tech equipment supplied by iran. let's go straight to our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr. barbara also seeing reports of high-level defections including at least four generals. do u.s. officials think that's significant? >> reporter: right now, john, senior u.s. intelligence officials are telling us no. and that's the problem. they are seeing no cracking in the inner circle around because char bashar all assad. they are seeing no evidence his powerful inner circle is cracking. and that imagery that has now been declassified and released today is also critical. because what it's providing the u.s. intelligence community is very specific information about where syrian forces are on the move, what they are shelling, the destruction of mosques and hospitals in critical neighborhoods. you have the video on the internet. but this is the kind of key intelligence that they are pouring over right now to get a better idea of what the syrian military's really up, to john. >> as they try to get more information about that, barbara, tell us is it suspicion or is it evidence iran is now helping the syrian government to try to crush the rebellion? >> reporter: i have to tell you that senior u.s. intelligence officials are telling us they have evidence they believe iran in the past has supplied unmanned drones, uavs, that syria is now using in these neighborhoods to track people and track opposition movements. iran is providing computer technology, the kind that they used in their own to put down their own revolution so many months ago to track the opposition forces, to jam or track their internet postings. very, very tricky business. but it's that kind of support from iran that has them concerned right now. and you know, the real bottom line, john, still is with all of this destruction going on, if the u.s. military was told by the president to intervene, these senior intelligence officials are telling us in detail, syria has thousands of surface to air missiles, anti-aircraft batteries, radars, very densely packed, very tough for u.s. air strikes to get at. it would be very grim business for the u.s. to try and go in, john. >> important and very sober breaking news. barbara starr at the pentagon. barbara thanks so much. a closer look at the satellite images just released by the u.s. government. first before and after pictures. you see them there. this is the assault on the babar amar neighborhood. on the right heavy black smoke powers out from the buildings there. the wider pinpoint marks the neighborhood pock marked by artillery craters. next set of before and after pictures shows a bridge near the syrian border with lebanon. in the right hand picture you clearly see that bridge perhaps an access for people to escape the country destroyed. the u.s. government released these dramatic images on the eve of a new diplomatic push to try to stop the blood bath. former united nations secretary general cofkofi annan is now a special diplomat. set to meet with the president of syria tomorrow. >> is there any kind of a deadline that will be given to president assad? >> well, the imperative is to resolve this as swiftly as possible. our view it and i think the mounting view of the international community is that assad's days are numbered. but in the meantime he's killing an atrocious number of people. our preference has been and remains for this to be resolved through peaceful and diplomatic means. and that's annan is trying to do. >> we'll have more of that conversation with ambassador rice in this hour. in a new show of vigor the united states economy added 200,000 plus jobs for the third consecutive month. the unemployment rate held steady at 8.3%. it's a boost for many of you and perhaps a boost for a president looking to keep his job. let's crunch some of the numbers. then we'll have a conversation with christa freeland. the file here 227,000 jobs created last month, 8.3% unemployment rate. during the obama presidency you see the rate was up around 10%. it's now dropped down. pretty static since january but down from its highs anyway. the question will it go lower than 8.3% before november? let's look now. since the president came to office, remember back in 2008 the final months of the bush administration? then first year of the obama administration? the economy was bleeding jobs. that's all the red. been in the black mostly since. a few tough months in the middle of 2010. look at that, though. since this rough period here and into 2011 and 2012, jobs up. these are the three months in a row above 200,000. one last thing to look at here, where are the jobs? the last month 233,000 created in the private sector. 6,000 jobs lost in the public sector. manufacturing up, healthcare up. hospitality and service industry up. let's bring in christa freeland now a global editor at large for global reuters. christa this has to make you think this recovery finally has a sustainable foundation, right? >> i think that's absolutely right. i think they're cheering in the white house right now. and look, john, you an i are both journalists. in some ways you could say our job is to look for the clouds in the silver lining. but i think we have to concede that these job numbers are really strong, stronger than people expected. and as you showed with those charts, we're now seeing some sort of mounting numbers. it's three months in a row. it's 2 million jobs over the past 12 months. that's pretty good. it's looking better. >> and so if let's say looking better manufacturing is up, the