suggests the former pennsylvania senator lacks the temperament to be president. the landmark debate unfolding at the supreme court on this question. did congress over step its authority when it passed the obama administration plan that man dates you to buy health insurance? this morning the supreme court opened three days of oral arguments on whether the president's healthcare law is unconstitutional. even though cameras aren't allowed in the court inside, there were rare audio recordings and show the chief justice focusing on the key question, can the government force to you buy insurance and fine you if you don't? >> the idea is that the mandate is something separate on whether you want to call it a penalty or tax just doesn't seem to make much sense. >> it is entirely separate and let me explain to you why. >> it is a command. the mandate is a command. >> senior legal analyst jeff tubin was in the courtroom and he is here live. what is especially what happened today. >> something really significant happened today. there was a possibility going into this hearing that the court could kick the can down the road, say this whole issue is premature, the law doesn't go into effect until 2014. what we saw was the eight justice who asked questions, clarence thomas was silent as usual and the eight justice more or less agreed you could tell this case was not premature, that it was appropriate to decide the case and tomorrow they will address the question of the merits, is it the law constitutional? >> and obviously it is a huge case of import for the constitution, the power of congress, the presidency, the political system, and you cover the court better than anybody. no routine case makes it, but do they understand and how is it different when you get a case like this? this is the super bowl, the world series. >> think of this. 99 out of 100 cases are given one hour. bush v gore was given one hour. this case is being given six hours. the justices are not pretending this is just another case. they recognize the enormous stakes involved. >> and any sense from what you heard today, obviously they're all interested. obviously you think they want this case and any sense of where they are sf. >> i really don't think so. you can tease out certain things and since tomorrow all they're going to do for two hours is talk about the mandate, we will know a great deal more. one thing about this court is they don't play devil's advocate. what you see is what you get. the questions they ask almost invariably reflect their true feelings, so after the hearing tomorrow we should know a great deal more about whether this law is going to be upheld. >> right back here tomorrow and we'll go through it. what do you think the high court should do? our our brand new cnn poll, only 23% of americans say leave the law just as it is. 30% of americans want it over turned in its entirety. 43% say some provisions should be struck down. 47% of americans favor an mandatory health insurance, but 51% oppose that, and i guess no surprise here, the partisan divide is stunning, 68% of democrats approve the law and only 10% of republicans do. you can count the republican presidential candidates among the law's fiercest opponents. it is a power grab by the federal government. it violates the tenth amendment. it violates the economic principles of economic freedom in this country. it is wrong. it needs to be re peeled. >> it is going to destroy the economy of this country, raise unemployment rates and bloom the size of the government and dramatically increase our deficit. this is a loser on every single front. >> more of what the presidential candidates told my colleague today and let's shift overseas for a moment to a highly embarrassing moment for president obama. in south korea for a summit on stops the threat of nuclear weapons. president of the overheard asking the russian president for space on a thorny issue in u.s. russian relations, nato's plans to deploy a missile defense system in europe. >> brianna, what happened here? >> john, this happened as reporters were being let into the room as president obama and the president were finishing up a meeting. they did not have microphones on but directional microphones are good these days and this conversation was caught some of it on camera and president obama caught on an audio recording that was heard by the press pool saying that he needed space. white house officials are downplaying this saying this is an acknowledgment of what everyone knows that there are election year politics in play with a lot of decisions and the fact is when there is a hot mic and a president is caught saying something, it makes news. it made news before. we know as we're here at the summit people look at what's going on at the summit and really want to know what's going on on the sidelines and it is rare we're able to see an unscripted moment like this, john. >> it is rare, and any politician including this president that had this happen before should know better. he is saying back off, don't pressure me until after the election and if i win, you will probably get a better deal. needless to say, the republicans jumped all over this, right? >> they are. they're extrapalating from this. the point republicans are making if president obama has flexibility after the election on this issue of missile defense, what other issues might he have flexibility on and we have been seeing, for instance, mitt romney react to this and he also tweeted about it saying "fill in the blank, barack obama. i am have more flexibility to blank after the election". that's interesting because the obama campaign sees one of mitt romney's liabilities is as they painted him being a flip-flopper, so you see the romney campaign turning that criticism back at president