susan page and mike duffy from "time" magazine. i'm candy crowley and this is "state of the union." first our news of the day. former vice president dick cheney is recover from heart transplant surgery. joining me now for the latest from the hospital is cnn's athena jones. athen athena, do they have any idea how long he might be there? >> reporter: well, we understand that most heart patients who go through a surgery like this end up staying in the hospital for about a month. i should mention that vice president cheney at 71 is on the upper end of the age range of people who get heart transplants, at least according to the international society of heart and lung implantation. his age could play into how long he's kept here under observation, candy. >> certainly this is not the first time, as we all know, he's been hospitalized, maybe the most serious as far as i can tell, but nonetheless, he's had a long history. >> reporter: absolutely. he's had five heart attacks over the course of his life. the first one back in june of 1978 when he was just 37 years old. we know that in 2001 he had a pacemaker implanted, and he was also hospitalized more recently back in june of 2010 when he had what's called a left ventricular assist device or an lvad put in as part of instage heart failure treatment. it helps the heart pump and it's the kind of device that's used as a precursor often to this sort of heart transplant. >> athena jones, thank you so much. on to our show. george zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain in sanford, florida, told authorities he acted in self-defense when he shot and killed unarmed teenager trayvon martin. bringing into focus a seven-year-old florida law that reads in part, a person has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force, if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do to prevent death or great bodily harm. since stand your ground was enacted in florida, the an um number of florida cases found to be justifiable homicide was nearly trnear ly tripled from 12 a year to 33. florida governor rick scott appointed a special prosecutor to oversee the case and a panel to review the stand your ground law. rick sot, thank you for joining us. >> your heart goes out to the family. i had the opportunity to meet with the parents thursday night to let them know i appointed a new state attorney and introduced them to the florida department of law enforcement agents that are working on the case and you're just -- you know, your heart goes out to them. you just -- no family ever imagines this could ever happen to their child. >> you must have -- with the stand your ground law, which may or may not apply to this case, but certainly you must have had questions about the state law before you appointed this task force. >> what you want to make sure, you just -- you want to make sure everybody feels comfortable with public safety in our state, and so as you know, i put together a task force led by my lieutenant governor who's african-american and i'm going to have different elected officials appoint individuals, but we'll look at all of it. the first thing we're going to do is really do a thorough investigation to see what happened here. no one can imagine this happened to their family. we've got to find out exactly what's going to happen. the florida department of law enforcement, state attorney, is going to do a great job knowing what happened and make sure justice prevails. we have to do that. >> governor, does this look like a race thing to you? >> well, you know, there's nothing i know about that. i know we'll find that -- i think we'll find that out in the investigation. you hope it's never the case, but we'll look at all these things and find out what happened. there will be a thorough investigation, justice will prevail. we have to make sure there's justice for mr. martin's family and also justice for george zimmerman. >> let me ask you, one of the things that -- one of the criticisms has been it took more than a month for anyone to really notice this case, and that includes you, because this week was when you appointed -- or switched attorneys and when you appointed the task force. why did it take you this long? >> well, first off, i don't have the authority to appoint a new state attorney unless the existing state attorney withdraws. >> you could have pushed them out sooner. >> everything you do in life, i love to do things faster, and you get more information and you see about problems faster. i will love to do things faster. the right thing happened here and the florida department of law enforcement will do a thorough investigation. they're known for that. angela corey is a very good state cornattorney who i have n for a long time, she will do a great job. >> george zimmerman claims it was self-defense. there have been death threats against him. does the state feel that it needs to protect him while this case moves on or do you know where he is? what do you know about zimmerman? >> you've got to make sure there's due process. you have to make sure there's due process for somebody that's accused of a crime. you've got -- >> which he hasn't been accused of yet. >> you have to make sure no one feel it'ss uncomfortable that's not been accused of a crime. if he feels unsafe, we'll make sure nothing happens to him. >> has there been any request of that sort? >> not at the governor's office. >> do you expect charges in this case? >> i'm not sure. we have to wait and see what the facts are. >> let me move you on to the state of florida and republican ad for you that caught our eye that's running in the state. >> governor rick scott's cutting the red tape, getting government off the backs of businesses. over a dozen new pro-business initiatives passed by governor scott and republican legislat s legislators. >> let me tell you the political interoperation in washington of this spot and that is you have two years before you would run for re-election, so the reason this spot is out there is that there is a worry that your approval ratings will be a drag on the republican ticket this year and the presidential race. would you like to disabuse me of that? >> i think what my job is to get the state back to work. if you look at what we've do done -- we've reduced tacks, reduced regulation, and the state is getting busier again. whoever wins this fall in all races whether it's the presidential race in florida or in our other races, is going to depend on how they perceive the governor and how they perceive -- that talks about what we've done and the florida -- republican florida legislature. >> why did you run that ad? >> to get our message out. we have unemployment has dropped considerably. we're at a three-year low. we're talking to companies all the time about getting them to come to florida. this week we're adding a research design center in florida. 