wasserman shut who is standing by live. a facebook co-founder unfriends the united states of america on giving us his u.s. citizenship could save him hundreds of millions of taxes when the company goes public. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com democrats have been betting on a big gender gap to give president obama an edge in the november election, they've accused republicans of a war on women and president obama has been going all out to kort female voters, but suddenly a new poll suggests it's mitt romney who may have an edge among women. let's go to brianna keilar. should the president be worried that he's potentially losing his critically important edge with women? >> reporter: wolf, it may be too soon to tell. these poll numbers may not tell the entire story. if we take a look at the poll by cbs news and new york times it does show romney 2 percentage points ahead. one reason to look at this very carefully is because other poll, albeit less recent polls show the president with a major advantage over governor romney and for instance, if you look at our latest poll, the cnn/orc poll it shows president obama with a 16% advantage. the obama campaign, wolf, is pushing back on the methodology of this poll and it's sort of standard if you don't like a poll to push back on it, but it is something to the complaint and this is why. part latest poll that was done in mid-may, they called back people that they had polled in april. they didn't get all of those people. so it was even smaller and the bottom line is it may not be representative of the nation as a whole. so we may have to wait and see other polls before we can make more of a conclusion about which direction, if any, we are going. >> in april when "the new york times" asked that same question the new york times and cbs the president had an advantage 49% of the women in april in the same new york times-cbs poll said they supported president obama and 43% mitt romney and that shifted 44% for barack obama, 46% for mitt romney. there's clearly been a shift in the new york times poll, but the methodology is something that leaves expert pollsters in doubt on the reliability of the new poll and we've seen new polls coming out in the next few days whether it's a trend or if it's a mistake on the part of the new york times and cbs. tell us what the president of the united states is doing to reenergize the female base because without it he'll be a one-term president. >> reporter: that's right. you can tell by his schedule. ya yesterday he was at barnard college a prestigious women's school urging women to fight for a seat at the head of the table and right after that he went to "the view" to talk about the all-female team of hosts there, talking about how to raise daughters in the internet age. >> what sort of rules do you and the first lady have to protect them and guide them? >> first of all, malia didn't get a phone until last year, so sasha still doesn't have one. >> how old is malia? >> she's 14. >> they don't have a facebook page and part of that is security for us. >> reporter: wolf, he also talked about title 9 and its effect on women's athletics and how in his view it's given women more confidence in other areas of more life. he's courting the women's vote big time. he needs the female vote big time, brianna. mitt romney was battled by fellow republicans but he's clearly bounced back and while he's been hammered by democrats, those polls have bounced off our national political correspondent jim acosta is taking a look into this part of the story. >> that's right. polls show mitt romney is hanging tough with president obama and it is simple, the economy. as millions of daytime talk show viewers witnessed earlier today, so does the president. mitt romney is sticking to what appears to be working with voters. his message on the nation's fiscal health. >> this debt is america's nightmare mortgage. this is not just bad economics. it is morally wrong and we must stop it. >> reporter: these days there isn't much that's sticking to romney. >> the objective was to make money. >> reporter: after this pro-obama super pac ad at bane capital to questions about whether he would have taken out osama bin laden to stories about his high school pranks, polls show the gop contender is still neck and neck with the president. the latest usa today gallup poll show they have a favorable view of romney as they have about president obama and americans believe the economy would be better under romney. >> after my divorce i lost my house, and lost my job. that explains why they hand pick voters. >> they all thought, man, this guy will get something done. >> my name is barack obama. it's always tight. barack hussein obama. >> appear on the daytime talk show "the view," still despite being in office for more than three years mr. obama declined to grade himself on the handling of the economy. how do you grade yourself honestly in terms of how you've done in terms of economics? >> you know, i won't give us a letter grade. i think it is still incomplete. >> reporter: the president is still moving backwards, mr. obama once gave himself a b-plus in terms of job performance. >> these have been years of disappointment and of decline and we can put all of that behind us. >> reporter: and romney is even getting help with those awkward campaign comments about his love of lakes and cars. irreverent rap group the gregory brothers have turned it into a mash-up. >> i live for laughter. three stooges. >> reporter: i don't know if you noticed there, wofrl, that was from an interview that you did with the romneys aboard the campaign bus in iowa. democrats counter romney's plans are i throwback to the presidency of george w. bush who told a rotor earlier today i'm from mitt romney. in a statement a spokeswoman said we welcome the president's support as we welcomed his father's. >> they edited me out of there and put someone else in that bus. what took president bush so long to come aboard the romney campaign? not only why did it take president bush, george w. bush, so long to give this endorsement and why did it take the romney campaign so long to get this out there and obviously, this is a different situation to get the endorsement of jeb bush or joern h.w. bush. for the problems that are out from with the economy. so perhaps this sort of lukewarm endorsement and reception of that endorsement, you know, that may speak volumes in just how popular george w. bush still is in this country. >> i think you're absolutely right, jim. thanks very much. let's dig deeper with our chief political analyst gloria borger. how much of a window does the obama campaign and his supporters have for romney and the bane experience. >> this is the point in the campaign, the primary is over for the republicans and you try to define your opponent and the white house takes a look at the polling and they say what's the one area where mitt romney takes barack obama. they also clearly look at the polls which say only a third of the american public thinks they're better off today than they were four years ago. so if you're in the obama campaign and you're saying what cowe have to do? we have to credit mitt romney's believity to manage the economy and tell the american people, you know what? given the job he did at bane capital, he doesn't have the right stuff to be president because he doesn't care about people like him. that's exactly what they're doing right now. there's a risk in this obama strategy. >> yes, it is. fairness is a theme that resonates with the american people. what does not resonate with the american people is class warfare particularly independent voters. they want to aspire to be rich or rich yourself. take a look at this. gallup did an obama job approval question, but