they'll pack -- they'll get on every single slice. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we're expecting a vote in the house of representatives. the house oversight committee at any moment now on whether to hold the attorney general of the united states, eric holder, in contempt of congress. at issue, his refusal to turn over documents about the botched gun-running sting operation called fast and furious. the republican-led panel going forward even after president obama today invoked executive privilege claiming the release of the documents would have in his words, significant damaging consequences. >> the attorney general has refused to cooperate offering to provide subpoenaed documents only if the committee agrees in advance to close the investigation. no investigator would ever agree to that. >> the likes of the committee chairman. he will call the role call momentarily. want to know if senior justice officials knew if the fast and furious program was flawed. federal agents lost track of more than 1,000 firearms circulated along the southwest border in a sting targeting the mexican drug cartels. but their investigation has become something much bigger. our congressional correspondent, kate baldwin, is up on capitol hill. she's joining us right now. kate, this is emerging as a full-scale constitutional battle. >> you absolutely took the words out of my mouth, wolf. we remind viewers we are watching this committee still debating and moving closer and closer towards this anticipated vote to hold the attorney gener general. we are watching this. it's been a months long showdown turned into a full-scale political and constitutional battle over this botched operation fast and furious. this fight has now become even more dramatic that president obama himself has stepped into it asserting executive privilege over at least some of the documents that the committee and the republican chairman of this committee have been requesting as part of their own investigation. once the president took that step, you can be sure that republicans pounced on that -- the spokesman for house speaker john boehner in a statement raising questions now that the white house itself is involved in a "cover-up" or even lying to this statement. still, republicans on this committee are moving towards this vote. this after a marathon day of hearings on the matter. just listen here to a little bit of the debate, wolf, unusually caustic and bitter even for this partisan congress. >> it shouldn't be a political witch hunt against the attorney general of our country and our president in an election year. i must say, mr. chairman, i am offended personally by your calling the attorney general a liar. >> this is not about eric holder. it is about the department of justice and justice in the united states of america. have the guts -- i hope we have the guts and the perseverance to get to the bottom of this. we have nearly 2,000 weapons purposely -- purposely given to drug cartels. we have hundreds of dead people in mexico. we have a dead united states border patrol agent. and we have a government that's withholding information so that we cannot only get to the bottom of it but so that we can fix it and make sure it never ever happens again. >> what this comes down to is documents. the committee has been asking for documents in a specific period of time relating to this fast and furious investigation. they want to know what department of justice officials knew, who knew what when. the department says they have provided a lot of information, enough information, and they now -- now that the president has stepped in says that some of the documents they are looking for have executive privilege and will not be handed over, will be withheld. this hearing, wolf, has been going on since 10:00 this morning. republicans are the majority on the committee. they have the votes whenever they move towards that vote, wolf. >> so there should be no doubt that in this committee the republicans -- i assume all the republicans will vote to hold the attorney general in contempt. the democrats will vote against it. but the republicans, as you point out, have the majority. so presumably it will move forward, is that right? >> presumably, that is how exactly things will move forward. even if you just listen to some of the debate today, it was absolutely along partisan lines. one side saying the department of justice is stone walling. the other side saying this is a political witch hunt on the part of republicans. going forward though, wolf, it becomes a little bit more unclear. that full house of representatives would need to vote on this citation. that could happen as early as next week is what we are hearing. after that, it's unclear where it would go. it would likely go to the u.s. attorney for the district of columbia, but it's unlikely the justice department would enforce such a citation on one of its own especially if it's in dispute by the attorney general himself. and the element of the president asserting this executive privilege brings a whole new element to all of this. so it seems almost impossible for the president or attorney general could be prosecuted for withholding documents that are protected under executive privilege, wolf. >> kate, you'll let us know when that role call takes place. >> absolutely. >> let's dig deeper with our senior analyst, jeffrey tubin, joining us from new york. what does this mean, precisely, if in fact the committee and full households eric holder in contempt of congress? >> what it means in practical terms is that this will go to court. the executive branch are in conflict. when that happens, the judicial branch, the third branch, has to settle it. this will go probably in the next month or so to a district court, to the district court of columbia of appeals and then to the u.s. supreme court. >> we just heard kate say the u.s. attorney for the district of columbia who was named via president, he would be put in charge if in fact there were to become an investigation? is that what your understanding would be? >> my understanding is that before that point it will go to court. these sorts of disputes between the executive branch and the legislative branch have happened in all recent administrations. there have been these kind of fights in the clinton administration, in the last george bush administration. and they have always wound up in court. and what usually happens is what always happens in court, things get delayed. it takes a long time to litigate these questions. they're complicated. it's not simple to resolve them. and based on the fact that we are now in june of an election year, based on how these usually work, i don't see any resolution before the election. so i think there will be a flurry of activity in the next couple of days, perhaps the next couple of weeks. but then it's going to wind up in court. and it really won't be resolved, i don't think, until after the election. >> let's take a look. i want to put up on the screen exactly how many times at least in recent history a president of the united states has exerted executive privilege. president obama now one, this is the first time. president george w. bush, six times, president clinton, 14 times. p george h.w. bush, one time. ronld reagan did it three times. should we conclude as some of the president's critics, the attorney general's critics are suggesting right now that the administration has something to hide. that's why they're not sharing all these documents with this committee? >> no. by no means. these are constitutional values in conflict. congress definitely has the right to oversight. it has the right to investigate the executive branch. but the courts have also held that the executive branch has the right to internal deliberations, that's the phrase the courts focus on, internal deliberations that cannot be disclosed to the legislative branch when it's investigating. the question in these cases is, are the documents at issue, do they reflect internal deliberations that the executive needs in order to reach good decisions. or is this simply a cover-up of information that congress is entitled to? and those are the kind of issues that the courts deal with. and it can often be difficult and tedious because that means the court, the judge, has to look at each document and say is this protected by executive privilege? that's not always a simple determination. it can be appealed. so i think, as usual when it comes to the legal system, this fast-moving process, at least today, will slow down considerably. >> jeffrey, don't go too far away because you see daryl. he's the chairman of the committee. he's going to be calling the role on this contempt vote. we expect fairly soon. we'll update our viewers as soon as we get more on that. jeffrey toobin, thanks very much. in our next hour, by the way, an in depth analysis of fast and furious, the botched sting operation. what exactly happened that has generated what is this dramatic development today? we'll explain all of that. that's coming up in our next hour. meanwhile, new satellite images suggest iran is trying to clean up a controversial military site before allowing any outside inspection. mary snow is monitoring that. some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. what's going on, mary? >> the images show heavy machinery tracks and earth displacement at the military complex. the international atomic energy agency suspects iran of conducting tests to develop knew leer weapons. the iaea is pressing for immediate access to the site, but iran has refused. jurors will hear closing arguments in the jerry sandusky trial tomorrow morning. the defense rested without calling sandusky to the stand, but jurors did hear from 29 defense witnesses in just over two days. the former defensive coordinator for penn state is accused of molesting ten boys over a 15-year period. he denies the charges. uganda is stepping up its battle against ho mo sexuality. the minister says the agencies are promoting gay rights and recruiting children. homosexuality is illegal in uganda and legislation is pending to create harsh penalties. closer to home, look at this street in duluth, minnesota. it looks more like a river with flood waters rushing past. police say as many as 50 homes had to be evacuated. the mayor declared a state of emergency as the city copes with another round of rain in the forecast. >> mary, thanks very much. older white men may be in mitt romney's corner, but that's not necessarily enough for him to win the white house. we're looking closer at his dilemma. and the fed chairman offers a bleak new assessment of american economic future in the months to come. what does it mean for your finances? 