obama and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu are going to great lengths to look and sound like they're on the same page. today there were handshakes, there were photo ops, there were a whole lot of cameras in that room. the two-hour meeting followed by a working lunch and lots of friendly language. >> the bond between our two countries is unbrackable. >> iran viewed the united states and israel as one and the same. >> you know, for them, you're the great satan. we're the little satan. for them, we are you and you are us. and you know something, mr. president? at least on this last point, i think they're right. we are you and you are us. we're together. >> but if you listen closely, it's not so cut and dry. there is reason to think the two countries may not be standing together so closely when it comes to iran. here's president obama again. >> we do believe there is still a window that allows for a diplomatic resolution to this issue. >> and here's the prime minister. >> we've waited for diplomacy to work. we've waited for sanctions to work. none of us can afford to wait much longer. as prime minister of israel, i will never let my people live in the shadow of annihilation. >> now, we spoke to several u.s. diplomats and senior military advisers today to try to read between the lines. most agreed with colonel cedrick layton. foreign member of the joint staff and former deputy director of the national security agency. he told us quote the talks in d.c. make a unilateral israeli attack less likely in the next few months, but stresses, quote, today's discussions bought us a little time. nothing more. the bottom line is neither israel or the united states say they will accept a nuclear armed iran, but they don't agree on when to intervene. militari militarily. the diplomatic detente and they chose today to repeat warnings about possible quote activities including a containment chamber used for high-explosives tests at iran's site. inspectors have been denied access to the site in recent months. the head of the iaea says -- the agency continues to have serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to iran's nuclear activities. with worries about iran causing oil prices to rise, can president obama keep israel from military action? will sanctions work? that really is perhaps the most crucial question we are facing right now when it comes to iran. netanyahu's former chief of staff. wrote an op ed this weekend. the iranian american journalist is also author of "begs to differ." appreciate you being here. smilingly coming into the segment you are side by side. let me start with you, neftali. obviously, this has been much reported on, leon panetta saying israel could be prepared to strike iran militarily this spring. did this meeting change that timing? >> i think the good news from this summit is that obama made very clear that iran is a mortal danger to america's national interest and the entire world and that he's now adopting the doctrine of prevention rather than accepting a nuclear iran. the bad news is that words said in washington don't stop the installation of centrifuges. as these talks are going on, chief inspector emanuel of the u.n. reports that iran has tripled the pace of production of uranium, that they're moving installations underground, and pretty shortly the window of opportunity to take out these nuclear facilities is going to be closed for israel. and i think that's the crux of the problem. >> how big that window is. in your view. >> exactly. and i think it's important to emphasize there's going to be a certain period where israel can no longer do the job and then essentially, obama is telling israel, you depend on us. trust us. but does it make sense for the israeli nation to sort of outsource our very existence to obama? that's a very tough request to ask. i don't think we can accept it. >> i'm going to ask you more about timing in a moment. let me ask you a fundamental question here about the sanctions. obviously, president obama is relying on them and has put crippling sanctions. he's gotten europe on board. not countries yet like china. but you are very skeptical as to what those sanctions might achieve. >> absolutely. i mean, i don't know that sanctions are going to achieve anything. if the sanctions hatch the goal to change the regime's behavior, iran's behavior, that's not going to happen. nobody inside iran believes the sanctions are going to make iran capitulate to american demands. demands that they stop enrichment. demands they stop their nuclear program, which they claim is for peaceful purposes. and if the sanctions have the side goal of changing the regime by forcing the people to suffer so much they rise and up overthrow the ren jet stream, that's not going to happen either. so what is the goal? we talk about diplomacy, but there really isn't any. there has not been diplomacy with iran. there have only be sanctions, only sticks and no carrots. nothing has been offered to iran. >> what carrot could president obama offer? >> it depends on what your goal is. first of all. right now, contrary to what the israeli government says and our own government says, is that iran has not made a decision to build a bomb. iran has not moved forward with the weapons program. >> then sanctions themselves if that's true, are not justifiable. >> no. >> you can't say you're putting sanctions, you won't have a bomb if you don't think they're trying to do that. >> exactly. >> there's nothing locally consistent about that. >> it's completely inconsistent. leon pan net that and president obama has said they have not made that decision to build a bomb or move forward with weaponization. >> i think no one in the world anymore has a doubt of iran's intent. i mean, you don't build just over the past two months, you don't install 2,600 centrifuges underground if you're not going to use it for weapons. you don't enrich uranium 20% for 109 kilograms of that for peaceful reasons. you don't develop weaponized warheads for peaceful uses. i think that's behind us. regarding the