president says manufacturing is up nearly 500,000 over the last two years. those are bright spots. those are good spots. but if you are looking never mind from a political standpoint just from an economic standpoint, if you're looking for anything in there that's a warning sign or potentially a pothole what is it? >> i think there are probably three things to bear in mind and to be worried about. the first one is, even though the trend is our friend, the situation is still pretty bad. you know, as you said, unemployment is 8.3%. who would have thought that americans would be cheering for an 8.3% unemployment rate? that's 13 million people still out of work. so that i think is a big issue. i think the second thing which is an issue is we have had some false dawns, right? since the depth of the recession there have been moments when it looked like things were getting better and then the problems returned. we had that last spring, particularly with the japanese tsunami and then the debt ceiling debate. so i don't think we're out of the woods yet. and then the third thing which i think is really a pocketbook issue, and i think economists need to be careful to bear in mind, although the jobs numbers are looking better the level of people's wages is still not keeping up with inflation. so maybe it's easier, a little bit easier to get a job, but people are still feeling the pinch in their pocket books. >> that's very important when it comes to spending and consumer confidence. christa freeland, thanks so much. a couple quick data points. on the campaign trail, if you look at this the darker the state the higher the unemployment rate by states. you see these states in the industrial midwest, california and nevada. you see the dark states. so many of these states happen to be from a political standpoint presidential swing states as well. here's also a potential warning sign. gas prices, energy prices on the rise. you might note this horrible coincidence. a lot of the highest gas prices around the country happen to be in states that also have high unemployment. out on the campaign trail today the republican presidential candidates mostly ignored the new positive numbers about job creation. during this stop in jackson, mississippi, mitt romney focused instead on the stubbornly high unemployment number. >> 37 months ago told us that if he could borrow $787 billion, almost $1 trillion, he would keep unemployment below 8%. it has not been below 8% since. >> earlier i also spoke to another republican presidential candidate, the former pennsylvania senator rick santorum, began that conversation as well with today's news. encouraging news on jobs. >> senator, let's start with the new unemployment report. you're among the republican candidates traveling the country trying to convince not only republicans but all americans we need a new president because of his economic leadership. three consecutive months now of job growth above 200,000 a month. the president's in a better position today than he was a few months ago, no? >> well, 3 1/2 years with 8 plus percent unemployment. that's not a good position for anybody to be. and this is a recovery that has been anemic by any standard. and the principal reason is the president's oppressive regulatory and tax policies and his continuing growing the size and scale of the budget. and again, the budget deficit. all of which are a way down in this horrible energy policy which as we've seen is leading now to higher and higher gas prices and another headwind for the economy. >> but you know how this works. if the statistics do continue to get a little better, he will be in somewhat better, maybe dramatically better chance of re-election. so if there's a republican voter out there about to vote in kansas, mississippi or alabama or beyond who says, whoa, this looks like it might be an even tougher race now, what's your case to say here'sy can still beat president obama on the economy in a sentence or two? >> well, the bottom line is that if we have a candidate that is just a little different than barack obama and just running on the fact that he can create jobs which is what governor romney's doing even though he was 47th out of 50 states when he was governor in job creation, you're going to have a hard time. you've got to have a broader message. you've got to have a message about what's really at stake in this election. that is yes, the economy, the reason it's struggling is because of this president, because of government regulation. he's denying people freedom. and this is an election about liberty, this is an election about big things for this country, about government regulation and oppression of our lives. and that has to be the narrative. it can't be about, well, you know, i'm better -- i'm going to create x number of jobs. the i'm going to create the freedom for you to go out and create the jobs. that's the issue. >> still ahead, passengers on an american airlines flight witness a shocking scene as a flight attendant warns them their plane will crash before they have taken off. and newt gingrich says he isn't going anywhere. how does that affect the santorum strategy? we'll ask senator santorum right after this. [ male announcer ] this is lawn ranger -- eden prairie, minnesota. in here, the landscaping business grows with snow. to keep big winter jobs on track, at&t provided a mobile solution that lets everyone from field workers to accounting, initiate, bill, and track work in real time. you can't live under a dome in minnesota, that's why there's guys like me. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. imagine if you could always see life [music] in the best light. every time of day. outdoors, or in. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it is meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses. let's continue our conversation with the republican presidential hopeful rick santorum. he's hopeful in mississippi, alabama and kansas. but recent polling shows he's got some catching up to do. >> you have been telling the voters in kansas, alabama and mississippi, give me a couple days here, a few wins and i'll have a two-person race, rick santorum against mitt romney. if you look at latest polling in mississippi, newt gingrich 35%, mitt romney 31%, rick santorum 20%. you're running third in that poll in mississippi. speaker gingrich today says he's not going anywhere. >> i'm going all the way to tampa. there's no question in my mind. >> the romney campaign says if gingrich stays in and you guys keep splitting the votes there's no way either one of you can mathematically get there. >> well, we'll just let this all play out. as we've seen since i think it's nevada, we've finished first or second in almost every state. i think maybe three or four that we didn't. but congressman gingrich outside of the state of georgia has finished third or fourth in every other race. and so the congressman can stake in as long as he wants to stay in. i think what we're going to see is as this campaign goes on i think we're going to have a good win here in kansas. i think we're going to run well in alabama and mississippi. i've seen other polls that have us a much closer race in both of those states. i feel like we're clearly the candidate right now that is the alternative to a moderate republican from massachusetts being the nominee of the party. not exactly the kind of contrast that i think is going to be a winning one for us in the general election. >> you're standing in kansas tonight. you just criticized governor romney. i want to read you something from a romney supporter who happens to be a pretty famous son of kansas, bob dole. he says this about you to abc news "i don't know what the appeal is to rick. he's a great family man and he's certainly a good person but i don't see him as a leader. i don't believe he's had any real private experience and no position of leadership, well, high leadership in politics." how would you answer bob dole? >> i have a lot of respect for bob dole. i was privileged to serve with him in the united states senate. he left in 1996. i was two years in the united states senate. clearly i was 36 years old when i came to the senate. the bob dole and the rick santorum relationship was almost 20 years ago. so i don't blame senator dole for saying what he said and the experience he had 20 years ago with me. obviously i've gone through a lot more in my life since that time. and i think what the people are seeing is someone who can paint a vision for this country, someone who can go out and has the courage to lead and fight to make things happen in this country, and someone who tells them the truth. unlike governor romney who has repeatedly throughout the course of this election maintained that he simply did not advocate for obama care and did not offer a federal mandate as a solution to the healthcare problems that this country is confronting. and now we find repeatedly that governor romney in 2009 at the heart of this debate did just that. and then went out in this campaign and did not tell the truth to the voters of the republican party. they've already got one president who isn't honest with the american public on a variety of different issues. we should not put up someone whose policy is wrong and very similar if not identical to the president's but also can't tell the truth to the folks about what his position was in a very critical time when obama care was being debated. >> let me ask you a commander-in-chief question. as we speak today the united nations top humanitarian official went to syria, she presented the assad government with a plan. she's trying to get relief supplies in, monitors. in she says they want some time to think about it. senator mccain says the united states should start moving quickly for air strikes, some other effort to help the opposition. what would you do if you were president today? >> well, i would be working to provide as much aid to the rebel forces there as possible indirectly, be supporting them as best we could. i'm not comfortable at this point with committing to air strikes. but i think we have to understand that syria's part of a very important access against israel and the united states and the west. and that of course is iran and syria are very much joined at the hip. and even the russians have weighed in about protecting syria and this thug regime of assad. so this is not just -- this is not libya, this is not even egypt. this is a much more complicated picture. and i think we have to be bold in a sense that we need to continue to maintain that he needs to leave and we need to act accordingly. but i think we have to be very cautious about how much we act in that regard. >> senator rick santorum from the campaign trail today. sir, good luck in kansas and the next few days. we'll touch base after the next round of contests. >> thank you very much, john. appreciate it. up next, coke or pepsi? either way your favorite soda is about to change. plus a house from the 1990s smash movie "home alone" was sold. remember