7-eleven is coming back. florida is absolutely open for business. >> your numbers have gone up in the approval rating. you're still sort of below water as they say but nonetheless they have improved. i wanted to ask you about the unemployment rate. it is the lowest it's been in three years, 9.6%, which isn't anything to brag home about but nonetheless it is lower than it's been this three years. but this month job creation fell like 36,000 jobs lost in florida, which is the biggest monthly loss of any state. what happened? >> the numbers don't make sense to me. we have 24 workforce boards and we track every month how many jobs they filled. they filled 35,000 jobs. when i came into office, 568,000 people were on unemployment, now it's about 360,000. we're making progress every month. those numbers -- we dropped 0.3% in one month and lost jobs. >> haven't figured that out yet. >> i assume february will be different and we'll see what happens over the year because we had a great 2011. >> i want to move you to the republican race. you haven't picked -- endorsed anyone publicly yet. do you think it's time? we saw jeb bush come out and say mitt romney. time to bring the party together. do you feel that it's time for this republican race to end? >> look, i think it's great. we're learning more about these candidates every day. i think the race is great. i think that if it goes on, we're going to learn more about all the candidates that are up there. it creates a lot of interest. it looks like we'll have a nominee by the time of the convention which, of course, will be in the great state of florida. but i think it's great they're having a race. >> you know, all of the figures sort of run against that. when you look at what has happened to mitt romney and to newt gingrich and to rick santorum over the time, it has been that independents, who are quite valuable in florida as you know -- >> very valuable. >> are walking away from these candidates at this point, that this has become damaging to the image of the republican party because it's been so fierce. and that the theory being there has to be some time for making up this image deficit. >> you know what i think? i think the election will be about one issue. whoever has a plan that the american public believes is going -- i won my race because they believed i had a jobs plan. that's why i won. that's who is going to win this fall. whoever has -- when you go to the ballot, you're going to say who is going to make sure that there's a greater chance i'm going to have a job next year? that's who is going to win. and i believe the republican nominee will be that, but whoever -- that's what they're going to have to do. i'm glad now they are talking about jobs. i don't think they talked about jobs enough in the early primaries. this is about jobs. in our state it's education for your child, it's jobs, and keep the cost of living low. that's what's important. >> so can i just extrapolate from that. we are seeing improving economic figures in your state but nationwide that certainly is going to bin fenefit the presid this fall. >> absolutely. but in the end it's tell me what you're going to do to make sure our country is the number one place in the world to build businesses. i'm doing that in florida. we'll make sure florida is the number one place in the country if you want to build a business. >> at least i know you will have activity in august with the convention. thank you so much governor rick scott. president obama's health care reform is more than just a law. it's a rally cry for the right. >> obama care defines the obama presidency, and it is the number one reason why barack obama should not be returned to office for a second perm. >> but that may be a fight obama's team can't wait to have. david plouffe, a senior adviser to the president is next. these you take after food gives you gas, you take beano before, so you don't get gas. and if you don't get gas, maybe you don't need these. take beano before and there'll be no gas. ♪ [ multiple snds ng melodic tune ] ♪ [ malennounc ] at northrop grumman, makthworld a feplace. th's value performance. northr gruan. 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[ cheering ] [ tom ] i wanna see that again. ♪ this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. is as much about getting there... ♪ ...as it is being there. ♪ [ birds chirping ] away is where the days are packed with wonder... ♪ [ wind whistles ] ...and the evenings are filled with familiar comforts. find your away. for a dealer and the rv that's right for you, visit gorving.com. the supreme court is set to take up a challenge to president obama's health care law. probably not what the doctor ordered in an election year. when president obama signed the patient protection and affordable care act two years ago, the debate did not end, it went on. it goes before the u.s. supreme court monday, tuesday, and wednesday. it has been on the campaign trail from the beginning. >> one of the things we're going to repeal right out is obama care. >> we absolutely have to repeal obama care. >> i will repeal obama care and i'll kill it dead on its first day. >> of particular interest to court and campaign watchers, that provision in the health care law that requires americans to buy health insurance and fines that's who don't. a high court ruling against the individual mandate would be a sizable blow to the president's signature issue, but it won't be all that helpful to former massachusetts