a new career. i'm year yeah borrow ger and you're in "the situation room." it may not be everything, but aappearance is everything on the campaign trail. a lack luster speech, the bang promise by his campaign was more of a fizzle. the gap is down from six points on tuesday to two points today. joe, what exactly happened? >> reporter: well, gloria, mitt romney is still struggling to get his momentum back and today's speech was supposed to be a step in the right direction but for a bunch of reasons. you just would not call this mitt romney's perfect day. the front lines couldn't have been clearer at what was supposed to be the major moment so far to win the state where he grew up. in the morning, the auto workers union held a noisy opposition to the auto industry bailout. >> it's total blas fem me. >> and then in the afternoon -- >> i want to thank the ford field -- >> it was not the venue that romney would have preferred where the detroit lions play ball. the speech had been planned for a much smaller place but the event sold out, had to be moved. the sons sor sponsors, not the campaign, picked the place that swallowed up the crowd. >> taking together the plan i'm proposing represents the biggest fundamental change to the federal government in history. >> it was a little anti-climatic because he said all of this before, like abolishing death taxes and the alternative minimum tax. >> first, i'm going to make an across the board 20% reduction in marginal income tax. >> when it comes to social security, what i'll do is slowly raise the minimum retirement wage and slow the benefits for a higher income future retirees. >> on politics, it was a little awkward at times, you but he did mention the cars that he and his wife drove, all american-made which is supposed to be music here. >> ann drives a couple of cadillacs actually. >> and then perhaps the most awkward example of all, if he had the best chance to beat president obama. >> i can only think i have the best chance, maybe the only chance. maybe i'm overstating it a bit. that's my family leading the applause down here. >> but in the stadium, if anyone was clapping, you couldn't hear it in the back. romney is expected to spend the weekend here realizing how important it is for him to be able to say. >> michigan, michigan, michigan as far as mitt romney's concerned. thank you so much. romney and his fellow republican hopefuls are all hitting president obama on gas prices. the president is now saying there's no magic wand to get them down and that the gop is playing politics. surprise? by listen to what the president said when he was running for president. >> since the gas lines of the '70s, democrats and republicans have talked about energy independence but nothing has changed. except now exxon is making $40 a year and we're paying $3.40 for gas. i'm president obama. i won't let them block change anymore. we'll invest in alternative energy, free ourselves from foreign oil. it's time washington worked for you, not them. >> it's always a political issue and you hear the president now saying there's no magic wand but, of course, when he was running for president, it's a little bit of a different story, right? >> absolutely. but, listen, the truth is, nobody can do anything about these prices right now and the president said that and they would agree to that at least privately this is another one of those win-win situations because the president can say -- because we know what can happen. gas prices go up. so do oil profits. the president's time for the president to say, hey, we really ought to get those exemptions, have them get rid of them because look how much money they are making. you heard on capitol hill, listen, this is unscrupulous investors and the republicans are just protecting wall street. >> so the democrats are against the oil company trying portray the republicans? >> absolutely. it fits into the major themes of both sides. and what the republicans are doing is saying, well, the president didn't approve the keystone pipeline which could have brought us more oil and lots of jobs and he's just a slave to the radical environmentalist. they've sort of got their side of this. so it will play out for a little while. i don't think it will be definitive in november. >> as you alluded to earlier, this could really be out of everyone's hands because it's a global issue. we don't know what's going to occur in the middle east, with iran, for example. >> it's the instability in the gulf, the strait of hormuz and the growth of china and india. energy consumption for them is just skyrocketing. so there's sort of lesson the world market. >> but when you're running for president, you never want people to hear you say, you know what, i have no control about it. >> when you're president, though, it helps because that sort of deflects what is going on. you know and i know that presidents profit from things. maybe they had nothing to do with with and they also get the blame for things they can't control. >> candy crowley, who is on the show on sunday? >> robert gibbs, the adviser to the president's re-election campaign and john lindsay to talk about what is going on in 2012. >> and i'm sure syria as well. >> yes. they are both back from a trip. >> exactly. thank you so much, candy crowley. >> cnn's erin burnett is next. i'll talk to her about what it all means for you. and, then, in our next hour, romney's rival, sen are frick santorum, talks about romney's attacks on hand. you don't want to miss santorum because he is firing back today. >> star power and hollywood cash has flowed to president