Transcripts For CNNW The Situation Room 20120703

first to our brand new cnn orc polls. this is issue number one, the economy. and a surprising jump in the number of americans who believe the economy will eventually get better. take a look at this. when asked about what economic conditions will be like next year, 60% now say they believe they will be good compared to only 39% who say conditions will be poorer. last fall when we asked the same question, those numbers were very different indeed. only 39% saying things would get better in the year to come. we sent our own joe johns to the key battleground state of ohio for a closer look at these new numbers. joe is joining us now from his old hometown of columbus, ohio. what's going on there, joe? >> reporter: that's right, wolf. well, things are starting to look better here in the buckeye state, but i have to tell you that cnn orc poll indicates that nationwide one thing is clear, the number one issue on voters' minds happens to be jobs and the economy. the november election may come down to a key question, which candidate is better able to handle the economy? a brand new cnn orc national poll suggests voters haven't made up their minds. president obama and republican mitt romney are in a dead heat well within the margin of error. >> what a president believes matters. >> reporter: today the obama campaign rolled out another ad in crucial swing states like riegtd here in ohio calling romney an outsourcer during his time running bane capital. it's part of a strategy to erode one of romney's key strengths. so far our polling shows independent voters crucial in this election prefer the presumptivive republican nominee on the economy by 11 points. part of the sale the obama campaign needs to make especially isn't the seven key toss up states is that the economy is getting better or that stagnation isn't their fault. >> we've added millions and millions of jobs and the economy is moving in the right direction. not fast enough. if congress had passed the proposals the president submitted, there would be a million more jobs today. that's what we ought to be doing. >> of course the blame goes both ways. republican congressman pat teaberry points his finger right back at the white house. >> he wants to write a check we can't afford, by the way, we're borrowing 40 cents of every dollar. people are starting to understand that. >> our poll suggests voters nationwide are not very happy right now. economic conditions are poor versus 27% say conditions are good. that suggests awareness of economic improvement hasn't sunk in especially in states like ohio where the unemployment rate has gone down almost a full point in the last year. just today ohio's governor held a conference call to spread the good news. >> we're seeing improvements in our unemployment. we have the people of ohio have created 94,300 jobs. that makes us fourth in the country and first in the midwest. >> reporter: but our survey shows optimism is coming back next year. something that could give obama's team optimism as well. 60% said economic conditions would be good in 2013. that's the reverse of where it was last year. congressman tiberi sees the benefit going to republican governors rather than the white house. >> overall whatever love there is is being directed more toward the state than the federal government in washington, d.c. >> reporter: and this is a very important week in the buckeye state as it turns out president obama expected to be here both thursday and friday. and the unemployment numbers for the month of june also kpmted to come out at the end of the week. wolf. >> very important indeed. of course where you are, ohio, we all remember no republican has won the white house without capturing ohio. that's going to be a fierce battle in the buckeye state. thanks, joe. with the struggling economy on so many voters' minds and a fierce presidential election battle underway, it doesn't go unnoticed when the candidates go away on vacation even during a holiday week. here's a video, by the way, that's generating some buzz. it's mitt romney and his wife on a jet ski during their family vacation this week in new hampshire. look at that. our white house correspondent, dan lothian, is joining us now to take a closer look at the politics of presidential vacations. he's joining us now from the white house. always a difficult decision in an election year for a president seeking re-election or for a challenger to decide where they want to go on vacation. >> reporter: you are correct. there have been a lot of speculation about whether the president, the first family, would return to martha's vineyard. but a senior administration official telling me they will not return to martha's vineyard this summer. they'll take shorter trips. unclear where those will take place. we have to look back to former president bill clinton. he used to vacation on martha's vineyard quite frequently. in his re-election year instead went to wyoming. richard covered reagan, bushes and clinton and said it would have been a tricky situation for president obama to return to martha's vineyard. a place known as a playground for the wealthy, for the famous, at a time bhen the president is trying to paint his opponent as an out of touch elitist. >> they can be double-edged swords. vacationing in a time when things aren't good. doesn't look good to the public. you have to be careful of the image you project. >> reporter: mitt romney is making no changes to his tradition. he's up in new hampshire on a lake at their expensive vacation home there on the water with his wife. and also they do what we're told are olympic games family-style. saying this is really an effort by romney to sort of showcase the fact that he's a family man, something that can resonate with the voters. >> dan, quick question, these vacation plans, they occasionally can backfire for a president, for a challenger, if you will. what are you hearing? what are you seeing about that? >> that's right. just have to look back to 2004. remember john kerry when he was off nantucket on a wind surfer, a wind sail, he was having fun, something that seemingly harmless, but it was during the republican convention. and republicans pounced on that because they used it to play into this narrative that he was a flip-flopper, that he could shift with the wind. so they made that video of him out there on that wind surfer as sort of part of their narrative that he changes on the issues. and it was a big blunder for him. certainly something he would have taken back after the fact, wolf. >> dan lothian, good point. thanks very much. let's get more on this what's going on. joining us our cnn contributor ryan lizza. these are never easy conditions for a president or a candidate, ryan, is it? >> no. it's not. wolf, remember in the '90s when bill clinton actually has dick morris poll where he should go on vacation. it became such a fraught issue for president clinton. on the comparison with kerry and romney, on the one hand it's very similar. two men of great wealth doing this sort of expensive water sports. the thing with kerry, that only became an issue when they used the wind surfing as an advertisement to get at this attack on kerry that he didn't have any core convictions and he was a flip-flopper. it was a devastating ad watching kerry go back and forth. just from the video you've shown, i don't know if that youtube clip of romney jet skiing quite has the same impact. you know, it might. there's obviously a line of attack that obama and democrats have been going after romney on as a man of wealth and someone who is out of touch with average americans. you know, to the extent that jet skiing on a lake at your expensive summer home plays into that. perhaps it's somewhat damaging for romney. but i don't know. i tend to think this is not a major problem for romney. >> yeah. i always thought let these guys -- they work hard, let them vacation wherever they want with their families. take a few days off. recharge their batteries. when i was a white house correspondent in the '90s, in '96 when bill clinton was vacationing, they decided in '96 martha vineyard's not the place. they went to wyoming instead. i went out there. you're correct, dick morris was doing some pollings things. get away from martha's vineyard. wyoming might be a better place. which raises the question, we don't know yet other than he's not going to martha's vineyard where the president will spend his vacation this summer. my gut tells me it might be in one of those battleground states. maybe i'm overreaching. >> virginia's nice this time of year. ohio is very nice. las vegas i understand has a lot of entertaining options. >> colorado. >> colorado's beautiful. you know, maybe stay away from aspen. to be honest, i think it's almost worse when you spend a vacation at martha's vineyard for a few years and then in the election year say, oh, the optics of that aren't good. i kind of like the fact romney's doing what he's always done going to places he's always been, for better or worse, that's who he is. voters -- authenticity's always the best way to go if you're a politician. >> i agree completely. if the obama family likes martha's vineyard, go back to martha's vineyard and enjoy a little time off with the girls and have some fun. i agree authenticity is very important. he winds up in one of those battleground states. it's nice to visit those battleground states, but it may not feel as genuine as he probably would like. that's just me and you. and we have obviously no say. >> i agree. >> in what the obama family decides to do. ryan, thanks very much. >> thanks, wolf. crews are fighting the colorado wildfires and they're going high-tech. >> my main piece of equipment is this laptop. >> you're going to find out why a computer can be just as important as a hose in battling those wildfires. and the united states told pakistan it's sorry today. one of my guests this hour thinks it should have never happened in the first place what's going on. standby. and a frustrated customer trashes a mobile phone store. you're going to find out what set him off. ♪ [ male announcer ] ok, so you're no marathon man. but thanks to the htc one x from at&t, with its built in beats audio, every note sounds amazingly clear. ...making it easy to get lost in the music... and, well... rio vista?!! 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[ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: residents come to cheer and thank these men and women who daily go out and risk their lives to try to save their town. the fire crews and hot shot teams fight the fire with shovels and hoses. while plains and helicopters drop water or fire retardant. when the fires like this one become monsters covering thousands of acres, there are never enough people or planes. last tuesday's fire storm demonstrated it can be devastating and imperfect work. but it's the way wildfires have been fought for decades. rick stratton is changing that. middle school in colorado springs is the fire command center. school's out for the summer, so he and his team have taken over mrs. wilson's science class, which seems only appropriate because what he's doing is cutting-edge and until very recently unthinkable. he can predict where the fire will be not tomorrow, but in five days, ten days even 21 days. the benefit is obvious. if you know where the fire is going, then you can strategically place your limited resources to stop it. eight years ago he became part of a team that worked to come up with a computer program that would predict the fire's future. he's a self-professed fire nerd. >> it's high-tech and it's cool, man. >> reporter: fires are propelled by three basic things, weather, fool and topography. sounds simple, but just one look at a computer map of the winds interacting in the mountains and you can see just how complicated it gets, which is why he doesn't work alone. there's julia ruterford, she studies the weather. wind shifts kill fire crews. and predicting them is her job. >> if i see anything on the radar, i'll let you guys know as well. have a very safe day out there. >> reporter: when did the fire burn through here? >> about four or five days ago. >> reporter: ruddy is also part of the team. he sets up r.a.w.s. these observers constantly update conditions even as the fire burns all around. with a few keypunches, he gets the station to talk to me. >> air temperature 71.5 degrees. >> reporter: then there's the fuel technician. she takes samples of trees, bushes and grass near the fire and is reminded of the urgency when a giant helicopter hovers almost overhead and drops water on a sudden blaze nearby. at a lab she dries and analyzes the samples to see how quickly each will burn. then there's 6'5", nate. >> the whole time we're walking we're taking a log. >> reporter: it's his job to record and photograph where the fire's already been. he often works alone hiking miles from the nearest road. stratton himself goes to the field following the fire from the ground. then he takes me with him to look at the fire from the air. he takes all of the information from julia, rudy, ashley, nate and others and punches it into the computer. the end result is a color-coded map to tell firefighters with varying degrees of probability where the fire is headed and when it will get there. and it works. >> we planned based on what this was telling us. it's going to go this way. then we came in here. it's still pretty hot in here, but it's holding. and we're going to catch it here. like all firefighters here, he's exhausted. when i asked what keeps him going, he suddenly forgets the data and talks in very human terms about what he saw when he fought on the line. >> i've witnessed firsthand people coming to their destroyed home and the agony. it's probably the sickest i've ever felt in my life hearing cries and seeing their sorrow. >> reporter: for stratton, there are no cheering crowds, but he is every bit a wildland firefighter who uses a laptop instead of a shovel. wolf, there is good news to report. the fire is now 70% contained. they still have some way to go. they hope to have it fully contained by this weekend. more good news, rain, substantial rain, expected thursday and friday. it's all welcomed. >> hope it pours out there. they need the water. we keep seeing, martin, awful pictures of homes destroyed. are you getting a better sense of how bad the damage actually has been? >> reporter: yeah. 350 homes were lost. and it is as well as lives a terrible, terrible tragedy. but they say when they watched the firestorm sweep in a week ago today, they thought the toll was going to be much higher. in fact, they feared as many as 1,000 homes might have been lost. 350 is not a good figure, but it's a lot better than they originally feared, wolf. >> could have been even worse. all right. martin, thanks very much. this note to our viewers in our next hour we're going to take you behind the fire lines with flames whipping around the firefighters. you're going to see the unbelievable images that made them shed tears as they dug in against the destruction. that's coming up here in "the situation room" in our next hour. the u.s. certainly paid a huge price in both blood and money to liberate iraq from saddam hussain. we're about to talk with a rising star in the republican party who is deeply worried all of it may have been to waste. what's going on? we're going to find out what set off some monumental temper tantrum as well. something that may have happened to you? standby for that. to our viewers, remember, you're in "the situation room." we've added a brand new 6:00 p.m. eastern hour as well. that's a third full hour live news you need to know right here in "the situation room." nature valley trail mix bars are made with real ingredients you can see. like whole roasted nuts, chewy granola, and real fruit. nature valley trail mix bars. 100% natural. 