sanctions, i do agree that the current sanction architecture is too soft, too slow, to make any dent. perhaps paralyzing sanctions will do the job. for sure the current sanctions will not. >> one question. is it possible that iran is doing all these things because they want it to look like they're trying to go down that way because it's pride. they want to show they can and after all israel has nuclear weapons and isn't supposed to and they want to show they can do that, even though they're not really? that this is bluffing? >> that's unlikely. our history teaches us something very simple. when a leader, when a foreign leader says he's going to annihilate you, believe him. we're listening to what ahmadinejad says, what khomenei says, israel is a cancer and we're going to remove it. we take this threat seriously and so does president obama. that's good news. president obama has none of the doubts that my friend here is talking about. >> we have to remember -- >> some of these deputies have been indicating as such. recently. they've been coming out with this whole question on intent. can i ask each of you, this is something more and more people have been asking me about. what if iran gets nuclear weapons capability. some people say, so what? what's wrong with containment? >> i think the notion that a maniacal, radical islamic regime will be able to be contained, that the same rules of rationality apply on all minute jad as they did on the soviet uni union, is insane. i think the soviet union or anyone accept iran has never talked about annihilating a different nation and that's what iran is doing day in and day out. but i think iran, there's no doubt today iran is the world's biggest exporter of terror. they're killing people all around the world. they're the lifeline of assad's regime right now that's butchering thousands of syrians -- >> obama has accused the revolutionary guard -- >> russia is the lifeline of assad's regime, not iran. russ russia's a far more powerful country. if russia took away its support, he would probably fall, so that's unfair to say. iran, to talk about them as saying they want to wipe another country off the map, they want to annihilate israel, that's not actually true. they've never said they want to, or they are going to build a bomb and destroy israel. that's just -- >> last week, one of their senior military officials said if israel threatens them, they're going to wipe them off the map. >> remind ourselves, all minute jad said israel must be wiped off the map like a dead rat, the shout of the iranian nation is forever death to israel. i've got 20 quotes of this maniacal leader of iran saying we're going to kill you. i take him seriously. >> final word to you. if it goes in that direction, could containment be a policy we should consider? >> absolutely. i think it should be if it goes in that direction. i think we still have a lot of time to get to the point to even goes there to begin with, but if it were to happen, i don't think iran is any more dangerous as a country. it's not going to protect the ren jet stream, nuclear weapons aren't going to protect the regime. in terms of maniacal, stalin is maniacal. how many millions of his own people did he kill? i don't think iran is ever going to use a nuclear weapon if they decide to build one. >> appreciate you coming on side by side. it's going to be fascinating to see how this plays out. we're just hours away from super tuesday. one question, can mitt romney clinch the nomination tomorrow? and then the woman known as dr. feelgood is in custody. she wrote, hold on for this, 25 prescriptions per day for these pain killers. a break in the case of a woman found murdered in her mercedes. will her husband be taken into custody? ♪ [ male announcer ] how could switchgrass in argentina, change engineering in dubai, aluminum production in south africa, and the aerospace industry in the u.s.? 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>> ten states vote tomorrow. over 400 delegate at stake. which is more than all of the primary days so far combined. now, a lot of these states are up for grabs. just take a look at this one cnn poll from ohio, which everyone knows is a crucial state. for the general election. dead heat. not even statistical. literal dead heat. between santorum and romney. historically, super tuesday is when the nomination is clinched. reag reagan, bush, clinton, mckale, all emerged after the big day. but nobody will walk away with the actual nomination. not as many states as last time and this whole proportional allocation thing, that's a real problem. some of those guys probably regret it now. unfortunately for the gop they have caused this to drag out. this has been going on and destroying the party's image. a new poll says 4 in 10 americans say the primary process has left them with a less favorable impression of the republican party. okay, so great to have you with us. i appreciate it. let's talk first of all about what everybody needs to do tomorrow to actually win this thing. mitt romney is the guy people are looking at to see if he can do it. john avalon, he's got to win a majority of delegates. >> yeah, i think the bar's pretty high, but he's won five states in a row. the big mo seems to be behind mitt romney. the key is to get out from behind his strength in massachusetts, vot. he'll win virginia because almost no one else is on the ballot. but can he win ohio? that would be a major momentum changer because santorum had double dig leads. can he start edging into other states in the west, in the dope south. that will be a real test about his strength. >> kevin, can he win ohio? >> i do believe he can. i think john's right. i think, look. this is a campaign that has been built organizationally to win delegates. but most importantly, we're in a position now, governor romney is, to consolidate a lot of the different elements in the party that have been competing across the party for who would make the best nominee -- who would make the best nom hee. because governor romney has spent the last few