farewell fly b-by as discovery hitches a ride on the jet and heads for a museum. i'm wolf blitzer, and you're in i'm wolf blitzer, and you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com this just coming in to "the situation room." we are live here in brussels, belgium. i'll have the exclusive joint interview tomorrow with the secretary of state hillary clinton and the defense secretary leon panetta tomorrow from nato headquarters right outside brussels. lots to discuss including the situation in afghanistan. certainly a crisis right now and what's going on with iran and its nuclear program north korea and a lot to discuss with the secretary of state and secretary of defense. i just got in to brussels and flew in with the secretary of defense just a little while ago, but right now we want to get to politics. we have a brand new cnn poll that's just coming out and it sheds new light on the presidential race. look at this. 56% have a favorable opinion of president obama. that's what they think of him as a person and not necessarily his performance as president of the united states. 42% have an unfavorable view. 44% view mitt romney favorably. 43% have an unfavorable view of the presumptive republican presidential nominee. 13%, by the way, still aren't sure. so is mitt romney already rebounding to a certain degree from the low point of the very nafky republican primaries as he prepares for november? let's go live to our national political correspondent, jim acosta. he's watching all of this unfold. what's the latest, jim? >> cnn/orc polling is significant because polling suggested mitt romney was in a much weaker position heading into this general election season and you know, everything mitt romney is doing this week suggests he is attempting something of a reset for the general election campaign. the question is just how often his campaign will have to hit the reset button. mitt romney is hard at work on his general election checklist, like firing up tea party activists who were divided during the gop primaries, check. >> this campaign is just getting going. >> or getting up close and personal with voters who may have doubts he can relate to them. >> i think this election will come down to jobs and kids who has the capacity to create good jobs. >> or picking up one of those last high-profile endorsements still out there. check. >> it is clear now that mitt romney is going to be our nominee. i think mitt romney has a set of economic policies that can put americans back to work and, frankly, contrast sharply with the failed economic policies of president obama. >> reporter: and even explain shame for the dog riding atop the family car for the last time. >> the car loved it. >> but the dog got sick, right? >> once. we traveled all of the time and he ate the turkey on the counter. i mean, he had the runs. >> reporter: romney is tighe up these loose ends for good reason. the latest cnn/orc poll shows his favorability numbers which took a nosedive during the primaries are only now starting to recover. so romney is doing some campaign house keeping and he's beefing up his staff, more 20-somethings staffing the camp company's war roomas we saw inside romney headquarters, monitoring gop content about the contender. >> if you can't go home and get everybody in your lives to clean house in this vile, evil, america-hating administration, i don't even know what you're made out of. >> there are plenty of distractions to keep the campaign busy like rock 'n' roller ted neugent who went on an incendiary rant at a rifle association event last week. >> if barack obama becomes president in november again, i will either be dead or in jail by this time next year. why are you laughing? do you think that's funny? that's not funny at all. i'm serious as a heart attack. >> it's been fun getting to know nugent. >> reporter: the dnc welcomed nugent's endorsement including the nra comments. >> we need to ride into the battlefield and chop their heads off in november. >> after an hour of silence on the controversy the romney campaign put out a statement. mitt romney believes everyone needs to be civil. >> reporter: and mitt romney will have another chance to reset the campaign narrative tomorrow in charlotte and that is where he will be giving what he is calling a pre-buttal to the president's convention speech that the president will be delivers later this summer in north carolina. the trick, as of late, is staying in control of the narrative and not strong reset it every day. wolf? >> what are they saying, the romney folks about the new york times story today saying he's likely to raise about $800 million to try to beat president obama between his own campaign, his pro-romney super pac, and other republican super pacs and the republican national committee and the $800 million number. what are they saying about that? >> reporter: wolf, we have tried all day to get the romney campaign to respond to that report. as of right now they have not. as you have seen, there is a lot of reporting on that figure. it's an eye-popping number and the romney campaign will have to raise that kind of money if they'll have to take on the president. it's been reported that the president's re-election campaign may raise along with the dnc $1 billion although there are democrats who push back on that number also, wolf. >> yea. whoever -- there will be a ton, a ton of money that will be going toward advertising in those key battleground states. hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars and maybe $1 billion when the dust settles in november. jim acosta, thanks very much. let's dig deeper with our chief political analyst gloria borger and she's watching these situations unfold. gloria, the president's favorable rating, 56% and romney's 44%, but that's an improvement for romney and still very early, is it? can we make hard and fast conclusions as to this snapshot right now? >> no, we really can't, wolf. look, they just finished a really bruising republican primary process and what we can say about mitt romney, i was talking to some of his people today is that they're pleased that the numbers seem to be moving in the right direction. take a look at this. favorable opinion of mitt romney, now 44%, but back in february when we were in the middle of those primaries it was ten points less, and there's one more thing that could also be working for