>> superstitious dude. >> we begin this northemorning iran. defense secretary leon panetta says there is a growing likelihood, quote, that israel will attack iran this spring and try to destroy its suspected nuclear program. israeli defense minister ehud barak said this, quoek, iran must be prevent fred becoming nuclear and no option should be taken off the table. let's get right to barbara starr this morning at the pentagon. good morning, barbara. >> good morning, soledad. a lot of chatter around here about what panetta said about all of this. it was first reported in the "washington post" by the very respected journalist david ignatius and confirmed to us by a pentagon official. panetta now believes there is a growing likelihood israel will strike iran sometime this spring. that israel believes iran has moved ahead. made the decision to go for a nuclear weapon is increasingly capable of making that happen. and that they have to stop it. but is this rhetoric? is this panetta ratcheting up the rhetoric against iran? possibly putting israel at risk? is this a revelation of key intelligence? that's what we don't know. what's what the dilemma is right now and there are a lot of people who are concerned that all of this rhetoric on all three sides painting a lot of dangerous -- a lot of danger here that a lot of folks are being painted into a corner, soledad. >> i'm going to start with you because, of course, when they're talking about iran and israel, sort of unspoken name is america and sort of the correlation between if israel, in fact, does attack iran and now we're learing maybe the spring, what's america's role in that? >> exactly. and i'm very interested in coordination is there right now between america and israel and the impact of what's happening in syria right now because syria is such an important player in the region. it's incredibly volatile, too. i think it's affecting it. >> overall a timetable. there's a sense that if, in fact, iran gets their nuclear weapons to a certain stage, then it becomes impossible to do a strike, which, i believe, barbara, is this april deadline. is that correct? >> that's what israel beliefs. you know, that's rally important right now. why are we talking about it? israel believes by this spring iran will be so far down the road that its weapons wouldn't be able to get to iraq's nuclear facilities that they would have to rely on the u.s. to do it. look, our position is they are still hope that sanctions will work. >> let he read to you what the ayatollah ali khamenei said. he says there. threatening iran and attacking iran will harm america. sanctions will not have any impact on our determination to continue our nuclear course. in response to threats of oil embargo and war, we have our own threats to impose at the right time. that's not even a shrouded threat. that's an out and out threat. >> temperatures are rising. you have to look at also the history of war that's already been happening. the shutdown of their nuclear facilities with this virus a while back was sort of an act of war. you have assassinations going on constantly. aggressive behavior. as the temperature rises we get more nervous about all that. it's not that we are approaching more, in a state of some tension in what could be called war already. >> well, no, except there's a big difference. i mean, there's a big difference between this kind of jaw-jaw state that we're in and war-war. and, you know, things have been tense with iran for a while. so i do think that, you know, there's a line. i don't think it's been crossed. i think that now is probably a more dangerous situation now. >> by the way we see the line and we're happy to cross it is the way i read that. >> that's iran's statement. that is the whole process, where is the line? both sides trying to figure out where is the line? some of these cyber attacks, shutting down the straits of hormuz, bombing the facilities, would that be crossing the line? i think there is an implied statement here that israel and the united states are one in the same. >> so let me go back to barbara starr because will and i were talking yesterday. every day this week, i think, it's fair to say we said, did leon panetta mean to say that and the next day, did leon panetta mean to say that? >> every day barbara's been oranges we say, new statement. >> give me the background. why this now that he is not backing away from it? it cannot be a stumble. >> you know, this is the question right now. you know, i made a little list, what has leon panetta been saying lately? he's been talking about this. he's been talking about the bin laden raid. he talked a couple weeks ago that he had an idea publicly about who was killing the iranian scientists. getting out of afghanistan. is throwing people for a loop. his closest aides that we talk to are, you know, trying to spin it and say, well, we're told he's just being open and honest. but the question is, is h throwing the