hurt on the raid on osama bin laden's compound. what's going on? >> i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> as they should be, republicans are ecstatic over their victory in wisconsin where republican governor scott walker empress ofly survived a recall vote. democrats are on the defensive and president obama is taking heat for not going wisconsin to help his fellow democrats. what does all of this mean for november? let's go live to dana bash. she's in milwaukee right now and working on the fallout. dana, there's a lot of fallout. >> reporter: there sure is. the democratic chairwoman, debbie wasserman schultz told our candy crowley that it would be, quote, a dry run for democrats in november. if that's the case, the president is in trouble in wisconsin and the re-election prospects could be in jeopardy. the results here are far from clear cut when it comes to the presidential race. the energy in scott walker's victory hall was palpable. >> and i continue to be the 45th governor of the great state of wisconsin. >> reporter: they look to harness this passion for the presidential election. >> this messaging is the same as november. should we limit the government spending to what we can afford? yes or no? that's what scott walker did. he led on that issue and that's the same thing barack obama will have to answer to in november. >> reporter: wisconsin has not voted republican in a presidential race since ronald reagan about three decades ago, but thanks to the recall gop officials built an infrastructure in wisconsin bigger than ever before. 25 offices like this are now open with 4 million republican voters identified. >> typically we would not get up and running in opening offices into march or april. all of these offices have been open in november or december, so we have a five or six-month jump over what we would ordinarily have. >> and right now mitt romney is not even close to having the passion walker has. >> take a look at this. the gop governor won by 53% and the exit polls show wisconsin voters favor president obama over mitt romney. why the contradiction? >> at katie's diner we found some answers. >> wisconsin has a lot of independent voters. >> reporter: you're one of them? >> yes. yes. >> reporter: so-called ticket splitters everywhere. >> i voted for barrett. >> reporter: and who do you plan to vote for in november for president? >> i balloon voting for romney for a purple state. i'm an independent voter. >> reporter: still the obama campaign, and losing a lieutenant governor said that won't happen now. >> i'm not going down play now that we lost. it does have national ramifications, but it shows that we have to fight that much harder. no doubt this has national ramifications, but it shows that we have a fight ahead of us and we have an uphill battle. >> reporter: now the president's campaign manager already moved the state of wisconsin to toss-up meaning this is a state where they're planning to compete given the elections in the recall last night that it's a no-brainer, but especially true because the rnc chairman reince priebus and he will have a big say on where the resources for the republican party go for november. >> seven-point lead and at last at this point, five months away and not necessarily all of that impressive because a lot can change in the last few months. the big wenners will be the camp tamp tamp, and locally, i was not so sure and n. >> reporter: they'll have five more months of this. let's dig deeper with our chief political analyst gloria borger. what are the lessons for the democrats and the re-election campaign based on what happened? wisconsin. >> think one of the main messages is that the president and the democrats could have some troubles with blue collar voters particularly in states like wisconsin or a state like ohio, you would think that blue collar voters would be the natural constituency for the democratic party, but that clearly wasn't the case in wisconsin last night. if you look at the exit polling that we saw last night, was theren't good news for the president here. when we asked the question, would improve the economy? the president had 43% and romney 38%, but neither, 19%, those are probably the independent voters that have not quite decided about who they're going to vote for that dana was talking to in her piece. i think there's a lot of room for growth among mitt romney. barack obama and his organization has to get in there and shore up his support. one way to do it might beaible to say this is my plan for my second term and how i'm going to save my economy in the second term that might appeal to independent voters. many of whom already leak him. >> one thing i would do is show up and visit wisconsin, when he makes his trip there as opposed a fwraen 0-character tweet. >> i think the one lesson is that that small government message that we first heard from the tea party in the 2010 elections has an awful lot of juice left in it. this wasn't just sort of an antilabor, anti-union message. it was also a message that people in government have it better than people who are not in government, and that is a rallying cry that mitt romney toot continue to talk about when he stalks about smaller government, less spending and portrays obama as a big pending testimony. do it now. i was talking to a couple ofs with wiss strategies is that there are a dozen states where this could have a real effect. the governor of the state of maine could have some success now. john kasich got overturned in ohio when he tried to do it, but maybe that's because he put police and firemen on the docket. maybe he would take them off and maybe there would be a movement there. in michigan, tea party republicans are already push for example right to work legislation. this could reignite them after what happened in wisconsin last night. so expect republican-controlled state legislatures to start moving the way walker did because they've got to cut their budgets. they're looking for money and they don't to raise taxes. >> mitt romney's opinion a there aringet for the obama campaign. we sent our national political correspondent jima, costa tomas mas to talk to folks who worked with romney. he ran a state like he would run a business. what are you finding out there, jim? >> reporter: wolf, mitt romney has held out his business experience saying he could create jobs and get the