obama's re-election effort with a head-lining grabbing donation from comedian bill maher. cnn's lisa sylvester is looking into the celebrity support. shocking, right? >> shocking, indeed, gloria. republicans are in a horse race and the president doesn't have a primary challenger but democrats still have a build to war chest and now they are turning to hollywood for help. with comedian bill maher, it's sometimes hard to tell where comedy stops and begins even though he's making a big pledge to president obama's super pac. >> i would like to give that pac $1 million. >> the president's super pac has been lagging in its operations, raising $59 million in january. the supreme court decision opened the door to super pacs receiving big money but to stay in the game the obama campaign did a turn around this month giving the green light. >> now that they have given a blessing to contribute so they can fight fire with fire, they have said that they are at a big disadvantage of it. i think that you're going to see a lot of money pouring in. >> democrats are turning to hollywood for star power and cash. >> thanks, honey. you've been a big help. >> eva longoria and cal pin have been named by the obama campaign as two of 36 special co-chairs. and actress carrie washington has been tapped for a key role. >> for the arts and humanities. i'm working hard within the white house and also on the campaign as an official surrogate this year fundraising bum blers, including jeffrey and ari emanuel, brother to rahm emanuel. singer kelly clarkson and still he has a prediction. >> i threw my hat in the ring early with governor rick perry and that didn't turn out so well as far as a presidential run. obviously he's out of the race and that leaves the four candidates. mitt romney is the strongest of the candidates. >> democrats were slow out of the gate but hope to raise $100 million between now and election day. >> and hollywood definitely skews democratic. no surprise there. 70% of presidential campaign donations for movie, tv, and the music industry goes to democrats. 30% to republican candidates. gloria? >> right now that super pac door is wide open for hollywood, lisa. thanks a lot. and it's a story you first saw in "the situation room." florida senator and republican vice presidential hopeful marco rubio reveals his time in the mormon church. now new details about yet another religion in his past. plus, jeb bush raising concerns about the state of the republican presidential race. we'll show you exactly what he says. and arming the syrian opposition. how difficult is that? i speak with fran townsend right here in "the situation room." so uh this is my friend frank and his, uh, retirement plan. one golden crown. come on frank how long have we known each other? go to e-trade. they got killer tools man. they'll help you nail a retirement plan that's fierce. two golden crowns. you realize the odds of winning are the same as being mauled by a polar bear and a regular bear in the same day? frank! oh wow, you didn't win? i wanna show you something... it's my shocked face. 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[ female announcer ] yoplait original. 25 flavors for you to love. it is so good. new newtons fruit thins. real blueberries and blueberry brown sugar... crispy whole grain. newtons fruit thins, one unique cookie. newtons fruit thins, are you still sleeping? just wanted to check and make sure that we were on schedule. the first technology of its kind... mom and dad, i have great news. is now providing answers families need. siemens. answers. the latest effort to free an american freed in cuba. list sa monitor is following that. lisa, what do you have? >> two u.s. senators met with recall castro in havana but failed to convince him to release the man. he says that gross is not a spy. he's serving 15 years in prison for smuggling illegal communications equipment in cuba. the senator has also spoke to castro about the cuba-u.s. relations. hugo chavez is headed to cuba for more cancer surgery. he may also need additional surgery after the operation. chavez is optimistic and the child sex abuse investigation, university says it has received a subpoena from a u.s. attorney for information about jerry sandusky and his charity. the former football coach is under investigation from the attorney general. sandusky faces more than 50 counts of child sex abuse. he has pleaded not guilty. half a billion dollars in sunken treasurer is now headed back to spain. a federal judge has ordered a deep sea salvage company to turn over the 6,000 coins to the spanish government. it was sunk during an 1804 battle. they recovered the treasurer in 2007 and the coins have been held at an undisclosed location in florida for five years. that is an amazing hall. a billion dollars in sunken treasurer. >> it sure is. it's amazing they keep it. >> that's a good point. >> thanks, lisa. and to foreign policy now. the crisis in syria is getting worse by the hour. now the united states and several other countries are weighing options to arm the opposition. could that really happen? plus, he quit his senate seat in shame. and now a former republican senator opens up about life after a sex scandal. eden prairi. in here, the landscaping business grows with snow. to keep big winter jobs on track, at&t provided a mobile solution that lets everyone from field workers to accounting, initiate, bill, and track work in real time. you can't live under a dome in minnesota, that's why there's guys like me. 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[ engine revs ] the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. see your lexus dealer. 