representatives all the time. i've had them on the program and they have said things that are not true and have lied and demonstrably untrue time and time again. do they have any credibility to you? i don't know if you can say that. >> no, they don't. let's be plain. you're right. they have lied to the international community, lied to their own people, and the biggest fabricator of the facts is asad himself, his representatives merely doing his bidding and under probably some not insignificant personal duress. words as we have said repeatedly are meaningless. the actions are what married and thus far have continued to disappoint. >> earlier today i spoke with the activist that we spoke to a number of times over the lst year and right in the middle of shelling in homes over the weekend and that shelling that wasn't supposed to be happening at all. >> you were in holmes on saturday. what did you see? what happens? >> in fact, on saturday i went with a journalist from national just to see what the two sides committed to the cease-fire and the syrian army and the regime army and i started just recording every mortar or every shot i hear. i heard the first mortar fired at holmes at 10:56. the second one at 11:02, and then i stand recording because i realized that there was no cease-fire from the regime at all whatsoever and part of the shell came on over our camp and if i had just parked my car 30 seconds before that i would have been dead by now. >> the neighborhoods being hit in holmes, is the fire indiscriminate or actual targets they're trying to strike. >> it is indiscriminate. there is no target whatsoever. nobody can just guess where the shell is coming, where the bomb is reaching. they are very much accustomed to death now. people walk about and they just flee from the home and say goodbye to family and can just not come back. >> the u.n. has been trying to have a diplomatic effort. is there any chance that asad has any intention or desire to live up to his end of the bargain to the agreements that he has been making? >> this regime has one intention only, to see the community keep lying, keep deceiving them, and keep killing us. now, with the u.n. sending out 30 observers, excuse me, is that too many, 30? we need 30 observers for one neighborhood only. >> what do you hope happens? what do you hope the international community does? >> the international community should send 3,000 observers and, believe me, the regime will fall the same day. the regime will topple the tame day because people will be rushing to the streets for demonstrations. we want this regime to go peacefully, but we need help. we need the help of the rest of the world. don't tell me you couldn't send us more than 30 observers. 30? these are good maybe for examination, not observe an army of half a million people just firing all types of bombs against civilians, unarmed civilians. >> zaidoun, thank you for talking to us. >> from the hoover institution recently visiting the refugee camps in turkey, one thing to talk about this in an academic way and another thing to have just been in the camps. having seen it with your own eyes, what do you come away with? >> i think academic is right. i am academic and it was an education to be in the camps and education to talk to these people and it was an education to trust what the diplomats say, the phrases that you hear, and the diplomacy and the apple bass dar faning outrage about the lies and then you walk the refugee camps and i think it is something that breaks your heart and you see proud families bonded with one family and i can't tell the whole story but i can just tell you that the headline, the essence of it, this is a family from a city that early on we remember the cruel at this of the regime. this is a middle class family, property family, officially had a house with eight rooms and there they were in this tent, the whole family there, two of the sons killed. one son is missing. the word missing by the way, we have been talking about 10,000 people have been killed in syria. it is by far the number must be much larger because people know what missing means. missing means really being killed, so son is still missing, presumed killed. his infant who had never seen his father, six months old, there in the tent and this family with a memory of a life that they had is there in these camps and endured one harsh summer. this is the first summer, last summer. they endured one winter and it was unusually harsh winter this time and they are dreading now the on set of another summer and they know that all the things that are said in the corridors of diplomacy are false and they understand the situation they're in. it is really something. >> refugee camps the world over i find incredibly depressing and one can look at them. you look at the pictures on the news that we were just showing, the tents, and you start to think these are refugees, but these are not refugees. these are people wh