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>> hi, wolf. first of all a senior campaign -- senior obama campaign ad said they don't buy the 13-point lead. they don't believe that poll. they think the race is actually much tighter than that and will continue to be right up until election day. in fact, a number of senior obama campaign aides say -- told reporters today that they believe that in this close race that the president is going to win because he's ahead. of course they think he's fwoing to win, but it's because he's ahead with a number of key voting groups for them. we've talked about this. these are the groups among women, they say they continue to lead in the key battleground states, colorado, nevada, virginia. they also say they're ahead with latino voters and expect a bigger latino turnout or hoping for one this time. and still with the african-american block. the one big concern and they flagged this, is that mitt romney, they expect that he will raise $100 million this month in the next reporting month. and the president not going to match that. and they also think that taken together the republicans with mitt romney will raise all told more than $1 billion. and they're warning that on the democratic side they are not going to match that figure. now, remember, that's a turnaround because months ago, last year, we were saying we heard the obama campaign was going to raise a billion. now they're calling the romney side the billion-dollar campaign. >> hold on for a minute, jessica, because daryl, the chairman of the house oversight committee is now actually conducting the role call. i want to see what's going on. let's go to the committee. they're counting the votes right now. >> mr. mosh vote i, dr. gos sart, i. mr. lab dor votes i. mr. mian, i. mr. walsh votes i. mr. goud di votes i. many ross votes. mr. guinn ta votes i. mr. kelly. >> i. >> mr. kelly votes i. >> mr. cummings. >> votes no. >> norton votes no. mr. tyranny votes no. mr. clay votes no. mr. lynch. mr. lynch votes no. mr. cooper. >> no. >> mr. cooper votes no. >> mr. kwig kwigly. >> no. >> mr. kwigly votes no. mr. davis. >> no. >> mr. brayly votes no. mr. welch? mr. well 67 votes no. mr. murphy. >> no. >> miss spear. >> no. >> miss spear votes no. >> the clerk will report. >> 23 is, 17 nos. >> the is have it. and a contempt report is ordered reported to the house. without objection the staff shall be authorized to make necessary and technical corrections and conforming changes to the report. >> mr. chairman, file. >> file. >> yes. >> there you have it. a strict party line vote. 23 yais, 17 nos, the attorney general according to this house oversight committee role call should be held in contempt of the u.s. congress. kate bolduan is watching it up on capitol hill. jessica yellin's watching it from the white house. first to you, kate, i take it this is no great surprise spriz e strictly along party lines because of the fast and furious documents that the obama administration is refusing to share with this committee, they are holding the attorney general in contempt even though the president of the united states today in his first time since taking office has cited -- has exerted his executive privilege opportunity to explain why he's not sharing those documents. go ahead and give our viewers your analysis. >> and the chairman of the committee when he began the hearing and having just gotten the letter from the department of justice moments before regarding the assertion of executive privilege, the chairman of the committee made very clear that regardless of that assertion they were moving forward with this contempt vote. that began at 10:00 -- just after 10:00 this morning, wolf. and they have been debating almost every member of the committee having their say today. they went through amendments, none of them -- nothing significant has changed on this contempt. and 23 yays, 17 nos, that's strictly along party lines in this committee, republicans to democrats. this is not surprising with republicans having majority on this committee and house representatives they are moving forward, but a very significant step. this now moves to a full house vote we are told we can expect as early as next week. if this would be approved by the full house and the attorney general of the united states will be held in contempt of congress, that would be unprecedented, it would be historic to have the whole house vote to hold the attorney general of the united states in contempt. and that is something we'll be looking towards next week. >> it's a strict party line. it's no contest, obviously. >> exactly. >> the republicans have an overwhelming majority in the house of representatives. jessica yellin is at the white house. i assume between now and the full floor vote, administration officials, justice department officials, the president, vice president, the attorney general, try to work out some sort of deal with the house speaker and the leader. i don't know if that's going to happen. i assume they're going to try to prevent the attorney general of the united states formerly voted held in contempt of the congress. >> i imagine they will see if they can avoid that kind of vote. at the same time the president's action by invoking executive privilege here does immunize the attorney general from prosecution. it doesn't end the political implications of what that house vote would mean for the administration. but it does protect the attorney general from any actual prosecution. and then we would just have a political clash between the house of representatives and the executive branch. and then you have this political standoff between these two branches. and then the question becomes, is that something that these two bodies want in the middle of an election year that's focused on the economy and focused on these larger issues? another sign of washington focusing in on itself and the sort of partisan squabbling, if you will, and the gridlock between these two bodies rather than on the larger issues that are affecting regular americans. a lot of people would say it goes to transparency, it goes to other issues that this white house committed itself to. at the same time, it's also not getting to issues that everyday americans care most about, which is jobs and the economy, wolf. >> all right. well, dramatic development happening on the -- in this house oversight committee. the vote once again 23 yays to hold eric holder in contempt of congress for refusing to provide some documents over that botched fast and furious sting operation. there you see the committee chairman. he's walking out of the committee room up on capitol hill. 17 democrats voted to block that contempt of congress citation. but the republicans have the majority and along strict party lines, the republicans got that passed. that's respective elijah cummings. he's the top democrat on the house oversight committee. we're going to assess what's going on. we're following the breaking news. 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>> your last question in the last segment i think really nailed itd. this is a process of negotiation. congress wants more. the president has a right to have confidential advice. he has the right to have confidential bad advice, which is what seems to have gotten in this case. it's always wiser for the executive branch to cooperate and not to use every last right that it has. >> you know, when there was a republican president who exerted executive privilege, a lot of democrats including a senator from illinois named barack obama, he was pretty critical of a republican president exerting executive privilege. >> sure, but i think we have to keep in mind and you mentioned this, this is the first time that the obama administration has exerted executive privilege, bush administration did it six times, the clinton administration did it 14 times. i think to call this critical is beyond the realm of credible. the administration is still willing to negotiate, but the fact of the matter is this has been a witch hunt from the very beginning. 