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 this pain. 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 nsaids, 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. metamucil uses super hard working psyllium fiber, which gels to remove unsexy waste and reduce cholesterol. taking psyllium fiber won't make you a model but you should feel a little more super. metamucil. down with cholesterol. i'm gloria borger in for wolf blitzer. here's the story we're working on for the next hour. president obama apologizes for u.s. troops burning korans in afghanistan. but we'll show you why some say that's just not enough. plus, my one on one with rick santorum. mitt romney keeps calling him a washington insider. can he refute that after serving 16 years in congress? and a wild scene at a shopping mall. riot police had to be called out. you won't believe what the fuss is all about. stand by. you're in "the situation room." just in to "the situation room," moments ago president obama commented about the crisis in syria. during a meeting in the oval office with the danish prime minister. let's listen in. >> we had a chance to talk about a wide range of international issues, including the situation in syria, and i have to say that all of us who have been seen the terrible pictures, it's absolutely imperative for the international community to rally and send a clear message to president assad it is time for a transition, for bad regime to move on, and it is time to stop the killing of syrian citizens by their own government. and i'm encouraged by the international unity that we are developing, the meeting that took place in tunisia that secretary clinton had attended, and we are going to continue to keep the pressure up and look for every tool available to prevent the slaughter of innocence in syria. and this is where the prime minister and i deeply agree. it's important that we not be b by standers during these extraordinary events. including, the situation in iran and i thanked the prime minister and the danish government for their leadership role in applying the toughest sanctions we've ever seen coming out of the eu. difficult sanctions to apply but we both agreed that we're making progress and they are working to send a message to iran that it needs to take a different path if it wants to rejoin the national community and that there's an expectation on the part of the world that they abide by their international obligations when it comes to the their nuclear program. so the final thing we talked about was the fact that we had two daughters that are roughly the same age as we traded notes. the prime minister's daughters are slightly older that malia and sasha. he continues to assure me that they behave themselves well into their teenage years. so i'm encouraged by that report and i thank you very much. i hope that you have a wonderful stay while you're here and we look forward to working with you again. >> and with that news from the president, let's go straight to cnn's michael holmes who is monitoring the situation in homs from his station in beirut. what's the situation out of homs right now? >> reporter: well, the big news in the last few hours has been the situation involving those wounded journalists, the western journalists in the battered neighborhood of delicate negotiations the syrian president moved into that neighborhood on friday and not just the wounded journalists but in the word of a spokesman, all persons in need of help without exception. now, they say seven civilians were taken out first to a hospital in homs but away from the main fighting. activists say that that was their one and only rescue mission so far. the journalists are still there inside. now, they said that it's -- it's getting to midnight here in the region and they say that it's going to be their only trip for the night. they hope to start up more trips tomorrow and bring out civilians. the activists say they want the civilians taken out first before the journalists and they are claiming that the journalists agree with that. there's no way to independently confirm that. two badly injured journalists and of course the bodies of the two killed all in that same shelling incident on wednesday. gloria? >> have the aid groups been able to communicate directly with people there? and with people that they would like to evacuate. >>. >> reporter: well, t interestingly, they have been able to communicate but we got words from a spokeswoman that they have not actually communicated directly with those journalists in there, the western journalists. but they have been able to negotiate with the opposition and the syrian forces to get that first lot of wounded civilians out. seven of them who were very badly wounded, apparently. we're told there was no cease fire. they were shelling and gunfire in the general vicinity. obviously a very delicate situation. all of this coming on a situation when another 90 people died around syria. 