obama. speaker boehner's spokesperson saying, the state department, i need space until after the election on this keystone thing. after my election i have more flexibility. there in that case you see a republican trying to tie this to another issue which is the president's january decision to below being that oil pipeline that's become a bit of a political liability as gas prices have risen so high, john. >> traveling with the president, another reminder the microphone is always open. thank you so much. also today the president gave a speech warning the north decree ans that provocation to pursuit of nuclear weapons under mind their quest for security. and hours after the north korea an. back here in the united states new details about the fatal shooting of that florida teenager, trayvon martin. leaked information from the sanford florida police and published in the orlando sentinel newspaper revealed martin had been suspended from school for suspected marijuana use. martin's parents are furious. >> the only comment that i have right now is that they have killed my son and now they're trying to kill his reputation. >> leaked information also paint martin as the aggressor in the on fron tags and zimmerman the neighborhood watch volunteer that shot him and also more on zimmerman's friends now coming to his defense. >> this was not a racial incident. this was an incident where someone who was just trying to do the right thing ended up in a very, very bad position. >> david mattingly reporting on this case extensively is in florida. the city confirmed they passed information onto the state attorney's office that trayvon martin initiated the violent encounter and punching zimmerman in the nose, knocking him down, slamming his head on the sidewalk. how are trayvon martin's supporters reacting to that? >> they're taking their cues from the family, the family very much strongly objects to that information coming out that we learned today that it was leaked by the police department. it was not an authorized press release, information that should not have gone out and the city itself saying they will launch an investigation to find out where it came from and if they find the person that did it, that person could be losing their job. everyone very serious here about trying to close the leaks. that information is now out. the family believes that it is part of an attempt to recast their son as the aggressor in this case and object to that very strongly saying that it is a character assassination and they go onto say that they believe that it is irrelevant right now as well as erroneous and based on the phone call that trayvon was engaged in with a girlfriend at the time that he had his encounter and they say if you listen to the phone call and look at the records, the time lapse records of the 911 calls, it doesn't seem to match up with what the police are saying. >> and, david, what more do we know about the details of the school suspension? >> the details have been known to the family the entire time. they say they didn't come public with that and we knew that he was suspended and there was a court report early on it was because of excessive tardiness, and the family said they knew that wasn't the case and they knew that all along why he was suspended, but at this point they said they felt like that was really irrelevant to what happened. it had nothing to do with the confrontation that took place that night or they say why george zimmerman decided to get out of his car and pursue trayvon that night that he was killed. >> and explain to us what's going on behind you there. >> this is the big overflow crowd that could not get into the civic center tonight for the open mic that's been set up for city officials to hear what people have to say about this case and believe me, they have been getting an emotional earful from representative after representative, people standing up to talk about how emotionally charged this case is and why. this is a city park behind me and this is the overflow crowd, the hundreds that could not be there. the arena only accommodates 500 people and everyone else had to come out here. i can't begin to tell you how many there are in the crowd. it looks like a sea of people going across the block here. there are huge jumbo trons set up and everybody watching every single word being said, and applauding quite frequently as people make their points to the city commissioners here. >> pictures, especially overwhelming. we'll get back to david as news develops more. according to new reports a u.s. army soldier sneaked off the base twice during the massacre of civilians in afghanistan and we'll ask his attorney about that later. jan brewer has taken no steps towards implementing the president's healthcare reform plan. talk to her about that after the break. what's this? 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who wants some ronald tonight!? geico. fifteen minutes could save you 15% or more. pay attention inside and outside the supreme court has the high court considers whether the government can order citizens to have health insurance. on the other side of the country the arizona governor is the only governor not to take legislative action towards implementing the affordable air act also known as obama care. she is part of a lawsuit challenging the roolg. governor brewer joins us from arizona. i know you oppose this and say it is unconstitutional but you haven't taken any steps to be ready to implement it. if the high court says it is fine, it can stay in place, won't you be caught flat footed? >> that's not entirely correct, john. i have taken steps here in arizona because i felt it was the right thing to do, want knowing exactly what the supreme court is going to do, but i started down the path and we are