14 months where the justice department has collaborated with investigators, almost 8,000 pages have been turned over to them. even some deliberative documents which as you know are covered under executive privilege all in good faith. and the republicans just want to prove something that they suspect is there but clearly is not there. >> john boehner, the house speaker, has just told reporters there will be a vote on the full house floor next week. he didn't say which day, but there would be a vote next week. here's the question i have, you worked in the white house in the bush administration, some of the most sensitive national security intelligence information is shared by the executive branch with the house and senate intelligence. it's very confidentially. they go into secret rooms. why is it this time they can't share some of that sensitive information with members of the oversight committee? they do have a constitutional responsibility for overseeing, for oversight? >> the intelligence committees as you know have special rules governing them and make it difficult to share what they know with their parties in congress. with the rest of their parties. so that is also -- sorry, the oversight it applies to very particular kinds of documents that administrations generate. in this case, what is suspected and what the republicans are hunting for is the idea the administration was trying to in some way tamper with people's gun rights, americans gun rights. that's the thing they're looking to try to prove. >> the argument is they must be hiding something embarrassing. otherwise we know the end result, we know one u.s. border patrol guard was killed by these guns that were provided in a sting operation to the mexican drug cartels. they must have something embarrassing, politically embarrassing or whatever that they're concerned about releasing. >> well, that's what they say. but, again, if a piece of paper does not show up that actually proves that, they're going to keep with this witch hunt. what really strikes me, wolf, and you just mentioned what should be our top priority, if they're really concerned about finding out what happened and getting to the bottom of this, why don't they bring in the chief of the atf who actually was involved in the operation? they have decided to not bring him in. they have decided to not have any public hearings with any agents of the atf. that is where we need to go. that's where the american people can actually find out what happened. >> let's say one thing, honoring the memory of the american border patrolman who was killed, we also think these guns maybe killed 200 people in mexico. and that is, again, we honor the american, but let us not forget the mexicans. this is a major disaster, major mistake. >> i completely agree with that. we also should keep in mind this was a tactic started under the bush administration and ended under this one. >> ended badly. >> but ended. >> much more is coming up in our next hour including a complete review of exactly what fast and furious, that operation, was exactly about. thanks, guys. >> thanks, wolf. the federal reserve lowering expectations for the swrobs market and the economy. is ben bernanke doing enough to bolster the economy? erin burnett is standing by live. i'm one of six children that my mother raised by herself, and so college was a dream when i was a kid. i didn't know how i was gonna to do it, but i knew i was gonna get that opportunity one day, and that's what happened with university of phoenix. nothing can stop me now. i feel like the sky's the limit with what i can do and what i can accomplish. my name is naphtali bryant and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now. a new move by the federal reserve to pump more life into the economy. erin burnett is standing by live to tell us what it could mean for all of us. standby. a great spot, not easy to find, but worth it. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better. and that means...fish on! symbicort is for copd including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. with copd, i thought i'd miss our family tradition. now symbicort significantly improves my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. and that makes a difference in my breathing. today, we're ready for whatever swims our way. ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription free. call or click to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. on wall street today, stock prices were mixed at the closing bell. just a little while ago, after the federal reserve extended one of its stimulus programs. the fed stopped short of taking more aggressive action even after lowering expectations for economic growth this year. cnn's erin burnett is joining us. she's going out front on this story. erin, you're going to have to translate what ben bernanke said today to our viewers in plain english because she was speaking in a certain, shall we say, federal reserve language. >> yes, he was. look, bottom line in terms of where the economy is is the fed does not think the u.s. economy is grow as quickly as it thought a few months ago and doesn't think the u.s. economy can create as many jobs. a downgrade in the outlook for growth in the economy. but not enough of a downgrade for the fed and ben bernanke to say, look, we're so afraid that we're going to do some sort of another massive quantitative easing program. what they did, wolf, was extend the program already in place, which has the same goal ben bernanke's been trying to push through all of these creative programs in the last few years, which are lower long-term interest rates. the problem with this is he's already succeeded. i am just looking over here 30-year fixed rate mortgage in this country 3.63%. i mean, it's pretty hard to get rates any lower than they are right now. that's the tool the fed has to try to get the economy growing. they've really used it to the most of their ability. >> so what does this say about the state of our economy? >> well, i mean, wolf, it's not in a good place. i mean, part of this in is aens is, look, we were in a debt-driven crisis. throughout history those crises have taken a very, very long time to recover from, years and years. when you amass a lot of debt, you can't just suddenly because interest rates are cheap, pay it down and go borrow again. it takes time. in a sense it means that. but it also means the u.s. economy is fragile and already taking a hit from europe. if europe doesn't deal with its problem, we could really see blowback in the united states. that's the real risk for another recession. and by the way, wolf, if ben bernanke's already got the spigots of the fed already open. a lot of swaps going onto europe to try to help them too, but there really is only so much he can do. really it's got to be congress. >> good point. i know you'll have a lot more 7:00 p.m. eastern, we will be watching "erin burnett out front." the costs are very real. why the u.s. coast guard thinks two hoax distress calls may be linked. and your pizza may be piling on the pounds. you want to stick around for bad news? maybe. copd makes it hard to breathe, so i wasn't playing much of a role in my own life, but with advair, i'm breathing better so now i can take the lead on a science adventure. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, take the lead. ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. is important to any successful business. which is why at wells fargo, we work with you to get to know the unique aspects of your business. we can recommend financial solutions that can work for you that have helped millions of business owners save time, reduce expenses, and maximize cash flow. as the number one small business lender for nine years running... we're with you when you need us. so you can be there for your customers. wells fargo. together we'll go far. [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering. u.s. coast guard officials still are fuming about a phony distress call off the coast of new jersey. and now they're investigating a and whr theye been hoaxed to iworkg the story. >> coast guard officials burned a lot of time and money in the search off newsey last week. now it appears there may indeed be a pattern. >> we've had an explosion on board -- >> the distress call had the coast guard spring into action. >> we have 21 souls on board. 