"the daily rundown." >> time for "morning joe in"? yeah. open fighting the war in libya getting worse as gadhafi's forces step up the attack on protesters. a statement from him is coming. plus the libya ripple effect, gas prices reach their highest levels in two years, can $5 a gallonen far behin be far ? plus political pranks. >> a lot of us new governs got elected to do something big. >> you're the first domino. >> yep, this is our moment. >> we'll get into the fallout over that fake call. good morning, it's february 24th, 2011, i'm savannah guthrie. we listen to it, went on about 20 minutes that call is something. >> unbelievable. >> good morning, everyone. >> i'm chuck todd. there's another big story out there that for some reason i am trying to care about and i can't. sorry and i'm going to alleged mitt it. >> i'll care so you don't have to. other people do. royal fever. >> who are these people? >> william and kate make their first public appearance this morning. we'll bring you a live report coming up. what they're doing is a little bit bizarre so we'll get into that. >> that's a good tease, almost made me care. we gibb with libya wracked by civil war rebels in the east vowing to march on the capitol of tripoli tomorrow as moammar gadhafi matches forces for what could be a fal stand. for the first time president obama publicly condemned the crackdown but never mentioned gadhafi by name, that was done on purpose. the white house says he does not want to enflame the situation. >> the suffering and bloodshed is outrageous and unacceptable, so are threats and orders to shoot peaceful protesters and further punish the people of libya. these actions violate international norms and every standard of common decency. this violence must stop. >> meanwhile, while some 30,000 foreigners have fled by crossing the border into egypt, bad weather prevented americans from ferrying out. nbc's stephanie gosk is live in city bahraini egypt, near the libyan border. do we think the americans will be able to get out today? there's bad weather in the mediterrane mediterranean. >> reporter: i can tell you the ferryboat was spoeltzed to leave yesterday hampered because of high swells might leave on friday but weather is proving to be just as much as a deterrent almost as the violence and general disorder in libya for people to get out of there, making -- there was a sand storm this morning whipping up again that closed the borders so those egyptians trying to get out couldn't leave and there are an estimated more than 1 million egyptians in the country, many of them trying to get out. there were thousands yesterday. what we're seeing right now in libya is a relative calm compared to recent days, but that seems to be because you have both sides fortifying themselves and organizing themselves for what sounds like a final showdown close to tripoli. there are reports in the eastern part of the country that rebels are organizing under a general who used to serve gadhafi and now serving the rebel forces. they are actually calling young men to arms to join what they're calling a jihad and you have gadhafi who is massing his forces, and it's unclear how big and how strong those forces are. chuck and savannah. >> stephanie gosk along the border in salum, egypt, thank you. another developing story a bombshell from "rolling stone" magazine news of another so-called runaway general. the magazine is reporting this morning that a three-star general in afghanistan ordered his team to conduct psychological operations on visiting senators, even the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, in an apparent effort to manipulate them into giving more funding for the war. nbc news chief pentagon correspond e correspondent jim miklaszewski joins us now. what is the pentagon saying about it? >> what's amazing military officials knew the story would be out several days ago and so far zipped, tight-lipped about the whole thing which is amazing in its own rite and leads to suspicions that you know the darkest part of the suspicions about this story may, in fact, be true. "rolling stone" says that lieutenant general william caldwell, who is in charge of training forces called on psy-ops forces, psychological operations, to help him put together information about visiting dignitaries. senators like john mccain and carl levin, even admiral mike mullen, quite frankly you got to be kidding me about that but nevertheless the question here is, was this just raw data or was it really an attempt by psychological operations to shape a message that would lead these generals and visiting senators to make a decision in favor of providing more troops to the training operations there in iraq? i mean in afghanistan, and we don't have answers to those questions yet, savannah. >> i was going to say, mik, reading this story, after you've read the story, what extra piece of information do you want to know that will tell you, maybe this was psy-ops or maybe bad political spin? >> well that's exactly what we need to find out. was this, in fact, a psychological operation or did they just provide raw data? if it was an actual psy-ops operation, that's illegal. it's against the law to target american citizens under any circumstances, but i can tell it's part of a much larger probe -- problem that has arisen during the iraq war, when you know, every general needs a private strategic communications officer to help him shape the message. there are hundreds of these private contractors, millions of dollars a year are spent on this operation, and they are in conflict with the public affairs operation, which has led to frustration on the part of many public affairs officers but we understand even secretary