white house for a loop? you know, just this whole business the other day of him talking about getting out of combat in information, one key aid said to me, look, he handed romneyen an attack point on a platter. why would he do that? why would he put israel in this position of being vulnerable to iran? >> sorry for jumping in, barbara. >> no, i was just -- we don't know the answer. >> exactly. and every single day we have had a conversation where she sort of ends her report with, we don't really quite know what the answer is about. we're going to continue, of course, and talk about iran and israel this morning. got other headlines to get to though first. >> good morning, soledad. cancer charity susan g. komen for cure defending decision to cut off funding to planned parenthood. it says it will no financially support any group under investigation. congress is currently investigating whether planned parenthood used federal money to fund abortions. critics say komen is playing politics with women's lives. the founder disagrees. >> we will never bow to political pressure. we will stand firm on our goal to end breast cancer forever. we will never turn our backs to women who need us the most. >> some say komen is caving to pressure to from pro life groups. mitt romney is heading to nevada, being dogged by what he said on this show after winning the florida primary. >> we have a safety net there. if it needs repair, i'll fix it. i said i'm not concerned about the very poor that has a safety net. focus on the very poor, that's not my focus. my focus is on middle income americans. >> romney now says he misspoke. >> america, the hope of the earth. thanks you guys. great to be with you. thank you. what i said was that my focus, my primary focus is on helping people get in the middle class and grow the middle class. >> today president obama announces a new $5 billion jobs plan to help put thousands of unemployed veterans back to work. the administration is expected to propose a training program designed to help veterans who want to start their own small biggs. hunts of flights, many scheduled for this morning has been canceled at denver international airport. major snowstorm moving into colorado. 300 pieces of equipment, 500 employees on hand to try to keep the runways clear. and check out this musician sing for his supposer at a soni drive-thru. he has half a million hits on youtube and counting. ♪ i can get a number eight with large chili cheese tater tots ♪ >> and what kind of drink? ♪ can i get a mello yello with that please ♪ >> the sonic cost about $34. he said it's money well spent to get publicity for his band. here comes the interstate life. >> i love it. he's got a nice voice. >> he does. >> when is his album coming out? what's his name? giorgio verara. >> interstate life is the band. >> or you can add him to the music mix this morning. >> here's how it works. we have to beg. it takes about 48 hours. so, yes, by tuesday, for sure. we're going to have interstate life. giorgio, call me. >> gets your rights right. christine, before i let you go, a couple other things. i know you will have the jobs report out in 90 minutes. >> yes. >> tell me about that. >> looking to the number of jobs added in the month of january and we're expecting about 130,000 jobs added in an 8 1/2% unemployment rate. so you can see this is the year soledad. remember we were talking about double dip recession. clearly we avoid it. this is not going to be enough to absorb people entering into the the workforce. not enough to show robust labor market. wanted to give you, this soledad. this goes all the way back to the end of the bush administration and to when the president took office. brad can come in here and show you how horrible was right here you get these two competing views. one is that this is the obama jobs market. the other is obama inherited it. they both presided over a horrible time over the labor market. what is important now is where we have been going and where the trend has been. the trend has been slow but steady with some pullbacks. 130k. you like to see a lot more than that but it is going in the right direction, you guys. >> christine, thank you. we're going to look forward to that number coming out in a little bit, or 90 minutes or so. still ahead, chrysler jump-starting a state's struggling economy. can the rest of the country learn a lesson? we're going to talk to pat quinn straight ahead. plans to turn over gitmo detainees in taliban. critics say that is crossing a dangerous line. and we play this sound full, please? yes. ♪ bravo. i've been begging for this song. this is my personal theme song and i'm willing to share it. let's listen for a moment as we go to commercial break. ♪ >> that's jason aldean who is watching us this morning with "dirt road anthem." >> jason's watching? that is country rap, soledad. he's going to hit some rap in a second, right after the kor russ. >> i like that. that's nice. it's