this? >> hello there. i'm in good shape. aaaaaaah! >> oles in their plans? aflac! quack! like medical bills they don't pay for? aflac! or help pay the mortgage? quack! or child care? quack! aflaaac! and everyday expenses? huh?! blurlbrlblrlbr!!! [ thlurp! ] aflac! [ male announcer ] help your family stay afloat at aflac.com. plegh! metamucil uses super hard working psyllium fiber, which gels to remove unsexy waste and reduce cholesterol. taking psyllium fiber won't make you a model but you should feel a little more super. metamucil. down with cholesterol. welcome back. here's kate bolduan with the latest news you need to know right now. happy friday. >> reporter: happy friday everyone. today the u.s. agreed to let afghanistan take control of the detention center at bagram air base. it hold about 3,000 doetainees. its control has been a sticking point for u.s. involvement in afghanistan after combat forces leave in 2014. under the agreement the prisoners eventually will be sent to other facilities but u.s. will have a veto of who gets released. and president obama is attending fundraisers in houston, texas this evening, visiting a rolls royce jet engine factory in virginia today. this afternoon's stop was meant to push his plan to revive u.s. manufacturing but he also sounds like a man trying to keep his own job. listen here. >> i did not run for this office just to get back to where we were. i ran for this office to get us to where we need to be. [ cheers and applause ] >> and a big change coming to your soda or pop, whichever you prefer. today the folks at coke and pepsi announced their supplier will change a chemical in the caramel coloring that gives cold drink their color. the center for science in the public interest says it causes cancer in lab animals, and we're told the change won't affect the way coke, pepsi and other drink look or taste. you can be the judge, of course. somebody just got a pretty good deal on the house where they shot the 1990 movie "home alone." according to chicago cbs 2 the 14-bedroom home in winetka was listed last year for 2.4 million but sold a bit over 1.5. it was used for all the movies' outdoor scenes as women as welle kitchen, first floor landing and the staircase when he sleds down and head goes outside. what every kid's dream is to do? >> a lot of kids learned some new tricks watching that movie. >> i heard that john king does that trick. >> good deal. >> if you have 1.5 million for sure. >> you were laughing when you came out here, the mccauley caulk kin screen. are you doing it? >> i'm not doing it new international and u.s. attempts to turn up the pressure in syria. we'll talk to susan rice the u.s. ambassador to the united nations. plus a passenger's ireport of a flight attendant's bizarre outburst today including talk of the plane crashing and references to 9/11. [ male announcer ] the draw of the past is a powerful thing. but we couldn't simply repeat history. we had to create it. introducing the 2013 lexus gs, with leading-edge safety technology, like available blind spot monitor... [ tires screech ] ...night view... and heads-up display. [ engine revving ] the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. a living, breathing intelligence teaching data how to do more for business. [ beeping ] in here, data knows what to do. because the network finds it and tailors it across all the right points, automating all the right actions... [ beeping ] ...to bring all the right results. it's the at&t network -- doing more with data to help business do more for customers. ♪ today is gonna be anmore important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. coming up in this half hour, a ranting flight attendant tells her passengers the plane is going to crash before it even takes off. your hear her screams which passengers call demonic. a 30 minute video shows joseph kony's name. will iran respond to ultimatums it must come back to the negotiating table to discuss his nuclear program. susan rice is among those talking tough. flight attendant scared her passengers just before takeoff by talking about crashing, mentioning 9/11, and screaming. one passenger said she sounded demonic. just listen. >> cnn aviation and transportation correspondent lizzy o' leary. it must have been amazing and scary to be a passenger on that plane. >> what we know is this plane was taxiing to the runway in dallas. it was headed towards chicago. it seemed like maybe this flight attendant was sort of confused. she had mentioned whether they were in houston and a passenger was a bit confused by that. then there was a scuffle going back and forth over the p.a. she said we're not take off. another flight attendant said we were. then it devolved into this screaming. you heard her raspy voice there talking about getting off the plane, mechanical problems. at least four times saying it was going to crash, talking about 9/11 and the american airlines bankruptcy which is currently ongoing. some passengers and another member of the crew subdued her. they went back to the gate. and she was taken to the hospital. the flight did get a new crew and proceed on its way to chicago eventually. >> i'm going to guess it took a little calming for the passengers before that took off. what happens now for this flight attendant? >> so we know she was taken to the hospital. one passenger said she made a reference to being bi-polar and not having taken her meds. that was according to a passenger on board. she was being evaluated at the hospital. no state or federal charges, according