30 of them in the city of homs. a very bad situation, gloria. >> and what will happen to the bodies of those murdered if they don't get them out soon, including those journalists? >> reporter: yeah, that's been the big issue. the two journalists -- the american journalists marie colvin and french foeting to grafer. if they don't get them out soon, they are going to have to bury them there which of course the families would like the bodies back, their employers, everybody would like those bodies taken out. the activists are almost saying that it's becoming necessary to bury them. everybody is hoping that they get them out in the hours ahead, hopeful lie by tomorrow morning, gloria. >> hopefully. thank you so much, michael holmes. and we want to talk some more about the united states' options. joining s joining me is fran townsend. i guess the question really for us going forward, you heard what the president said earlier. he said it's important that we not be bystanders. but what does he mean by that? >> the president has taken a leading role in sanctions but what you're seeing, gloria s. sanctions aren't enough. >> sure. >> words aren't enough unless it produces action for the people of opposition what does that mean? you need to arm the opposition so they can defend themselves. you need diplomacy because you're going to need to get humanitarian aid in and the safe passage of humanitarian aid and women and children and syrians who wish to get out of the country need safe passage. you need all of those things and it's further complicated by the fact that we've seen a warning go out by the u.s. government about syria's chemical weapons stockpiles. this is a huge, huge concern because of course if they feel threatened, the assad regime, what will they do? >> sure. and is there a way to arm the opposition indirectly? and, b, do we know that the people that we're arming are not bad guys also? >> right. >> this is not an he's seely answered question. i think that's why you've got to rely on your arab allies. they have very close historical relations with syria and the tribes. let's not forget that you have a sunni issue going on there between the shia and the sunnis. the longer we wait the more likely you will see a radicalized situation and they will let the slaughter continue. >> is there anything that we can do right now? you need absolutely food, medical supplies on the grounds, you have to work with your arab allies. >> thank you very much, fran townsend. >> sure. >> and to change the subject, it's about what every driver is talking about here in this country. gas prices are skyrocketing. political leaders are trying to come up with solutions. but will they work? we'll have a reality check in the next hour. and coming up next, the key issues that could decide michigan for rick santorum or mitt romney. rake assist, and an enhanced accident-response system standard in every chrysler 200. no one would know if we didn't. but we would have. and for us, the things you do when no one is looking are the things that define you. ♪ a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪ sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi place around the corner. well, in that case, i better get back to these invoices... which i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes. you know what? 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[ male announcer ] marriott hotels & resorts knows it's better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business. joining me for today's strategy session is cnn contributor maria car don't na and republican consultant kurt anderson. thanks to both of you for being here. let me start with you, kurt. you've done an awful lot of political work in the state of michigan for republicans. okay. who is going to win that primary? not to put you on the spot. >> well, you've got a really fascinating thing here with two different extremes in the state. you have for mitt romney, the family name, father being from there and former auto executive and the fact that he won the state last time. this isn't one of those phony family connections. the name does matter in michigan. but on the other side you have a primary electorate that was conservative before conservative was cool. pat robinson almost won in michigan and then hu a situation where he would tell the republican primary voters vote for this guy in the primary, half the time they would say no and they are just a disobedient campaign for his slot. i was there in 1988 when he told the voters, you're going to support scott romney for attorney general and they said no thanks. >> so con tank customer rouse. >> they are disobedient. >> do they care about the bailout in the republican primary? >> it's not as big of a deal as everybody thinks. it's a different race than that. >> bailouts matter in general elections? >> i think it's a wash. both santorum and romney were against the bailout. but if romney becomes the nominee, it hurts more because he is from the state. and right now barack obama's beating him by more than 20 points. a very important state. >> i'm fine with the obama running on bailouts. i think that's good. >> and by the way, in michigan they call it the rescue for a reason. >> and let's move to our favorite story line which is a contested conviction. you worked for rick perry. no longer in the race. but you've -- >> i've heard that. >> you did. but you've been involved and you're still involved in republican politics. what's your feeling about that? give us a reality check on the convention scenario. >> it's a little bit like looking for sasquatch. everybody likes to talk about it and you can't find anybody alive that has seen one of these things here's what i don't think can happen. that a new candidate will come up. because people don't really think that through. what that means is that the new candidate is going to be acceptable to a lot of people and conservatives say, no, the new candidate, that's an establishment guy. i'm cynical about it. >> would that be good for you, a democrat? >> well, i think the one thing we've learned not to do in this election is to try to predict what's going