100% delicious. 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"the andy griffith" show, starring andy griffith. >> actor and comedian andy griffith died today. if you are of a certain age or watched a lot of re-runs on cable while you were growing up, characters from his 1960s show are instantly recognizable. griffith, also played "matlock" received presidential medal of freedom in 2005. andy griffith was 86 years old. wolf. >> i loved growing up with andy griffith. great, great, great actor. sorry to see him go. our condolences to his family. he certainly left his mark on our culture and our entertainment here in the united states. >> brings back a lot of memories just hearing that theme song. i'm sure that's true for a lot of our viewers, wolf. >> certainly. thank you for that, lisa. new concerns meanwhile the united states is being treated badly by the iraqis just months after the end of a deadly war. so should u.s. taxpayers still be footing the bill for billions of dollars in aid to iraq? i'll ask a key lawmaker. and a stunning turn in a strained relationship between the united states and pakistan. we had hints of it last night, today confirmation. details on a surprising apology from the secretary of state, hillary clinton. the freedom you can only get from hertz to keep the car you reserved or simply choose another. and it's free. ya know, for whoever you are that day. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and save you up to thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide to help you better understand what medicare is all about. and which aarp medicare supplement plan works best for you. with these types of plans, you'll be able to 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this easy-to-understand guide will answer some of your questions, and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. growing outrage among many folks here in washington. people are growing increasingly upset at how the united states is being treated by iraq since the end of the war last december, a war americans fought to free iraq from sadam hussain. asked why are u.s. taxpayers shelling out more than a billion dollars a year wliel the iraqis have an enormous budget surplus right now. i'm being told by my own sources that the government in baghdad has grown increasingly nasty to the thousands of americans still serving at the u.s. embassy in baghdad. joining us now to discuss what's going on is the republican congressman from utah, jason chafe its, chairs the house subcommittee on national security, homeland defense and foreign operations. recently held a congressional hearing addressing these very issues. and i was alerted by walter pink is about that hearing you had last week. so here's the first question, why is the united states -- why are u.s. taxpayers still shelling out a billion dollars a year in economic and military aid to the iraqis when their oil exports surplus is enormous? >> well, that's the big question, wolf. if oil is more than $70 a barrel, you see a tremendous surplus in the funds going to iraq. which is great. we want them to thrive. and we want them to do well. but at the same time the degree in which our assets are being treated is horrible. everything from police stations to other things, other assets that we're turning over to or have turned over to iraq, and yet when we try to go through checkpoints and try to travel within the country and do other types of things, we're at a very difficult time. and there's a lot of concern from the inspector generals and the others on the ground. and the state department personnel who are trying to operate in this situation. >> so do you support continuing to provide a billion dollars a year in economic and military aid to the iraqis? >> no. it begs the question -- we have 2,000 people in our state department. it's huge. it's the most massive interest that we have worldwide. it's the biggest embassy -- >> let me correct you on one thing. 2,000 diplomats in the green zone in baghdad, but more than 16,000 employees at this huge embassy. the biggest embassy ever in the world. why does the united states need 16,000 personnel embassy in baghdad? >> well, that's the point i was trying to make. it takes 14,000 contractors to support the 2,000 people that are trying to operate there. we're spending more than 93% of our budget that we're spending there is on security. and security alone. so now we have less than 300 troops there on the ground. but what we've done is created this private army that's operating under the state department is literally thousands and thousands of people which we've been highly critical of in the past. and it begs the question of what are we doing, how are we doing it there, why should we be pouring more than $375 billion into asd projects when our own people can't travel out to see what they're helping to build? >> a lot of these people who have served there recently have come back and told me they're not very happy, they're not being treated very well. but here's what irks them the most and i think it irks you and me a lot as well, this when prime minister neuroal mall ki neighboring up to the shiite government in iran. what's going on here? >> that's the concern. the iranian influence particularly in the southern part of the country. it's a very volatile part of the world. the curdish seems to be doing better than most. if you look at what's happening, raided baghdad property, look what's happening to the south, the attacks we're taking with 37 deaths i think cnn just reported in the segment just before this, there's a lot of concern. we're still pouring billions of dollars in. it begs the question of, what are we really getting out of this? and why is the government itself treating us so poorly when we're doing nothing but helping at this point. i don't care where you are at in the war and whether or not we should have gone there, but the fact we're there, doing this asd work, we're giving over $50 billion worth of projects there to the iraqi government. you'd think we could get through a checkpoint or two. at this point it's very difficult. >> it's getting ridiculous when you think about it. that huge compound. the bush administration, as billion building that embassy in the green zone in baghdad. the 16,000 people are working there still. you know, i went up to northwest washington on massachusetts avenue where the iraqi embas embassy -- there it is. one little house on massachusetts avenue. maybe a couple dozen diplomats serve there. so why does the u.s. government need thousands of people in baghdad and the iraqis have a couple dozen in washington? >> it really begs the question, i don't think there's a good answer to that. we c answer from that and a good feeling about literally what are these 2,000 people doing there? again, supported by 14,000 people and contractors. everything from the people that help us with our food service contracts, but mostly security. when 93% of your budget over there is being spent on security, there's a problem there. maybe we don't need as big of a footprint. we were also going to have different consulates around the country. that has proved to be impractical and undoable at this point. so it's a very volatile situation. we do have trade going on with iraq now. we're more than 30% of imports are up more than 30% with iraq this year over last year. but there's no easy solution here. >> we're out of time, congressman. one final question. give me a yes or no. looking back with hindsight, did the bush administration blunder, a, by going to war in iraq? and, b, by developing this massive embassy compound there? >> two different questions. a, i think we look back we should not have gone to war though we did. that's my own personal opinion. and i think this embassy is too massive of a mission. there are core things, focus, do those things right. i'm tired of giving them aid when we can't get through a checkpoint. >> especially when they have a budget surplus of billions and billions thanks to oil exports. congressman, thanks for coming in. >> thanks, wolf. >> a lot more on this critical issue coming up in our brand new 6:00 p.m. eastern hour. standby for that. on one vitally important front of the 2012 presidential campaign, president obama and the democrats are way, way behind. in our strategy session, we're going to take a closer look whether they have any help of catching up when it comes to fund raising. also, you're going to find out why the united states has now formally apologized to the government of pakistan. it's getting something -- it's getting something important in return, but sensitivity's abound. now count the number of buttons on your tablet. isn't it time the automobile advanced? introducing cue in the all-new cadillac xts. the simplicity of a tablet has come to your car. ♪ the all-new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward. let's get right to our strategy session. joining us, two cnn political contributors. paul begala, senior strategist for the democratic fund raising group priorities usa and priorities usa action. and joining us as well, republican strategist, mary matalin. they're actually friends. >> look, we're matching there. >> happy independence day. >> good to have you both here. it's interesting, republicans almost always used to score better on national security, foreign policy than the democrats did. but in our brand new cnn orc poll, we asked registered voters who would better handle foreign policy? president obama got 53%, romney 41%. what do you make of that? >> i make a couple of things of it. first and foremost, this president has had some foreign policy successes not least taking out ubl and continuing to take out these terrorists via drones, assassination by drone as opposed to enhanced interrogation which produces a lot more intelligence. but most of his successes policies put in place by his predecessor, president bush. those happening on his watch which he said he would move to improve, our relationship to russia to the detriment of us or the denuclear aspirations of iran. but we haven't talked about foreign policy enough. >> in fairness, foreign policy, if there's a war, terrorism, it's an important issue in a presidential race. but if it's relatively quiet, it's the economy. as you well know. the economy in this new poll the two candidates basically are about even. who can better handle the economy among all registered voters, romney does better among independents. >> he does. i bet when we tighten the screen closer to election, that will favor romney even more. that's where the battlefield will be. mary's got a point. the president's foreign policy successes have taken those issues off the table. i have to say the democrat -- i'm a little amused when mary says the obama foreign policy successes where he changed policies like going after bin laden, that should go to bush. but the economic collapse is blamed on bush. but whatever. it's about the economy. romney is the candidate, we're seeing polling ads attacking his record. and they're working. we're seeing his business record as a net negative. that doesn't generally happen with business people. but romney is losing credibility as a businessman in the economy. >> that's one of the strengths supposedly going in. what do you make -- we reported it yesterday, romney to the obama presidential playbook of 2008. in july this month he's going to go to israel and make a visit to the prime minister of israel. is that significant in a state, let's say florida, where there's a significant jewish population. >> it's significant not just politically. it's significant for all kinds of reasons. the president has been to 30 countries but not israel. this is governor romney's fourth trip. putin's been to israel twice. symbolism is important. we should be supporting their economic liberty, their religious liberty, their political liberty in a region fraught with none of the above and he hasn't been there and has turned his back on beat iing netanyahu. >> on this issue, the president not as president he went in july 2008 when he was running, his decision not to visit israel since becoming president of the united states, it's irritated a lot of israel supporters out there who voted for the president in 2008. >> he should go. he should have gone as president. that's right. but george w. bush should have gone in his first term too and he did not. he's making the mistake his predecessor made. it's a valid criticism. the president of either party needs to go to israel, support israel. >> there's pictures when he was there in 2008 as a candidate. but as president, mary, he went to egypt, turkey, a whole bunch of other countries. >> but bush was not anti-israel even though he didn't go his first term. president obama has been very strongly supportive of israel as president and he will be if and when he gets a second term. that's the most important. >> that's not the reflection or the opinion of those who know the most about israel. they do not think he's been strong on israel. and i'd like to remind everybody what's happening in the first term -- >> i will say as someone who studied the u.s.-israeli relationship for a long, long time on a military to military relationship to intelligence is very strong right now between the united states and israel. there may be some personal irritation between netanyahu and president obama, but on a substantiative issues, it's a very strong relationship. >> i don't think they're very happy. you can validate or not confirm this. they're not very happy about our leaks, which the president says he has nothing to do with but everybody else -- >> you mean about the war ffaren iran? >> exactly that. they're not happy about sharing intelligence like that. they're not happy in our attitude about what we would do with iran. they're not very happy what we're not doing in syria. so at -- is it still connecting at some level with people who professionally do that? yes. do they think this is the worst president for israel since jimmy carter? yes. >> i have to defendant my president here. >> go ahead. >> go and look at the speech that the israeli president, perez, he came to america, spoke at apac, a group i support, gastro go look at the defense minister. most highly decorated in the defense look what he's said about our president. contrast that with mitt romney -- >> we're out of time. mary, did you serve in the first bush administration? >> yes. >> do you remember james baker, the secretary of state. >> yes, i do. i just saw him at a romney event. he's supporting governor romney. >> mary, do you remember what james baker said before testifying in congress when the prime minister of israel just passed away, israeli was asking for loan guarantees to resettle and baker said we're not going to do that. here's the member of the white house when the israeli o free on the west bank, east jerusalem, gaza at that time, call us and we'll give you money to resettle some soviet jews in israel. they were coming in big numbers. that was a rough moment in u.s.