governor mitt romney either. >> as many have noted in both parties, the individual mandate provision of the president's affordable care act bears striking similarities to the individual mandate that was put in place in massachusetts. >> a high court ruling is expected in june. senior obama adviser david plouffe is next. the key is to have a good strategy. the same goes for my retirement. with the plan my financial advisor and i put together, a quick check and i know my retirement is on course. [ male announcer ] with wells fargo advisor's envision plan, you always know where you stand. in fact, 93 percent of envision plan holders say they will retire on their own terms. get started on the plan you need today -- wells fargo advisors. together we'll go far. i get my cancer medications through the mail. now washington, they're looking at shutting down post offices coast to coast. closing plants is not the answer. they want to cut 100,000 jobs. it's gonna cost us more, and the service is gonna be less. we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times. the ripple effect is going to be devastating. congress created the problem. and if our legislators get on the ball, they can make the right decisions. this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. here's a chance to create jobs in america. oil sands projects, like kearl, and the keystone pipeline will provide secure and reliable energy to the united states. over the coming years, projects like these could create more than half a million jobs in the us alone. from the canadian border, through the mid west, to the gulf coast. benefiting hundreds of thousands of families throughout the country. this is just what our economy needs right now. joining me now is senior white house adviser david plouffe. david, thanks for joining us. a big week for you all watching the supreme court at any rate. not much you can do but have your folks argue your case, but let me ask you, what happens to health care, the health care law, if the supreme court should decide that the federal government cannot mandate that someone buy health insurance? >> well, the oral arguments haven't even started, they start tomorrow so i don't want to put the card before the horse. most of this law doesn't take effect until 2014 but many parts have. over 2 million kids between 24 and 26 on their parents' health care. we've got people getting preventative care. this law is making a difference already in really important ways. we believe that democratic and republican appointees to the bench have upheld the law, including two very important conservative jurists. we are confident this is going to be upheld. what we're focused on is making sure this gets implemented properly and it's making an enormous difference. >> to the question, it a mandate is thrown out, that's one of the primary ways you were going to fund a lot of this. what happens then? does the whole thing get thrown into question in terms of being able to actually carry it out? >> well, again, i don't want to get ahead of the court. we haven't even had arguments yet. obviously -- >> you have got to be thinking -- >> i don't want to get into -- we're focused right now our solicitor general is going to put forward a very powerful case for why this law is constitutional and why it's important. i think where the american people are right now is they don't want to refight this battle again. let's implement this law, let's make sure we improve it as we can, give states as much flexibility as they need. it's making a difference on costs, seniors saving money on prescription drugs, kids getting coverage. >> i don't want to bicker with you so i'll let the abc news/"washington post" poll on health care do that for me which is the question was what actions should the supreme court take, uphold the entire law, 26%. throw out the entire law, 42%. throw out the individual mandate, 25%. that is not the overwhelming kind of support that you're talking about. >> listen, i have seen a lot of polls on this, as have you. when you ask people, you know, should we go back to square one? people don't want to do that. >> but they want to throw out parts of it and you're right, there's some very popular things in this. >> very popular things in this. >> but overall it's been problematic. >> you saw our campaign on friday, the most active tweet in the world around i like obama care. i think by the end of the decade as this law is fully implemented we're going to be very glad they call it obama care because the reality of what's happening here is so different than what the opponents claimed. you're going to see more people covered, savings in the health care system, you're going to see free preventative care for people, women treated equally in the health care system. i think the important thing right now what we can control is implement this law well, make sure we continue to try to educate people about what's in the law, and obviously, you know, the supreme court process will play out. >> why the 42% want the supreme court to just throw this out? >> well, again, i think that we've had hundreds of millions of dollars spent in propaganda against this law, just a torrent of money dissorttorting it. by the time we get to the middle of the decade, it's not going to matter what you or i say. everyone is a health care consumer. it will have made a big impact. the things they have been told to fear will not come to fruition. it's an important thing not just for the country but an important political accomplishment. >> is the president going to open up part of strategic oil reserve and let some of that out to try to bring down gas prices? >> he's spoken of this. obviously the country has done it previously. we had to do it last year. i'm not going to add to that today, but obviously it's an option that remains on the table. our focus, the president toward the country this week, to talk about an all the above energy strategy. we have oil exploration at an eight-year high, 13% more exploration happening on public lands. we're doing a lot of production here, but our political opponents sadly want to leave it there. >> why would you even consider opening up the st