army staff sergeant accused of the unthinkable. walking off base and executing 16 civilians, nine of them children. the sergeant is a qualified sniper trained to hit and kill people at a distance of eight football fields. let's go to chris lawrence. what else do we know about this accused gunman? >> he's a combat veteran that did three tours in iraq. on the last tour in 2010, his vehicle rolled over. he suffered a traumatic brain injury. the army treated him for that. he was diagnosed and declared fit for duty. he's a married man, a father of two. over the weekend, the military moved his family, his wife and kids on to the military base in the state of washington for their own protection. now, as to what happened here, he left the base, his combat outpost at 3:00 in the morning. the afghan guards noticed he was gone. noticed him leaving. they called their american counter parts. it raised alarms. the americans put a search party together to search for the soldier. at the same time this is going on, afghan civilians start coming to the gate carrying the wounded saying there had been a shooting. before the search party could get out and locate the soldier, he came back to the combat outpost, walked in, gave himself up. as far as we know from an official we spoke with, he refused to talk about what happened. janua john? >> he's an alleged gunman has every right to due process. could he face execution here? >> he could. president reagan instituted capital punishment for the military. he could face the death penalty. the method is lethal injection. no service member has been put to death in more than 50 years. it's unlikely. and, even if the court recommends it after a court-marti court-martial, president obama himself would have to personally sign off on it and approve it. in fact, the last time this happened, president bush actually signed an order approve ing the execution of a soldier back in 2008. that soldier is still going through the appeals process, though. get this, the soldier he signed off on was for offenses committed well over a decade before. by the time the soldier goes through the process and exhausts the appeals, it could be beyond 2016. this may be something that a future president would have come before his desk. john? >> chris lawrence, thank you. while the obama white house promises this won't interfere with steady progress in afghanistan, the taliban is vowing bloody retaliation. we are in afghanistan covering the anguish and vows of revenge. a quick caution, the video in this report is disturbingly bloody. >> reporter: not far from a u.s. military outpost, a disturbing scene. a dead toddler with a blood-stained face lies sandwiched between two dead men in the back of a pick-up truck. in another truck, a blanket reveals charred remains of more people. they are a few of the victims of the shooting rampage. one guy came in and pulled a boy from his sleep and shot him in this doorway. then put the gun in the mouth of another child and stomped on another boy this mother says. u.s. officials, including president obama expressed their condolences and sadness. that has little meaning to the families. one family alone lost 11 family members in the incident. look at these bodies. they are all belong to one family, this villager cried. men wept openly barely able to speak through their tears. they picked up shell casings. the evidence something terrible happened. overwhelming. the floors and walls of the homes stained with blood. as the day went on, the sorrow was replaced with anger at american forces. this base told us to come back to our villages. they said we won't bother you. this is your land. this is your own village. then those dogs come and grab us another mother shouted. some of the villagers claim there was more than one soldier on the ground when the massacre happened around 2:00 in the morning sunday. the international security assistance forces refute that saying this was the work of a single soldier who walked away from base acting alone. now afghan lawmakers called on the u.s. government to allow for a public trial on afghan soil. there has been a response to that by the pentagon. spokesmen say this is indeed a u.s. soldier who committed these acts. the soldier would not be tried in the afghan judicial system. john? >> how much does that complicate the trust and anger here? if the afghans want a public trial, how convinced are they the soldier will receive a trial? he would be held accountable if he's found guilty. >> reporter: not very i think is the way to answer that. there is a lot of suspicion. there's a lot of worry that someone is going to get off with a quote, slap on the wrist. what they don't want to see is to have this person end up back in the united states and not have what they believe would be justice served. what people are calling for is this to happen swiftly. a lot of times, the investigations take some time and they will look at all the different angles. we are hearing reporting from barbara starr who spoke with someone in the department of defense that he suffered a traumatic brain injury. this could be a long process. if that's the case, there may be reaction. the taliban are saying they are going to take revenge. we'll have to see what the villagers in the area do in the coming hours and days. >> this is a traumatic and horrible story. thanks so much. we have word of a massacre in syria. 