to folks we've talked to. and if this is a medical issue, that's probably all we'll know because it will remain private. but certainly those tapes are pretty dramatic when you listen to them. >> a scary morning for those passengers. sad event in any event. lizzy thanks for your help on that one. joseph kony just may be the most hated man alive right now. a controversial film about t ugandan war lord and his child army has gotten 57 million youtube clips a minute. >> for 26 years, kony has been kidnapping children into his rebel group the lra. turning the girls into sex sl e slaves, and the boys into child soldiers. >> critics say this movie place fast and loose with the facts. and there are questions about where donation money to this organization goes. so piers morgan asked the filmmakers about it. >> we spend about a third of the fundraising dollars on the movie to make it amazing. we spend a third on the movement. the movement is an actual volunteers around the world, are advance that tour the movie to high schools and colleges, the t-shirt, the web sites to make it powerful and aggressive. and then finally, third is the mission which is to end the war to stop kony. >> david mckenzie live for us in nairobi tonight. you have seen this movie. so have leaders in uganda. listen to this. >> there's been an outrage. i've already mentioned the country is completely peaceful. and what he is doing is to castigate or reflect africa as a dark couldn't continent where there is unending trouble. >> two very different stories here. tell us about kony and his impact in uganda in the region right now. >> well, it's certainly a simple and powerful message in the kony 2012 campaign. maybe simplistic in some view of people here. kony is the leader of the lords resistance army. it's a terrible group that has caused havoc in central and eastern parts of africa. right now, though, john, he isn't really having much effect in northern uganda. in fact for the last six years that part of the country has been in relative peace. turn back the clock before that, certainly there were kidnapping children in the tense of thousands, they were attacking the ugandaen military and causing havoc in the north. they were pushed out by the uganda military at times with help from the u.s. and then into the sort of remote regions of central africa. through the sudan, the drc. right now, in fact, he hasn't had much impact at all. so that's why there's this sort of irritated and angry response by the ugandan government. it must be said, though, he still is causing problems for those regions, still kidnapping children. but military analysts believe that his force has been splintered and that he is a lot less powerful than he was maybe five, six years ago. as one military official in uganda told me, john, great idea. great message. 15 years too late. >> david mckenzie live for us in kenya today helping us get the truth about this internet sensation. david thanks for your help tonight. >> a nuclear standoff perhaps with iran. a lot of questions about what the world community can do to stop the violence syria. two good subjects for a conversation with the united states ambassador to the united nations, susan rice. >> united states ambassador to the united nations, ambassador susan rice joins us from the state department. madam ambassador, kofi annan will immediate with president assad in damascus on saturday. the fbi says this is a waste of time, all it will do is allow the regime to buy more time. what will the message be? is there any kind of a you must act kind of deadline that will be give ton president assad? >> it comes with a mandate from the united nations general assembly as well as from the league of arab states to try to broker a swift transition in which ultimately assad steps aside and the people of syria are able to choose an interim government that's representative and leads to elections. that's ultimately what his mission is about as well as trying to stop the fighting and ensure that humanitarian access is granteded. this is his very first visit. he hasn't yet had the opportunity to sit down with either the opposition or the government. so i think it's quite premature to declare his mission dead before it even begins. >> and yet you know, i think you'd be pretty honest and say it's unlikely at least in the short term you can get a tough new resolution out of the security council because of china and russia. to the humanitarian official from the u.n. says the assad government is considering her plan. it wants more time to think about it. answer the critic that would say president assad is playing the international community, running out the clock, saying he's for diplomacy, listening and having meetings but continuing to slaughter people. >> the pressure is mounting. the economic pressure very importantly is also mounting. the united nations, european union, countries neighboring syria have put on tougher and tougher sanctions. and we see their currency crashing, we see businesses having real difficulty thriving. so the noose around his neck is tightening. now, obviously we want to see it tighten as quickly as possible. and for this to be resolved as swiftly as possible and peacefully to the extent that that remains -- >> the other day saying iran must come back to the bargaining table and it must understand this is a finite negotiation, not wide open. among the republicans running for president they've been openly critical of this administration. i want you to listen here to senator