gates is not too happy about spending all that money on what are actually spin doctors. >> that's a good way of putting it, our spin general, spin privates. jim miklaszewski at the pentagon for us for what is a bizarre story. the big domestic story we've been following all week, this morning wisconsin lawmakers may be a step closer to resolving the deadlock over that anti-union spending bill as protests enter a tenth day the state assembly agreed to end debate and scheduled a vote. state senator democrats now being warned that police are on their way back to get them to work and the governor is being forced to explain these comments made to a prank caller. >> this is about public sector unions. you essentially are having taxpayers' money being used to pay to lobby for spending more of taxpayer's money. it's absolutely ridiculous. the bottom line is the things i've said are things i've said publicly all along. automat i'm not going to allow one prank phone call to be a distraction from the reality is that we have a job to do. >> nbc's mike taibbi, a vote going on in the assembly, what is going on with the senate democrats? >> reporter: let's not get ahead of ourselves, chuck. the vote will be in the assembly, that was always going to happen. what happened was democrats in the assembly threatened to filibuster as long as they could to delay and hold off a vote suggesting they were going to have 100 amendments. the agreement so far as of this morning is that they're only going to be allowed 35 additional amendments and ten-minute discussion on each one. do the simple math takes it to midday when the assembly will approve because the republicans have the numbers the governor's budget relief bill. that has nothing to do with what's happening in the senate, talking about bizarre activity, 7:00 there was a call to come into session in the senate, because there were rumors that were supposedly believable that at least three of the democratic senators had been staying here in businessis with in wisconsin and driving under the cover of dark over the line to get out of having to vote. state police cars were sent out to at least three of the addresses, didn't find any democratic senators and when the ap checked with them later on all 14 say they're remaining on the other side of the state line and will not vote which leads us to the deadline the governor says is tomorrow, where if there isn't a vote and a measure isn't passed he'll have to lay off as many as 100 state workers starting next beak. all happening, a little progress on the assembly side and this is it on the senate. >> mike taibbi you'll be keeping your eye on it in madison. norah o'donnell will talk about the prank call placed to governor walker. let's get a check of where oil prices are headed. they flirted with the $100 mark yesterday. becky quick has more on this from cnbc. you're watching more on the brent, you taught us that word, a couple weeks ago and we're all going to be watching it now. >> brent and my next, the numbers have been bouncing quite a bit. brent oil was up to $117, pulled back to $114. my next pushed above $100 yesterday and kept climbing earlier this morning up at $10. in the last ten minutes oil is pulling back a bit. oil is trading at $99.31, up just $1.20, well off the highs of the morning. like i said earlier this morning, up around $103. as oil's been moving, that's been pushing equities one direction or the other. every time oil prices rise that puts pressure on the equities prices on the stock market. right now stocks are actually going to open higher in about 20 minutes' time because again oil prices have come well back down. the huge concern the unrest would spread into saudi arabia and that could disrupt supplies. we've heard a kuhncouple of thi today. russ westgate has been in riyadh and sees signs of jubilation on the streets, people out in the streets celebrating, young men celebrating the king was coming back. he'd talked to them and said they were pleased to have the king coming back, also the "financial times" story says by the way he's spending $36 billion to actually come back in, and that could stop some of the unrest as well. doesn't matter from the market's perspective. if there's not unrest it will push equities higher. i should mention quickly, toyota just coming out saying it's recalling 2.175 million vehicles here in the united states to address a potential gas pedal entrapment, so these are headlines just crossing, and w heard from nasa this was a case of human error. we'll be watching this closely as well. >> becky quick, you're a beauty lady today as cnbc. thank you for the breaking news. >> giant story. >> toyota recalling 2.17 vehicles. we'll get more information. >> had to do with floor mats is what they're saying now. >> the gas pedal staicking unde the floor mats. coming up next will looming feerlz of a government shutdown lead lawmaker to the dirty ten-letter word compromise? we'll talk to somebody who was there in the '90s, "the daily rundown" interview with tom daschle, live in our studio. meanwhile could oil really hit $200 a barrel? there's the growing unrest in the middle east is causing pain at the pump. we're going to look at just how high gas prices could go. remember this isn't the summer yet. first a look ahead at the president's schedule. we'll have a little interesting motown night later tonight at the white house, pbs special. you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. 