mitt romney. while the public really likes barack obama as you pointed out earlier, they're less approving of the job president obama is doing. take a look at this. his approval rate is 49%. that's the president's. his disapproval rate is 48%, wolf. so a lot less than his favorability, and by the way, about 3 three to five points behind where bill clinton was, ronald reagan was and george w. bush was as they embarked upon their re-election. >> yea. the people like him a lot more than they approve of the job they're doing and they like him as a person more than the performance so far. i think it's clear, though, that six and a half months and there's still plenty of time for people to change their minds and make up their minds and get their enthusiasm level stronger on both sides. >> in fact, our poll shore, wolf, that people have not made up their minds about mitt romney. we asked voters whether they had enough information right now to vote and they said about mitt romney that 45% said they know enough, but look at that number. plan to give him a second look. 53%, and this is just what jim acosta was talking about. because the romney campaign wants to start now to re-introduce mitt romney to the american public. now, when you talk to the people rung barack obama's campaign, they want to remind voters about what this primary was like and particularly hispanic voters where they believe he moved far to the right on immigration issues. so as the romney campaign wants to push the reset button as jim acosta puts it, the barack obama campaign wants to say, not so fast, we'll keep reminding you what happened during the divisive primaries, wolf? we certainly are. gloria, thank you. taking heat from republicans for the high prices. president obama calls for a crackdown on oil speculators. let's turn to our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin. she's working the story. jessica, what's going on here? >> reporter: wolf, you remember when president obama campaigned for office he attacked then president bush for letting gas prices stay high. well, when president bush found that all else failed, guess what he blamed for high gas prices -- illegal market manipulation. gas moving up to an average of $3.90 on tax day the president blamed wall street. >> we can't afford a situation where speculators artificially manipulate markets by buying up oil, creating the per session of a shortage and driving prices higher only to flip the oil for a quick profit. >> reporter: he called on congress to pass a package of reforms that includes higher penalties, stepped up enforcements and more data collection to help crack down on illegal market manipulation. spooker boehner says not so fast. >> where is his federal trade commission? where is the sec? he's got agencies there. instead of just another political gimmick, why didn't he put the administration to work to get to the bottom of it. >> reporter: with republicans to get control of the house don't expect this to become law any time soon. the white house must have proof that the illegal activity is driving up oil prices, right? or do they? attorney general holder heads a task force dedicated to finding fraud in the nation's energy markets. he said if illegal conduct is responsible for increasing gas prices, state and federal authorities should take swift action. that was a year ago. the department of justice tells cnn to date they have not charged a single firm or individual. according to the white house, two other agencies have opened cases against firms for a potential manipulation and notice the president's argument keeps changing. recall two months ago the president blames the high price of gas on the middle east. >> the single biggest thing that's causing the price of oil to spike right now is instability in the middle east. >> he said in the future, the problem is elsewhere. >> over the long term the biggest reason oil prices will probably keep going up is going to countries like china, india and brazil. >> reporter: an independent analyst says the focus speculators isn't all bad. >> what you have is a political response to a political problem pt the proposals say we're looking something to look out for the consumer. the problem is fundamentals. we're energy importers and we'll be kapt testify global energy prices. >> reporter: and move on the political front by blaming wall street for the high price of gas that allows going forward, that would allow the president to draw an alliance between, say, for example, wall street speculators and his opponent mitt romney who the campaign, the obama campaign likes to tie to wall street. for his part, mr. romney says that this is just another example of president obama's, quote, government by gimmick and he dismissis this proposal to crack down on oil speculator, and out of hand. he, like the republicans in congress believe that the current rules and the current agencies could crack down on illegal speculation if it's there to be cracked down on, wolf? >> yea. price of a gallon of gasoline will be a huge issue going forward between now and november. jessica yellin reporting for us. thank you. meanwhile, a growing prostitution scandal is swirling around the u.s. secret service. we have new details of what the white house is saying about the agency's director. also, the extraordinary sight that had thousands of people from florida to washington, d.c. staring into the sky. why hasn't rick santorum endorsed mitt romney yet? i'll ask his former spokeswoman alice stewart. she and james carville, they are both standing by live for our "strategy session." [ pilot ] flying teaches me to prepare for turbulence. the key is to have a good strategy. the same goes for my retirement. with the plan my financial advisor and i put together, a quick check and i know my retirement is on course. [ male announcer ] with wells fargo advisor's envision plan, you always know where you stand. in fact, 93 percent of envision plan holders say they will retire on their own terms. get started on the plan you need today -- wells fargo advisors. together we'll go far. wells fargo advisors. are you still sleeping? just wanted to check and make sure that we were on schedule. the first technology of its kind... mom and dad, i have great news. is now providing answers families need. siemens. answers. guys. come here, come here. [ telephone ringing ] i'm calling my old dealership. [ man ] may ford. hi, yeah. do you guys have any crossovers that offer better highway fuel economy than the chevy equinox? no, sorry, sir. we don't. oh, well, that's too bad. [ man ] kyle, is that you? [ laughs ] [ man ] still here, kyle. [ male announcer ] visit your local chevy dealer today. right now, very well qualified lessees can get a 2012 equinox ls for around $229 a month. 