to happen. conventional wisdom is completely out the window. >> right. >> and given that romney really has not been able to seal the deal with all of these conservative voters, i think maybe not a huge possibility but it's a probability. he's still that jagged little pill that is sitting there on the night table. the conservatives are not wanting to take -- >> why don't they just embrace mitt romney at a certain point and say, okay? >> there's a big strain in the republican party that you saw in 2010 where there's a sense that they are not going to take orders from washington. we're not going to do what we're told. a lot of it is that. romney may well be the nominee. the actual question is, they don't want to be told what to do. >> we just pre-taped an interview with rick santorum which you will hear later and it's pretty fiery. i want to play for you something that jeb bush, he who would not run, said last night in dallas about this negative campaign that is going on and then i'll have maria talk about it. take a listen. >> i think, though, it's important for the candidates to recognize, though, that they have to appeal to primary voters and not turn off independent voters that will be part of a winning coalition. >> so what do you think about that? >> they absolutely should listen to jeb bush. because they are absolutely right. what republicans think that they can do is talk to each other and think that independent voters, latinos and voters are not listening. the arizona vote underscored the offensive language and republicans will love to say, immigration is not the number one issue for latino voters and it's a filter issue. they don't like what you're saying on immigration. they are not going to listen to you on anything else. and right now the republicans need at least 40% of the latino vote to get to the white house. they are nowhere near even 25%. >> well, two things. one is, it's nice for governor bush to provide that information to the candidates. if you don't get a chance to win the primary you won't that's number one. you haven't seen negative yet. negative is when one of these guys win and they go up against obama. the record is going to say that you haven't seen the opponent. >> you have ron paul, rick santorum -- >> when we stand here in september, that's going to be negative. obama can't run on his record. >> if it gets nasty, it's because of the millions of dollars the that republican super pacs are going to -- >> we can all agree that it's going to get nasty. thanks to both of you. and have you heard about this? hundreds of people rush into a shopping mall and riot police are called out and it's happening across the koumpblt tree. country. [ male announcer ] this is lawn ranger -- eden prairie, minnesota. in here, the landscaping business grows with snow. to keep big winter jobs on track, at&t provided a mobile solution that lets everyone from field workers to accounting, initiate, bill, and track work in real time. you can't live under a dome in minnesota, that's why there's guys like me. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ and mitt romney's out with his economic plan today as president he would slash taxes and the size of government. no surprises there. cnn's erin burnett, host of cnn's "outfront," has been crunching the numbers for us. how will he change the plan? >> that is the big question. as you imagined, we were hoping that we would get more detail from mitt romney today about his tax plan but this is in line with what we heard a couple of days ago which is, in addition to extending the bush tax cuts, he wants to accelerate an additional tax break. how much would it cost? that's the big question. martin sullivan ran these numbers for us and everyone is running around to get them. he said just over ten years, to extend the tax cuts, cost about $4 trillion. if you have the romney tax plan, it would be about $8.2 trillion. so you're talking about a lot of money. mitt romney is saying that he would make up with that with economic growth and that, of course, some people would say would cause a lot of luck. that is really, really incredible growth. for example, we grew at 1.7% last year. the tax analyst that we spoke to is saying that mitt romney will have to have economic growth in those years of 5.4% to make up for the revenue loss. even back in the 1990s when we had the internet boom, we did not see growth rates like that on an annual basis. so there's some real question marks out there. >> but on the spending side, he and other republicans are talking about, albeit with baby steps, touching the so-called medicare, social security, raising the retirement age. do you think that in a general election campaign that's going to really become a hot issue? >> it's going to be a tough issue because that's where he wants to get his spending cuts. when you look at his details today, he said entitlement reform. further increases in the age and cuts in benefits, changing the indexing of those benefits. but there's no question that entitlement changes is where he plans to get quite a bit of his costs because there's other tax breaks in his plan as well. he was going to get rid of the estate tax and things like that. all of those come with a price tag. >> to be decided during a presidential election. >> that's right. >> thanks so much, erin. and this senator quit his seat in shame. now a former republican opens up about life after a sex scandal. and in our next hour, rick santorum tells us about his theory that ron paul and mitt romney are somehow in cahoots. id by balsa wood airplanes since i was a kid. 