24-hour allergy relief, comes in a liquid gel. zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®. to london starts with arthritis pain... and a choice. take tylenol now, and maybe up to 8 in a day. or...choose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. enjoy the flight. or...choose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. introducing honey bunches of oats, raisin medley. there's nothing like it! the only cereal with 1, 2, 3 kinds of raisins and crunchy multigrain flakes. you gotta try new honey bunches of oats raisin medley. at purinso we set out toour dog to be discover the sciencele. in some of nature's best ingredients. we created purina one with smartblend. delicious shredded morsels and crunchy bites with real meat, wholesome grains and antioxidants for strong muscles, vital energy, a healthy immune system, and a real difference in your dog. purina one with smartblend. discover what one can do. thank you very much. you're on e-trade. huntin' down stocks, bonds, etfs. oh i love etfs. look at you. why don't you show me your portfolio? 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[ male announcer ] e-trade. investing unleashed. house republican leadership has been here, senator mcconnell, they've been meeting with senator democratic leaders. these -- you know we have been engaged in this process. >> white house press secretary jay carney arguing the administration is doing all it can to avoid a government shutdown. >> with the government to shut down in eight days if no compromise is reached high stakes negotiations appear to be stalled. the latest move was house republicans offering a plan that would fund the government for two weeks with $4 billion in cuts but senator harry reid calls that a no go. he wants a 30-day extension until april at current spending levels while they work out a larger deal. former senator tom daschle joins us. he's been through these wars before. i want to ask you the larger meta question. seems like the democrats are anxious to talk about a government shutdown, some almost seem to be relishing the notion because they remember what happened in the '90s, the perception that it was republicans who were so badly damaged by it, but can you really be sure that it would play out the exact same way again? this is risky for both sides, isn't it? >> i think it is risky and obviously the damage done is incalculable in many ways. i don't think anybody wants to see that. i think they'll try to avoid it. i have vivid memories of the mid '90s and that happened the last time. we met ten days in the oval office to avert the next one and to work through the problems created as a result of the shutdown itself so the stakes are as high as they can be, and i'm hopeful we can find ways to avert it in the next few days. >> senator, a lot of attention has been focused on speaker boehner and his ability or inability to keep the tea party caucus in line and what he can do about finding common ground or compromise. senator reid doesn't have an easy time keeping folks like senator mccaskill, says her party doesn't get it on spending. who has less rope, speaker boehner or senator reed? >> i always think the speaker. i was in the house to start and then in the senate but never leader in the house. we always enjoyed with some envy really the problems that the house had in trying to keep their people together. the bottom line is they have better rules and far more ability to discipline than they do in the senate so there's no question, i think harry reid has a harder problem in keeping his caucus together especially as these issues unfold in the next few weeks. >> you mentioned meeting back in the 9 '3'90s in the oval office trying to avert another government shutdown which begs the question, what should the president's role be? to this point aides have stood along the sidelines and watched it volley from side to side in the senate. should the president take a stronger role in trying to head off a standoff? >> i think the bottom line has to be somebody has to be the convenor, somebody has to take the role of bringing all sides together and i don't know anybody better at that than the president. the president has the authority. he has the standing. he has the relationship. it's really important i think that that happen. that can be something that happens in stages, but clearly somebody has to bring everybody together and i think he's it. >> do you get the sense though that it's really happening? during the lame duck, the president was clear, he said basically we knew that vice president biden was helping to try to get both sides together and we knew that jack lu and geithner sent down to work with these guys. we're not seeing that action out of the white house. do you think it's about time they do it? >> obviously there are a lot of things going on behind the scenes and outside of meetings themselves. i think there are some very good discussions as i understand it under way. the real question is whether or not at some point we can bring it all together, and we don't have a lot of time. we've got four days next week before it has to happen. i think it's important we start sooner than later, and my hope is that we begin to do it almost immediately when everybody gets back next week. >> very quickly, knowing both chambers as you do, do you think that we'll avoid a shutdown as this, a lot of hype or do you think there's a real possibility the government could shut down? >> there is a real possibility but i think we'll avoid it. both sides understand that the stakes are too high, politically and substantively, there's no doubt this has to get done. >> before we let you go, psy-ops, when you went to visit war zones and what is that line? did you feel like you were ever being spun by generals? >> this is of course about the "rolling stone" article that suggests there's an afghan general trying to conduct psychological operations on sitting