starting to implement the health exchanges, and we will be ready to set it up and move forward so we don't put arizona at risk of losing millions of dollars from the federal government in case they do win. if they lose, i can just shut it right down, so i have tried to do the best on both sides of this issue, but i believe that we're going to win this case. i believe it is totally upconstitutional and it is absolutely unaffordable and unaffordable for arizona for sure, and it is unaffordable for america. >> if you can in your words shut it down, what do you tell the estimated just shy of 60,000 young adults in arizona notal louds to stay on their parents health coverage because the law moves it up to 26 or the 1,700 plus that had preexisting conditions and couldn't get it a year ago and can now. what do you tell them if you win? >> first and foremost, i understand the polite. we have all been at some time may be maybe in that situation. the bottom line is i don't believe that the federal government, and that is at issue, and i think states and states ought to have rights and those are issues that we can determine and that we can solve on a state level. government just simply can't do everything for everyone. under the existing circumstances, i understand there are situations where people indeed need care and need services, but i believe in america that the majority of those people are getting those services under a situations and circumstances that are afforded to them by their healthcare providers and their state government. we need the federal government to understand and in regards to this lawsuit that it is going to have long time going forward implications on our country, on liberty, and on freedom, and it is just not about healthcare. it is about states rights and mandating. >> to that point, you have endorsed mitt romney for the republican presidential nomination. it is a big constitutional question for the court and a fierce debate in the politics. senator santorum who still thinks he has a shot at getting the nomination says if republicans nominate governor romney it will be a disaster. let's listen. >> he is the worst candidate to go against barack obama on the most important issue of the day. it is what i said yesterday and said in every single speech throughout the course of this campaign. >> would governor romney on this healthcare issue not worst thing the republican party could do? >> i don't believe so. i wouldn't have endorsed him. i think he has the support of good conservative republicans throughout america. i think that governor romney wants the opportunity to go to the drawing board and if a solution is needed that he wants to work with all of us to get it solved. i think he wants to work with governors and state government and wants to do what's right for the people of arizona and he is a big proponent of state's rights and a big proponent of freedom and that's what counts. >> store santorum losing his temper on the campaign trail. we'll play the sound and get our opinion from the truth panel. >> james cameron dives 30,000 feet under water. we'll tell you what he was doing. 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[ male announcer ] don't miss red lobster's lobsterfest. the only time of year you can savor 12 exciting lobster entrees, like lobster lover's dream i'm laura mclennan and i sea food differently. welcome back. here is kate baldwin with the latest news right now. >> good evening, everybody. members of afghanistan's security forces killed three nato troops today in one incident an african soldier killed a pair of british troops and a second shooting involving an afghan policeman claimed the life of nato forces. castro welcomed pope ben dukt to cuba today. declaring him the second left an indelable mark on the soul of all cubans. he will spend three days in cuba and the first mass is starting now. james cameron is safe and sound after his historic ride to the deepest known spot in the pacific ocean. it is amazing. the only other time a sub got that deep was in 1960. he describe it is as a soft plain that is almost featureless. videos will be released later. sorry, i wish i could write that. get ready to hear a lot about a 17-year-old opera singer. he just wowed the judges on britain's got talent, the same show that turned susan boyle into a star. >> ♪ ♪ ♪ >> difficult to please show host simon cowell called him astounding and compared him to pavarotti. >> he has the simon vote. he is in. >> i think he is in. that was amazing. >> coming soon to? >> the verizon center? >> bigger than that. >> i don't know. verizon center is here in d.c., everyone. >> all right. we'll see kate in a little bit. she was at the supreme court all day. >> when we come back, three presidential candidates speak to cnn. and you will hear from all of them. new developments in the case of the u.s. soldier charged with 17 charges of murder in afghanistan and what the pentagon now says he did and you will hear from his wife. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses. ♪ when your chain of supply goes from here to shanghai, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ chips from here, boards from there track it all through the air, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ clearing customs like that hurry up no time flat that's logistics. ♪ ♪ all new technology ups brings to me, that's logistics. ♪ the world needs more energy. where's it going to come from? ♪ that's why right here, in australia, chevron is building one of the biggest natural gas projects in the world. enough power for a city the size of singapore for 50 years. what's it going to do to the planet? natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there is. we've got to be smart about this. it's a smart way to go. ♪ home protector plus from liberty mutual insurance, where the cost to both repair your home and replace what's inside are covered. to learn more, visit us today. will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. in this half hour the attorney who represents the u.s. soldier accused in the massacre in afghanistan, did his client go off base, shoot afghan civilians and return to base and leave and shoot more? what was behind rick santorum's angry outburst after a reporter question? a disturbing new report alleges a nationwide epidemic of cheating on standardized school tests. first, the republican presidential candidates may not be doing debates any more but wolf blitzer had a tremendous if he can at that, three of them this afternoon on cnn and "the situation room". let's go in reverse order if you will, standing when it comes to delegates and elections. newt gingrich was on. after he didn't win mississippi and alabama and did i understand bin in louisiana will you a lot of pressure to get out. >> you have absolutely no intention of dropping out of this race any time between now and the end of june, is that right? >> well, i think the morning that he gets 1,144 that are locked down, then i think he can claim to be the nominee. until then, he is not the nominee. remember, i am from atlanta where we were ahead by 10.5 games last year with only 28 games to go and the cardinals didn't quit. everybody wanted them to. they kept coming, and they ended up winning. i think this is not over until it is over. obviously if he does become the nominee, i will support him, beating barack obama is very, very important for this country. >> and that's newt gingrich there. before we have a conversation, let's listen to senator santorum who did win in louisiana and won 11 states and the delegate math is tough if you look at our count, governor romney has a 2 to 1 lead. >> let's talk about your strategy for a moment because all of the math that we have done suggests that you don't have a realistic chance of getting to 1,144. romney does. you might be able to prevent him from reaching that. is it your goal to have a debate on the convention floor? >> with all due respect we don't agree with your numbers. we think they're wrong. >> you think you can realistically get to 1,144 before the convention? >> we think we can get there and the likelihood, i agree, the likelihood neither of us can get there and i think we can still get there. our numbers are very different than yours. you have some calculations with florida, idaho, arizona, for example, winner take all. the rnc rules say you can't have winner take all. those will be aportioned at the convention and you give romney and gingrich and you will see a lot of changes when the reality sets in that this race is all likelihood going to go to convention. >> now, you know how we do the numbers. i trust our team well, and i work with them closely. to his point, he is essentially trying to say if he can get momentum in the latter primaries, keep romney from getting 1144,maybe you convince the delegates to come that way. did you get your sense, you know him, does he believe that or is that what he has to say? >> i get the sense he really believes he can prevent mitt romney from getting the magic number of 1,144 before the convention in tampa and at the end of august. he believes he can do that. if there is a floor fight, delegate that is are undecided, uncommitted, you might be able to convince them because of the healthcare issue in particular that he says romney is vulnerable on, because he in fact is governor of massachusetts did support mandates in massachusetts and to a certain degree, newt gingrich has the same theory, just let it get to the convention and let him stay in. if he remains standing in there until the convention and no one has the magic number, who knows what can happen. if you speak off camera, newt gingrich has a lot of historical precedence going to 1920 where what happened on the tenth ballot. >> the tenth ballot many 1920, given how crazy it has been, some says who can blame him. let's move to mitt romney. the commander in chief question as many of you know, president obama highly embarrassing moment in south korea today talking to the russian president and thinks nobody can hear him and says essentially back off, i know we have a disagreement on missile defense but if i win the election, i have more flexibility. you asked governor romney is that right or wrong? >> these are very unfortunate developments and if he is planning to doing more and suggests to russia is that he has things he is willing to do with them he is not willing to tell the american people, this is to russia, this is without question our number one geo political foe, they might every cause for the world's worst actors, the idea that he has more flexibility in mind for russia is very, very troubling indeed. >> you think russia is a bigger foe right now than let's say iran or china or north korea? is that what you are suggesting, governor? >> well, i am saying in terms of a geo political opponent, the nation that lines up with the world's worst actors, of course the greatest threat is the nuclear i ran and nuclear north korea is troubling enough. when these terrible actors pursue their course in the world, and we go to the united nations looking for ways to stop them when asad is murdering his own people, we go to the and always stands up for the world's worst act ors, always russia, typically with china alongside. in terms of a political foe, a nation on the security council, the heft of the security council, and of course a massive nuclear power, russia is the geo political foe and the idea that our president is planning on doing something with them that he is not willing to tell the american