20 in the water. >> last week's mayday launched a $300,000 search for a yacht sinking off the coast of new jersey, but it wasn't true. turns out the coast guard now thinks the same person may be responsible for a similar hoax in may. more than 1,400 miles away in texas. >> it is very curious that we have such a geographic separation between the two cases. >> the 36-hour search for six people in the case near galveston didn't turn up anything either. the similarities, both male voices used unusual terms saying taking on wate instead of sinking. uls onboard itead of people, the specific colors of thefe rafts, orange, and the location down to a tenth of a mile. and both distress calls came into a unit of the coast guard which normally doesn't get them. take alisten. this was the call from last week. >> our last knn position was miles due east of gateway national recreation area. >> and this was in may. -- pproximel.2 miles off again, last wek. >> taking on water. >> n in may. >> we have an onboard emergenc y. are tak water, r. >> tip f a tv rt edoast guard connect the incidents. >> it was not something we were aware of up here because the case wasn't declared a hoax down there as it was up here. >> the coast is doing a voice comparison right now as part of its investigation to figure out if both of the hoaxes were in fact the same person. if convicted, the suspect could face up to six yes in prison, $250,000 in fines and they would have to pay thenmen gerback for those searches, wolf, that cost obviously a lot of money. and really a waste of resources. >> are you getting indication from officials why someone would do this? >> they don't really know. they say terrorism is very unlikely. there could be many reasons. it could be someone wanted to see the coast guard deploy all thsours just for a gag. they just don't know. they want to get that person into custody. >> i'm sure they do. brian, thank you. can republicans attract a more diverse base? jack cafferty's taking a look. will the popularity fade of this with a calorie count? 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[ female announcer ] and you've earned a say. get the facts and make your voice heard on medicare and social security at earnedasay.org. ♪ what started as a whisper every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? attorney general eric holder has st issued a statement reactie vote in thes. house of represeatives in the house oversight committee. a vote along party lines to hold him in contempt for not reing enough documents to the committee on the failed fast and furious sting operation. among other things the attorney general says, ortunately chairman has rejected all of the efforts to reach reasonable accommodation. instead he'shosen to use his authority to an extraordinary unprecedented entirely unnecessary action intended to provehicle an avoidable conflict between congress and the executive branch. this di vooif is action does not help usix the problem and led to this operation. it's intended to attract attention and as a result deflected critical resources from fulfilling what remains my priority, the department of justice, protecting the american people. tough statement reacting to the chairman of the house oversight committee. much more on this at the top of the hour. meanwhile, let's go to jack for the cafferty file. >> i wonder what's in these documents they're refusing to release they don't want us to know about. >> they say sensitive information that could lead to -- >> why don't i believe that? it doesn't matter. how question is how can republicans attract voters other than old white men. start wor with the people in congress. get rid of grover, nobody elected him. except the fact it's going to take both spending cuts and revenue increases to reign in our deficit and debt, tell limbaugh to shut up and beck and p palin and stop lying. stop being racist and ill leetist. stop preaching politics and leave religion out of the election. bennie in connecticut, are you serious, jack? all white men? was it just all white men who gave majority of the house to the republicans in 2010? was it just old white men who elected scott brown to the senate seat held for years by ted kennedy? is it just old white men polled showing romney's ahead of obama nationally and ahead, tied or only one or two points behind obama in traditionally safe. what a dumb and loaded question. they can start by being more inclusive for what they stand for. not everyone's millionaire or gone pro-war while insisting pro-life. for the record i'm a middle-aged almost 50 white guy and they've got nothing for me. alan in texas writes maybe a pair of mc hammer pants would be a good start, but don't ask "who let the dogs out." and larry in texas writes, i don't know, jack, you tell us. aren't you an old white man? am i ever. if you want to read more, go to cnn.com/caffertyfile or post on "the situation room"'s facebook page. >> thank you, jack. pizza chains doing battle so they don't have to tell you how many calories per slice. ♪ [ slap! ] [ slap! slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums but they can also hold you back. unless you ask, "what's next?" introducing the all-new rx f sport. this is the pursuit of perfection. 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[ female announcer ] only from aveeno. i tell mike what i can spend. i do my best to make that work. we're driving safely. and sue saved money on brakes. now that's personal pricing. a question for all the pizza lovers out there. would you rather know how many calories are in the next slice you eat? or would you rather stay in the dark? there's a new lobbying campaign going on right here in washington that could effect your pizza appetite. brian todd is taking a closer look. what are you seeing? >> the lobbying, wolf, is from pizza company executives banning together to fight a new law on labeling. it would make domino's, pizza hut, other big chains show you on the menu boards how many calories you'd be ordering. they say it's a waste of time and money for them, but nutritionists say it's going to help fight obesity. lunchtime and i'm ordering pizza for my colleagues and me. let's see, it's 100 degrees outside and i don't want nap-inducing caloric intake. here i can get a sense of how many calories i'll be slamming. it's on the menu board. take a medium pepperoni. that's about 215 calories for a slice. if one part of the health care law goes through, i'll be able to see that on the menu at every domino's in america. the legislation would force restaurant chains with 20 or more locations to clearly post on menus or menu boards the calorie count for each item. you're telling me how many ways kp you order a pizza? >> we've calculated you can do 34 million different it rations of a pizza. >> lynn is working the halls of capitol hill trying to fight off the proposed rule. pizza execs say with all those ways to order a pizza, a menu board calculation of calories is useless. chains like pizza hut and papa john's are joining forces. >> most of our customers and pizza stores order online or over the phone. they don't look at a menu board and make their decision that way. we're not only doing it in a way that's expensive for the small business person, we're doing it in a way that would be too confusing -- >> she says they don't want to spend money on menu boards that most customers won't see when ordering. it's enough that customers can go online for the information. i chose a hand tossed crust medium size and add pepperoni. on domino's online i get the readout, 215 calories,3.5 grams of saturated fat for a slice. i'm ready to chow down on my medium pepperoni pizza. before i do i want to get the guilt trip from nutrition expert. why is it so important to get information on this from some other way or ignoring it? >> people are eating out a lot more than in the past. we're now getting a third of our calories from eating at restaurants and other kinds of retail food establishments. it's a big part of our diet, and it's a problematic part of our diet. studies show eating out is linked to obesity. >> she says there are mixed results from studies in places where there are already calorie labels on menus. she says in those places like new york city, it's been found that people have used the information to make informed choices to cut calories when they order so in some places that actually does work. wolf, people look at the menu, they look at the calorie belsla ey m in formedchoice. >>,i tnkvery much. re situation room." happening now, president obama asserts his power with executive privilege for the first time with the vote moments ago to hold h attorney general in contempt. just ahead we get reaction from the committee. congresswoman debbie schultz is here. i'll ask if they have something to hide. and a baseball game takes a bizarre turn when the announcer's broadcast slips into some gibberish. you're going to hear the whole episode as it happened. and a dispute over dinosaur fossils some 70 million years old. why the tyrannosaurus rex relative may be in the united states illegally. we want to welcome our viewers from around the united states and the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." the house panel votes to hold president obama's attorney general in contempt. the latest twist in a fiery standoff with the white house over operation fast and furious, a botched federal sting operation targeting mexican drug cartels. the top republican washdog in the house, darrell issa, has pounced on the attorney general, eric holder, for refusing to turn over documents. and democrats on the panel are charging that issa won't let anything stop him. >> the attorney general says that his offer is extraordinary. the only thing extraordinary about his offer is that he is asking the committee to close an investigation before the committee even gets to see the documents. he is pretending to offer. i can't accept that deal. no other committee chairman would. >> last night you flatly rejected the attorney general's offer. you refused to even commit to working towards a mutually agreeable resolution. instead you rushed to a pre-arranged press conference to announce the failure of the meeting. it seems clear that you had no interest in resolving this issue and that the committee planned