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>> say ahh. >> stinky breath. >> yep, got the jin vi vit tis. >> reporter: if this hardworking veterinarian looks familiar, he should. >> i'm dr. ensign. >> reporter: he abruptly resigned ten months ago amid a high sex scandal. >> this has been really, really good, especially to come into a profession that makes you humbled. now instead of being hounded by reporters like, yours truly -- >> are you considering resigning. >> reporter: he's caring for hounds of all kind. >> that has to hurt dexter. >> reporter: ensign was the only veterinarian in congress. >> you can tell he had a crushed pelvis. >> reporter: until his resignation, he hadn't practiced in more than a decade. >> literally, i'm studying until 10:00, 11:00 every night. >> reporter: taking us on an exclusive tour, he says he now realizes this is where his heart is. >> i love being in the senate. that was a wonderful experience but it's -- i'm putting as much passion into this as i did that and so i'm really enjoying it. the other nice thing is being home every night. seeing my wife and kids every day. >> reporter: ensign is still with his wife and they are still doing great, healing after an affair led to his political downfall. he was accused of violating the law by trying to help his mistress' husband. >> did you leave in order to avoid testifying before the committee? >> my family had been through enough. >> reporter: he's intraspeculative, warning those in politics not to get the best of him, like it did him. >> do everything you possibly can to keep yourself grounded and a big part of that is, keep people surrounded -- keep people around you who will slap you upside the head and tell you when you're doing wrong. >> reporter: did you not have that? >> i thought i did but after a while you develop invisible barriers to where they are actually intimidated to do that. even though i would say it all the time. >> reporter: his political star was once so bright, he had pondered a presidential run. >> now watching the presidential race, do you have any pangs saying, i could have been there? >> the chances for me would have been so slim. but you can't go back. you can't look back. i'm looking forward to veterinarian met sin. i'm having a ball. >> reporter: dana bash, cnn, las vegas, nevada. >> what an interesting look after someone has lost power. and a former congressman is now nevada's junior senator. he's serving out the rest of ensign's term which ends this year and plans to run for the senate on his own. and you're in "the situation room." happening now, there's no end to the anger at nato forces over the burning of muslim holy books despite an apology by president obama. now u.s. troops in afghanistan are being warned not to seek vengeance. plus, rick santorum lights into mitt romney with new gusto. just days before two critical primaries. i'll ask santorum to respond to allegations that he's a washington insider, willing to take one for the inside team. and we just got ahold of e-mails written by sarah palin. she writes about her marriage and the word divorce comes up. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. breaking news in political headlines are straight ahead. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm gloria borger and you're in "the situation room." on this muslim day of prayer, another explosion of rage against u.s. and western forces in afghanistan. it's the fourth straight day of protests over the burning of korans at a military base. at least eight people were killed and 27 wounded today alone. if president obama thought his apology yesterday would diffuse the situation, it appears so far that he was wrong. joining us now from kabul is nick paton walsh. nick, i have to be asking you, we have been seeing these pictures all day from afghanistan and it seems to us here that these protests have gotten a lot worse. is that true? >> reporter: i think it's fair to say that we've seen similar violence in the last four days in a row. i think the death poll today could be the worst they've had so far. it's always hard to work through the different patchy reports from across the country. protests from around the world focusing on the u.s. where demonstrators clashed with police. one dead in the north and one dead in the east in the eastern process. we're now in day four. the police are restrained from the afghan government and american apologies are not taking the furry out of the protests. >> does the president's apology have anything impact at all or a reverse impact? >> that's interesting. i think nobody is really left on the united states side to apologize. but barack obama's letter was hand delivered to the u.s. ambassador and the strategy has been very western in many ways. they have been transparent as they could, limitation pr, if you'd like, apologizing upfront, promising it won't happen again. i think it will go down very well in much of the world and be understandable to many of the taxpayers now still funding the american presence here. i think it's some afghans it may not have done the job intended. some may have just taken from that nato openly admitting to burning the koran. maybe that's them thumbing their nose perhaps in some people's view and i think certainly we've seen this strategy give plenty of ammunition for those who want to continue hitting the u.s. and nato for this unintentional mistake, they say. they are admitting they are doing it. they are apologizing. but at the enof the day that's not slowing the process down at all, gloria. >> in the end, can you explain