rick santorum. >> we've got your back he said to you before when he spoke to -- and then two days later turns his back on israel again and says, oh, we'll negotiate without preconditions. this is weakness in the face of hostility. >> is the president showing weakness in the face of hostility, madam ambassador? >> absolutely not. candidates can say what they will out on the election trail, but the reality is there's been no administration and no president who's ever had a stronger security and intelligence relationship with israel than president obama and this administration. the defense assistance, $3 billion in foreign military financing has never been higher. it was the united states that supported the installation of the iron dome anti-rocket system which has saved many, many lives already in israel. and we have been very clear in the united nations' trrs, of our trrs of our allies in the region, including israel, iran will not have a nuclear weapon. what we're saying, however, the best way to ensure that iran loses a nuclear weapon capability for the future is that it decides as an affirmative decision to give that project up. and that can only be done through a negotiated solution. even a military strike, which some are talking very loosely and i think irresponsibly about at this stage, would not end the nuclear program in perpetuity. it might send it back a year or two. what this administration has done is led the international community to be more united than ever in putting the toughest sanctions ever in place, multilaterally and nationally, against iran and syria. but much more so, iran's economy is crumbling. the pressure on them is mounting. and they're trying to test a proposition as to with that mounting pressure we could actually get -- let me just finish. what we can get with that mounting pressure is a negotiated solution. that's the permanent way to end the program. now, what i said about the window of opportunity for negotiation, i said the window of opportunity for negotiation was not finite. in other words, we're not going to see these negotiations strung out for years and years. we need iran if it's serious and if it wants to get out from under the mounting and perhaps crippling ultimately deadly pressure that it's under economically it's going to need to come to the table very seriously in the process that it has now said it's ready to resume and deal concretely and seriously with its nuclear program. we need to see it ended. and it cannot and will not be allowed to engage in negotiations that extend years and years and years. >> madame ambassador appreciate your time tonight. good economic news may add up badly for the republicans. and sorry love boat fans. there's no happy ending for the ship itself. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships, anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that is easy. best news i've heard all day! i'm soooo amped! i mean not amped. excited. well, sort of amped. really kind of in between. have you ever thought about decaf? do you think that would help? yeah. priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $5.15, only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. you'd chose an intel core i7 processor for maximum processing power. you'd use carbon fiber and machined aluminum, to make it more beautiful and more durable. you'd even use edge-to-edge gorilla glass for a stunning display in a more compact form. everything that you would ever want in a laptop. introducing the dell xps 13 ultrabook. everything. and more. ♪ oh! [ 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 the economy added 227,000 jobs last month. the third consecutive month of gains above 200,000. unless you have amnesia you know that's a dramatic difference from the dark days of 2008 and most of 2009. president obama? well, he remembers. >> and three and a half years later, we're still recovering from the worst economic crisis in our lifetimes. we've got a lot of work to do before everybody who wants a good job can find one. >> tonight's truth, is a statistics lesson that will make republicans nervous yet democrats should hold the celebration. it is march after all. how this analysis looks in october is what matters most in the race for the white house. one data points -- the university of michigan consumer sentiment index. if it's in the 90s or higher in an elections day, incumbents win. below 80 and they lose. today it's at 75. these slides are courtesy of republican pollster bill mcinturff. bill tells his clients the numbers don't lie and the numbers show president obama while still on shaky ground in a much, much more competitive position than just a few months ago. but not out of the woods. look here. at the moment using the michigan date tax president obama is in the jimmy carter zone. not the ronald reagan zone. republicans, like romney, can only hope he stays there. >> this president has not succeeded. this president has failed. and that's the reason we're going to get rid of him in 2012. [ cheers and applause ] >> truth is, we don't know what this data will look like in october. if the economy keeps adding 200,000 jobs or more a month, it's a pretty safe bet. consumer sentiment and the president's approval rating which is bump up. but the recovery is still fragile and rising energy prices could provide a shock at this point. this chart here is a reminder of the volatility. see that big drop in consumer confidence index last summer? that was during the big debt ceiling showdown in washington