-israeli relationships. and as tough as the relationship has been in the last years, that was one of the roughest moments between the united states and israel. >> and james a. baker is not running for president. >> but you said the worst since jimmy carter as far as israel's concerned. not necessarily. >> okay. >> just ask shimon perez. >> remember those tense days. >> i was working on the hill at the time. it was really tense. it was very hot. and i think america was wrong. we should have been standing with israel back then. >> later they did. they provided the loan guarantees, but that was a very, very rough moment. you can imagine if hillary clinton or barack obama would say before congress, here's the number of the white house, call us when you're ready to free settlement. >> do you think that israel is in a safer place today under this administration's policies than it was under h.w. bush's policies? >> relationship militarily is very strong right now. they can defend themselves, the israelis. i'm very confident. if you've seen or spoken to israeli military officials, lead es, they're not incapable of taking care of themselves. they have a very strong military. guys, good discussion. thank you. >> thank you. secretary of state hillary clinton apologizes to pakistan today. but the united states is getting something very, very important in return. standby. yummy, scrumptious bars. hmm? i just wanted you to eat more fiber. chewy, oatie, gooeyness... and fraudulence. i'm in deep, babe. you certainly 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[ male announcer ] fiber one. an accident doesn't have to slow you down... with better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual insurance, if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy a car that's one model-year newer... with 15,000 fewer miles on it. there's no other auto insurance product like it. better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual. it's a better policy that gets you a better car. call... or visit one of our local offices today, and we'll provide the coverage you need at the right price. liberty mutual auto insurance, responsibility -- what's your policy? a huge announcement from secretary of state hillary clinton today. she says pakistan's reopening vitally important supply routes into afghanistan. this will save u.s. taxpayers millions and millions of dollars. our foreign affairs correspondent, jill dougherty is joining us now to explain why the obama administration -- >> wasn't such a big deal. i mean, this administration made it one, made it a matter of principle. and so did the pakistanis. for seven months trucks carrying critical supplies for nato troops from pakistan to afghanistan have stood idle covered with tarps gathering dust. using our routes cost u.s. taxpayers $100 million more a month. all that largely because the u.s. refused to say one simple word, sorry. regrets, condolences, but not sorry for a u.s. air strike in november that killed 24 pakistani soldiers. tuesday in a written statement, secretary of state hillary clinton finally apologized. foreign minister and i acknowledge the mistakes lost in the -- we are sorry for the losses of lives. we are committed to working closely with pakistan and afghanistan to prevent this from ever happening again. the statement was diplomatically sensitive. clinton's press secretary stuck closely to the script. >> i think the intent here is that we are both sorry for the losses suffered by both our countries in this fight against terrorists. >> reporter: the apology opens up ground supply lines into afghanistan with pakistan agreeing not to raise fees of $250 per truck. at one point pakistan demanded $5,000 for each vehicle. it also may help mend relations between the two countries ripped apart by anger over the u.s. use of drones and the killing of osama bin laden on pakistani soil. pakistan's ambassador said she was glad the breakthrough was not part of any transaction. that she appreciates secretary clinton's statement. and hopes that the bilateral ties can move to a better place from here. the u.s. says one expert hurt itself by making the apology a big deal. but this may help put relations back on track. >> we made a mountain out of a mole hill and the damage to our own interests in afghanistan and across the region is far higher by this relationshipe that mistakes were made. >> so this is good news for both sides. those u.s. supply convoys can start rolling back into afghanistan. and pakistan could get up to $1.1 billion from the u.s. for the counterterrorism efforts by its military. wolf. >> jill, thank you. we just heard vali nasser in her report. the new dean of johns hop kins, former advisor to the late u.s. envoy richard haldbrook and author of several books including "forces of fortune." why did it take so long to resolve this matter? >> both sides dug their heels in. the u.s. said it would not apologize to pakistan because it was not happy with pakistan. and pressure on the president not to apologize. and pakistanis had their own pressure to get some kind of closure for the deaths of 24 soldiers. the two sides didn't seem to be able to bridge this difference until today. >> so when the secretary of state in her statement says we are sorry for the losses suffered by the pakistani military, you view that as a formal apology. >> it is at least to the extent that that's what the pakistanis need in order to be able to tell their public that they have got something from the united states and that gives them political cover now to open the supply routes and begin cooperating with us. >> let's turn to iran for a moment. you saw that lead story in the "new york times" today. the iranians are launching their own exercises, missile deployments, the u.s. is beefing up its presence in the persian gulf. how bad is this situation unfolding right now? >> i don't think it's as bad as it sounds. i think both sides are following the same strategy, which is to use pressure to get leverage at the talks. we threaten military action in order to get the iranians' attention. the iranians are threatening closure of the straits of hormuz and military exercises in order to get our attention. so what we're seeing is what we usually see in diplomacy. when diplomacy begins to slow down, both sides begin to flex muscles just to alert the other side to what the consequences will be. >> you think these painful sanctions posed on iran in the international community now in the end will stop them from going forward with a nuclear weapons program? >> no. i think the sanctions will bring them to the table. they're not going to settle unilaterally. we have to have something to put on the table in order to engage them in a deal. if your expectation is that the sanctions will by themselves get the iranians to give up the nuclear program, we may end up being disappointed. >> will the israelis be patient during this drawn out process? >> i think they're patient for now. cognizant of the fact that it's an election year in the united states there are certain domestic pressures here. and they also understand what is happening with iran is not happening in a videocassette qume. there's a whole arab world falling apart and israeli action could have ramifications for the region way beyond alone. >> thank you for coming in. congratulations of being the new dean of science. great school. >> absolutely. thank you. >> we're getting our first look at incredible pictures shot by colorado firefighters who brought their own cameras to the fire lines. and only now they have time to share some of the stories behind what they recorded. ngusiness, do more business. in here, opportunities are created and protected. gonna need more wool! demand is instantly recognized and securely acted on across the company. around the world. turning a new trend, into a global phenomenon. it's the at&t network -- securing a world of new opportunities. ♪ but proven technologies allow natural gas producers securing a world of new opportunities. 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. how do you know it's summer time? 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"absolutely." up to 33 miles per gallon. the sync system. you can take all the music and put it into the hard-drive. he just got a glimpse of some 21st century technology and he's flipping out. don't miss the ford summer sales event. get a fusion with 0% financing for 60 months plus $1750 cash back. now at your local ford dealer. serving up fords...with everything on them. i tell mike what i can spend. i do my best to make that work. we're driving safely. and sue saved money on brakes. now that's personal pricing. we're in "the situation room." happening now inside the inferno, winds whipping the flames at 65 miles an hour. sparks raining down around them. you're going to see the extraordinary images that made firefighters shed tears as they dug in against the destruction. also, he called dozens of democratic colleagues members of the party. now he says president obama wants to be the chairman of the slaves. and great white sharks are sighted off the coast of cape cod. a warning to swimmers on the eve of the biggest beach holiday. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." it was like armageddon. it was the most horrible thing we've ever seen in our lives. each lot has an individual pile of coal filled with nothing but ash and debris. >> this is where we're turning residents found 346 homes destroyed in a colorado springs subdivision. it's also the same place where desperate firefighters held the line, saved many more homes and stopped the inferno from spreading. you're about to see what they saw as the flames roared around them. here's cnn's jim spellman in colorado springs. >> wolf, we're getting our first up-close look at what firefighters were dealing with when this blaze tore through a colorado springs neighborhood. this is the scene in the devastated mountain shadows neighborhood of colorado springs now. but this is what it looked like last week as high winds drove the fire down from the hills. behind the camera, colorado springs fire department vidographer. >> you're on a slope. we have weather conditions squirrely. we had 65-mile-an-hour winds. sparks raining down all over me. >> reporter: firefighters converged on the scene. they had to quickly determine which homes to defend and which ones were beyond saving while stopping the fire from advancing. >> made that line in the sand and they said, this fire does not get past us. and that's what they did. they held the line. and they didn't let it get past them. >> reporter: they doused vulnerable homes with water even as properties right next door are engulfed. and sparks jumped from one home to the roof of another setting off a new fire. she and his driver, a rookie firefighter, spring into action. >> found a garden hose. we're trying to put this roof fire out. >> reporter: it works. the fire is extinguished. 346 homes were lost. hundreds more saved by the firefighters. >> those who lost their homes, they're going to rebuild. this town will rally around them. they'll be okay. sorry. you know, you can't help but be affected by it. it's hard. >> since that night, firefighters haven't lost another home. wolf. >> jim spellman, thank you. joining me now is the man who captured those dramatic pictures. steve schopper of colorado fire department. thanks so much for what you've been doing. thanks very much for joining us right now. what was going through your mind as you were taking these pictures and dealing with what you saw? >> well, wolf, i knew this was a fire of historic proportions. and as i started taking this footage, i knew that there was a lot of destruction going on. but when i saw our firefighters make their first stand and i realized that they had just saved 175 homes by making their first stand on one singl family structure. i knew i had to keep documenting this and telling everyone that the firefighters from all over the country that were here helping us were making their stands and they were taking up their positions and they were doing what they were trained to do. and that command was structure protection. and that's what they did. >> but when you saw these homes, some of them so lovely, i would say most of them completely lovely homes knowing that families, their whole lives were inside, you must have been so upset. give us a little flavor of that. >> well, when i first took my footage, i think the first place i came around a road called courtney lane, there were about 15 housing already on fire. i think even in the video i said, i'm so sorry for your loss. i was talking to those people who were losing their homes even though i was taping this for our department. you couldn't help but be affected by it. i knew that people's livelihoods were going up in flames, literally. the only thing i could think of is our department, all the rest of the departments are here have got to stop this fire. and we've got to keep it from spreading. and if i can document that, then i've done my job. and hopefully that's what happened. and it did. >> did you try to comfort these families? the husbands, the wives, the grandparents, the children, did you actually speak to many of them? >> i have not had an opportunity to speak to any of the families at all, wolf. and i would love to speak to them because, you know, the entire city of colorado springs, our firefighters, i mean, we feel their pain. any time we see a structure that's on fire, for a firefighter, that's like putting a wooden stake in our heart. we don't like to see that. we want to do everything that we can to prevent it. that's what we tried to do. and i wanted to share with those families -- and i think that's probably one of the other motivating forces that led me to put this video together was to say to colorado springs, we tried our best. >> you're speaking to a lot of them probably right now. people have gone through this hell. and it has been a hell for so many of these folks in colorado. have you ever seen in all your years doing this, have you ever seen anything quite this bad? >> no, wolf, i've been 36 years in the fire service and i've never seen anything like this in my entire life. i've talked to lots of other firefighters and even federal firefighters who do this for a living. and they said the behavior here was