to our viewers why this act inspires such outrage and even a killing rampage over there? >> well, there's a couple of things. first, this is probably the more offensive things. mistreat their holy text. should they have to be burned, then the ashes put somewhere safe or at some times be buried in their own mausoleum of sort. there are ways that it should be tossed and there is information about how the military official explains that these religious texts were being referred to as extremist messages. they were all rounded up and put in a box or bag meant to be disposed of appropriately but in the end it didn't happen. it was sent to the incinerator. that's what sparked this fury, gloria. >> nick paton walsh, thank you for being with us. >> u.s. forces are being warned this is not the time for vengeance but many americans in uniform are and president obama's apology for the incident that started it all. let's go to our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence. chris? >> gloria, some active duty troops not exactly pleased about these constant apologies, but it's something that can't necessarily come out and say publicly. real quickly, i want to read you an apology from a u.s. military commander real quick. i come before you in a humble manner. i come before to you look in your eyes and say, please forgive our soldiers. stick around because just in a second i'll tell you why that quote puts this entire thing into context and why it may be very important to understanding what is happening with the military right now. >> from the president to the top general in afghanistan -- >> we admit our mistake. we ask for forgiveness. >> reporter: pentagon officials visiting a virginia mosque. >> we as a military did not meet our obligations to the muslim community. >> reporter: the apologies keep coming for the burning of the korans. >> we offer you our condolences. >> on friday, general john allen visited the base where two u.s. troops were killed. a man wearing a uniform shot and killed the two soed soldiers. >> now is not the time for vengeance. now is the time to remember your mission, your discipline, remember who you are. come through this together as a unit. >> reporter: but several soldiers and marines have told us privately they are angry. not so much that the u.s. apologizes for troops' mistakes but that when american flags are burned in kabul, it's not the same sense of accountability on the other side. >> is it frustrating that we lose american lives and that, you know, our opponents don't behave like they are supposed to? absolutely. it's incredibly frustrating. >> in this case the white house says the ongoing violence and risks to american troops factored into president obama's decision. >> to make it clear that an apology was appropriate. >> and that apology i read just a minute ago about being humble and seeking forgiveness, it wasn't made today. it was made four years ago by the commander of the fourth infantry division to iraqi leaders and it was in response to a u.s. soldier using the koran for target practice. it was also followed by an apology by president george w. bush and that's one of the point that the obama administration has been making that this wasn't the first time that a president has expressed regret over something done on the battlefield. gloria? >> chris lawrence at the pentagon, thank you very much. now urgent staff and president obama a short while ago saying he wants every tool possible to stop the slaughter. world leaders are meeting in tunisia to put pressure on embattled president bashar al assad and officials are talking about new ways. here's barbara starr. >> reporter: syria regime forces show no way of letting up their assault. president clinton urged the forces to disobey orders. >> their refusal to continue this slaughter will make them heroes. people of conscience everywhere, they can help the guns fall silent. >> the obama administration says military officers and intelligence operatives believe to be directing the violence. many could remain in power even if president bashar al assad goes, according to a senior official. that would help the disorganized and fractured syrian rebels in the face of a deeply entrenched regime. >> it's very important that in the coming days the full range of opposition groups and individuals inside syria, including representatives of all ethnic and religious minorities come together and make their voices heard. >> reporter: clinton announced the u.s. will provide $10 million in support, makeshift medical facilities, water, and food. cnn's affairs reporter is at an international conference on syria. >> others are saying, listen, there is more than enough aid being stockpiled on syria's bordering countries that could be funneled in tomorrow if the president would allow that in. >> but should they allow arms? >> i think it's a terrible idea. i think right now since you have such a fragmented opposition, without any clear leadership, that basically you don't know who exactly you would be arming and you would be throwing a lot of the weapons into a really unstable situation. >> reporter: for now the u.s. is still secretly collecting intelligence on assad's regime. satellites are moving overhead. the u.s. is intercepting communications between syrian commanders. one source also said neighbors countries are quietly sending in operatives, spies operating directly on the ground. and look, growloria, experts wi tell you they are never going to be able to match the fire power of the regime and one of the key reasons that the u.s. >> very difficult decision to make about arming the rebels. and later this hour, one film maker gets an upclose look at the chaos and destruction inside homs, syria. we'll show some of his extraordinary documentary. and we just got hold of e-mails written by sarah palin when she was alaska governor. she writes about her marriage and the word divorce comes up. plus, rioting over sneakers? a fad creates security fears. and some customers of a leading gold dealer are now entitled to refund. they claim they are victims of a constant bait and switch. we're reading the fine print of a new settlement deal. stay with us. 