last august. as consumer endex sentiment drops so does the president's job approval. more recently look at those months as the economic outlook has brightened so has the president's job approval rating. the election is 242 days away. when we check these sam stats in say 220 days odds are they will tell us just what will happen on election day. let's talk truth tonight with democratic pollster for the obama campaign cornell belcher, republican strategist and former gingrich adviser rich galen and -- are these better numbers right now? right now. how careful when you're calculating the president saying mr. president obviously you want to be upbeat, you want to celebrate this and enjoy this, but you better not get overconfident. where's that line? >> i think you saw today he's not overconfident. the president made some hard decisions two years ago, almost three years ago now about sort of the move this economy in the right direction. and it's beginning to show off. he has moved the economy in the right direction. i find it amusing the consumer index, they're always finding new ways to sort of spin and make the president look bad. truth of the matter is the americans think the economy is growing better. we're not where we want to be but we're moving in the right direction. it's really tough to kick an incumbent out of office when people think things are moving in the right direction. we know we're not out of the woods yet. >> if you're advising a republican candidate going out today, 227,000 jobs that's good. never mind presidential politics for a minute. that's good. my brother's unemployed. that's good for people out there trying to find a job. how do you advise a candidate look you know you want to be critical of the president but be careful here. >> i think because of the way this administration has done this, it's a fairly simple message. you can't root against good numbers. you can't root for higher unemployment. that's not only politically crazy but it's ethically incorrect. but i think what you can say is look if the president would quit playing the class warfare card every 13 hours and scaring the you know what out of small businesses and medium-sized businesses. if the president would have policies that said, look, here's how you plan 3, 6, 8, 10, 12 months ahead they would feel a lot more comfortable rolling the dice a little and hiring the extra person or two people. if i'm elected that's what i'll do. >> how do you gauge this? psychology to this. the statistics are starting to go in the president's favor. we're a long way from election day. gas prices could send them back, greece could send this many back. something that happens here could send them back. a lot of voters still feel tired. i remember in 1992 george h.w. bush was traveling around the country saying look at the statistics. things are getting better. statistics said they were. but vote nurse key states didn't feel it. >> two points. one is the thing you just said. key states. you have to take a look at those five, six, eight key states. how are things going there? because if the president is going to run on his record, that record better be something to tell that's positive. and i suggest that right now if poll after poll shows what is the greatest concern of the vote snrs the economy, jobs, outrageous spending in washington and now gas prices. that's what's on their mind. they are not happy about what has happened. they do see this president as having failed them, failed their families. that is why they're in this difficult situation. that's what he's going to end up running on. the second point, john, you say october is what's going to matter. no it's not october. when it comes to the economy voters start making a decision six months out. that decision is rock solid. if you look at george bush when he ran, the economy was coming back. we were doing well as it got closer to october but they had made up their mind come june, july. we weren't changing their mind with a few numbers in october. >> stand by we'll continue the conversation in just a moment. erin burnett coming up in" outfront" on the tomorrow of the hour. what's your take on these numbers? >> this has been several months in a row. obviously it's got to be greeted with jubilation in the white house. the president, though, pretty careful because he doesn't want to bank on this. we've been saying for the past few months this is a lot like 1984 and ronald reagan's re-election campaign mantra, right? morning in america. we'll see. one thing that stood out to me that we're going to get to the bottom of is this issue of a lack of wage growth. wages in this country according to the data are up 1.9% up 1.9 ago. that lags inflation. that means americans are able to buy less than they were a year ago and that is a very concerning thing. back to you. >> see you in a few minutes. now, if you walk into a bar on a hot day, you don't have to decide between ordering a cold beer or tall ice tea. we'll tell you about a new third choice. and chris christie got into a shouting match at a town hall and somebody had a camera. look at our route map... and what do you see? clean lines connecting city to city. the map shows you where we go... but not how we get there. because in this business... there are no straight lines. only the twists and turns of an unpredictable industry. the passengers change... the gates change. government regulations change... oil peaks and plummets. and let's not even get started on the weather. the fact is: no two flights are ever the same. no matter how many times we've accomplished them in the past. the eighty-thousand employees at delta... must predict the unpredictable. anticipate the unexpected. and never let the rules... overrule common sense. this is how we tame the unwieldiness of air travel. pull it taut... and wrap it around the globe... until it's not just lines you see... it's the world. oh dear... oh dear! ohh dear... i'm not sure exactly what happened here last night. i was out helping people save money on their car insurance. 