to go forward with contempt before we walked into the meeting with the attorney general. >> we're going to get into the politics of all of this with the chair of the democratic national committee, debbie wasserman schultz, in just a minute. first, get background as scene and justice crime correspondent. how did all of this come about to this very, very historic sensitive moment? >> well, wolf, as you mentioned, the political battle is likely headed to the courts now. but it's the policy question that could be with us for a long time. the idea of the government allegedly putting a couple thousand guns in criminal hands. for many people it's very hard to believe that somebody did not pull the plug on operation fast and furious before it even started. in september of 2009, atf agents started an investigation by allowing firearms to go walking into the hands of suspected criminals. atf was tracking the guns hoping to catch some big fish in the violent world of the crime cartels, especially south of the border. fast forward to december 2010. a little over a year later. one of the worst scenarios imaginable. a border agent, brian terry, gets killed in arizona and firearms from the fast and furious operation are found on the scene. january 2011 congress is asking questions. republican senator charles grassley of iowa launches an investigation. a letter to congress asserting nothing improper was done in the operation. a letter they later would have to acknowledge was misleading. and by may 2011 republican congressman darrell issa confronts attorney general eric holder about the operation at a hearing asking him when he first heard of it. >> i'm not sure of the exact date, but i probably heard about fast and furious for the first time over the last few weeks. >> memos that come out later seem to suggest holder's office may have been put on notice of the operation much earlier. holder later said what he didn't know about at first was the atf's controversial tactics. from then on a steady drum beat of developments. last june whistleblowers and family members of brian terry appeared at a congressional hearing. >> i was just flabbergasted. i didn't believe it at first. >> by august heads started to roll as the top guy at the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms was reassigned. in a letter in october 2011 holder said he never saw the memos about operation fast and furious. a month later the story started changing just a bit. lanny brewer, a top justice official, told congress about an earlier program, which by the way had gone on during the administration of president george w. bush. that program also allowed guns to go to mexico. it was called operation wide receiver. brewer pretty much apologized for not speaking up and calling out the atf for questionable tactics way back then. >> i was involved in this exercise. and as all of this has come to light that i am thinking about it realize that i should have back in april of 2010 drawn that connection. i've expressed that regret for personally to the attorney general of the united states. and then i determined that i should do it publicly as well. >> so not long after that aparing fore tsenate, eric holder acknowledged the problems with the so-called gun-walking operation that happened on his watch. sithen congrsional committees have asked for thousands of documents claiming the justice department just was not up front about operation fast and furious suggesting there's been some kind of a cover-up, which the justice department denies. wolf. >> joe johns, thanks very much. joining us now is the chair of the democratic national committee, the florida congresswoman, debbie wasserman schultz. the argument is, congressman, as you well know, there must be something embarrassing, there must be something that the obama administration wants to hide from this congressional committee that does have legitimate oversight concerns. what's going on? >> well, let's look at some basic facts here. this is a field program in the department of justice begun in the bush administration that was ended by the obama administration. so that's something that's an important to note. on top of that we are ten days away from a million construction workers losing their jobs because the republicans in congress won't pass a transportation bill. we're 11 days away from 7 million students having their student loan interest rates double. and yet in spite of the fact that legal experts, independent legal experts like jeffrey toobin have said there is no smoking gun here. there is clearly not anything that the obama administration is hiding. the republicans in congress pursue essentially a political witch hunt because they know they don't want to focus on creating jobs and getting this economy turned around. >> but isn't that the responsibility of the chair of the house oversight committee? to investigate these kinds of things especially when a u.s. border patrol agent, brian terry, was killed in an operation that apparently was linked to those guns gone missing? >> i'm a member of congress. it certainly is the responsibility of a committee chairman to do that. however -- and it's also the responsibility of an administration to respond, as the obama administration has with 7,600 documents. and the department of justice testifying at least 11 times on this very subject. the documents that were -- that executive privilege was asserted over today were not related to fast and furious. they were related to the investigation that mr. issa has conducted. and all of the documents that have been asked for related to fast and furious have been produced. which is why it's clear that this is nothing more than a political witch hunt to distract from the fact that the republicans in congress have no interest in focusing on what we need to focus on, which is jobs and the economy. >> in fairness, the republicans led by darrell issa on this house oversight committee fell there may have been a cover-up in this investigation. what's wrong with seeking those extra documents? why can't the administration share them? >> it's absolutely ludicrous to suggest there's any kind of a cover-up. president obama has asserted -- the administration has asserted executive privilege in the same way that the bush administration has, that george w. bush's administration has when i was on the judiciary committee and he was president, president clinton asserted the same kind of executive privilege dozens of time. >> you've been in congress long enough to republican when the republican president exerted executive privilege. and then senator barack obama from illinois he wasn't happy about that when the -- when president bush exerted executive privilege. i'll play a little clip. here's then senator barack obama expressing his frustration. >> you know, there's been a tendency on the part of this administration to try to hide behind executive privilege every time there's something a little shaky that's taking place. and i think, you know, the administration would be best served by coming clean on this. >> it sort of sounds in that sound bite like darrell issa. >> well, no, actually i think then-senator obama was correct. and i think it's ironic you have the same blican members who defended then-president bush's right to exert executive privilege over those same types of issues are now suggesting that president obama doesn't have that same right. and we are three and a half years into president obama's term and this is the first time he's asserted executive privilege. the bush administration at the same point in time asserted, i think if you checked, many times then. >> i think we have the number, i think maybe three or four times that former president bush asserted -- >> we're at once versus several times. >> all right. when there's a democratic president does it, the republicans hate it. when there's a republican president, the democrats like you hate it. that's the nature of these executive privileges. >> which is why it's clear -- >> executive and legislative branches of the government. >> wolf, which is why it's clear this is nothing more than a witch hunt. the obama administration has produced 7,600 documents in response to the committee's request on the fast and furious program. and now mr. issa is continuing to drag this out in spite of the fact that we have millions of people in the next ten or 11 days that are going to be left twisting in the wind unless the republicans in congress decide to act to protect them. >> here's the actual number of times. you can see president george w. bush did it six times. president obama this is the first time. president clinton 14. the first president bush, once. ronald reagan did it three times. >> pretty significant difference. >> don't go away. we have a lot more to discuss. >> i'll be here. >> including political stuff as well. i have a lot more to talk about with congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz including what the democrats will do if the u.s. supreme court in the coming days were to strike down the president's health care law. and a new report that the united states and israel joined forces on a covert cyber attack. we're learning details of a highly sophisticated computer virus aimed at crippling iran's nuclear program, a second cyber warfare attack. should israel be concerned iran will retaliate? my conversation with