a little slow north morning, don't you think? >> maybe on a friday morning, though, a little more gentle. >> ease into the weekend. slow it down a little bit? >> yes. >> cool things we're watching this morning with job numbers coming out that christine was just telling us about. i'm curious to know what you think about politically what this is going to mean. if we see this slow decrease in joblessness bus that mean that president obama had a easier path to re-election or the republicans need to change their tune in how they're going to aim for the white house? >> obviously it's heading into the right direction. you have to be a partisan hack if you don't think so. >> we have those on. >> it's better to be adding jobs than losing jobs. what i would say is don't get too caught up in what sometimes can be superficial numbers. there are undercurrents that are much deeper. when i'm talking about debt i'm talking about private debt. still high levels of debt. europe poses a big problem for the world economy. china is slowing down. these things could come to fruition before november and change this whole picture. >> my big worry is what you started the show with, iran. if you look at those jobs numbers, the big thing that knocked the u.s. question at the beginning of the european sovereign debt crisis. i agree with will, europe could be a big problem. iran could be a big problem. and not just in terms of foreign policy but i think the economy is going to play a huge role in the election. >> absolutely. unpredictable events are what being pts is all about. sometimes you get one that help you and sometimes really damage and hurt you. i think from the political perspective the republicans have established and wrapped themselves around america is failing. so if the charts keep looking a little better, it's harder to hold that message and have it feel true. >> no matter what the charts look like the you know people who have lost their jobs, if you feel like your personal situation is sliding from middle class into less middle class, more poor, a chart that's going upward is not going to make you feel any better. >> i think it undermines the argument. what is actually happening in your life is more important but those charts do affect real people's lives. >> your point is well taken because -- >> i love when you say that. go on, will cain, have more time this morning. yes. >> now we see how the show is going. >> now the contrarian. focus on jobs is overdone. this is not going to turn into an economy show this morning but it's been called a balance sheet recession because so many people are in debt. mainly in their homes, underwater in their homes. they feel poor. i don't spend what i used to. i don't have what i used to. truth is some 90% of us are employed but that doesn't make us feel any better. >> who does that help? >> i agree obviously about the house hold debt bag huge, huge issue. but i think that jobs matter. obviously they matter. if the jobs number are better you're going to know fewer people out of work. that means that your friends are actually getting jobs and it also means which i think is something that has really been weighing on the economy since the recession started. even if you have a job you're really anxious. shouldn't be secure, right? >> we're going to talk to hopefully the governor of the state of illinois about what they're doing on the jobs bringing manufacturing into that state but at what cost. it's not just a clear cut thing they're doing there. also ahead this morning on "starting point," breaking news. two americans kidnapped in egypt. we got developments on that story straight ahead. a new name in the presidential race. here's a hint. she once got a lot of -- >> seriously, who is this if. >> that is a tease and you've got to wait. hello. deep tease to get us through the commercials. i'm going to teach you how tv works, will cain. >> thank you. also, here's an interesting point. cashing in on tornado tourism. trying to get people to visit job lynn, missouri, to see the devastation there has some people feeling anded a ee eed o and angry. nts. i did not ask for a second play. you set me up. >> i feel terrible inside right now. >> they set me up. >> it's friday. >> why did you replay this? >> it's so slow. >> i so slow? >> this song is a beautiful song. this is willie nelson. >> it's a classic. >> thank you. >> "blue eyes." >> crying in the rang. >> beautiful song. but like everybody who was about to get out of bed to watch our show just went back to bed. >> ease in on the friday. >> don't defend your little friend will cain. on the countr side. moving on. jobs front. illinois governor pat quinn announced that chrysler is going to bring 1800 new manufacturing jobs to its plant in bevel deer, illinois. the news couldn't come at a better time for the struggling state if unemployment rate, 8%. second highest in the country nationwide. so governor pat quinn joins us from chicago this morning. nice to see you, sir. thanks for being with us. we appreciate your time. when you look at the progress you've made in adding jobs, the state has added almost 100,000 jobs since january of last year. 12,000 though, only 12,000 have been in manufacturing. i'm going to assume that many of those jobs that have been added in food service. what is the strategy for more? more manufacturing jobs? >> actually 20,000 jobs are manufacturing since january of 2010. 