senators. >> well, did you -- what was it like when generals would do this? >> a couple of generals did look at me funny. no. seriously, i really don't. i never had the impression. what they were trying to do is to put their best foot forward, try to present their case as strongly as they could as persuasively has they could. we never felt we got psy-opped. >> because they were very good. >> that's what we've been doing. >> senator tom daschle we'll convince to you come back. thank you very much. >> thanks for having me. get ready, chuck for the royal couple's first official public appearance since their engagement. >> how is this news? >> it has to do with a lifeboat, marriage mehta fotaphor alert. there is a technical definition psy-op is the dissemination of frooutftruthfu information to foreign policy and national objectives, they rely on logic, fear, desire or other mental factors to promote specific emotions, aptitudes or behaviors. we'll start trying this in our tease, this is a good idea. if you have washington speak send us a jedi mind trick at dailyrundown@msnbc.com. 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[ female announcer ] tide loads of hope is a free laundry service that provides clean clothes for families affected by disasters. together we can provide loads of hope. visit us on facebook to see our efforts in haiti. prince william and his bride-to-be kate middleton there they are in north wales at the first event since announcing their engagement, a lifeboat naming ceremony. >> come on. launching a rescue lifeboat may not be what comes to mind when you think of the royal of glamour. for our future princess it's symbolic of the future role. keith miller is in englezie, wales. tell us about this. i hope i said that right. >> reporter: you said it absolutely correct, not an easy one to pronounce. what is easy is looking at how relaxed kate middleton is along with future husband prince william, to commemorate and launch a lifeboat, not a particular glamorous thing to do but important thing for the people of wales and also for william himself because he and kate middleton will be living on this island off the coast of wales shortly after their hon honeymoon because he's based as a helicopter pilot for the royal air force doing sea rescue. he has a lot in common with the men who work on this lifeboat. right now we're involved in some speeches, a little bit local if you will but all of the legals have showed up, it's incredible the village has just come down en masse, big round of applause when we arrived. already you get a sense of the excitement, the buildup for the wedding and people very much embracing it. the locals say they can't wait to have a royal couple as neighbors on what is otherwise a pretty barren, desolate island. back to you. >> all right, keith miller in anglesby in wales this morning. chuck is excited. >> it's my home. i get a little welch in me. a little angry welsh. lawrence o'donnell will bring the irish out, he joins us next. plus -- >> my feelings about this are constantly evolving. i struggle with this. >> president obama still struggling with his moral position on gay marriage, but he's reversed his legal position in a major way. what caused the change of heart, we'll get into it next. four decadent flavors. 60 calories. it's me o'clock -- time for jell-o. that's why there's lubriderm® daily moisture. it contains the same nutrients naturally found in healthy skin. skin absorbs it better and it lasts for 24 hours. later gator. lubriderm. your moisture matched. later gator. curtis: welcome back to geico gecko: caller steve, go right ahead. steve: yeah, um, i just got a free rate quote on geico.com, saved a ton, and it only took me 5 minutes and 12 seconds! steve: i was wondering, is that some sort of record? gecko: that's a good question. let's have a look. curtis: mmmm, not quite. someone's got you beat by 8 seconds. gecko: still, i mean, that's... that's quite fast! steve: well, what if i told you i only used one hand? anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. ♪ achievement: loves working capital. ♪ achievement: puts receivables to work. ♪ achievement: expects a lot of itself. cfo: cash flow options, helping business achievers better manage their cash flow. pnc. for the achiever in us all. bottom of the hour, quick look at what's driving thursday. >> president obama is convening his new jobs council for the first time today. this is part of the president's effort to show he is focused on kicking the economic recovery into high gear. the group is chaired by jeffrey immelt, the ceo of general electric, which is part owner of nbc universal. as the chaos continues in libya, moments ago moammar gadhafi called in to the libyan state television station and said the uprise something being run by al qaeda and fueled by trigger-happy kids on hallucinogenics. the opening bell just rang on wall street where nervous investors are closely watching the price of oil, for the first time since turmoil began in the middle east some companies are cutting back on production. can oil prices put the brakes on the u.s. economic recovery? that's an issue we'll delve deeper into coming up in a few minutes. breaking news at this hour, toyota recalled more than 2 million vehicles in the u.s. today to address gas pedals that could become entrapped in floor mats or jammed in carpeting on the driver's side. a british judge ruled this morning that wikileaks counter julian assange can be extradited to swede on it face accusations of sexual abuse there. assange is expected to appeal today'sization. it's been more than a day since any survivors were found in the wreckage of tuesday's earthquake in christchurch, new