the deputy prime minister with that and what he calls a "genocide unfolding in syria right now" and the muslim brotherhood taking over the presidency in egypt. let's do this i am from baltimore south carolina... bloomington, california... austin, texas... we are all here to represent the country we love this is for everyone back home it's go time. across america, we're all committed to team usa. with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce tpain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. go to cymbalta.com agents, say hello to the biggest hailstone in u.s. history. oh, that will leave a dent. which is exactly why we educate people... about comprehensive coverage. yep. the right choice now can pay off later. looks like a bowling ball. yeah. oh! agents, say hello to the second-biggest hailstone in u.s. history. [ announcer ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ much more with debbie wasserman schultz in a moment. let's go to jack for the cafferty file. >> there are growing signs, wolf, that the troublco keeps taking its toll on americans in ways both big and small. nearly 7 million homes gave up cable or satellite tv last year. mostly due to the lingering recession. a survey by gfk media shows that younger americans, minorities and poor people dropped cable tv in the highest numbers opting for broadcast or free tv only. industry insiders worried people would dump cable in favor of online tv options, but according to this survey, most people are cutting the cord or the cable, if you will, because they need to cut costs. of course millions of americans have been forced to cut much more than that including homes, cars, vacations, grocery bills, medical care. it's no surprise when you consider the drastic collapse in americans' net worth. a cnn money analysis of census bureau data shows that without including home equity, median household net worth fell 25% between 2005 and 2010. and if you include housing, the loss was 35%. the great recession is wiped out nearly 30 years of net worth gains for the typical american household. 30 years. once again, some groups hit harder than others. asian, black, hispanic households lost about 60% of their net worth compared to 30% for whites. young americans also lost a bigger share of their wealth than their parents did. and lastly, more bad news than the struggling job market. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke says he expects the unemployment rate to remain above 8% through the end of the year. that's not good news for president obama. and a labor department report shows the number of job openings fell in april. the drop means there are 3.7 unemployed people now looking for each and every job opening. here's the question, what has the economy forced you to give up? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile. post a comment on my blog. or go to our post on "the situation room" facebook page. i don't think any modern president's been re-elected, wolf, with an unemployment rate above 8%. >> reagan did it with 7.2% or 7.3%. you're absolutely right, jack. thanks very much. let's dig a little deeper right now on the economy and the race for the white house with florida congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, the chair of the democratic national committee, is still with us. you heard jack. those numbers are pretty set. ben bernanke today, the federal reserve chairman says he doesn't expect much economic growth over the next six months, the rest of this year. how worried are you that that bodes potentially very badly for the president's re-election? >> as a member of the budget committee i had an opportunity to question chairman bernanke about the republican proposal, particularly the ryan budget mitt romney has embraced and asked him if we go with the ryan plan and you cut as much as the republicans want to cut too quickly, you're going to strangle what is already a fragile recovery. so the last thing we need to do is embrace romney economics and go in the direction that takes us back to the failed policies of the past that crashed the economy and got us into this mess in the first place. president obama's taken us and the american people can see that. but he's taken us from where we were bleeding 750,000 jobs a month and now three and a half years later we've made slow but steady progress. and we need to continue to make more progress. it would be helpful if the republicans were focused on jobs and the economy instead of trying to make sure that they do everything they can to make it less likely president obama can succeed. >> assuming there's no legislative action between now and november, most people don't think there's going to be anything really significant in this -- >> certainly not under republican-controlled. >> a highly charged political environment. say 2% if that economic growth, that's not going to be translated into ole lot of jobs. that will basically keep the jobs market steady but no real onomic growth. >> well, i think you'll continue to see the president through his policies adding jobs each month. we've had 27 mths straight of private sector job growth. we've had more jobs created in manufacturing than anyme since the 1990s. and as a rult i think you'll see voters get behind president obama because in addition to being committed to moving the economy forward, he's also made sure that we can have an immigration policy that's fair and allows young people like the dreamers to be able to remain in the country and not face deportation. made sure that we have young americans be able to attend college in greater numbers and make it more affordable. >> are you ready if the u.s. supreme court tomorrow or monday, they have to do it by the end of next week, rules on the health care law and rules it's unconstitutional? are you ready to deal with that? >> i'm confident that as is president obama that the supreme court is going to uphold the constitutionality. >> what if they don't? have you thought about that? >> we can't really deal in what-ifs. i'm confident they're going to uphold it. if for some reason they don't, we are committed and we need to make sure that we can continue to cover the americans that would be left twisting in the wind. it would be interesting to see what the republicans will do because they have shown zero interest in ensuring that all americans are covered, zero interest in ensuring that insurance companies can't drop you or deny you coverage for pre-existing conditions. wolf, there are 149 million americans like me as a breast cancer survivor who live in this country with a pre-existing condition. republicans have essentially said to them we don't care about you. you're on your own. i would like to know what are the republicans going to do if that were to happen? >> on day one he says he would repeal what he calls obama care and come up with new legislation to deal with -- >> that's a lot of baa loanny. >> they have not proposed a single bill or try today move in the direction of replacing -- what is their version of health care reform? what do they think should happen? everything they've proposed in the past has been tried and clearly not been successful at covering the 47 million americans that would continue without health insurance in this country. >> debbie wasserman schultz, thanks very much for coming in. >> thanks, wolf. >> the chair of the dnc. appreciate it. >> thank you. a flight being called four hours of hell. find out what happened and why some passengers feared for their lives. and a pitcher ejected for cheating in major league baseball. we'll show you what he did. every day, all around the world, energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy developement comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing decades of cleaner burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self contained well systems and using state of the art monitoring technologies, rigorous practices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment we are america's natural gas. dude you don't understand, this is my dad's car. look at the car! my dad's gonna kill me dude... [ male announcer ] the security of a 2012 iihs top safety pick. the volkswagen passat. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease the 2012 passat for $209 a month. visit vwdealer.com today. this just coming in to "the situation room." a major fire unfolding in san francisco right now. mary snow has the details. mary, what's going on? >> the san francisco fire department, wolf, is saying that this is a three-alarm fire right now. it's a warehouse on pier 29 in san francisco. as of now you're looking at live pictures from our affiliate, ktvu. as of now the fire department says there are no casualties reported. 