2 more! you're doing it! aren't they doing great?! hiiiiiii!! come sweat with me! keep going richard. keep sweating!! geico. fifteen minutes could save you sweat! sweat! fifteen percent or more on car insurance. a living, breathing intelligence teaching data how to do more for business. [ beeping ] in here, data knows what to do. because the network finds it and tailors it across all the right points, automating all the right actions... [ beeping ] ...to bring all the right results. it's the at&t network -- doing more with data to help business do more for customers. ♪ to help business do more for customers. imagine if you could always see life [music] in the best light. every time of day. outdoors, or in. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it is meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses. i'm learning to say y'all and i like grits. strange things are happening to me. >> mitt romney on his southern conversion in mississippi and alabama this week. those primaries on tuesday. one week after governor romney's 65th birthday. if you look at the polling, here's a mississippi poll. a lot of people thought romney in the south, newt gingrich, 35, santorum, 20, ron paul, 7. on tuesday, does governor romney have a chance to win either of these states in the south? >> it's very tough because the other two have more of a natural base down there, however, he runs everywhere. he's going to run hard. he's got a national organization, appeal. the economy is the issue in matter what state you're in and he has a terrific message, plus, he's got the experience, know how and a plan. so yes, i think his message is resognating in the south. we'll see tuesday how well he does. he's on the path to the nomination. no question about that. >> a couple of days ago, speaker gingrich was saying i have to win or face the facts. today, he said i'm in all the way to tampa no matter what happens. >> somebody might have wrote him a check. might have been romney for all we know. but one thing we've learn ed is is that the polls released on friday have no bearing on what happens tuesday. we'll see ha what happens. i think that is a surprise to everybody that at least in the polling, he's running as strongly. >> he's going to do what he has done in every other state. bury the guys under a pile of negative advertising. >> smart campaigning, but if he wins, if mitt romney wins either alabama or mississippi, when the whole argument against him is he hasn't won a contest in the south -- >> florida's in the south for starters. the, no, i think that would be pretty much the end of the, everybody would stay in. but they'd stay in just knowing that they're going to spend their money wisely. >> that's the key. why are they staying in? because they like to have the secret service? do they start focusing all their attention on obama? you raise these important issues, but otherwise, going to be harming the party and the country. >> we'll see what happens on tuesday, first. have a great weekend, everybody. kate bolduan is back with a latest news you need to know. this sunday, most of us will be springing forward, so remember to set your clocks back an hour and if you've ever wondered why your weekend gets cut short by an hour every spring, it's about lowering energy consumption. there's plenty of debate over whether it works. the fda says be on the lookout r for poisoned beauty products. toxic amounts of mercury have been found in seven states. they are sold illegally as skin lighters, ageing creams. ♪ oh, fond memories. the love boat won't be making another run. it's headed to the scrap yard, actually. sold to a demolition company for about $3.5 million. the ship set the scene for the crew for nearly a decade. sometimes, you're in the mood for a beer, yes? an ice tea, of course you are. and now, coors is hoping that it can satisfy both of those cravings with one drink, folks. coors light ice tea debuts in canada next month. the goal is to lure in customers who tend to be wine or cocktail members. huggies has a bit of explaining to do after this dad test. it says they're so strong, it can handle the toughest test. dads left alone with their babies for five days. the diaper company has removed the ad and they're making efforts to smooth things over with dads. i'm not sure which i want to talk more about. huggies or beer ice tea. >> i don't like beer and huggies can go you know where. stay put. tonight's moment you missed and what might be the most exciting new jersey town hall ever. governor chris christie called an ex navy s.e.a.l. an idiot. most of this video was edited not by us, but by our ireporters. >> my question to you, governor, is please consider veterans and -- like myself here in south jersey. >> here's what's going to happen. rutgers is going to merge. i can go back and forth with you as much you want and let me tell you something, after you graduate from law school, you conduct yourself like that in the courtroom, your rear end's going to get thrown in jai