economy moving. here in massachusetts, state lawmakers say romney's ceo style sometimes worked for him and sometimes worked against him. it's one of mitt romney's favorite selling points that as governor of massachusetts he worked with a mostly democratic legislature to tackle his state's problems. >> it did not take a rocket scientist to figure out if i was going do anything as governor. i had to have a working relationship with the democrats. >> down the hall where romney's portrait now hangs in the office, lawmakers don't see it quite that well. >> he was all about policy. so yea. romney was' a more ceo. and using a staff filled with outside ares from the business world. >> some begrudgingry and he'll adnate and i got the job been, romney made plenty of changes. take the elevators. >> we took over the elevator because he kept it only for his staff and him. >> i'm positive it was always this. >> thises is elevator? >> democratic law makers are miffed that romney blocked off one state elevator specifically for his office something that hadn't been done before. when romney came in he treated government like the only thing he knew which was big business. >> many people said don't -- good riddance, don't let the door hit it on the way out. >> reporter: that's what they said around here? >> absolutely. >> mark witner with the taxpayers' foundation said romney did set aside that ceo style to pass health care reform, a law so important to his legacy, it's visible in his state portrait, but witmer says other issues like job creation spirited. >> hey, the economy and as job creator and that entire effort, c-minus. >> on the statehouse steps, successor duval patrick says he has his own approach. >> he opened up the elevator and took down the velvet ropes. >> i'm the governor of, for and with the people. so we have a great different style in that respect. >> out in romney campaign, and as for some of those hard feel, and the romney chongs sthoerz those lying and there are in mas mci who at least have the governor of massachusetts. >> i just got off the phone with the chairman saying he had a fine working relationship with mitt romney and he did try to make some gestures passed when they were both in the statehouse together. wolf, i have to tell you this was a scientific experiment that we embarked on here in boston. we did not announce our arrival and did not call lawmakers ahead of time and say we wanted to talk about mitt romney and mostly to complain about that elevator, but talk about romney in the statehouse, and if there is a reporter in the room, democrats want to come to you and talk to you about mitt romney. >> thanks very much, jim acosta reporting from boston. he's one of the biggest guns in r president obama's re-election arsenal and now bill clinton is raising eyebrows with surprising remarks. is the former president going rogue, and we'll talk about the presidential campaign, former governor and potential romney running mate, tim pawlenty is standing by live in "the situation room." the apparent hunt for osama bin laden why it may be resulting in more cases of polio. great shot. 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. but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. former president bill clinton is certainly critical to the obama re-election campaign, but is he going off message? we're back in less than two minutes. jessica yellin is here. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." its retinol formula visibly reduces wrinkles in one week. why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®. jack cafferty is here with "the cafferty file." >> wolf, as the race for the white house heats up, the candidates are hoping against hopes that star power can help them raise big bucks and voteser enthusiasm, but republicans are slamming president obama must leak they did in 2008 over hobnobbing with hollywood celebrities. he held a fund-raiser with a theme, barack on broadway, messed up traffic, big time, too. the star-studded event helped the president raise millions for his re-election coffers. on the way to new york, he took jon bon jovi for a ride on air force one. this follows a much-publicized dinner at the home of george clooney where the obama campaign raked in $15 million over dinner. the recent campaign ad featured folks like ricky martin, barbara streisand, spike lee have all appeared at events for president obama. the gop whines about this, saying it proves the president is out of touch with many americans. in any case, the obama campaign hopes they can find key voting bloc blocks. he has been hanging out in his campaign events with folks like donald trump, kid rock, jon voight and ted nugent. no doubt about it the president has better celebrity, but the point is how much do americans under high unemployment care about what celebrities care about politics? i know i don't. here's the question. do politicians who hang out with celebrities help or hurt themselves? >> go to cnn.com/caffertyfile and post a comment on my blog or post on the facebook page. >> as usual, thanks very much. >> how about bill clinton? is he going rogue? certainly a powerful campaign surrogate for president obama, but he strayed from the party line when it comes about tax cuts and that seems to be the case. let's bring in our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin. what's going on here? >> one top democrat said he said what everyone's thinking and it doesn't help president obama. former president bill clinton throwing a wrench into the usually controlled obama message machine. topic? extending the bush tax cuts which are set to expire at the end of the year. >> i don't have a problem extending all of it now including the current spending levels. we have to find some way to avoid the specifical sclif and to avoid anything that would contract the economy now and then deal with what's necessary in the reduction plan as soon as they can, which presumably will be after the election. >> the republicans were quick to pounce on the apparent break with president obama's position, which is no extension for tax cuts for people making more than $200,000 a year or couples making $50,000 a year. >> we don't need to provide additional tax cuts for folks who are doing really, really, well. >> reporter: after a few really, really awkward hours a spokesman for the president clarified his remarks