people before the election is something i find very, very alarming. >> he explained his point when you pressed him. i get what he means. geo political foe, in the cold war they were an enemy or opponent. it is interesting choice of words and harsh criticism for the incumbent. >> afs an unforced error and you thought after three years you know there are open microphones all the time and you don't start whispering something that you don't necessarily want to be made public. i can understand why he would say that, that he wants the russians to wait and the u.s. is looking to russia for help in dealing with iran and other sensitive issues and trying to would them to a certain degree and this is a blunder. >> and president putin around the corner and tends be to be more open in his criticism of the united states. >> yes, as far as the united states is concerned and i understand what romney was saying about a geo political or strategic foe. north korea or iran might not necessarily be china, at lisa lot of experts think is a bigger potential geo political threat to the u.s. than russia is. >> and the economic characterizations. wolf blitzer, big day in the situation room. thanks for joining us. we turn to the investigation to what happened the night the army staff sergeant robert bales allegedly gunned down 17 afghan civilians. cnn told the pentagon alleges he committed them in spra separate outings, returning to base in between. bales is charged with 17 counts of murder including the murder of nine afghan children. for the first time earlier today his wife tried to shed light on what could have happened. >> i have no idea what happened. he would not -- he loves children. he would not do that. it is heartbreaking. i can't imagine losing my children. >> joining us is john henry brown, the attorney for staff sergeant robert bales. let me ask this up front. there are new accounts coming out according to the military investigation your client is alleged to have twice left the base, gone out from the base, committed some of these murders, come back to the base and then after some period of time gone back out again. what does your client say happened that night? >> that is an allegation of course that is certainly not proof of anything. obviously johnny can't tell you what my client remembers or don't remember other than telling you that he has some memory problems about everything that happened that night. >> has the military shown you any evidence he left witness or twice or more that night? >> no, no, actually there is a defense part of our defense team on the ground in afghanistan right now and we are gathering information and interviewing witnesses and getting information from the military prosecutors, but i haven't had a chance to look at that yet. >> obviously you are awaiting for information from them. you are watching this case being discussed publicly in the united states and under athe world. i want you to listen a bit of what your client's wife gave an interview this morning with nbc and says she is listening to things she simply sometimes can't believe. let's listen. >> i used to believe that everything i read was true or most things were true, and now as i am reading a little bit of these, some things are true and some things aren't true, so i am waiting to hear what actually is true. >> well, i think what kari was talking about, i was with her by the way and i have been with kari a number of times, and i think what she was referring to is early on in the story, john, there were reports of unattributed of course that if sergeant bales did do this, that it was a result of marital pressures and financial pressures and stress and the minute i heard that, i knew that was not accurate information because i knew there were absolutely no marital difficulties in this marriage whatsoever. i think kari is saying that she has heard this and it has been floated out there and absolutely not true. everything else we hear we're suspicious about. >> she also has said that there were no signs of ptsd before he went on this deployment. could that statement in some way, sir, under mine any defense you might want to put forward? >> no. most of the soldiers i have spoken with who i have spoken with a lot that contacted me since i got involved in this and also experts in the area of ptsd, one of the things we know are that the soldiers, the professional soldiers, often hide these symptoms from their family. it is a matter of, one, not wanting their family to be concerned about the issues like con can you say sif head injuries. we know for a fact he has that head injury. so a lot of the soldiers just don't tell their families about problems they're having, so that's not really uncommon. kari was being protected by robert about a lot of things that were going on in his life. >> do you know anything about was he on any medications either for the head injury or anything else or was he prescribed as many soldiers are antimalaria medications or anything in the field in afghanistan? >> that's a good question. i know it is a hot issue right now. sergeant bales was unable to recall when i was speaking with him for 11 hours exactly what medications he has taken in the past and what he took recently. i think it is part of the whole memory problems that he's having, so i cannot confirm that he was taking any of these but i suspect he was, and we're going to have to get his medical records since he doesn't have a real good memory of that. >> mr. brown, i appreciate your time. we'll stay in touch as this high profile case moves forward. >> thank you. >> thank you, sir. >> coming up, rick santorum's outburst at a reporter. tonight's truth, should he have known better? 