contests focusing on the economy, he's done very well. by focusing on the economy, he's also done very well to help serve his argument about electability. we'll sit here after these contests tomorrow and wake up wednesday morning. we'll have a candidate that is best positioned to bring the party together and that will be another big selling point. going forward for many republicans. >> so rick santorum, what does he have to do tomorrow? john avalon was thinking about this today. ohio, tennessee and oklahoma. first of all, john, is he out if he doesn't win anything? >> i don't think anybody's out. the math means this will go on. nobody will clinch the nomination tomorrow. that's just the facts. it's a momentum test. but clearly, if rick santorum after that three straight sweep he had, he's had narrow wins. if he can't put some serious wins on the board that's a major negative. he had a double-digit lead in ohio. now this is neck and neck. but he should have solid strength in oklahoma and in tennessee. but he's got to put real wins on the board tonight to show he's going to be the last man standing against mitt romney. >> jamal, this is got to be for the guys you're advising, some pretty good news. this long, drawn-out battle has hurt mitt romney significantly when it comes to approval rating. 40% unfavorable rating. which i believe is worse than any other recent candidate in american history who has gone on to win the nomination. according to the nbc/"wall street journal" poll. you're i'm sure hoping the ground battle continues, yeah? >> yeah. this is good not just for democrats, it's good because it's helping america get a real eye in. the one thing that's true about presidential campaigns is they start to reflect and reveal who these candidates are as people. i think the bigger problem for mitt romney right now is a lack of leadership he's been showing. a couple of weeks ago when rick santorum said going to college made barack obama -- wanting kids to go to college made barack obama a snob, mitt romney isn't stand up to that. he didn't have much to say. rush limbaugh used that bad word about the georgia law student, mitt romney didn't have much to stay. that's the kind of things americans look for you to stand up and corral your people and say, we've gone too far, let's get back to the center of the debate, that's what i think has hurt mitt romney right now. >> interesting point. he did give the least shutdown kind of comment about rush limbaugh. certainly rick santorum was much stronger in saying it was absurd. there's also been a backlash to the rush limbaugh situation. advertisers have backed out. a hawaii station has dropped him as well. armed forces network did not. he apologized again today saying he had dropped to the level of the left. here he is. >> i descended to their level. when i used those two words to dekrib sandra fluke. that was my error. i became like them and i again, sincerely apologize to miss fluke for using those two words to describe her. >> when this first happened, what do you think went through mitt romney's head? he simply said that wasn't appropriate or words i would have used or something like that. but he didn't say that was absurd, offensive, ridiculous. >> i'll tell you what goes through most candidates' heads. i don't think anybody is out there running for president trying to be the leader of the free world based on arguments that take place on talk radio. and talk radio controversies. i think most people that run for president are running because they want to care care of very big things. they want to talk about the economy, they want to talk about national security -- >> kevin, you're right, but the problem -- >> because they're focused on those issues, because they're looking at reasons why they can talk about the big issues that are affecting people in their daily lives, that's why they run for president. i think getting drawn into a lot of the cable talk is not one of those things that becomes a priority. >> but kevin -- >> the reality is of course that talk radio has been determining the talking points for far too many folks running for president and office in recent years. that is a real problem of the party and the role of a real leader is to stand up and say stop, enough. that's too extreme. to police their own. >> i think -- >> when bill clinton -- >> you two, if you look at it -- >> hold on, guys. >> the problem was that governor romney did actually do it -- >> what happened was -- >> let john finish. >> but as bill clinton did with sister, this has a negative dynamic for the republican party, it alienates women. independent women. not just from talk radio, but from the conservative cause. that's the reason this resonates deeper, not just talk radio. >> i think that's right and i think there's a lot of other issues where candidates can go out and address the real big concerns women have. whether it's education, health care, the overall economy rather than having it all compartmentalized into one incident that has to do with a radio talk show host. i think this was a discussion that a lot of people had in the country. took up a lot of space on cable news. when your question is how did the candidates handle this, that's what i'm trying to talk about. candidates have to go out and talk about what they believe are the big issues. the bigger issues that are driving the american electorate's decision when they're choosing a president. >> gentlemen, thanks very much to all three. we simply hit pause. now to california where an l.a. county doctor has been arrested for murder after three of her patients died from prescription drug overdoses. the allegation was that three otherwise healthy men all in their 20s were murdered by a deadly cocktail of prescription drugs. lisa sing was arrested last week after a lengthy undercover investigation into a case of a doctor churning out pill prescriptions by the thousands. investigators say she wrote as many as 27,000 prescriptions in three years. that's 25 prescriptions a day, 365 days a year. it seems to be an extraordinary