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? jack cafferty is here with "the cafferty file." >> wolf, call it your government gone wild as details of the secret service and gsa scandals emerge, there's growing sense that washington isn't always working for the people who pay their salaries. that would be you and me, the taxpayers. the secret service has now do you thinked the security clearances of 11 member accused of bringing hookers to a colombian hotel. the investigation also includes at least five, maybe as many as ten members of the u.s. military who were working there as part of an advanced team ahead of president obama's trip. reuters reports there were as many as 21 prostitutes involved. if it's true, this is more than disgraceful, more than a moral lapse. it's a threat to national security. reports are some of the secret service agents who brought prostitutes to their hotel room his copies of the president's schedule lying around and were apparently bragging that they were there to protect president obama. it's not the first time the secret service has lapsed, either. the most glaring example, remember in 2009, an uninvited couple managed to crash a white house state dinner? there were inside the white house ing inneling with the president and his guests. meanwhile, the gsa official at the center of the $823,000 lavish conference is refusing to answer any questions. jeff neely, do we have the picture? there he is, sitting in the hot tub in vegas with his wine. that's a lovely shot. he organized the conference in las vegas, and then reportedly took the fifth amendment yesterday when questioned in front of congressman issa's committee and neely might face a criminal investigation. while the gsa was spending thousands of your dollars on m commemorative coins, a team building xer -- this is the kind of stuff that makes americans increasingly disgusted with their government. so far president obama hasn't said a whole lot about any of this, maybe it's time he did. here's the question. in light of the secret service and gsa scandals, who is minding the store? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile. post a comment on my blog or go to my post on the situation room's facebook page. wolf? >> good question, jack. thanks very, very much. >> it was an extraordinary morning in washington, d.c., starting at 10:00 a.m. offices emptied out. traffic snarled as drivers simply ump jed out of their cars and people by the thousands looked to the sky as space shuttle discovery riding piggybacked circled the city for about 45 minutes parking its arrival in its new hometown. cnn aviation correspondent, lizzie o leary is there for us in chantilly, virginia. that's the new hometown for discovery. when will people get a chance to see discovery up close? >> reporter: they'll be able to see it on friday, wolf. behind me, you can see enterprise which is a sister shuttle that never flew into space. so by friday discovery will be in here and people will get in and have a chance to see it. it takes about two days to get discovery off of the roof of that 747, but this shuttle which flew 148 million miles in its life time got to take a very special trip today. >> here we go! >> reporter: after almost 28 years of service and 39 trips into space -- >> and the final liftoff of "discovery." >> reporter: it was one heck of a good-bye party. [ cheering and applause ] >> reporter: unlike many americans "discovery" left florida flying on the back of a special 747. it played tourist in washington, d.c., buzzing the airport and taking in the town, the monument, the national mall and the u.s. capitol, playing to adoring crowds all around the city. >> here it comes. >> oh, wow! >> i remember being a kid coming down from new york with my parents and seeing it launch going out of cape canaveral. >> it was fantastic to see it. it's a wonderful, spiritual thing for the united states. yes, even our washington staff took a peek. discovery's trip was a victory lap of sorts, but it's a final lap for the u.s. shuttle program. after 30 years of flights, would-be astronauts will have to look elsewhere for inspiration. >> that's the plane and that's the rocket. >> reporter: so will former kids who grew up to be nasa legends like "discovery" astronaut joe allen. >> it's a very emotional experience, and i'm sorry that this nation is out of the space travel business for a while, but hopefully we'll get back in. >> reporter: but for now, anyone who wants to discover "discovery" will have to do it here in a museum. now the future of this space flight program, wolf, as you know, in many ways is a commercial one. we are starting to see much more activity on the commercial side. one important thing to remember about discover, i spoke to one of its former astronauts who first joined the program in 1986. this was the shuttle that really got nasa back to the skies after the challenger disaster, so it has a special resonance for the astronauts who watched it today and for the thousands of people who watched it take that final lap and land here in virginia, wolf. >> and they'll have a chance to see it up close very, very soon. thanks very much, lizzie, for that report. michelle obama is speak out about candidates' families and the controversial or rather controversial remarks about mitt romney's wife. we'll hear what the first lady of the united states is saying and we'll talk about that and more with james carville and alice stewart. they're both standing by live in our "strategy session." [ male announcer ] when a major hospital wanted to provide better employee benefits while balancing the company's bottom line, their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ] the chevy cruze eco also offers 42 mpg on the highway. actually, it's cruze e-co, not ec-o. just like e-ither. or ei-ther. or e-conomical. [ chuckling ] or ec-onomical. pa-tato, po-tato, huh? actually, it's to-mato, ta-mato. oh, that's right. [ laughs ] [ car door shuts ] [ male a