saying former president clinton does not believe the tax cuts for the wealthiest americans should be extended again. in the interview he simply said that he doubted that a long-term agreement on spending cut anies revenues would be reached until after the election. there was silence from the white house until a day later. the press secretary insisted, quote there, is no doubt between president and president obama when it comes to the need it to extend tax cuts for the americans and do not extend tax cuts for those under $50,00037 former president clinton said -- the u.s. is in a recovery. the clinton clarification suggests he misspoke because in the same interview he also said the u.s. economy is expanding. >> what i think they should do is to find a way to keep the expansion going. >> reporter: was all this accidental? >> now channeling gilda radner and presumably following president obama's campaign team, president clinton tell us us never mind. but president clinton knew what he was saying. >> so was there a dressing down? no, but president obama's staff did speak with president clinton's staff and i am told by top democrats tare managing bad jobs numbers, tackling the fight over the bush tax cuts is not what they want to be doing right now, wolf. >> certainly not what they wanted. thanks very much, jessica, for that report. don't miss my one-on-one interview with the former president bill clinton. that's tomorrow right here in "the situation room." make sure, you can still send you your suggested questions on twitter at wolfblitzer.com or i'll be at the new york stock exchange anchoring our dprofrj there tomorrow. >> tim pawlenty, you're seeing him and he's being vetted as a possible romney rung maning matd can he deliver his home state of minnesota for the gop? whether or not he's on the ticket and we'll talk about that and a whole lot more. stand by. if you made a list of countries from around the world... ...with the best math scores. ...the united states would be on that list. in 25th place. let's raise academic standards across the nation. let's get back to the head of the class. let's solve this. progressive saved me money on my car insurance for doing the right thing behind the wheel. what a concept. excuse me, sir, do you know how fast you were going? exactly 25 miles per hour. that makes you a safe driver. keep driving safe. -are you serious? -absolutely. i couldn't help but notice, you applied your brakes smoothly and evenly. you know, progressive rewards safe drivers. think of this as a reward forward. thank you! nice -- you stopped at the stop sign. you qualify for a safe driver discount. wow! keep safe and keep saving. take the privileged investing tools of wall street and make them simple, intuitive, and available to all. distill all that data. make information instinctual, visual. introducing trade architect, td ameritrade's empowering web-based trading platform. take control of your portfolio today. trade commission-free for 60 days, and we'll throw in up to $600 when you open an account. i have my own personal short list of potential romney rubbing ma running mates and over the next few weeks i'll invite them into "the situation room." today's guest is tim pawlenty, former two-term governor of minnesota and edged out by sarah palin. for a while pawlenty was, himself, a republican presidential candidate and now he's a national co-chairman of the romney campaign and he's seen, at least by me, as a strong v.p. slot. thank you for coming in. >> good to be with you on "the situation room." got's go through national security issues right now. david sanger of "the new york times" has a new book and he was here in "the situation room" yesterday. all of this business about the president being very tough, killing terrorists, going after iran, for example, and its nuclear program with cyber warfare. will president romney, in your opinion, continue that tough strategy? >> well, and then some, wolf. if you look at what mitt romney has said about president obama presiding over national security and defense posture and his drone strikes and killing osama bin laden are tough. you have the -- >> what else would romney do that obama's not doing? >> maintain and increase the defense spending. make sure our navy is growing and not shrinking. when you have the previous president ask the czech republic in poland to host missile defense systems you don't pull the rug out from beneath them after they committed to do it. don't negotiate a treat with russia to have robust missile defense system which we obviously need and make sure we don't have sequestration and gut our american military. those are just some of the things that this president is doing. don't stick your thumb in the ally of israel. >> as far as the covert war that the president has authorized personally and has now been pretty well documented in these books coming out and newspaper articles. a romney presidency would have no problem continuing those. >> romney would be tougher on those measures and more. one thing that's happened in the last 24 and 48 hours is increasing concerns and allegations that the white house and people connected to the white house are intentionally leaking this kind of information to show the president's tough, perhaps for political game. the they're allegations at this point, but if any of that is true, it is a very charge and serious circumstance. >> we'll have senator dianne feinstein, the chair of the intelligence committee. she's here in the next hour and we'll talk about that concern. let's talk about taxes and the economic policy right now. remember vividly? you were at that debate and you raised your hand when the moderator asked if all of the republican presidential candidate would support $10 in spending cuts and only one dollar in potential tax increases and you said no. all of you said no. jon huntsman said since then it was a mistake. you would accept $10 in federal spending cuts for $1 of increased taxes for rich people? >> i would stand by that for this reason. if you're asking are the revenues coming into the government growing fast enough? absolutely. you have to ask to do what? to accomplish what end? to accomplish what goal and most of the answer is so we can keep things the way they are. the answer isn't bring in more revenue so we can keep current. >> so you wouldn't -- you still think that was a great id