they filtered out what they call pure, independent voters. the job approval among those pure independent voters is only 33%. the obama campaign knows those are the people they have to try and win back and that's probably one of the reasons, wolf, that when they're not talking about the economy, they're talking about portraying mitt romney as an extremist on social issues because they think that would resonate with those independent voters that they're not doing as well as they'd like to be doing. >> how much does the personal factor count? >> think the personal factor matters lot. running for president is a very, very personal vote. this is a person who will send your children to war, for example, and so when you look at the overall favorability gap between president obama and mitt romney. mitt romney is closing that now because the primaries are over, but take a look at some of our polling on personal characteristics comparing the president to romney. more in touch with rem. the president 55% to romney 27%. more in touch with the middle class. again, you see such a wide margin and one more thing, wolf, stands up for what he believes in. very important in a leader, the president again 50% to romney's 29%. those are the areas that mitt romney, republican presidential candidate really needs to work on if he's going to connect with the american people. >> yea. he's got almost six months to do it. he's got a lot of time. >> gloria, thanks very much. by the way, check out my blog, i write about mitt romney, and bane. a republican war on women. >> my women was drinking and when he drank he turned very mean, very violent. now she's a republican congresswoman and a key player over renewing the violence against women act. we'll update you over what's going on. we'll get the democrats argument over party chair. congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz. we'll talk about that and what some call president obama's attack dog. facebook co-founder and millionaire defriends the united states of america. he gives up his citizenship. was it simply to save millions of dollars in taxes. 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[ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ amen, omen get right to jack cafferty for the "the cafferty file," jack? >> mitt romney is hoping jimmy carter can help him win the white house. he's been comparing president barack obama to former democratic president while on the campaign trail. for example, when romney was asked if he would have approved the bin laden raid, he answered, quote, even jimmy carter would have given that order. romney described the obama white house as the most antismall businessa administration probably since carter. for many, the name carter evokes an incompetent liberal commander in chief, high gas prices and more government and a national malaise. by framing yourself as carter's enemy, you can make yourself out to be ronald reagan which is a brilliant strategy if it works. michael baro. >> reporter: e suggests that the 2012 election could mirror what happened in 1980 in the race between carter and ronald reagan, was there a late break away from the incumbent, carter was leading for most of the race. his job rating was kept higher, even though voters were unhappy with the economy and other issues, but during a debate just a few days before the election reagan famously asked are you better off than you were four years ago. suddenly the polls took a ten-point shift and barone suggests despite economic concerns and mr. obama's apologies, voters might be keeping his ratings artificially high for fear of rejecting the first black president and they might change their support to romney at the last minute. here's the question, is former president carter an effective weapon in the campaign against president obama. go to cnn.com/caffertyfile or to our post on the situation room's facebook page. >> i think you'll be hearing more about jimmy carter from mitt romney in the next several months. jack, thank you. a law protecting battered women has been on the books for two decades and now there is a political fight under way in washington over renewing the violence against women act. the senate has approved an panneded version and it's getting very, very personal and nasty. let's go live to our congressional correspondent kate bolduan, and it's getting nasty because we are in an election year and it has to do with a larger ongoing battle trying to win over the female vote. this time around, though, republicans have a new ms. earninger to help in that fight. it's one of the democrats' harshest election year attack lines. >> the republicans will continue their war on women. >> there is a war on women and this is a great indication of it. >> this attack on women will be noted across the united states of america. >> reporter: but that message aimed at winning over female voters could get tough tore sell. enter florida freshman republican sandy adams. >> i'm pretty certain i'm not at war with myself. >> reporter: adams usually keeps a relatively low profill. >> i went home and it's in florida. >> reporter: but she's stepping into the spotlight as the gop face over protecting victims of domestic violence. >> j is it more than politics and policy. >> when i was season i joined the air force and married. during the marriage i had a little girl and i realized my husband got to drinking and when he drank he turned very mean and very violent. we set out on our own, me without a high school diploma, just our clothes and i went out and i worked hard and we made it. that personal story could help republicans push against the violence against women act and deflect that they don't care about women. the 18-year-old law has been renewed twice before with little controversy, but not so this time around. senate democrats have their own version which extends coverage to more illegal immigrants and specifies the law include gay and lesbian victims. republicans say that's unnecessary, the law covers all victims. >> is this a war on women? >> no. >> why are depp democrats calling it a war on women? >> politics. we are here trying to reauthorize a bill that would help all victims of domestic, and. >> and while she condemns politics playing a role in the stand off, being at the center of it doesn't hurt someone like adams who is facing tough politics herself. and the election. i've said all along, i do not want to pile it, the victims deserve better than that, americans deserve better than that. >> reporter: the house republican version will pass when it comes to the house floor which that will help tomorrow, after that they'll hash out the differences between the two versions and both will return in the end goal. the question is just how long will they drag out this fight. >> what did the democrats say that the existing law, the existing language already protects those women, the illegal immigrants and also lesbian, for example. why do they need additional language. what are the democrats,' argument? >> the law allows for ambiguity that in order to specify for them to be covered under the law they want to specifically name gay victims and lesbian victims and transgender victims are specified under the law and when you get to the local law enforcement in implementing this law, and in terms of the issue of illegal immigrants and the democrats and the senate there believe that there need to be more protections for victims of domestic violence and they're trying to expand that portion of the law. >> that will continue in confidence between the house and the senate. thanks very much, kate, for that. a controversial execution with ties to iran's more controversial nuclear program. what's going on? 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