extraordinary. it was one of those things that it almost looked like a hollywood movie. once you started feeling the heat, smelling the smoke, seeing the ashes and soot and everything drop around you, you knew this wasn't a movie. you knew this was real. and people had to act. that's what firefighters are trained to do. when people are having the worst day of their life, that's when we get called. and hopefully we can make it better. i hope we did. >> was there ever a moment where you were worried about your own safety? >> i was concerned and i had a heightened sense of awareness about where this fire was and how things were going. i was in contact constantly with our fire department operations center and also with several other engine companies. i knew that if we got in trouble, we could always get to an engine company and find refuge there because they had the hoses with them. and all we had was video cameras. >> was there anything that could have been done that should have been done with hindsight, obviously, that might have prevented this disaster from escalating the way it did? >> you know, that's a tough question to answer. and i'm not sure. from my perspective from what i saw, i thought they had good containment lines built. the storm that blew in on us totally caught everybody off guard with the winds that it produced. once it got into queens canyon, everybody, i think all the firefighters knew if it got into queens canyon, it was going to rip over there and it was going to be bad. once that plume started crashing down upon us and that wind started whipping around, there was nothing we could have done. we could have sent up a thousand slurry bombers and it wouldn't had any effect. this was a force of nature that you're not going to control it. you have to react to it. you have to save what you can save. but those things that were going to go up in flames and smoke, the fire was going to do that. the wind was going to do. that and it was going to fan. even the wildland firefighters said this basically became a wildland fire fight that just jumped instead of from tree to tree, from home to home. >> if some of those people who lost their homes, lost everything are watching right now, is there anything as a professional firefighter you want to say to them right now? >> i would say for those of you that lost your home and lost loved ones in this fire, hang in there. the city has wrapped its loving arms around you, its firefighters will always be here to protect you. and we're going to keep doing that until the day we die. >> well-said indeed. i know this is an emotional moment, steve. all of our viewers are grateful to you and all of your colleagues for doing what you're doing. i'll just ask you one final question before i let you go. is it over with? is it still continuing? how many more days is this going to be a serious issue? >> i've been told that they're going to try and get 100% containment on this hopefully by the 11th of july. that's the last information i heard. the crews out there right now are working so hard and building containment lines. there's lots of elements of fuel that are still going to burn. but i think the worst is over. i think with weather conditions, i'm looking over at the mountain right now and hoping that's rain and a nice gentle falling rain, not a deluge of rain. we'll end up with flash floods if it's a deluge. but right now it looks like the worst is over. and i'm hoping that we'll get back to some type of normal life here in colorado springs and the whole pike's peak region. >> knowing you and the firefighters, it won't be easy. it's going to be very, very difficult for so many folks in the colorado springs area, elsewhere in colorado. but with good individuals like you helping out, we will get over this. they will get over it. and the folks will return to some semblance of normality. appreciate it once again, steve schopper with the colorado springs fire department. please thank all your colleagues for everyone in colorado and all over the nation who are watching, people all over the world have been moved by what they heard and saw today. thanks very much for joining us. >> you're quite welcome, wolf. thank you. almost four full days without power in the middle of a brutal heat wave. we're going to take you to a town where people are trapped by fallen trees forced to boil drinking water. and mitt romney likes to tout his business background, but now a pair of legendary business heavyweights are slamming his campaign operation as "an amateur operation." plus, could kitty litter, yes, kitty litter, increase the risk of attempted suicide? 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it isn't just your cholesterol screening. it's all the tomorrows you're looking forward to. learn more at healthcare.gov. it's all the tomorrows you're looking forward to. sometimes, i can't believe the things i'm able to do. without shriners hospitals, my life would be completely different. when i was seven, we found out i had scoliosis. everything changed when they stepped in. it was like they gave me my future back. tori's life is one of nearly a million changed by donations from people like you. send your love to the rescue. donate today. it's been almost four days and almost 1.5 million people across 11 states still have no power. add in the brutal heat wave and you've got a huge, huge mess. our brian todd is in one town where some people are trapped in their homes by downed trees. others are having to drink boiled water. and the garbage is piling up. >> reporter: wolf, this state was completely devastated by the storm and the aftermath. 330 plus customers are still without power. that's about a third of the state of west virginia. still without power nearly four days after the storm hit. and a huge problem, downed trees hitting houses and power lines. this is emblematic of it. we're at this house on jefferson street in lewisburg. this tree, look at that. look at the force of the storm completely snapped this tree almost in half. came down on the house. you see the remnants of the tree there. a tree company just this afternoon, tuesday afternoon, got done taking this tree off of this house. and our photo journalist and i are going to show you -- there you go. you see the gaping hole at the top of this house. it's an old family house. we're going to talk to the homeowner right now. this house is more than 100 years old. and the homeowner is here. you don't have power, right? you had it back for a short period then you lost it. what are you going through right now? >> well, we cleaned out the refrigerators and restocked them. and now we may lose the second batch of food. and you just have to live with no water. it's an inconvenience, but we're making it. i'm not worried. >> does it make it even tougher? obviously you have some broken bones in your legs. this isn't making things easier. >> i can't move around as much as most people do. i'm kind of confined to just one place, like i'm out here on the porch, but i have to be in a wheelchair. somebody has to be with me to get me around. it makes it more difficult. and i was in the room when the tree fell, but i got out in a hurry. amazing what you can do when you have to. >> tell us what that was like. >> i just heard the thump on the house and saw the bricks flying and i was afraid it was going to come on down through the ceiling. >> this is the room where jeanne was when the storm hit. this is just below the room where the hole is. that's an unfinished attic. it says the tree hit with such force that it came through that. look at the crack it made in the ceiling up here. in the areas of town where the water isn't out, the water pressure is low. residents being advised to boil water for drinking. she's filled up these jugs, says she might have enough for now in the jugs and pitchers, but she's starting to run low. these pots were filled a short time ago, but they've run out. so the water situation here is pretty bad as well. a lot of people in this town having a hard time still a few days after the storm. we're going to talk to the mayor of lewisburg, john manchester. mr. mayor, right now, what do you think your biggest crisis is? you have a lot of people still without power. >> power is one, water is the other. we're gearing up for a big tournament in the area. >> golf tournament, right? >> golf tournament. a lot of people coming in, fourth of july normal stuff. we lost power for two days to our water plant. we're running down our reserves, almost emptied the tank. >> so if that runs out, what happens? >> well, right now we're on emergency generators. we just switched back to the grid. we have power to it. so we're slowly refilling our tanks. it takes a while to do that. >> some of the most mountainous terrain in the entire country, you see this all over the place. snapped trees, downed trees all over the place. it's a tough slog for the power crews and the people they're serving. the power companies tell us they lost three transmission towers, those big towers in rural areas that you see carrying power lines long distances. they lost three of those. they came down some 90 lines from those towers came down with them. they're going to assemble temporary towers as of today. but that's complicating efforts too. the power companies tell us that they hope to get power back to as many people as they can obviously in the next day or two. but some people in this state may not get it until the weekend. wolf. >> brian todd in west virginia for us. good luck to all the folks there. no matter what disaster zone they live in, people have one huge question. and they're getting angrier every time they ask it. why is it taking so long to hook up the electricity? cnn regulation correspondent, lizzie o'leary, is here in "the situation room." you've been looking for some answers. a lot of frustration out there, liz zi. >> a lot of frustration. power companies say, look, we're doing the best we can. they also say this wasn't like a hurricane. this was something they couldn't prepare for. that answer is proving unsatisfying to customers and to regulators. when patience runs thin, talk turns to punishment and prevention. >> this has happened repeatedly. we've had power outage after power outage in the district of columbia, and frankly people are fed of it. >> reporter: but people and politicians have limited power over power companies. >> mother nature isn't something i can control. we can't control the storm. can't control the damage that takes place to our system. >> reporter: utilities are regulated by a hodgepodge of agencies. most at the state level. lately some regulators are trying to get a little money back from companies. in maryland regulators fined the company pepco $1 million for bad maintenance last year. in connecticut, the attorney general is fighting the power company that left thousands in the dark after last year's nor'easter saying they can't charge more because they had a bad storm plan. and in massachusetts a new law says utilities that are fined for storm response plans have to give that money back to customers. one way to prevent so much damage? moving lines underground. >> we had a significant power outage caused by ice in '04. we had another power outage caused by hurricane ike in 2007 #08. and a lot of the utilities have in fact as a result of that buried their lines. so this probably could have been much worse. >> reporter: but moving these lines underground is expensive. anaheim, california, is doing it as a cost of about $3.2 million per mile of cable. it would cost about the same to do it in washington, d.c. costing the whole system $5.8 billion. that could raise everyone's rates. >> the dollars go very high very quickly. we get into billions of dollars and that cost ultimately gets passed along to the rate payer. >> european cities have many more underground lines than american cities largely because they have denser populations. they were built that way. one thing you are starting to see though is more aggressive regulators. maryland's top power regulator told me that's because they have much more severe weather. they've seen that over the past couple years as a result of climate change. now they're saying, all right, if you can prepare for a storm, there's no reason not to. and we'll fine you if you don't do a good job. this isn't lost on companies. they know this. they are trying to get ahead of this as well. >> they are trying the best they can. there's still a lot of frustration out there. >> yes. >> understandably so. lizzie, thanks very much. a popular east coast beach puts a ban on swimming after multiple great white sharks are spotted just offshore. we're going to tell you where this is going on. and her olympic career started in los angeles in 1984. now 28 years later the legendary american swimmer makes one last attempt at olympic glory. the postal service is critical to our economy, delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet the house is considering a bill to close thousands of offices, slash service and layoff over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains $5 billion a year from post office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. house bill 2309 is not the answer. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] what's the point of an epa estimated 42 miles per gallon if the miles aren't interesting? the lexus ct hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection. [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering. just coming in to "the situation room." a ruling against the case of the jetblue pilot who had a mid-flight meltdown. lisa sill vest ter is monitoring that. what happened, lisa? >> hi, wolf. a court in texas has found former jetblue pilot clayton os bon not guilty of reason of instanty. he was the pilot who had to be locked out of the cockpit after his scary inflight rants in march. "i'm going to show you iraq and iran now and there's a bomb on booshd." he was ruled competent to stand trial a few weeks ago. he's now been found not guilty by reason of insanity. and one of the most incredible olympic careers of all-time is coming to an end. 45-year-old dara torres says "this is it" after failing to qualify in the 50-meter freestyle trials. she lost to women almost 20 years her junior. torres is a 12-time medallist who started her career back at the 1984 games in los angeles. in 2008 she became the oldest american swimmer to win an olympic medal. and people on both u.s. coasts are on high alert right now after multiple great white shark sightings. one was seen 50 feet from a beach near san diego. and there have been several sightings off cape cod, massachusetts. where one of our affiliate wcbb filed this report. >> reporter: it's a perennial story in chatham. beautiful sand and surf and sharks. >> the two confirmed sightings that we had were off north beach inlet. >> reporter: a shark sighting over the weekend. and coincidentally the same time last summer prompted the repeat posting of this notice of a swimming ban within 300 feet of seals on the eastern facing beaches. >> 300 feet essentially length of a football field. >> sharks eat seals so. >> we advise people if they see seals, stay clear of them. get out of the water. >> reporter: the swimming ban does not effect chatham's popular public beaches. it's also okay to swim at lighthouse beach. the ban doesn't effect most family vacations. yet all beach goers are on the threat and look out. >> i wouldn't go more than six feet. >> my husband was going to rent a surfboard, but i kind of put the nix on that one. >> reporter: the swimming ban applies to the rural north beach and south beach which are mostly accessible by boat and closest proximity to a large seal population. >> you just don't know. it's the last thing i would like to come in contact with. >> it's scary to know that there is the great white shark out here. >> reporter: shark sightings are now as expected as more beach weather. in chatham, news center 5. >> of course we've got the holiday tomorrow, wolf. so a lot of people keeping an eye on that, wolf. >> happy fourth of july to everyone out there indeed. we'll have much more on that tomorrow, obviously. lisa, thank you. republican congressman says president obama wants you to "be his slave." i'll ask the party chairman if enough is enough if he's ready to denounce that kind of comment. standby. and a new study raises a strange but frightening question. could your pet increase the chance you will commit suicide? i have to know the weather patterns. i upgraded to the new sprint direct connect. so i can get three times the coverage. 