zealand. the death toll stands at 98 with 226 people still missing. three people were injured in a massive explosion near a gas well in pennsylvania last night and look at those pictures. it took firefighters more than three hours to contain those flames. and it's all systems go for space shuttle "discovery's" 39th and final launch today. after months of delays, the launch is set for 4:50 eastern time today. and hawaii just became the latest state to legalize civil unions. governor abercrombie signed the law that gives same-sex couples the rights of and benefits of marriage. >> let's stick with that topic, president obama has made a major reversal on in his legal position only the federal law that refuelses to recognize gay marriage. it's an issue that politically tied the president in knots. here he is in 2008 during the campaign telling mtv he was not a supporter of gay marriage. >> i believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, and i'm not in favor of gay marriage. >> just recently, however, he said he was struggling with his position on the issue. >> meanwhile, he's decided to stop defending the defense of marriage act in court saying he now believes that law is unconstitutional. it prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriages performed in the states, same-sex couples among other things are not eligible for federal benefits. let's bring in justice correspondent pete williams. i think a lot of people may be a little bit confused about where the president stands on this, his position, his moral position on same-sex marriage is the same as it was in 2008 although he says he's struggling but the legal position that the justice department will now take in court has changed significantly. >> totally. it's 180-degree reversal. let's be clear, this is not about whether states must permit gay marriage. it's about in those states that decide to do it, will the federal government also recognize those marriages? and up until now, the law for 15 years has been no, it's called the defense of marriage act, president clinton signed it and in four lawsuits in federal courts the obama justice department has been defending that law. that's the justice department's job, they said they've disagreed with the law but that's the law they're going odefend it. now they say however they've looked more closely at the law and they've decided that it is unconstitutional discrimination for the federal government to say well we're going to recognize these marriages but not others, so the defense of marriage act has lost its biggest defender in federal court and what the justice department said in a letter to congress yesterday is you pass this law if you want to defend it, you go to court and defend it but we can't because we've concluded it's unconstitutional. >> pete, the political reaction particularly on the right went as follows. it said, oh, okay, so when we elect a republican president and that president is going to decide the health care law is unconstitutional, i will no longer defend it, the supreme court, good luck with that, that has been the political -- the anger over the fact that who is the president to decide? let's wait until the supreme court decision. >> normally that's what the justice department does. there have been exceptions, though. there was an exception a couple of years ago when the justice department set a law that says police can coerce confessions, they don't have to give the miranda warning. the justice department didn't defend that one. it's a small number of cases. they say we're bound by the constitution. you mentioned the supreme court. i think what this may mean, one ancillary thing is as you look at the cases going, this may now get ahead of the prop 8 case as the case that gets to the supreme court first to bring the gay marriage issue to the justices. >> it will be interesting from a legal perspective and political one, too. pete williams, thank you. >> you bet. in wisconsin union groups and the republican governor continue the standoff over the governor's move to ban most collective bargaining rights for unions but the battle took a strange turn yesterday when a prank caller posing as a big dollar donor got through to governor walker on the phone, had a 20-minute conversation with him in which the governor and governor talked candidly about his plans. >> the caller turned out to be the editor-in-chief of a left-leaning blog called "buffalo beast "masquerading as biliary david koch" to get through, and he didn't need to product much to get him to talk and talk and talk. >> what we were thinking about the crowds was planting some troublemakers. >> you know, well, the only problem, because we thought about that, the problem with or my only gut reaction to that would be right now, the -- the -- the lawmakers i've talked to have just completely had it with them. >> well, what's fair in politics anymore? apparently everything. the host of msnbc's "the last word" lawrence o'donnell. you interviewed this gentleman yesterday. clearly it comes across as unethical, hard to say it's "journalism." it's a prank, what andrew brightbart likes to do on the right, this is a version of that. what did it tell you about scott walker? >> well, it told me scott walker has a horribly incompetent staff, chuck. you just don't take phone calls like this if david koch is calling and you get the number and you call back at the office, and you make sure the phone is answered as the office of david koch and all of that. ian murphy, this guy from buffalo who i had on the show last night worked his way through all of those layers of staff protection that are supposed to prevent this from happening. this would create a series of