45 women and children stabbed to death. some of the women were raped and strangled. the children's throats slit. arwa damon will have the story. tomorrow, 110 delegates at stake. gingrich leads romney 34% to 31% in alabama. another tight race in mississippi, romney a two point lead over gingrich. again, it's too close to call. candidates are down to their closing arguments. >> i just want to say thanks for your generosity, your warm reception and hospitality. we are going to win tomorrow. [ applause ] >> the reason i'm running is i'm the one candidate with a clear, consistent track record of working with reagan and clinton getting large scale change. >> i know the values of the people of mississippi are in line with us. they need to go out and vote for the person that best represents their values. >> a chief political analyst is with us in the cnn election center. too close to call. one of the big questions, one of the criticisms romney can't prove himself. he can't be a republican nominee unless he can win in the base of the party. >> i think they have a point there, by the way. people in the romney campaign understand there's a big psychological hole, if nothing else in the middle of their campaign that says this is where the core of the party is and you ought to be able to win. the polls are too close to call. it's closer than we have a right to expect it to be. that's probably because gingrich and santorum are splitting the voters they have been splitting throughout the entire process. you know them. the conservative voters, tea party voters. as long as they continue to do that, romney does all right. one other thing, his campaign believes he's gone back to the basics on the business experience message. they believe it is helping in the south. >> you forwarded me earlier in the day, a memo from the santorum campaign. gingrich campaign leaked. the santorum campaign said no, no, we can win, we can win. when they do that, they are worried and trying to get good blog postings. >> to me and 500 other reporters, right? >> santorum has a mathematical point. he does. romney said gingrich and santorum would pick up delegates and get to the convention with no nominee. >> if we go to the convention, we are signaling our doom replacing president obama. we need to select someone to become the nominee and get focused on president obama and get him out of the white house. >> i'm not sure he's right. an excited brokered convention might be good for the republican party. maybe, maybe not. governor romney is sending a message to republican voters, get it over with. >> by the way, that rick santorum memo didn't talk about a brokered convention. it said romney can't do the math roperly and that, in fact, they will get delegates at state conventions because they are more conservative and gave a complicated rational for that. look, in theory, it's a great thing. it might get some conservatives riled up. if you think the debates were good for republican candidates with independent voters, how would a brokered convention be with independent voters? >> good for journalists. thanks. we'll see you later. president obama has his own problems. how rising gas prices are taking a toll on his approval rates. later, a stop sign for a texas law. critics say it's a sign to scare away potential voters. and she agrees. with fancy feast gravy lovers, your cat can enjoy the delicious, satisfying taste of gourmet gravy every day. fancy feast. the best ingredient is love. fancy feast. 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. 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. 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[ door opens, closes ] the obama white house don't blame me for higher gas prices campaign is in full swing as the pain at the pump is taking toll. they conducted interviews with eight stations today. seven of them in 2012 swing states. the average price is up to a national average of $3.76 a gallon for regular unleaded. it's 29 cents higher from a mon ago. two-thirds of americans disapprove with how the president is handling prices. he is weaker against republican candidates from a month ago. if gas prices dropped, it would probably help the president politically. can he count on that. patrick can gasbuddy.com is with us. can he count on that? when people are thinking of how to vote in september, october, down or up? >> well, you know, john, gas prices are only going to go up. any politician that promises lower gas prices should be dealt with skepticism. there's not a lot that can be done. unfortunately, higher prices are here to stay. ramifications not only from iran, but the upcoming driving season is putting pressure on prices. there's not a lot that can be done. it doesn't mean there's nothing that can be done. a lot of folks think it's a simple issue when it's not so simple. >> is the president, in some ways a victim of the recovery? it's good for a president and american looking for work. as people get optimistic, are they consuming more gas and driving prices up or something else? >> well, a little bit of that. demand is down compared to last year. we can trace it back to the higher prices. in an economy like this, we saw it in 2008. less in 2008 because we didn't realize we were in a recession until the collapse of wall street. it happened with president bush. gas prices went up when the economy started to improve. really, the only thing to slow down an upward trend in gas prices is slow down the economy. that will not really help but it will slow people down in how much they travel. that will, in turn, lower demand for gasoline and prices will ease up a little bit. >> all the politicians know people are grumpy when they are paying $3.76 and many parts over $4. if you buy premium, you are spending over $4 already. the politicians all say trust me. listen. >> you can't just drill our way to lower gas prices. >> the right course ahead for america is drill our oil and gas. >> it's essential to establish the goal of being the most productive oil producer in the world. >> 60 billion barrels off our coast the president says no. >> is there anything, patrick, a president could do today or tomorrow that would bring down the price at the pump a week or two from now? >> well, that's real quick. there's not a lot. we tried the