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[ female announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astra zeneca may be able to help. mitt romney is certainly used to being blasted by democrats. but now some legendary corporate heavyweights are taking to twitter, to twitter, to level some blistering criticism. donna bash is watching this all unfold. what's going on here, dana? >> wolf, it's sure as death and taxes, presidential campaigns in both parties always suffer from a version of this. people on the outside take pot shots at the people on the inside. this one-two punch from corporate giants was not only harsh, to some sources i talked to today, it was perplexing. mitt romney's main argument to voters is that he's a businessman who knows how to run things. >> we need to have a president who understands the economy, who knows how to lead because he's actually led before. >> reporter: so a pair of zingars in business diszing romney, first from the head of news corp., rupert murdoch. will be hard to beat unless he drops old friends from team and hires old pros. doubtful. then jack welch chimed in tweeting this to his nearly 1.4 million followers. hope mitt romney is listening to murdoch advice on campaign staff. playing in league with chicago polls no room for amateurs. romney responded with a one-word sentence via a member of his campaign staff being insulted. governor romney respects rupert murdoch and also respects his team. and has confidence in them. so who is this romney team business heavyweights worry can't compete with obama's campaign? here's a look at romney's inner circle. most of them are loyalists with him for a long time. senior advisors beth myers and eric led romney's massachusetts office. some go back further to romney's time heading the olympics. campaign management and strategist have all worked for presidential campaigns for more than a decade including george w. bush's victories. in conversations with multiple top republicans who ran presidential campaigns, the impression of team romney was mixed. they do not have the well-oiled machine reputation of the bush organization. they also don't have the dysfunction of john mccain's campaign. democrat paul begala, a member of bill clinton's inner circle in 1992, says ceos like murdoch and welch have impressive managerial experience, but a political campaign is quite different. >> in politics, it's almost always the organ grinder, not the monkey. it's almost always the candidate, not the staff. if you have the right candidate, you're going to win. if you have the wrong candidate, you're going to lose. >> now begala also pointed out many of romneys gaffes were his making, not his staff. and strategists on both sides i talked to note that given the beating that romney took in the primaries, he's doing pretty well against the chicago-obama machine right now. and romney's source i talk today made the point that other low key ceos of big companies like staples and home depot, they're on board with romney. and in the case of murdoch, the two have only met a few times. one last note the sources i talked to noted that murdoch has this huge media empire yet decided to dis romney on twitter. >> a lot of people are doing that. they're just tweeting away. dana, thanks very much. let's dig a little deeper on what dana just reported the chairman of the republican > call me rients. >> we'll be off to the races. what do you make of this rupert murdoch, jack welch, saying he's not going to be able to compete with the chicago pols if they will. >> they have their opinion. that's fine. they're respected people. if you'd said a year and a half ago we had an rnc with twice the money in the banks a the dnc, but when we have a candidate in the margin or doing slightly better than barack obama, i think a lot of people would say halleluijah. that's number one. number two, after eight years people talk about political pros like james carville and carl rove, a guy like matt rhodes is going to be in that category. it's easy to say who's the next carl rhodes. but look at these guys. i mean, in chicago. the supposed pros. they've got a candidate that has no campaign message. and his campaign is basically, look, things could stink a lot worse i guess if i wasn't the president. >> not exactly. that's not exactly his message. >> but what are they proud of? are they talking about obama care? no. are they talking about the stimulus? no. are they talking about jobs? no. all they're talking about is things could have been worse. that's a pretty lousy campaign. >> to be fair, they are pointing out they inherited a disaster from the bush administration. the country was on the verge of a great depression. and it has come back dramatically over the past three, not where they want it to be, not where you and i want it to be, but it's certainly better now than it was in november 2008. >> that's not true, wolf. >> 8,000 jobs a month we were dropping at that time. now they may only be creating 50,000 or 60,000 or 100,000 jobs now, but that's a lot better than losing 700,000 or 800,000 a month. >> according to barack obama and his team, if the stimulus was passed we would be at 4.5% unemployment. we are 8.5 million jobs short of their promise. we have fewer people today employed than when barack obama took office. the fact of the matter is barack obama hasn't met the mission. he hasn't met the promises. and he hasn't met the standards that he himself laid out for the american people. >> as far as big business is concerned, remember the dow jones, when he took office it's way under 7,000. it's now approaching 13,000. does he deserve any credit for big business making all this money in stocks? >> i think barack obama's made everything worse. and i think things could be a whole lot better -- >> jones was a lot better than it is now. >> dow jones is one indicator. >> a lot of people have 401(k)s. >> i don't think most people after looking at where we are today at jobs, debt, deficit, housing, promises he made as far as health care is concerned, things aren't better today. and category after category barack obama hasn't met the promises that he laid out to the american people. and i think, listen, all this stuff is interesting. but at the end of the day what people are starving for in this country are people of their word to win elections and govern like they campaign. this president isn't real anymore. >> there's our new cnn orc poll that came out today. this is the question, who would better handle the economy? romney 48%, obama 47%. these are registered voters. they're about equal as far as registered voters nationwide. who is a better handler of the u.s. economy. i want to move onto other issues. >> okay. go ahead. >> you make obviously good points. that's your job to make those points. my job obviously is to do some other stuff. >> you got it, wolf. no problem. >> let's talk about allen west for a moment. this is the congressman from south florida as you know is a republican. is a military veteran. you know him. i'm sure you like him, right? >> sure. >> he suggest add few months ago there were all these communist party members in the democratic party, i don't remember the exact number. close to 80 communist party members in the democratic party and democratic representatives in the house. and now he says this, he was at a townhall meeting. listen to this. >> he does not want you to have self-esteem of giving that and having the title of american. he rather you be his slave. >> he'd rather you be his slave. he's referring to the president of the united states. he says he doesn't like americans having the title of american. he'd rather see you as a slave. what is that? you can't justify allen west saying that talking about slavery. >> first of all, i'm not the police officer of the republican party. allen can say what allen wants to say. but i think what he's really trying to say is that if we become a dependent society, if everyone is reliant on the government -- i mean, listen, barack obama's the one that put out this life of julia website. i think we all know what this is. it's a life of a girl from preschool to i think death or near death showing how every step of her life -- >> is she a slave? >> i think she's dependent on government -- >> so she's a slave? >> listen, it's semantics. i'm not going to defend -- >> i know you very well. you're not going to defend that kind of language. and i deplore that kind of language when a democrat or republican says it. we shouldn't be talking like this. it's bad enough the lack of civility in our politics. >> two things, allen west is one of the most dynamic new republican stars in our party. that's number one. he's got a bright future. but i'm more embarrassed about is the president that can't keep a promise, that has an american economy that's in the ditch that somehow is trying to perpetrate some myth to the american people that he's not to blame for or has no role in where we are in the american economy. >> you called him a dynamic star. a guy who says 70 members of the democratic congress are communist card carrying members. and now he says the president would rather see us as slaves. >> allen west is an important member of congress from south florida. i'm not going to throw allen west in a ditch. that's just the first i've heard the comment here, wolf, on your show. the fact of the matter is i think what's most important in this debate is where we are as a country, whether the very idea of america is going to continue and what barack obama's done about it. that's what's on the ballot. >> well, final subject. do you agree with mitt romney that the obama health care -- that the penalty that is imposed on those who can afford to buy health insurance but don't buy it is not necessarily a tax, it's just -- are you with romney? >> this is not -- >> who are you with? >> first of all, i don't know if i have enough time. but i'll tell you right now, i'm on the same page with the romney campaign. >> on this issue of whether it's -- >> the supreme court has spoken and they have said that it's a tax. that's different than whether or not i agree with the dissent or whether i agree with john roberts. i happen to agree with the dissent. i happen to agree it's unconstitutional. however, that doesn't matter. what matters is the supreme court has spoken. they said that it's a tax. and ultimately, wolf, what really matters is that less than a third of the american people in poll after poll don't support obama care. if barack obama's so confident about this, then let's put obama care on the ballot and make this election a referendum on obama care. >> i'll tell you why it really does matter though, whether it's a tax or penalty. you know why? because if they want to repeal it, you want to repeal obama care, is that correct? >> of course. >> if it's a tax you can repeal it with a simple majority of 51. it's called reconciliation. if it's not a tax, you need 60 to break a filibuster. you know the democrats are going to be able to -- >> i didn't say it didn't matter. what i said was the supreme court has spoken and they've said it's a tax. we want to repeal the obama care tax. we want to save middle class families from european health care. that's what we're going to do. i get it. >> that's my job. you're doing your job. thanks for coming in. >> you bet. happy fourth. >> happy fourth to you as well. and everyone in wisconsin. a state i do love very much. >> of course. up next, we're going to take you to both sides of the front line in syria. and he's charged with killing afghan civilians. now his wife is speaking out. standby. ♪ [ male announcer ] its lightweight construction makes it nimble... ♪ its road gripping performance makes it a cadillac. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with advanced haldex all-wheel drive. 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[ male announcer ] now through july 8th is the perfect time to buy. save up to $200 during our mattress set savings event and up to $600 on tempur-cloud supreme. also get 0% apr financing with up to 5 years to pay on qualified purchases. to learn more, visit tempurpedic.com. don't wait. these offers end july 8th. tempur-pedic -- the most highly recommended bed in america. an extraordinary spike in the carnage in syria. government troops stepped up their assault on rebels including relentless pounding of civilian neighborhoods. opposition activists say hundreds have died in three days alone. but the rebels are also taking a bloody toll. itn's bill neilly takes us to both sides of the front line. >> reporter: the face of revolution in the heart of the capital. these are syria's rebels. and they're getting closer to president assad. it's not that they've reached damascus, they live here. and they patrol openly. driving us for hours to the very front line of the war against their own regime. these men of the free syrian army say they control this area and that regular syrian troops have no power here. there's certainly no sign of them here. this is one of several suburbs in damascus where president assad clearly has lost control. an air force drone is buzzing watching overhead. rebels are often from the air rockets artillery killed by their own former comrades. >> he was in the army. >> reporter: they have few weapons. they're young. but this they say is a war they will win. these are the victims in a conflict that has just had its bloodiest week. syrian soldiers are now being buried by the dozen. these men died on the edge of damascus. 