1800 yesterday with the great news from chrysler. they're going to build a new dodge dart. 21st century dodge dart. you know, when i get more than three years ago chrysler had 200 workers in belvedere. this summer they're going to have 4,200. they're all united auto workers. great union. and we had the ceo from chrysler with us yesterday. we really look forward to a great car. it's family car. it's roomy. it's safe. >> you're already doing ads for the car, sir. i want one. i want to go -- suddenly i want to go buy one. listen, seriously, there is a cost to these 1800 jobs. you're giving tax credits over ten years. i think just over $53 million in tax credits, training funds, grants, incentives, things like that. how do you calculate it if that cost is worth it? it's like $60 million over ten years for 1800 jobs. >> well, it's a great investment that pays tremendous dividends. chrysler alone invested $700 million in refurbishing the plant. there was 700,000 hours of construction activity for our tradesmen. and then there are all these suppliers. we had many, many auto suppliers in illinois not only for chrysler but we had a huge ford plant. when i became governor, one shift at ford and now three shifts at ford. there will be three shifts in chrysler. mitsubishi is also in our state and we're a great auto making state. and that's part of america. that's what our president did. he rescued the auto industry and now we're roaring back. >> governor, i'm from reuters. what does -- you've just been talking about the big auto rescue which was controversial at the time. mitt romney was publicly opposed to it. are you saying now that you think that was a good idea and that's sort of big government intervention in the economy has been proven to work? >> it was a rescue operation by president barack obama from the state of illinois. and he understands how important it is to have a job. i looked in the faces of all those auto worker yesterday when i was there. they're hardworking men and women. they believe in hard work and they deserve a decent chance. and they're tremendously skilled in talking to the ceo of chrysler he said one of the reasons they picked illinois and our belvedere plant is because of the skill of the workers. and i think it's important not to lose track of the fact that it's made in america, made in illinois, those are my favorite words. >> good morning, governor. jack and jill politics. i want to know what the plan to sustain this job growth and see that jobs stay around. auto can be cyclical industry with furloughs and back off time. what is your plan and what is your hope at least to make sure that this keeps going in the right direction and congratulations on having that direction so far. >> well, thank you. but basically we have to understand that 70% of the american economy is consumer demand. we need to make sure that folks have the income in their pockets to buy cars. a lot of folks their cars may be five or six years old and buying a new dodge dart, family car that's safe and sound really is a good place -- 40 miles to the gall gallon. >> chief marketing officer. >> i told him yesterday, we're going to sell 3 million of these vehicles. >> you've already sold a bunch of them. governor, you're out of time. i have to stop you there. we're going to keep talking about manufacturing. we would love to have you back. we appreciate your time this morning. thank you, sir. >> and your manufacturer, come to illinois. >> and buy the dodge dart, is what he's saying. >> i see him on that street corner. >> 20 miles per gallon is what he's saying. >> you have to love that. sell, right? he said chrysler came here, i'm going to help sell them. we've got to take a short break. up next, this breaking news. two americans kidnapped in egypt, according to the u.s. embassy in cairo. we'll bring you live from cairo with the latest developments in the story. plus, who could forget, especially not me, mitt romney's comments about the poor? listen. >> i'm in this race because i care about americans. i'm not concerned about the very poor. we have a safety net there. >> well, now he's saying he misspoke. we're going to chat with our panel about that. plus, iran is reportedly turning loose al qaeda detainees and there are some fears that two major players in terror are teaming up. we're going to talk about those stories. e. but one is so clever that your skin looks better even after you take it off. neutrogena® healthy skin liquid makeup. 9