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>> after that speech, special by about that point the "new york times" correspondent asked a question. >> you said that mitt romney is the worst republican in the country. is that true? >> what speech did you listen to? >> right here. it is right here. >> stop lying. i said he was the worst republican to run on the issue of obama care. that's what i was talking about. i said for every speech i give, i said he is uniquely disqualified to run against barack obama and the issue of healthcare. would you get distorting what i am saying. >> you think he is the worst to run. >> on the issue of healthcare. he fashioned the blueprint. i have been saying it in every speech. quit distorting my words. if i see it, it is bull [ bleep ]. come on, man. >> when senator santorum's defense he was focused on the healthcare issue when he launched into the worst candidate but the good reporters know to listen to small changes and it was a more than fair question. why the outburst? >> i don't regret taking on a "new york times" reporter who was out of line. you know, if you are a conservative and haven't taken on a "new york times" reporter, are you not worth your salt as far as i am concerned. >> the truth is the senator should know better. he knows how the process works and to his credit senator santorum is almost always accessible to reporters and also knows jeff is a pro. it is less about the media and more about months and months on the road and the math, math that heavily favors governor romney. let's get perspective from the former rick perry campaign manager and national communications director for rick santorum and you know, jeff, he doesn't deliberately distort anybody's words. the healthcare on this issue was not in that one sentence. he walked up essentially to just double check, just to make sure and why so mad? why bs? why lie? >> look, look, rick is a passionate guy. everybody knows that. the reason they like him is because of that passion, because of how he feels about the country. it is nothing new to anybody. he is italian from a steel town and doesn't start every fight but finishes a lot of them and he felt the "new york times" reporter was unfair. it has done it many times and he is accessible and out there all the time and the only candidate that actually talks to reporters before, after, and probably during his presentation and he doesn't give a canned speech and the whole issue is about obama care and romney care being the same thing and talking about it for months. back in iowa he was talking about it. he was talking about it today. he showed the shot from the supreme court. he went down there to explain to people why those two pieces of legislation are identical and why mitt romney has zero credibility to talk about healthcare as an issue in this campaign. >> the romney campaign today does a conference call and say, look, this fwie doesn't have the temperament to be president if he is going to snap at a "new york times" reporter. governor romney i haven't seen snap like that but all candidates have their moments. it happens out there. santorum's point was the romney people are in the back of the room stoking this. that happens in, too. >> first of all, attacking the "new york times" is probably worth two or three points in the republican primary. also, governor romney has had his temperament challenged and he has shown it out on the campaign. he laid hands on rick perry and made a $10,000 bet with rick perry and attacked brett baer for interviewing him. running for president is hard and grueling and tough. people get tired and we're all human. >> it does get grueling and tired and it is tough, but this is where you separate the men from the boys. this would have been a perfect opportunity for santorum to continue to focus his passion on the issue, the right answer to that would have been, yes, on healthcare, mitt romney is absolutely the worst candidate to put up against barack obama because, blah, blah, blah, that would have been the perfect answer. he was tired. he was annoyed. he did, and i think you're right, to some of his own conservative followers, that is the thing to do, but it doesn't do anything to bring on independence and to expand the coalition that he is going to need to ultimately win. >> here is the question i have today. you explained to me how you can intellectually connect these dots. you understand santorum passionately making the case and some republicans are mad because they think romney has this locked up and he's hurting the cause. but he makes the case do not nominate mitt romney, he can't carry the case against health care. he would be the worst republican on this biggest issue of the day. then he tells the christian broadcasting network when he's asked, would you consider being his running mate if he wins? this is the most important race in our country. i'm going to do whatever i can, i'll do whatever is necessary to help our country. if he's the worst candidate the party can nominate, why would you join his ticket? >> well, you've got to make him good somehow, so let's make him good with rick santorum. if you want to take on the president on health care, you have to have someone consistent that's against the government's takeover of people's lives and freedom. it's the job nobody wants but the job no one rejects. obviously if that were the case, you know, there are a lot of people out there, as we all know, who are brought up in these conversations about who would be vice president and they always say i'm not running for vice president, because we're not. we're running for president. we have a long way to go. this is halfway over. we're ready for the second half. >> aren't you supposed to train the candidates to say i'm not going to answer that question today because i'm going to be the nominee. >> yes. >> if i was able to