42 of them in a day and a half of fighting. the survivors console each other. but these men have reason to worry. the army death toll is now in the thousands. the pity is shared by both sides. but this army is accused of a pitiless bombardment of civilian areas in a war they too say they will win. you are sure you will win this war? he says we're ready to die, but they will. they've come to the funerals directly from the battlefield. behind them 16 empty coffins. ahead of them the battle for damascus that in the suburbs has raged for days. countless civilians, soldiers and rebels, victims of its deadlock. >> what a story. sergeant robert bales, u.s. soldier charged with killing afghans in march, 17 of them, his wife is speak out to cnn's erin burnett. erin is joining us now. erin, what is she saying? >> it was a very interesting conversation and very heartfelt, wolf, talking about her children. they're age 5 and 2. they're going to have this week their second visit with their father since he's returned. they have no understanding at all of the charges that have been leveled against him. so that was very heart wrenching. he obviously has been accused of killing 16 afghan civilians in a rampage. and i asked his wife whether they'd ever talked about it. she talked to him two days before this happened, wolf. has he shared any information and she said no. and here's why. >> i feel bad that i no. here's why. >> i feel bad i didn't question more. i think about it that way. he did want to protect us and me and the kids. he faced it and didn't want us to have to face it. >> how often have you spoken to him since? >> once or twice or three times a week. it's very open for him. >> have you talked about the night, what happened that night? >> not at all. we're always monitored. i'm not going to ask him the question knowing we're being recorded. we've talked about -- i've talked about it with his lawyers i can talk about and he's talked about with the lawyers, which are the important people to talk about it with. >> interesting conversation. she talked about what love is and how she feels that for her husband no matter what happens. that conversation is coming up tonight. >> we'll be watching 7:00 p.m. eastern. thanks so much for that, erin. coming up in our next hour for our north american viewer, no surprise, former presidents make a lot of money but the amount of money former president bill clinton is making is staggering, even some pro athletes might be jealous. stand by for any numbers. what if your pet could contribute to whether you commit suicide. the shocking new study out. home protector plus, from liberty mutual insurance, where the costs to both repair your home and replace your possessions are covered. and we don't just cut a check for the depreciated value -- we can actually replace your stuff with an exact or near match. plus, if your home is unfit to live in after an incident, we pay for you to stay somewhere else while it's being repaired. home protector plus, from liberty mutual insurance. because you never know what lies around the corner. to get a free quote, call... visit a local office, or go to libertymutual.com today. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? this is a story that certainly has received a lot of buzz today. is it possible parasite commonly found in kitty litter box, to be precise, could cause someone to attempt suicide? lisa sylvester is following the story. >> reporter: it's a story that's gone viral on the internet. is there a connection between cat litter and attempted suicides. a university of maryland study looked at a parasite and found that infecttant women had a 1 1/2 times greater risk of attempting suicide than women infection please. it is found in the intestines of cats and ends up in the litter box. it's why pregnant women are advised to steer clear of cat boxes. this doctor was the senior author of that study that looked at 45,000 danish women but cautions it is a starting point and many other factors at play, including a person's genes and social and economic conditions. >> there are in the world 30% of individuals who have the chronic form of infection of tox soplas soplasmagondi. all the minority would attempt suicide. >> most of the focus online would be cats and carry the parasite without symptoms. cats are not the most common way they become ineffected. most exposed eating undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables or contaminated wa water. they say their feline friends are getting a bad rap. >> the most important thing to take away from the study, they should continue to use precautions they take away in their life but no reason or panic that the kocause of tox mosis really comes from undercooked food. >> reporter: about a third of people have a latent parasite without signs and symptoms and in most people it poses no problem. but dr. marshall says it's a good reminder of expectant mothers and those with weak immune systems. >> i think individuals should definitely not get rid of the family cat based on this study. it's a good time to think about things like the importance of good hygiene in handling pets. >> this study does raise interesting questions whether infections and parasites can alter the brain and lead to mental illness. keep in mind a third of the population has the infection an doesn't know it although it can be detected through a blood test. >> you have cat? >> i do not have a cat. there were a lot of cat lovers sensitive and saw these headlines and we hope we addressed these issues. >> thank you very much, lisa. >> to our international viewer, more news coming up next. for our viewers in north america, hillary clinton says, sorry, and that breaks a de deadlock between pakistan and afghanistan. and mitt romney takes a spin on a jet ski. anything wrong with that? how is this possible? proper tire inflation, by using proper grades of oil, your car runs more efficiently, saves gas. you could be doing this right now? yes i could, mike. i'm slowing you down? yes you are. my bad. the works fuel saver package. just $29.95 or less after rebate. only at your ford dealer. so, to sum up, you take care of that, you take care of these, you save a bunch of this. that works. delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet the house is considering a bill to close thousands of offices, slash service and layoff over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains $5 billion a year from post office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. house bill 2309 is not the answer. tox so plasma gondi parasite ask me. 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why do we still need 16,000 people working at the huge billion dollar u.s. embassy compound in the green zone in baghdad? it's the largest embassy in the world by far. in comparison, a very modest iraqi embassy on massachusetts avenue in washington, home to maybe a couple dozen iraqi diplomats. beyond that, i heard from people returning from iraq the government in baghdad has become increasingly nasty to u.s. diplomats, private government contractors and u.s. military personnel, the few hundred that remain there. i've heard so many stories indeed, if you're an american, it's very unpleasant right now to serve in baghdad. guess who the iraqi prime minister nouri uri al maliki sh government is actually warming up to now? their shiite neighbor, iran. i think it's fair to say the big regional winner in the removal of saddam husain is iran. now some u.s. lawmakers say it's time to completely shut down the u.s. aid program to iraq among them republican jason from utah and the government reform subcomplete. here's what he told me in the "situation room." >> what are we really getting out of this? why is the government itself treating us so poorly when we're doing nothing but helping at this point? >> other critics go further and say it's time for iraqis to start repaying america for the more than $1 trillion u.s. taxpayers shelled out to liberate their country. that's what stood out to me today. walter pincus of the "washington post," thank you for bringing that thought to me as i got up this morning. let's get to the top stories. kate is here in the "situation room." i'm a little fired up, as you can tell. >> i like you fired up. i think our viewers do, too. another thing to get fired up, folks are still dealing with the aftermath. it has been four days and almost a million and a half people across 11 states still have no power. the situation in west virginia, people stuck in their homes and some with downed trees and they're lucky to have running water at all. one person said her power was restored a little while, flash of hope but then flicked out again. >> we cleaned out the refrigerators and restocked them and now we may lose the second batch of food. you just have to live with no wat water. it's an in kconvenience. we're making it. >> som lewisburg, the town we're talking about in west virginia, says the town's water reserve tanks are slowly refilling tonight. strong words today from the head of the international monetary fund, christine lagarde. she says the world wants to know how u.s. lawmakers plan to avoid tax hikes and painful spending cuts. she says if washington can't work it out fast, the impact could be global. >> the threat, only the threat of delay in raising the debt ceiling and the fiscal cliff could weaken growth already this year and should they materialize because no agreement can be reached the domestic effects would be severe with negative spillovers to the rest of the world. >> it goes both ways. the imf also warned europe's debt crisis could slow u.s. growth. the chief executive of one of the world's largest banks has quit over a scandal involving interest rate fixing. barclays ceo bob diamond resigned after his bank shelled out 450 million dollars to settle the accusations. he's not the only executive to step down and seems this is far from over. here's our own richard quest. >> kate, when bob diamond resigned and the chief operating officer also went, barclays lost three of its top executives and still the scandal shows no sign of going away. diamond is going to give etched and answer questions for the members of parliament at the house of commons on wednesday. the core question is what did you know and when did you know it? also, they'll be asking about the bank of england's role in all this, did they give a nod and a wink resultisuggesting ba actions are okay. it is focused how far and how wide this era of irresponsibility went. which banks were involved and who knew what. if anything is clear tonight, it seems there are many more banks that still have to come clean. kate. >> richard, thank you so much. syrian president, assad says he regrets taking down a jet last month and said they thought the plane belonged to israel and that's why they fired. the incident ratcheted up tensi tensions. turk turkey bumt its forces and said it's ready to protect against hostile action. it was once close with assad but very qucritical of the brutal cracksdown. >> hundreds of died in the last few days. >> nearly 1500 killed in the uprising brutal of the syrian dictatorship and thousands fled to turkey, jordan, elsewhere. >> those numbers are astounding. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> hillary clinton says sorry and that one word alone is all it took to end a standoff between pakistan and the united states, a;w> standoff that alre cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and caused serious complications for american troops in afghanistan. jill doughtery is joining us with details. we spoke about this last night in the "situation room." it looked like they were getting close to a deal and now they have a deal. >> yeah, they did. it hinged on that one word, sorry. in a way, if you look at it, the apology wasn't such a big deal but the administration made it a big deal, made it matter of principle and the pakistanis did, too. >> for seven month, trucks carrying critical supplies for nato troops from afghanistan to pakistan have stood idle gathering dust with tarps on it and it cost taxpayers $100 million more a morning. all that largely because the u.s. refused to say one simple word, sorry. regrets, condolence, but not sorry for a u.s. air strike in any of that killed 24 pakistani soldiers. tuesday, in a written statement, secretary of state hillary clinton finally apologized. >> foreign minister karzai and i recognize the mistakes. f foreign minister khar and i acknowledged the mistakes that resulted in the loss of pakistani military lives. we are sorry for the loss suffered by the pakistani military. we are committed to working closely with pakistan and afghanistan to prevent this from ever happening again. they stuck close to the script. >> we are both sorry for the loss suffered by both our countries in this fight against terrorists. >> the apology opens up ground supply lines into afghanistan with pakistan agreeing not to raise fees of $250 per truck. at one point, pakistan demarineded $5,000 for each vehicle. it also may help mend relations between the two countries. ripped apart by anger over the u.s. use of drones and the killing of osama bin laden on pakistani soil. sharon said she was glad the break through was not part of any transaction. she appreciates secretary clinton's statement and hopes that bilegal ties can move to a better place from here. the u.s. says one expert hurt itself by making the apology a big deal. this may help put relations back on track. >> we made a mountain out of a molehill and that damaged our own interests in afghanistan and across the region is far higher by this relationship flailing than by actually acknowledging when mistakes were made. >> this is good news both for the united states and pakistan because the u.s., after all, gets the shipments, convoys rolling back into afghanistan and pakistan could end up with about $1.1 billion from the united states for the counter-terrorism efforts by its military. wolf. >> thanks for that report. coming up, he's a potential romney vice-presidential running mate that just called a reporter an idiot. is new jersey governor chris christie ready to be vice president of the united states? coming up at 37 past the hour. up next -- >> when you talk to people you know, not necessarily a close family, you tell them what you do, what do they say to you? >> they think i should get my head examined. firefighters who jump out of planes right into the middle of the flames. we'll meet the smoke jumper, at 13 past the hour. [ manager 1 ] out here in the winds, i have to know the weather patterns. i upgraded to the new sprint direct connect. so i can get three times the coverage. [ chirp ] [ manager 2 ] it's like working in a giant sandbox with all these huge toys. and with the fastest push-to-talk... i can keep track of them all. [ chirp ] [ chirp ] [ male announcer ] upgrade to the new "done." with access to the fastest push-to-talk and three times the coverage. now when you buy one kyocera duracore rugged phone, for $49.99, you'll get four free. visit a sprint store, or call 855-878-4biz. [ chirp ] visit a sprint store, or call 855-878-4biz. would you mind if to be i go ahead of you?omer. instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. i don't have to use gas. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. drive around town all the time doing errands and never ever have to fill up gas in the city. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. the last time i went to the gas station must have been about three months ago. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. ♪ ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. major progress in the battle against devastating colorado wildfires. officials say they expect to have it more than 70% contained by the end of the day. 30,000 people had to evacuate have now returned home. 2,000 are still being held back. about half of them have no home to return to. it's the most destructive fire in state history with two people killed, 346 homes destroyed. fire-fighting is dangerous work all around. one crew faces special risks. they literally literally jump into the flames. here's gary tuchman. >> reporter: in the entire usa there are only 430 of them. they are among the fire-fighting elite. they are the smoke jumpers. >> 10,900 feet. >> reporter: many are in colorado right now, marching on to aircraft, the transportation to the accident. their job, to fly into the fires just as a new ones are starting up and stop them from getting bigger. this is video the smoke jumpers just brought back. it's hard to spot the flames from 1500 feet but the smoke jumpers are trained to see them and all very clear when they're on the ground, nowhere near any roads and sometimes kuwaitquite distance from civilization. if they don't get there quickly, it will spread rapidly. they court danger every day. >> when you talk to people and you them what you do, what do they say to you? >> they say i should get my head examined. >> reporter: part of the reason for that is how they get to the fires. fire-fighting is not an application for the timid, particularly in this specialist. take a look. these guys don't just fight the fires, they skydive into deadly combustible wilderness. we were invited to watch the smoke jumpers train in this junction near grand canyon, colorado. after the smoke jumpers land, their equipment is attached to its own parachute. >> inside the cargo, you find hand tools we use for fighting fires. generally shovels. >> reporter: they all work for the u.s. department of agricultural and interior also have mres, water and sleeping bags in their cargo boxes because they may be in the wilderness up to 48 hours while hauling gear on their backs. >> usually weighs between 1 w00 pounds and we carry it on our ba back. >> reporter: there are many ways to get hurt. philip lynn was seriously hurt when he missed the target. >> had a branch treep come through this pelvis and eviscerate me n. fortunately the person i was with was a trained paramedic. >> reporter: they put out smoke by digging firelines and backfires to top the wildfires in their tracks. they have to get along with each other because their lives depend on each other. >> reporter: are there times you are fearful? >> almost certainly. courage is not the absence of fear but making action in spite of it. >> reporter: there has been no shortage of action this fire season. grand junction, colorado. >> we got our up close look what colorado fires look. when one blaze went through one neighborhood last week, steve joined me today to describe what he saw and recorded with his video camera and also sent a personal and emotional message for people who lost their homes. look at this. >> i think the first place i came around, a road called courtney lane. there were about 15 houses already on fire. i think even in the video, i said, i am so sorry for your loss. i was actually talking to those people losing their homes even though i was taping this for our department. you couldn't help but be affected by it. i knew people's livelihoods were going up in flames literally. the only thing i could think of our department, all the rest of the departments are here, have got to stop this fire and we have got to keep it from spreading. if i can document that, i've done my job and hopefully that's what happened and it did. >> if some of those people lost their homes lost everything are watching right now, is there anything as a professional firefighter you want to say to them right now? >> would say, for those of you that lost your home and lost loved ones in this fire, hang in there, this city has wrapped its loving arms around you. its firefighters will always be here to protect you and we're going to keep doing that until the day we die. >> a courageous firefighter indeed. steve says he believes the worst is in fact over in colorado springs. he hopes everyone can get back to their normal lives soon. i hope so as well. what painful story. >> what an emotional situation. but what hard work he is doing. so glad you were able to get him on today. that was great. coming up, i want to give you a look what is trending in the "situation room" right now. we have our list. feds arrest an online poker executive in connection with a $430 million ponzi scheme his site is accused of running last year. number three, tom cruise turns 50 today and why do we care? his split with katie holmes is stealing some spotlight and the number 2 and 3 top stories congressmaning up in the "situation room." i'm feeling a very strong male spirit present. it's the priceline negotiator. >>what? >>sorry. he wants you to know about priceline's new express deals. it's a faster way to get a great hotel deal without bidding. pick one with a pool, a gym, a great guest rating. >>and save big. >>thanks negotiator. wherever you are. ya, no. he's over here. >>in the refrigerator? this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone likes a bit of order in their life. virtual wallet helps you get it. keep track of spending, move money with a slide, and use the calendar. all to see your money how you want. ♪ what's making news on cnn, iran is flexing military muscle with three games of war games. the rocket are part of an exercise including a missile dubbed the radar buster. and it can be seen from space in this nasa photo and there's deep concern iran might try to close the vital trade route as well as the ongoing dispute over its nuclear program. the pentagon has quietly deployed more ships through the strait, some carrying ships that could reach deep inside iran. i talked to the dean of the john hopkins school of advanced international studies in washington, a former advisor to late u.s. envoy, richard holbrooke. i asked him how bad this situation is right now. >> i don't think it's as bad as it sounds. i think both sides are following the same strategy, to use pressure to get leverage at the talks. we threaten military action in order to get the iranian's attention. iranians are threatening closure of the straits of hormuz and military exercises in order to get our attention. what we're seeing is what we usually see in diplomacy, when diplomacy begins to slow down, both sides flex their muscles to alert the other side. do you think these painful sanctions imposed on iran in the end will stop them from going forward with a nuclear weapons program? >> no. i think what the sanctions will do is bring them to the table. unless there is a deal on the table, they will not surrender unilaterally. we have to use the sanctions as an opening but have to have something on the table in order to engage them in a deal. >> iran's war games started yesterday and scheduled to continue through tomorrow. lot of concern over there what's going on between iran, the u.s. and the strait of hormuz. >> ablutely. i will go back to our trending list to get everybody up to date. number 4, as we said before the break, online poker ceo arrested in a multi-tip million ponzi scene. number 2, tom cruise turns 50 and number 3, what is this? good be a new game from microsoft or nothing at all. they snagged the domain name today and some are wondering what that means. some sad news, actor andy griffith has died at the age of 86. here's what he told our larry king about his show's success. >> the basic theme of our show was love. all the characters loved each other and all the actors loved each other, too. >> griffith went on to win over a whole new audience in the '80s as matlock and awarded the presidential medal of freedom in 2005. >> he should have. he was great. i grew up watching andy griffith. >> fabulous. >> i'm not going to whistle. >> you do have great -- >> i will do it during the commercial. >> u.s. polls show surprising numbers on the economy. what do they mean for the presidential race? we will debate that coming up. at 47 after the hour, the politics of presidential vacations. why appearances matter. ♪ how are things on the west coast? ♪ ♪ i hear you... ♪ rocky mountain high ♪ rocky, rocky mountain high ♪ ♪ all my exes live in texas ♪ ♪ born on the bayou [ female announcer ] the perfect song for everywhere can be downloaded almost anywhere. ♪ i'm back, back in the new york groove ♪ [ male announcer ] the nation's largest 4g network. covering 2,000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. rethink possible. election day is a little more than four months away. if there was any doubt what issue number one is, let me quote our cnn political contributor, james carville, it's the economy, stupid. no doubt about that. kate, you have surprising numbers in these brand new cnn poll. >> these are surprising, definitely what we're talking about. we all know unemployment has been stuck at 8.2% a few months, 12.7 million americans without work. turns out people are actually feeling optimistic. check out this new cnn roc poll. when we asked how people feel about the economy in the next 12 months, 60% said they feel good. 39% said poor. the reason this is even more important, compare that to last october, the numbers have reversed. back then, 60% said they had a gloomy economic outlook for the year ahead. i found those numbers absolutely fascining. >> we skill discuss that. we have an excellent panel to discuss it sitting around this "roundtable," maybe oval. democratic strategist, welcome to the table and republican strategist, alice stewart is here and "time" magazine correspondent, michael share. good to have all three of you. i want to get your quick reaction, allen west, republican congressman from south florida, says outrageous things from time-to-time, 70 members of the democratic party in the house, card carrying members of the communist party. now, he said this about the president of the united states. listen closely. >> he does not want you to have sel self-esteem of getting up and earning, to have that title of american. he'd rather ow be his slave. >> now, i was pretty outraged by that. he would rather have you, meaning americans, be your slave. i asked the chairman of the republican party, he was in the "situation room" in the last hour, to react. listen to what he said. >> allen west is one of the most dynamic new republican stars in our party, number one. he has a bright future. >> he went on and on. he's in an awkward position. you're a good republican. you react to that. >> he probably could have found a better word for that n. the fact of the matter is, what we have with this administration is more people on food stamps than ever before. we have 23 million americans out of work. what he did when he came into office, he promised to turn the economy around, promised to put people back to work, promised to in still confidence in this economy and he hasn't. the middle class people, those are tremendous promises. >> people on food stamps out of work slaves? >> no, it doesn't. it does make them dependent on our government and we can't have that. we need to in still confidence in our economy and create an environment for job creators to put people back to work. >> this is pretty cut and dried. i's distasteful, dishonorable. should be completely put at a distance. i'm sitting next to a very smart woman who has a terrific reputation. she's in an awkward position because she's here to represent her own party as was the chairman. >> you have been in an awkward position when democrats said outrageous things about republicans. i hate that. >> distasteful is distasteful and should be called for whatever it is. >> we have to do whatever we can to end that garbage talk. i have covered politics for a long time. the atmosphere out there is awful right now. to hear politicianings. >> no more than usual. >> pretty bad. >> the irony is we're now talking about it. it works in a way. allen west -- >> why does he do this? >> he gets on the news and fund raises off this. we have had five or six years, members of the house in both parties who specialize in saying outrageous insulting ridiculous things to get them on the news they can put in fund-raising solicitations. we're in a very angry country and there are portions of the electorate that respond to this. >> the president came into office and promised he would try his best to change things. you can't blame him for what allen west said but the atmosphere out there is pretty brutal. >> the atmosphere is quite bad. most of america is not angry and wants this to work. your polls showed that. optimism is at the core of what america is about and the chance to get up tomorrow and do better. there is a vocal minority on the extremes of both parties hinder progress. when somebody like barack obama steps up and says, here's a plan, here's what i think we ought to do with the american jobs act, here's what i suggest, here's where i'm going in negotiations with republicans willing to do it and the extremes from both sides try to put a stop to it. that's where the problem is? they're more hopeful now than only a few months ago. our new poll, we got the numbers, almost been a complete reversal you think things will be better in the next year in october, only 39% thought they would be better, now up to 60%. >> look at that flip. >> is that a concern for the incumbe incumbent? >> it's not a concern. we're seeing more and more time and time again more and more people trust mitt romney to turn it around and create jobs more than the president. >> be precise. among independents, you're right. independent voters, 51% romney is better to handle the economy than the president, 42%. but among all registered voters, it's virtually even. >> right. you and i both know this race will be decided among the independents currently undecided swayed between now and november they have the plan to create jobs and turn the economy around. >> democrats? >> i say when i look at some of the swing voter groups, let me disclose, i have done work on the research project and recently got to watch focus groups. two things that strike me and match up with where some of your research is, they look upped and said they didn't necessarily feel like things were great now, they felt like things were tougher than they've ever been. by the same token you ask them what was dominant in their lives today, talking about things beyond the economy that showed they were feeling the