firings in most politicians' staffs. >> actually, lawrence, i want to play, because you had him on your show last night. let's play a sound bite and talk about it. >> i made up this story on the spot about my maid maria, who had accidentally washed my phone, and so now i was calling from the void, i said, i was using the void and the snipe, and amazingly he just said, sure, that sounds totally believable. and so he gave me the time to call back and i called back later and got right to the governor. >> you know, lawrence, chuck and i listened to this call and it's a long one, yesterday, and just setting aside the substance of what governor walker said, what really stood out to me was that governor walker was willing to give 20 minutes of his time to somebody he thought was a big donor and did not need much provocation or prodding to kind of spill his guts about everything that was happening in wisconsin. >> one of the truths back stage in this kind of politics is that the governor actually has a lot of time on his hands these days, because they're stuck. they're stalemated. there's nothing to do. when he's not out there doing the press conference it's not like he's in series of intense meetings about how to solve this situation. he proved how much time he has on his hands. i also loved ian murphy, this guy in buffalo, worked on a little accent to deliver to the governor. it's a subtle piece of work, but it's also really silly when you listen to it. you just -- it takes -- it doesn't take you long to get the feeling this guy isn't who he says he is. >> lawrence, put in your political strategist hat, how is labor doing in this pr battle? have they made the case for the importance of public sector unions versus -- i'll be honest, seems to me they haven't. what would you say to that? >> the only polling information we have so far out of wisconsin indicated that 52%, this was last week, thought the governor had gone too far. 52% voted for the governor so that's a -- and he ran on this so that is a shift of opinion toward labor' position at least on the collective bargaining end of this, at least on their energy to preserve the rights of collective bargaining. in a situation like this, this is chaos and it is impossible to tell in the middle of chaos which way this is going to end up. where will 60% of minnesota end up on this or will 60% of -- i'm sorry, wilsis wi sorry, wisconsin, will 60% of wisconsin take and form an opinion on that? president obama won that state. he's afraid to say anything about this, because it could end up that, you know, 60% of the state goes a certain way on this, or maybe it stays, you know, 52/48 and that's just a situation that's too close for the president to lean one way or the other very strongly, because he has to win that state two years from now. >> indeed. lawrence o'donnell it's great to have you on the show. thanks for getting up early because we know you stay up late. >> this is not easy for me. >> it's a burden but you're willing to do it and we appreciate it. >> thank you, sir. >> all right. >> we'll give you a plug to repay you, "the last word with lawrence o'donnell" michael hastings and james hoff on the ongoing union battle tonight 8:00 eastern. it's not that late. >> michael hasting lgz is the "rolling stone" reporter -- >> the first runaway general. >> and the psy-ops story. today our jedi mind trick from the almanac of american politics. which former member of congress is the author of the 1996 defense of marriage act and has since called for the law's repeal? the answer coming up on "the daily rundown." coming up next, pain at the pump. there's fear the unrest in the middle east could spread to other oil-producing countries, that fear is pushing gas prices higher but it may not stop there. what will it do for the larger economic recovery? this thought waking a lot of people up in the middle of the night. quickly before we go to break the white house "you some of the day" it's got cold a little bit so it's a good day for chicken chili. they're dining out on the jobs summit that he's having, maybe eating a little bit of this. >> you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. goodness... ♪ chips ahoy! crammed with joy! and here's what we did today: we put almost three million americans to work... ...adding nearly 400 billion dollars to the economy. generated over two and a half million kilowatts of electricity... ...enough energy to power a quarter of america. we gave your kids a cleaner ride to school. kept the lights on during a calm day at the wind farm. heated 57 million u.s. homes. simmered grandma's chicken noodle soup. melted tons of recycled glass. roasted millions of coffee beans. provided electricity for nearly 29 million home computers. heated your bathwater. cooked your takeout. lit your way home. we helped america import less of its energy. cleared the air by burning cleaner than other fuel sources, with less pollutants and no mercury. and tomorrow, we could do even more. we're cleaner, domestic, abundant and ready now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power today. learn more at anga.us. requires more than wishful thinking. it requires determination and decisive action. go to e-trade and get unbiased analyst ratings and 24/7 help from award-winning customer support to take control of your finances and your life. tap into the power of revolutionary mobile apps. to trade wherever. whenever. life isn't fully experienced sitting idly by. neither is investing. e-trade. investing unleashed. oh, bayer aspirin? 