train rick santorum to say anything, i would be making a whole lot more money than i'm making. >> i think governor perry said vice president isn't worth a warm bucket of spit. >> i think he was quoting somebody else. >> he was. >> that's true, but also when you say things about mitt romney, the way that santorum has, your chances of being the vp kind of dwindle a little bit. >> we're almost short of time. here's a quick political question. would you actually -- i know on the policy what you want, for the politics. would you rather your side lose at the supreme court to motivate voters? to have them say obama care is constitutional? >> no, i don't. freedom is the underlying theme here. this is what can't be taken away. it's very important. you can't play politics with freedom. >> wouldn't it motivate democrats more if the court threw it out? >> it would motivate democrats more but i would not root for that. right now there are 180 million americans who are benefitting from the portions of the law already in effect and that is not something that i don't think anybody wants to be in a position to take away. >> this isn't about republican and democrat, it's about the american people and about their freedom and this onerous law that has been put upon them. >> we'll watch this case and watch the campaign. thanks for coming in. "erin burnett outfront" coming up at the top of the hour. we all know about open microphones. the president had this candid chat with russia's president. what's your take? >> well, i guess it's better than being in the bathroom with your open microphone. but he did obviously make a bit of a gaffe and we're going to talk about exactly why it happened. what he was trying to signal to russia. actually we'll break it down. when you look at what russia is doing, it may shock a lot of people to see the president open to cutting a deal with dmitry medvedev. coming up here, school districts across the country allegedly cheating on standardized tests. how many? stay with us. the number may shock you. ok, guys-- what's next ? chocolate lemonade ? susie's lemonade... the movie. or... we make it pink ! with these 4g lte tablets, you can do business at lightning-fast speeds. we'll take all the strawberries, dave. you got it, kid. we have a winner. we're definitely gonna need another one. small businesses that want to grow use 4g lte technology from verizon. i wonder how she does it. that's why she's the boss. because the small business with the best technology rules. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 1-800-974-6006. here's a chance to create jobs in america. oil sands projects, like kearl, and the keystone pipeline will provide secure and reliable energy to the united states. over the coming years, projects like these could create more than half a million jobs in the us alone. from the canadian border, through the mid west, to the gulf coast. benefiting hundreds of thousands of families throughout the country. this is just what our economy needs right now. is moving backward. [ engine turns over, tires squeal ] introducing the lexus enform app suite -- available now on the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. see your lexus dealer. welcome back. kate is back with the latest news you need to know right now. >> hello again, everyone. a very hard story to bring to you. first, a mother of five beaten with a tire iron in her own home has died. this california woman has been on life support since being found by her daughter, wednesday. her mother is calling her death a hate crime because a threatening note was found next to her. she had received a second letter a week ago saying, quote, this is our country, not yours. you terrorists. very disturbing. in other headlines, a report in the atlanta journal constitution says almost 200 school districts show signs of cheating on standardized tests. tests showed what the paper calls statistically unlikely score increases and other irregularities. the report is based on a seven-month investigation of almost 70,000 public schools. about 180 teachers were implicated in 2009 during a similar cheating scandal. and tim tebow speaks for the first time as an official new york jet. he'll be a backup quarterback and could play other roles on the field. tebow says he's okay with that and that he is excited to join the team. the broncos traded tebow to the jets last week after signing colts quarterback peyton manning. what else is he going to say? of course he's excited to be playing. a 71-year-old former marine is pedaling across the country. 71 years old, folks. rick hermerlin will use this bike starting in south carolina and hoping to reach california. he's trying to raise $10,000 for a charity that supports injured marines and their families. he says he's run 100 marathons, 100 half-marathons and 100 10ks. that is very impressive. >> that's awesome. it's a great cause. >> what an amazing guy. those are the kind of stories i like talking about. >> and i don't know if we'll like talking about this one. today's moments you might have missed. it's pretty bizarre. herman cain releases a video of a rabbit. it's supposed to represent small business under the current tax code but, people, yeah, people are calling the ending strange and disturbing. you make the call. >> this is small business. >> this is small business under the current tax code. any questions? any questions? >> that's the second. the gold fish one was earlier. abusing animals, even faux abusing animals. >> right. it was a stuffed bunny. >> but it's dark and strange. >> there's also some reporting that early today, i believe, that it was temporarily taken off youtube for a review because they thought it may have violated some of the youtube policies, but it's back up. >> there are ways to make a