75 firefighters right now are on the scene. dozens more on the way. and the fire department saying it's not quite sure what that warehouse is used for. we'll keep you posted on that story. in other news in the headlines, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle possibly wearing an explosive vest targeted nato and afghan security forces. a western official says three american troops were killed. the u.s. embassy in kabul says an afghan interpreter and 17 afghan civilians also died. a roadside bomb planted by the taliban in a separate town killed eight people including women and children. the federal aviation administration is investigating an emergency landing that left 155 people very shaken up. a passenger tells our affiliate ktnv it was "four hours of hell as the plane violently lurched side to side causing many passengers to get sick." as you can see the new york-bound flight circled for hours before returning to las vegas. jetblue says it was a problem with a hydraulic system. and a pitcher for baseball's tampa bay's rays is likely facing a multi-game suspension after pine tar was found in his glove. he was pulled from a game against washington when the nationals manager alerted the umpires to check his glove. peralta used to play for the nationals using any substance to use to get a grip is illegal. >> including spit balls. meanwhile, a real-life spy game involving the united states and iran and a highly sophisticated computer virus. we're talking to an intelligence committee about a stunning new report. and israel's deputy prime minister tells me the syrian president, bashar al-assad is committing in his own word, genocide, against his own people. highlights of my interview coming up. a warning you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with a patented safety alert seat. when there's danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward. how math and science kind of makes the world work. in high school, i had a physics teacher by the name of mr. davies. he made physics more than theoretical, he made it real for me. we built a guitar, we did things with electronics and mother boards. so now, as an engineer, i have career that speaks to that passn. thank you, mr. davies. baseball game takes a bizarre turn when the announcer starts talking about a botched robbery involving a player's pinch men. we'll have the video in ten minutes. . everyone agreed we needed reforms -- but this new health care law -- it just isn't fixing things. president obama promised my patients that they could keep me -- but what if because of this new health care law -- i cat keep them? i've looked at this law. i know the consequences: delayed care and worse yet -- denied care. studies show the president's health care law is projected to add hundreds of billions of dollars than a trillion dollars. and the truth is -- we still don't know how much this law will eventually c i don't want anything to come between my patients and me -- especially washington we need real reform that improves care, and pthe ident's health care law just isn't it. it just isn't worth it. this is where health care decisions should be made. not in washington. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and you'll never need a referral to see a specialist. join the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. it's no secret the united states and israel are trying to stop iran from developing nuclear material. but a report by "the washington post" is shining new light on the covert way they're doing it using a highly sophisticated virus designed to sabotage iran's nuclear program. cnn intelligence correspondent, suz ann kelly has been talking to intelligence community sources about this. suzanne, what are you finding out? >> a loud round of no comment, wolf, which comes as no surprise given the heightened sensitivity over leaks. but there are clues that giveus battlefield.the cber it's the largest mos extensive cyber espionage tool used to date. flame was stealing secrets on discovered only after likely a cyber attack on iran's oil infrastructure. now "the washington post" cites western officials saying flame was jointly developed between thunitedtates and israel. the u.s. intelligence agency's the top of what would be usual suspects aren't talking. the director of national intelligence, the central intelligence agency, u.s. cyber commandand israeli officials l decline to comment. but researchers see similarities between the flame spyware and another cyber tool. that actually caused iran's nuclear enrichment centrifuges to spin out of control rendering them useless setting back their nuclear program. >> we have found evidence that they are definitely associated and probably written by the same team. the reason we know that is that elements of flame have been found inside stuck's net. there's no doubt the two are definitely related. >> flame can gather almost everything on a computer or an entire network and even has the ability to listen and watch what the user does via the computer's camera. it's all done remotely. no human spies are put at risk. dennis blare won't confirm such a use of a program, which would be highly classified. but he sees the strategic advantages. >> say you create something they can attribute to incompetence on their own part, to the united states and somebody else not doing it. you try to fuzz it up so that when something bad happens to them and they do the investigation in malice of what happened, they come to some other conclusion then that we did it. >> that would be the perfect cyber attack. >> that would be the perfect cyber attack. >> well, if it's true, the u.s. intelligence has teamed up with israel in a development of cyber warfare tools, why the partnership? one former senior intelligence reporter put it this way, it's sort of like the lion and the mouse. every so often the mouse can pull out a thorn that the lion couldn't reach himself. and cyber in particular, wolf, says that source is a very personal business. if the smartest person in the room happens to be from another country, you want them on your team. >> yep. there's a lot of movement on this front. thanks very much, suzanne for that report. shaul mofaz is in town to talk with hillary clinton and other obama officials. during an interview i asked shaul mofaz if israel was concerned about iranian retaliation for the reports that israel and the united states have undertaken joint cyber warfare attacks against iran's nuclear program. >> we have to be prepared for all kind of cyber attack against the state -- >> he said israeli military action was certainly on the table. >> we have to be prepared for all options, but at the same time i believe that there are other ways to stop the iranian nuclear program. >> he expressed hope that severe international sanctions that are supposed to begin next month will work. >> from my perspective, the military option is the last option. >> but it is an option. would it be an israeli option or a u.s. option or a joint military option? >> it is an option. the u.s. should prepare it. israel should prepare it. and from my point of view, i believe that it should be by the leadership of the united states. and i see the iranian program as an acid test of obama administration. >> on syria, mofaz minced no words. >> i believe that bashar al-assad is a dictator that leading genocide against his people. he's slaughtering his people. he's slaughtering innocent people in syria. and will not survive. >> eventually he said there will be massive desertions in the military. >> this is the end of bashar. >> on egypt he expressed that mo hammond mursi would honor the peace treaty with israel. >> it was during the campaign and i hope that he understand importance of the relationship of israel and the fact that we have to save god peace agreement between us. >> the israeli prime minister speaking with me here in washington. remember, the conversation always continues. you can follow me on twitter @wolfblitzer. a baseball announcer starts speaking gibberish on air. certainly a bizarre moment for anyone watching the game. could it be something much more serious for the announcer? cnn's medical team is looking into this story. and a fight 70 million years in the making. a dinosaur skeleton goes on sale here in the united states. but did someone steal it all the way from mongolia? ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. a rather bizarre moment for baseball fans during monday night's san diego padres, rangers game when the ranger announcer began saying things on air that didn't make any sense. >> this discussion involving a 2-1 game, tying run at second, leadoff single by chase. go ahead run is at fifth on what adams is insisting on calling it a botched robbery. what actually happened was his pinchman big piece literally out of -- >> our senior medical correspondent, elizabeth cohen, is joining us with more on what may happen. he says he had a migraine. why do some people worry it might have been what's described as a ministroke. >> wolf, what happens is that those two things can cause similar problems. because what happens is that in a migraine, your vessels can dilate and constrict, they can get smaller and bigger, which kind of happens during a stroke. so you get different parts of the brain effected. here we saw it in the language part of the brain. the doctors we talked to said it sounded more like a migraine because if it were a stroke, he wouldn't have come back so quickly. what we just saw happened in the eighth inning and he was back on air at the ends of the game. if it was a stroke, there probably would have been other things going on and he would have been sent to the hospital. >> is it possible he knew he was talking nonsense? >> the doctors we talked to said, yes, it actually is possible. he may have heard those words slip out of his mouth and realize it was wrong. you do hear some pausing. so it is possible that he heard himself and knew something was going terribly wrong. >> terribly wrong. can he be treated so this doesn't happen again? >> doctors tell us that the same medicines that you take to get rid of the pain in a migraine you can also take to treat this symptom. you might have to, you know, see which medicine works best. but, yes, medicines can help this. >> elizabeth cohen, thanks very much. >> thanks. >> we're just getting some new information on that fire you saw here in "the situation room" in san francisco. let's go back to mary. mary, what are you seeing? those pictures are very dramatic. >> they are dramatic, wolf. they're live pictures from our affiliate ktvu. it does appear the fire department is making progress in putting this fire out. it's pier 29 in san francisco. new information we learned is that this is the future home of the america's cup. it had been a restaurant. that restaurant shut down in january. what the fire department's been saying is so far it has no reports of any casualties and there are dozens of firefighters on the scene. this is a three-alarm fire. >> in san francisco, mary, thanks very much. a 70 million year old dinosaur skeleton goes on sale here in the united states. there's one catch, it might be the property of mongolia. how someone could have snuck dinosaur fossils all the way around the world. 