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>> reporter: now this is one projection and it's based on some big ifs. it is if the entire oil production in libya is halted, that's about 1.6 million barrels per day. it's if the entire production of algeria is halted. that's about 1.9 barrels per day and it's if opec's spare capacity is back to levels that we saw in 2008 around 2 million barrels per day but we know opec's barrel compass sit closer to 5 million barrels per day and saudi arabia closer to 4 million barrels per day right now. there does seem to be enough spare capacity and the saudis have made it clear they are ready to act if need be. so while there is this projection out there, there are of course many other reasons we could see oil prices back to the levels we saw in the summer of 2008, namely if disruptions spread across the middle east, but that is an outside call that 220 number. many are looking to see whether oil price also go back to the $147 level we saw back in july of '08. >> sharon epperson of cnbc at the new york mercantile exchange inspect midst of the action. seems urgent but i think the trading floor always is. >> yes. david yergen, our energy analyst. a lot of people who know a little bit about this are saying, sure, libya is a mess but libya doesn't export much to the u.s. so why am i seeing gas prices go up? >> we've already seen oil prices go up on the expectation of global economic recovery, everybody was looking at china and in the last few weeks it's changed in the middle east and the last week or so we've seen oil prices go up 20%. libya is like, when we lost oil during hurricanes katrina and ri rita, that's the type of volumes we're looking at. there's a fear factor there, the contagion factor, who else is going to happen. >> a little bit of this is a ripple effect. most of libya's oil goes to europe. if europe, italy and those countries cannot get oil, where do they go? >> exactly, it's all one big bathtub. barrels move around the world and so if europe is short, those barrels come from somewhere else, but there's not really a physical shortage right now but they're looking at it and this is shocking to see one of this kind of key producers very close to europe in this kind of disruption and the question unlike egypt where you had an army that could run a transition it's not clear that there is any institution that gets libya from where it is today to some kind of stable situation. >> let's take the next step because i think the fear is not just that gas prices go up, but how that affects almost everything else in the u.s. economy, i mean the price of your pizza could go up if the gas is more expensive to deliver it to you. >> i think people sort of forgot that in 2008, before lehman brothers claollapsed, gasoline d oil hit $127.27. the main thing that took down the economy was debt. what happened with the oil crisis was part of it. look at the airlines, finally coming out of it and now, you know, fuel costs are the biggest cost by far for airlines, twice their labor costs. hits everything from pizzas to airlines. >> in a word do you think it could imperil the economic recovery? >> i think at this point the thing is if it's contained, no. but if this goes on, we see because it's already on an annual basis, where prices have gone to now would take about $60 billion out of the pockets -- >> contained? what is our window here? >> i think that's right. clearly libya cannot be in this chaotic situation six weeks from now. there will are interventions or some thing thoos will happen. the thing is, next door. where else is it affected? >> always good to have your perspective. >> thank you, sir. wrap up our trivia. which former member of congress was the author of the 1996 defense of marriage act and has since call for repeal? the answer former congressman bob barr. republican from georgia, flirting with the libertarian party of late, by the way. jay leno, looking to us for comedic inspiration? what? >> where else, actually. >> we think we're hilarious. i don't think anybody else is. follow us on twitter. chuck is so funny on twitter. at used to make me sneeze... my eyes water. but now zyrtec®, the fastest 24-hour allergy relief, comes in a liquid gel. zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®. the morning after the big move starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now... and maybe up to 4 in a day. or, choose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. smart move. ♪ at liberty mutual, we know how much you count on your car and how much the people in your life count on you. that's why we offer accident forgiveness... 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[ man ] ♪ trouble ♪ trouble, trouble trouble, trouble ♪ ♪ trouble been doggin' my soul ♪ since the day i was born ♪ worry ♪ oh, worry, worry worry, worry ♪ [ announcer ] when it comes to things you care about, leave nothing to chance. travelers. take the scary out of life. libya leader moammar gadhafi with yet his most bizarre statement yet. blaming osama bin laden for the uprising in his country. gadhafi's back, against the wall as protesters seize control of more cities. and stunning charges against a top general in afghanistan. did he really order military experts to use mind games, not against the enemy, but on visiting u.s. senators? and a prank call to the governor of wisconsin gives us very real and perhaps controversial insights into why he's fighting the unions. good morning. i'm chris jansing. this is "jansing and co." it is a very busy thursday. let's start with that breaking news from libya where moammar gadhafi has just addressed the nation on libyan tv. he did it over the telephone and he's blaming the uprising on osama bin laden. gadhafi says the al qaeda leader has been manipulating libya into rebelling against the government and offered