strategic petroleum reserve. nobody is putting oil in their car. it's not refined gas ready to pump into our cars. a short-term solution, well, shake hands with iran and things would probably happen. that's not likely the situation. i think one of the bigger things we can do that may take long er in a week or two is get the united states on one blend of gasoline for the entire year instead of localized different types of gasoline that meet different air pollution standards. get on one standard so we don't see the seasonal rise in prices. i believe the rise in prices has to do with the seasonal switchover. >> appreciate your help. thanks so much. >> thanks so much. tonight, texas is the lathest battleground. they are trying to present fraud. critics say it's not the real reason. whitney houston's daughter tells what happened in the month since her mother's death. what's this? 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[ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. welcome back. here is kate baldwin with the latest news you need to know. a texas law requiring people to show a photo id before they vote. they say it stops fraud. >> pacific gas and electric will pay $70 million to settle claims from a 2010 gas pipeline explosion. i'm sure you do not forget these images. it killed four, injured at least 50 and destroyed 57 homes in san bruno. it's on top of replacing ageing gas pipes. if you are on linked in, think carefully before opening e-mail attachment that is appear to come from trusted sources of colleagues. officials said fishing attacks snared several top u.s. government officials. whitney houston's daughter, 19-year-old bobbi christina brown is doing as well as she can. it's been a month since her mother died. >> i can hear her voice talking and telling me, keep moving, you know, i'm right here. i got you. >> i got ya. that's what she said all the time. >> yeah. she's always with me. i can always feel her with me. >> is that what you hear in your head, i've got ya? >> that's all i hear. that's all i hear. >> this was the first interview she did with oprah. it's the first interview since her mother passed away. so sad when you see it through the eyes of her daughter. >> we wish her the best. kate, see you in a bit. one night to go before alabama and mississippi vote. how it could change the republican race for the white house, just ahead. you were there the day the priceline negotiator went down in that fiery bus crash. yes i was. we lost a beautiful man that day. but we gained the knowledge that priceline has thousands and thousands of hotels on sale every day. so i can choose the perfect one for me without bidding. is it hard for you to think back to that day? oh my, this one has an infinity pool. i love those they just... and then drop off, kinda like the negotiator. 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. ♪ or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business, it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities. that's why we extended $6.4 billion in new credit to small businesses across the country last year. because the more we help them, the more we help make opportunity possible. will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. in this half hour, reaction from the washington state base that was once home of an army sergeant accused of mass killing. dozens in syria were killed by government forces. plus, the truth about mitt romney's religion among the conservative voters in the south. the white house says progress in afghanistan will not be compromised after a soldier went on a rampage killing 16 people including nine children. republican candidates are campaigning on the trail. here is romney moments ago. >> the actions of a der ranged person are not going to shape foreign policy. that being said, we should, on a regular basis reassess what's happening in afghanistan and any place where we have con neckic activity going on. >> newt gingrich says it may be time to get out. >> there's something profoundly wrong with the way we are approaching the region. i think it's going to get worse, not better. i think we are risking the lives of young men and women in a mission that is not doable. >> in this case, the afghan people deserve an apology. >> it's not a mistake. it's not something that was inadd ver tant. it was deliberately done by a soldier. it's something that the proper authorities should apologize for. >> we are learn iing new detail about the alleged shooter. as we reported at the top of the hour, he was diagnosed with a brain injury in 2010 but fit for duty. his wife and children were moved to washington state for their safety. that's where we are live tonight. this base has a troubled past, does it not? having technical issues with casey. we'll get back with him when we can. the situation is growing more desperate. here is what we saw last week. >> i was horrified by the destruction i saw. no building was on touched and there was clear evidence of the use of heavy artillery and tanks. it was almost desserted. a few people in tears as they tried to salvage a few possessions. >> the stories of slaughter keep getting worse. at least 45 women and children killed in cold blood in homs yesterday. the youngest, 5 years old. arwa damon is follow iing the story from beirut, lebanon. >> reporter: activists are saying government thugs rounded up sunni families in the flash point city of homs. they then separated the men from the women. the men were tortured for two hours, shot at and horrific images online showing burnt corpses. some of the corpses were then set on fire. the women and children murdered as well. some of the children had the side of their face blown off. others their throats slit. there are reports some of the women were rape d before they were then killed. the youngest of the victims just 5 years old, john. now, the syrian government is saying this was carried out at the hands of armed terrorist gangs saying they kidnapped a number of residents from throughout the entire city, killed them and then deliberately filmed and uploaded the images to put more blame on the government and instigate more international action against the syrian regime. most certainly, these images are a brutal reminder of the ongoing violence inside syria. violence, at this stage, doesn't seem like there's going to be a political resolution. many activists and the government warning if it continues, they will spiral into an all-out civil war. john? >> horrible story. we'll stay on top of it. hillary clinton saying russia and china should look at ask why they are stopping a global response to this. let's move to tomorrow's story. 