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>> so bizarre, wolf. it's not every day you have pail yentologists, federal prosecutors and the department of homeland security all working on a case involving a fossil. but a dinosaur skeleton became their focus after questions were raised about where it really came from and who really owns it. >> this is our tie rty ran saue us rex. >> mark heads the division at the american museum of natural history. for more than two decades he's been traveling to mongolia, where the rule is any fossils excavated are the property of mongolia. so when he saw this dinosaur skeleton in an auction house catalog, he suspected it was a bataar. >> i thought it was eluded. spurred me onto calling a few people on the phone and saying i'm going to write this letter and i'm going to send it to you and you can do what you want with it. >> word quickly reached the president of mongolia who in turn contacted texas attorney papter for help. he has experience in mongolia and after finding out about it just two days before the auction, he raced to get a restraining order from a texas judge and flew to new york. >> so as soon as they started the auction, i just stood up and held up my phone and i said, i'm sorry to interrupt, but i have the judge on the phone. and i wanted to let you know that what you're doing is violating the court's order. >> but it was too late. a bidder had already bought the dinosaur skeleton for more than $1 million. the court order put a hold on everything. customs documents say authorities claimed the relics were valued at just $15,000. painter believes the bones were looted from a desert in mongolia, made their way through japan to great britain, florida, texas and finally ended up in new york where they now sit inside this storage space in queens. federal prosecutors want a court order to seize them. heritage auctions believes its consignor purchased the fossils in good faith and says we have cooperated in the investigation process for pal yentologists to expeditiously examine the skeleton and we will continue to cooperate the skeleton and we will continue to cooperate with authorities. if no one stepped in, what typically would happen? >> a variety of things. it may have been bought by a private individual, decorate the foyer, even in homes in some places. there are unscrupulous museums that don't have a problem trading, so it can go all over the place. immigration and customs enforcement plans to seize that skeleton later this week, make sure it is returned safely to mongolia. what's not clear, what happens to the person that brought it to the u.s. two years ago, whether they were aware of what they possessed, if they were truly stolen and knowingly stolen, charges could be brought. there would be a fine, someone could face prison time. >> a real international incident, i should say. thanks, mary. let's go back to jack for the cafferty file. >> great story, huh? question this hour, what has the economy forced you to give up. liz writes eating out rgs weekends at the beach, steak, hair color, expensive cosmetics, name brand dog and cat food. we cut back, they can too. actually if we don't really need it, i don't buy it any more. randy writes a job. pete writes retirement. ruth in indianapolis, hope for the future and belief in anything, it is all downhill now. allen in houston, the bad economy hurt many people just like me. my house now holds seven people. before it was me and my wife. vacations are a fantasy. no more luxuries, just the basics. a new car has to wait several more years. richard in south dakota. since my income barely covers food, bills, and obligations, leaves nothing for recreation or luxury items, i consider myself to be a slave. the economy cost me my freedom. dale writes it cut just about everything. restaurants i like to go to. things have gotten bad. and gary. the poor economy has encouraged me to give up waesful things i don't need, overpriced food, wine, cars, and toys. i find myself wanting to do something with stuff i have instead of wanting something new. that's a good thing. happiness doesn't cost too much. if you want to read more, go to the blog, cnn.com/caffertyfile. or go to the "the situation room" facebook page. forget the man in the moon. how about mickey mouse on the planet mercury? jeanne moos is next. of him of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. where tonight we switched their steaks with walmart's choice premium steak. it's a steakover! it's flavorful. it's so juicy. the taste...it's fantastic. it's probably the best steak i've had. only one in five is good enough to be called walmart choice premium. tastes like a five star steak. tonight you were actually eating walmart steak. are you serious? wow. scrumdeliumcious. tomorrow will be the day i will buy walmart steaks. walmart choice premium steak in the black package. it's one hundred percent satisfaction guaranteed. try it and check us out on facebook. our cloud is made of bedrock. concrete. and steel. our cloud is the smartest brains combating the latest security threats. it spans oceans, stretches continents. and is scalable as far as the mind can see. our cloud is the cloud other clouds look up to. welcome to the uppernet. verizon. here is this hour's hot shots. a shepherd and sheep as u.s. marines patrol nearby. in the baltic sea, sailors race. in colorado, a smoky sunrise during the high park forest fires. in new england, a calf at festival a little too nosey with a local photographer. hot shots, pictures coming in from around the world. disney has theme parks around the globe, from and heim and orlando to paris, hong kong, coke tokyo. is mickey mouse on mercury? some people see it on the planet closest to the sun. here is cnn's jeanne moos. >> reporter: even other planets have mice, at least a certain mouse. >> what did you see? >> mickey mouse. >> reporter: a photo of mercury. the planet closest to the sun. >> i see mickey mouse. >> a mickey mouse with ears. >> looks like mickey mouse. >> reporter: maybe it is something else it could be. >> yeah, a photo shop. >> reporter: definitely not. this is a nasa photograph taken by messenger mission spacecraft showing. >> three impact craters on the surface. >> reporter: the larger forming the face is 65 miles across. >> the effect of the mouse ears is enhanced because of the shadows in the craters. >> reporter: actually, it wasn't a leader, but a summer intern working on a messenger mission who first noticed this image in the craters. there's a name for seeing a pattern where none really exists. there's a man on the moon, a mouse on mercury, and an elephant on mars? an elephant shape formed by lava flowing on the red planet. it is a stretch to us. some saw this shape as a mermaid on mars. the most famous martial face had the most believers until it was discredited. check out big bird in the sun's corona. nasa put out a helpful side by side image. remember mork from mork and mindy? >> don't go to pluto, it is a mickey mouse planet. >> reporter: turns out mercury is the mickey mouse planet, inspiring plenty of headlines. mickey on mercury, that's goofy. do you think mickey is on mercury? >> they may want a copyright on that. >> reporter: disney may as well milk it. they bought mickey moo, a cow worn with the silhouette on his side, this one has it on his head. if you have seen mickey on mercury, join the club. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> mickey mouse. before i go, this note. i was honored today to emsee a special event on capitol hill. it was the 2012 congressional award gold medal ceremony, recognizing 276 young americans from around the country. they were honored for showing a remarkable dedication and commitment to volunteer service and personal growth. i must say, i was inspired hearing their stories. they represent the best of our young people. to all of them and to their parents and mentors, congratulations. thanks to my good friend, the chairman of the congressional award foundation's national board for inviting me. that's it for me. thanks ver