lift there. the other thing was there was some value in giving somebody time. >> it's fair to say these new numbers, four months to go, this is incredibly tight. >> incredibly tight. what matters more than the numbers is the change in the numbers, the direction the numbers are headed. right now, it looks good for the president. four months away. friday's job numbers could change everything again. >> we'll continue after the break. coming up, new jersey governor chris christie said he would listen if he got the vice-presidential call, but could words like this keep him out of the race. look at this. >> did i stay on topic? are you stupid? on topic. on topic. >> we're talking deep stakes. next, among other things. stick around. you're in the situation. ♪ hello...rings ♪ what the... what the... what the... ♪ ♪ are you seein' this? ♪ uh-huh... uh-huh... uh-huh... ♪ ♪ it kinda makes me miss the days when we ♪ ♪ used to rock the microphone ♪ back when our credit score couldn't get us a micro-loan ♪ ♪ so light it up! ♪ even better than we did before ♪ ♪ yeah prep yourself america we're back for more ♪ ♪ our look is slacker chic and our sound is hardcore ♪ ♪ and we're here to drop a rhyme about free-credit-score ♪ ♪ i'm singing free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ dot-com narrator: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com. welcome back. we're here again with republican strategist alice stewart and ki kiki. along with michael. welcome back. let's talk about governor chris christie. first, i want you to listen to something the new jersey governor and romney surrogate said earlier today. >> i'm the governor of new jersey. i thank every day i do my job and love being governor. the fact is if governor romney picks up the phone and calls, you have to answer the call and listen at least. >> so he says you have to at least listen. veepstakes continue. however, this is something getting wolf a tad bit fired up. this is what this potential vice-presidential candidate also said to a reporter this weekend. >> on monday, are you going to be addressing -- >> did i say on topic? are you stupid? on topic. on topic. next question. good. thank you. thank you all very much. i'm sorry for the idiot over there. take care. >> wow. >> is he ready for primetime. >> he makes you crazy and you crazy. let me tell you why. i like chris christie. i think he's a smart guy, powerful governor. he does not understand what the american press is all about. he has a photo opportunity. his job to say whatever he wants. it's our job as journalists to ask questions. he can come back and say, you know what, i'm not answering your question. then to call him an idiot and stupid. that is ridiculous and obscene and probably, he should apologize. i don't know if he has. he should call up that reporter, i appreciate the first amendment, you're doing your job, asking a serious question about the economy, i apologize to you or for on worldwide television calling you an idiot. >> i feel like there should be mutual respect between journalists and politicians. the first half of my career i was a journalist. when a news conference is called on topic, you try to respect that. he had the rite to say what he said in public but never call someone stupid. show respect. >> this is what people love about chris christie. >> no, it's not. >> as somebody who has -- >> there's other things we love about chris christie. >> as somebody who has traveled as a spokesperson on the vice president presidenti presidental committees, i got to be the press patrol and show up with the flowers and say let's go. as much as you get tired and irritated, it's not about the relationship you and them. i have two 7 year-olds in the green room and i don't want them to think it's okay for grownups to call people an idiot and i want leadership in control. if i'm on a vp vetting team, if i looked up and saw a guy who was showing his testosterone rather than -- >> mike, what irritate mess is when the president of the united states goes into the briefing room, the press briefing room at the white house and makes a statement and refuses to answer reporters questions. let him go to the east room or rose garden, south lawn of the white house, oval office or read a statement. if he's going to "meet the press," he's got to answer reporters' questions. that irritate mess, d disrespectful to the news media. >> also an issue when he comes to the briefing room and we wait for him to call on us. it's our briefing room. we should be demanding questions and not letting the white house choose the order. this is an example of why chris christie, not that we need it a lot more is unlikely to be picked as the next vice president. i actually disagree with you. mitt romney doesn't want his vice president to be the story. chris christie is a guy who loves being the story. continue maybe it's not using insult language, this tough talking chris christie is all over youtube and published bhis campaign on youtube and he is a guy who goes to town home meetings and ask him a question and he pushes it back as the tough guy. people do love that. i agree with you on the merits here, beating on the press is -- >> i still think he should apologiz apologize. >> be a grownup. >> i've gone to a lot of photo on, they don't want to ask questions, like tony blair and people went crazy in london when i dared ask a question. there will be no questions. what is this, russia? the soviet union, this is america. if a reporter wants to ask a question, you don't have to answer but you don't have to call me idiot or stupid. makes me crazy. >> really? >> thank you? >> kate also has a check on what's going on at the white house and beyond. >> there is a lot going on. vice president joe biden, speaking of vice presidents, he is going after mitt romney this time telling teachers to be aware of the republican candidate. liste listen. >> you guys, educators, teachers, you're under full-blown assault. governor romney and his allies in the congress, their plan for public education in america is to let the states use title i dollars to boost enrollment in private schools. >> biden was speaking to a crowd of more than 15,000 people at the national education association's convention here in washington. a spokesperson for romney at the romney campaign released a statement saying the vice president is doubling down on failing policies and that romney will put students first. turning to national security, graduate students at the university of texas hijacked a civilian drone. don't worry, the school says it was actually part of a challenge issued by none other than the department of homeland security. how did the researchers do it? a technique called spoofing that involves taking over the aircraft's gps, way above my pay grade to know how it happens. thanks to changing times at the pentagon, a chance to make history. this is great. the 21-year-old could have joined the army by now but by waiting she became the first woman to enlist in one of six new combat support jobs that opened up to women this past name. she will help maintain heavy duty tanks, once she gets through basic training. i love the opportunity to say, you go, girl. >> i love that, too. good luck to her, all the women out there. appreciate it. it's a major major decision that could have huge political repercussions. most of us can go anywhere we want on vacation. not the president of the united states, not someone who wants to be the president of the united states, all that and more coming up. o ow the weather patterns. i upgraded to the new sprint direct connect. so i can get three times the coverage. [ chirp ] [ manager 2 ] it's like working in a giant sandbox with all these huge toys. and with the fastest push-to-talk... i can keep track of them all. [ chirp ] [ chirp ] [ male announcer ] upgrade to the new "done." with access to the fastest push-to-talk and three times the coverage. now when you buy one kyocera duracore rugged phone, for $49.99, you'll get four free. visit a sprint store, or call 855-878-4biz. [ chirp ] plan ag ning a vacation can certainly be difficult. when you're the president of the united states or wanting to be the president of the united states can be difficult politically speaking. joining us now on the politics of a presidential vacation. dan, what's the risk? >> reporter: you know, it's those images, visuals, voters out there concerned about the economy. my question the president's vacation plan. the white house says that isn't driving their decision but this summer, martha's vineyard is out. call it the politics of perception. presidential vacations are always scrutinized. throw in an election year and where they go or what they do can overshadow the message at a critical time. >> politically, they can be doub double-edged swords. >> richard covered the white house from presidents reagan to george w. bush. if you're vacationing at times when times are not good, it doesn't look good to the public and you have to be careful what kind of image you project. >> reporter: martha's vineyard was the president's vacation for several years and rented a pricey house and took trips into town to eat or for a good book. but vacationing on what is partly a playground for the rich and famous while painting your opponent as an out of touch elitist may not former president bill clinton and his advisers were keenly aware of the images and planned accordingly. this is the summer of '93, a yacht ride in new england with the kennedys. but in re-election mode, the clintons traded martha's vineyard for jackson hole, wyoming in 1996. >> wonderful. >> reporter: it's not just the incumbent who has to be careful about vacation plans. in 2004, presidential hopeful senator john kerry went wind surfing and ran into a wave of republican criticism. these images were used by the bush campaign to reinforce the narrative that kerry's positions changed with the wind. >> kerry voted for the iraq war, opposed it, supported it, and now opposes it again. >> reporter: republican hopeful mitt romney isn't making any changes to his vacation tradition. unwinding at his expensive lakeside compound in new hampshire where cameras caught romney and his wife splashing around on the wave runner. the large family also engages in competitive, olympic-style games. >> everybody knows he's wealthy. everybody knows he's not like everybody else in terms of his background. and he wants to play up, i think, the family image. >> reporter: now, his senior adenyan administration official told me the first family will take several smaller trips, but it's unclear when the trips will take place or where they will go. wolf? >> a lot of people think, me included, he might want to go to some of those battleground states, maybe colorado, ohio, michigan, some nice vacation places around there, right? >> reporter: that's right. we've even heard virginia or north carolina, but at this point, no indication yet from the white house where they will be traveling this summer for their shorter vacation. >> my feeling, let them go on vacation enjoy with the family. if they like martha's vineyard, let them go to martha's vineyard. >> i've never had a problem with the vacations. as long as i get one as well. >> yes, you will. >> all right. here's one of the stories just coming into "the situation room." the jetblue pilot who after an emergency landing has been found not guilty by reason of insanity. clayton osbon was facing charges of interfering with a flight crew. he is now unergoing another mental evaluation. also, no charges for former commerce secretary john brycean. the district attorney's office says there is insufficient evidence to prosecute him on a car crash. bryceson resigned june 21st. and 2011 was bill clinton's most lucrative year ever on the speech circuit. the former president made $13.4 million for 54 speeches, a very busy man. that brings his total speaking fees to $89 million in the 11 years since he left office. clinton is under strict disclosure requirements, because his wife is, of course, secretary of state. >> a lot of speaking and a lot of money. >> that's a lot of speaking and a lot of money. >> believes in the first amendment, except no free speech. >> what? >> paid for the speeches. >> don't spring jokes on me. you know i'm slow. a customer on a rampage trashes a mobile phone store. it's the latest video to go viral on the internet. cnn's jeanne moos is next. e. until i got a job in the big apple. adjusting to city life was hard for me. and becoming a fulltime indoor cat wasn't easy for atti. but we had each other and he had purina cat chow indoor. he absolutely loved it. and i knew he was getting everything he needed to stay healthy indoors. and after a couple of weeks, i knew we were finally home! 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[ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: his name is jason codmer, on the facebook fan page, just called angry t-mobile guy. everyone's favorite vigilante. when police finally arrived and arrested him for criminal damage, his look said no need to get rough. after they put on the cuffs, he was nodding and smiling pleasantly. as police broke up the crowd, his amazing rampage had traffic. and is still attracting online. >> all i can do is cheer him on. yes! >> reporter: considering how much we all love our phones, that sure is a lot of pent-up anger at phone companies. >> i don't feel sorry for t-mobile. them jokers, they rippin somebody off. >> reporter: but for every i feel your pain, man, another post saying this behavior is inexcusab inexcusable. t-mobile says the customer wanted a refund. a refund we were not able to give, as it was clearly outside the stated terms and conditions. but some of the angry guy's fans said they sometimes felt like doing what he did. >> well, what is that going to prove? nothing. i would just feel better! >> reporter: one clever youtuber played the angry guy video backwards and titled it happy man attempts to repair damaged mobile phone shop. this tantrum now joins other memorable rampages. for instance, the russian doctor who rammed his car into showroom vehicle after vehicle after he got fed up with waiting for his car to be fixed. and the woman who stiff-armed bottles at a liquor store after she says the clerk used the phrase "you people," while refusing to let her use the rest room. in this case, the t in t-mobile stood for trashed. and their slogan, "life's for sharing," this cell phone video is sure getting shared, along with comments, like, "can you hear me now?" >> i don't recommend it, but what that guy did -- kudos to him, man! >> reporter: jeanne moos, new york. >> you don't mess around -- >> jason, the t-mobile guy. i've been mad about a cell phone bill before, but -- >> you don't go up and down. >> i always wonder, did this happen before youtube? did people do this before -- >> now we see it. >> oh, my goodness. >> thanks very much. that's it for us. thanks very much for joining us. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. remember, the conversation continues.

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