110 delegates at stake, the two prizes in the south. the polls on the voting show the race too close to call. ralph is a veteran from southern politics. welcome. when you look at this, you look at this. santorum is purple. romney red. gingrich has two victories, south carolina and georgia. is it safe to assume or no longer safe to assume that he can put alabama and mississippi in his column? the polling is stunning to see the three-way races. >> it's remarkable. we have a number of polls in both states. it's basically effectively tied within the margin of error. what you look for tomorrow night is romney to overperform in jefferson county, which is birmingham. >> this is where huckabee beat mccain by 1,000 votes. >> four years ago. >> go back to the republican primary. there you go. jefferson county, oops we have to turn the teleprompter off. bring it up. your memory is good. how about that. >> where huckabee cleaned up. anywhere that is urban, romney is going to do well. suburban, the vote is split. whoever wins north alabama, this is the bible belt of alabama. there's a lot of people that think the whole state is the bible belt. >> evangelicals there. >> this is where james won the primaries in '94 and '98. this is where riley was governor in 2002 and 2006. franklin, colbert, jackson. >> across that stretch? >> correct. down here, again, demographically, the gulf coast of alabama looks like the gulf coast of south carolina. looks like hilton head. >> it was a romney area. >> right. mobile county, baldwin county is where romney should do well. what's interesting is 77% of the vote four years ago was evangelical. huckabee won by four points. romney is only getting a quarter of that vote. what may save him is the votes being split by two candidates. they are both getting a third of it. the irony is romney wants it candidates to go away eventually but he needs them both. >> this is alabama. let's show mississippi. this is evangelical. you can see how deep it is in alabama. mississippi, it's pretty much the entire state. >> that's right. a similar demographic pattern. here in jackson, hynes county you are going to look for romney to do better. the northern part of the state, again, the black belt, the bible belt of mississippi. go to the gulf coast, biloxy, romney will do better. the early polling we have, the public policy poll and other polls, it's a small early vote. it's only 5%. in florida, it was 40%. >> that's the organization that helped romney. >> right. the second thing, based on the polling, he's not doing better among those voters. everybody tomorrow night has a lot on the line. gingrich has to win at least one of these to keep the momentum going from the georgia victory. santorum wants to keep the momentum from the kansas caucuses. romney would like to demonstrate he can win in the south. >> romney has the new governor of mississippi on. infrastructure wise, turn on the vote, a guy who won an election statewide, it's a good thing to have. gingrich and santorum are hoping for the passion vote. >> two things helping romney. they are both republican states. they didn't used to be. but, the republicans now control the congressional delegations, the state legislature. that's been a big shift from ten years ago. there really is, in the deep south now, a republican establishment. you saw what the governor in mississippi and others are getting behind romney. the second thing is, at a certain point, you are seeing this among tea party voters and evangelica evangelicals, people begin to ask themselves how much value is in this race going on. so, what you have is more pragmatic, strategic voters competing with tea party and faith-based voters. again, because that conservative vote is split, this race is close. if it was santorum or gingrich, both would be gone to romney now. >> he likes the three-ring race. when we come back, the truth of how romney's mormonism will play among the voters in the south. a comic strip, doonesbury does it again. who is mad this time? 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some are told that mormonism is a cult. what we don't know, i have to say, i'm more than curious, is why the christian broadcasting network chose now to post this of romney discussing his unique teachings. >> christ appears in jerusalem, splits the mount of olives, coming in to kill the jews. our church believes that. we also believe over 1,000 years, he will reign from two places. the law will come forward from one place and from missouri and the other jerusalem -- >> a radio interview in alabama, the host raised the belief that christ appeared to joseph smith in the united states in 1820. >> do you, as a mormon believe america is a new promise land? yes or no? >> you would have to talk to the church to see what they think about that. israel is the promise land. th that's what the bible tells us. >> there's less talk of romney's mormon faith compared to when he ran in 2008. out west, there's no question. support for mormons has been a plus for governor romney. there are signs of doubts or worse in the south. last week in oklahoma, tennessee and georgia, voters said the religious views of the candidates mattered a great deal. they are anything but kind to romney. in tp tennessee, 43% of voters said the religious views of the candidate were a big deal. santorum 53, gingrich 25. governor romney, 16% in the state of tennessee. here, the state of georgia. 37% said the candidates religious beliefs mattered a great deal to them. pull it out. romney, 9% of the votes. those voters said the religious beliefs mattered. it's a test for the south as well. age-old misunderstanding are fading or festering below the surface. eric erickson is with us, amy kramer and ralph reed. you have done a lot of work on this issue over the years. sometimes people are taught this from their childhood and believe it. i'm not ascribing ill will to them. how much of an issue, if you look at the exit polls, there's a nagging question. >> i don't think it's a significant issue. the last time we saw a poll question that asked is this an issue for you in terms of your voting behavior was prior to the south carolina primary. 70% to 77% of south carolina voters said it didn't matter at all or made them more like ly t vote for them. if you look at how he's run the come pain, i'm mr. fix-it. i'm the turn around artist. this is about the economy. when you look at the exit polls, it breaks out that way. he's talking about that. voters that care about the economy, the number one issue breaking his way. the other group that votes with him is the pragmatic or strategic voter that says i want to beat obama. he's winning there, not surprisingly, rick santorum given his profile on the issues, his service in congress is doing better among faith-based voters. >> when you talk to tea party folks, does it come up? those that say religious beliefs matter not at all, romney is doing well. those that it matters somewhat, he does well. there's a slice out there that have question about this. how big of a slice? >> i have to go back to my base, the tea party movement. the reason we have been successful is because we focus only on the fiscal issues, not the social issues. when talking religion, you are not talking how to create jobs. that's what concerns americans today, jobs, jobs, jobs. that's what we need to focus on. i have said it time and time again and on the show, get off the social issues. we are talk iing primary, but lk at the bigger picture of the general election. we want to defeat president barack obama. we can't focus on this. it's about the economy. >> to that point, governor romney did an interview this morning with fox news. speaker gingrich is trying to say you can't nominate romney because he'll lose. he's a weak front-runner. here is the response. >> if i'm a weak front-runner, what does that make newt gingrich? i'm well ahead of him. i'm solidly ahead. he's a good guy. i don't begrudge the fact they are out there working hard getting support. ultimately, i'll become the nominee. >> there are questions if romney can win in the south. that's a good answer, isn't it? >> it is. if he's weak, gingrich is really weak. what other word can i use? two states to gingrich. a lot to santorum, a lot to romney. gingrich is come pettive in the south with romney. it's going to be a problem for him. if romney wins the south, suddenly, all of a sudden, all the talk goes away. i think his faith is going to have an impact in mississippi and alabama the same way if you look at utah on the map, it affected him positively. >> how big? how big is the slice? >> i would suspect we are consistent with tennessee and georgia. they are going to weigh heavily on his faith. >> if he wins one of the states tomorrow night, game over? >> i don't know if i would say game over. it means he's still not going to have a significant number of delegates. he needs to demonstrate what he demonstrated in florida. in florida, he was within two points of santorum among evangelical voters and split tea party voters. that's what he needs to do. grass roots of this party that on the core fiscal tax spending and moral issues that he's going to fight for them. >> in that sense, this has been good for him. compared to four years ago, the mormon issue isn't even on the radar screen. >> no question. everybody is going to stay with us. hang on. erin burnett is here next hour. you are going to cover the horrific shooting by a soldier in afghanistan. >> yes, we are, john. we have been hearing the soldier was a certified sniper. he served mull president tours in iraq and afghanistan. we have breaking details we'll have. we learned more about the shooter tonight. we are going to have that for you as we talk about exactly what the president might do now. if he were to change the policy in afghanistan, pull troops out more quickly, what would that mean in terms of the date of when u.s. troops leave afghanistan? we are going to talk with a woman forced into an arranged marriage. her parents beat her, tried to kill her. she's spent ten years running from her family. way too many women suffer from these forced marriages they don't want to be in. even women in the united states. back to you. >> thank you. coming up, we continue our conversation on the eve of the mississippi and alabama primaries. if you are mad about rising gas prices, don't blame me, look at the guys running against me. people with a machine. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. delicious gourmet gravy. and she agrees. with fancy feast gravy lovers, your cat can enjoy the delicious, satisfying taste of gourmet gravy every day. fancy feast. the best ingredient is love. a living, breathing intelligence teaching data how to do more for business. 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[ beeping ] ...to bring all the right results. it's the at&t network -- doing more with data to help business do more for customers. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] with 50 horsepower, dual overhead cams and fierce acceleration, the gator xuv 825i will shatter your expectations. ♪ and so no one gets left behind, check out our affordable xuv 550s at johndeere.com/gator. ♪ we're on the eve of important presidential primaries, especially in mississippi and alabama. talking politics tonight, the president's approval ratings are down. because of rising gas prices, people are mad. the president gave local interviews today. eight stations. seven happen to be in swing states. the president says don't blame me. blame the other guys. >> the biggest driver of these high gas prices is speculation about possible war in the middle east. which is why we've been trying to reduce some of the loose talk about war there. >> loose talk about war there. he says the republicans, he says the casualness. now he says it's causing the price of gas. >> this is an extraordinary comment. first of all, the reason why the market is factoring in pricing and what may or may not happen in iran is because the lynn is announced publicly that they're preventing them from getting the military sides and everybody knows that because iran poses a threat to israel, that neither israel or the united states at some point will probably have to do a military strike and that's why. a. b, he's the one who went to a pac and said i won't allow them to have a weapon. >> it's a republican group here, so democrats at home saying i'm leading a session where everybody's going to be. we're not. but again, as the tea party voice here, if you're party was born, your movement was born of concern about this thing, how much are you hearing about this? $3.76 a gallon. up 29 cents just a month ago. >> it's huge and i think in illinois, gas prices have gone up 57 cents in four weeks. it affects every american and their pocketbook. what turns people out is when it affects them personally. but look, the buck stops with him. i mean, how long is is he going to say blame it on bush and now, he's saying blame it on these other guys. he is the president of the united states. he needs to take responsibility. they need to figure out what we can do to make these gas prices go down and do it. i mean, you cannot continue to blame other people and i agree with everything that ralph said. i mean, this is a serious issue and this is what people are going to be focused on going into november. are you better off now than four years ago and most people would say no. >> a month ago, everyone was saying the president's approval rate was back up. the data seems to be getting bert, then six weeks of higher energy prices, people are saying ugh. >> we talk about the day-to-day campaigns, but there are a lot of external factors that weigh in on the presidential election. europe, iran, gas prices, whether or not he can do anything about it. the keystone xl pipeline, i suspect we're going to hear the republicans start picking that up again. i talked to newt gingrich and said the republicans are promising their entire campaign on the economy going downhill. what are r you doing to do? his response, well, it's not, gas prices are going to be $5 a gallon this summer. people will pull out of one sector just to put gas in their car. >> when you talk about 4 or $5 gasoline, you're talking about a $300 billion tax increase on the american people during a weak recovery, so this is a big issue. >> huge issue. >> appreciate you're coming in. kate bolduan's back with the latest news you need to know. >> president obama, he says the massacre in afghanistan apparently at the hands of a u.s. soldier highlights the need to stick to the withdrawal plan. that would have american troops out of the country by the end of 2014. >> it does signal though the importance of us transitioning in accordance with my plan so that afghans are taking more the lead for their security and we can start getting our troops home. >> president obama called afghanistan's president over the weekend to offer his condolences for the 16 lives lost in the rampage. many struggling homeowners could be one step closer to getting their piece of a $26 billion settlement. the justice department asked to approve the deal with big banks over negligent practices. the white house says nearly 1 million people could see their principle reduced. many more could refinance. and more than a dozen ford taurus owners say their cars sped up without them pushing on the gas. fortunately, no one has gotten hurt, but investigator rs are looking into the claims in some 2005 and 2006 cars. as many as 360,000 cars could be involved. and this week's comic strip, you may have to flip to the op-ed section of your paper to find it or go online. some newspapers are pulling or moving the cartoon, which takes aim at a texas rule requiring ultrasounds before abortions. in one, the waiting room is referred to a quote shaming room. another compares the exam to rape. and the federal government says it will not pay what tornados destroyed in southern illinois. fema says the damage wasn't severe enough, but that decision has left the state's governor and senators stunned and they say they'll appeal. and finally, tonight's -- oh, sorry, john. i was jumping all over you. >> the president fighting with the democratic governor over this fema thing. interesting to watch. all right. here we go. tonight's moment you may have missed. kate wanted to steal the script. mitt romney's 65th birthday and no big party, no romantic date with his wife. that's because she's campaigning on her own. but he has a birthday voice mail according to rick santorum's campaign. the communications director tweeted this -- called to wish him a happy b-day. we wonder if governor romney will return the favor. senator santorum turns