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[ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. even though sarah palin decided not to run for president, there's still a lot of interest in her politics and her personal life, including her marriage. let's bring in our senior congressional correspondent dana bash. there's a newly released e-mail in which palin appears to talk about some marital problems? >> appears to be. this was what she wrote in september 2007, nearly a year before she was picked as john mccain mc's running mate. the subject line is, marital problems. look at this. palin writes, speaking of if we are -- when we get a divorce, does that conflict of interest accusations about bp? we reached out to get information about what this meant. it's important to say when we get a divorce, but we're not sure what the sarcasm means or an inside joke or serious. we don't know yet. but what we do know is that there had been rumors that the palins had marriage problems and that they were headed for divorce and this was sent 4 1/2 years ago and they are still married. >> they still are. are we learning anything else in these e-mails? >> yes, very interesting things. there is fresh evidence that palin was fed up and frustrated with the governor's office long before -- or at least well before she resigned in july 2009 big time and there is pretty colorful language. check this out. an e-mail she wrote to an aide filed against her. unflipping believable. i'm sending this because the hchl ell these people put the family through. i think that speaks for itself but she expresses a lot of e-mails about mounting legal bills to defend against the ethics complaints. she also said at one point, i can't afford this job. >> so can you explain why we're just now getting these e-mails that go back years? >> these e-mails are part of an information request that cnn and other organizations put in at the time of a vice presidential running mate back in 2008. we were waiting for documents. we got some last year. these are another batch of documents. we're actually getting all of them, tens and thousands by snail mail. >> that still happens? >> that still happens. but the anchorage daily news, they are there. they were able to physically get them. they put them in line and this is some of what we saw. >> probably not anything that sarah palin wants to see in print. >> not so much. >> thank you, dana. lisa sylvester is monitoring top stories in "the situation room" right now. what have you got? >> the dow and s&p ended near the highest levels since 2008. the dow briefly climbed and it was january 2008 when it last topped 13,000. the dow has been trading at its highest level in four years since the beginning of the month. a california judge is denying bail for michael jackson's former physician. murray is currently serving a four-year involuntary ree manslaughter but his lawyers requested that he be released while they work on his appeal. and remember this famous movie scene? >> help. they took my baby. >> yeah, remember that? that's meryl streep in the 1988 "a cry in the dark." it's based on a real story and believe it or not, the 31-year-old mystery of what happened to that baby is still unknown. the parents want to prove once and for all that a dingo, a wild dog native to australia, took the child. it is the fourth attempt at solving this case. and watch this, unbelievable video of an 18-whiler overturning on a major dallas highway apparently crashing another car in the process. you can see it there. according to our affiliate, the crash temporarily shut down the toll roethlisbergad. the driver of the car survived the wreck with only nonlife threatening injuries. amazing, gloria. >> boy, that's some luck. >> very lucky when you see that video playing again. >> in syria like we've never seen it before. just ahead, an extraordinary new glimpse inside the chaos through the eyes of a renowned photographer. plus, the newest gop front-runner, rick santorum, is on fire. charging his chief rival mit rom snee a liar. and more. my exclusive interview with the pennsylvania senator, up next. ♪ [ male announcer ] offering four distinct driving modes and lexus' dynamic handling, the next generation of lexus will not be contained. the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. ♪ with key republican contests and arizona and michigan only days away, mitt romney and rick santorum are holding nothing back. romney is a washington insider while santorum is calling romney a dreaded "l" word insisting that his policies mirror those of a liberal. senator santorum, thank you very much for being with us this afternoon. i'd like to start by playing something for you that governor romney said about you after our cnn debate in phoenix. take a listen. >> what happened was, we saw in this case senator santorum explain most of the night why he did or voted for things he disagreed with and he talked about this as being taking one for the team. i wonder which team he was taking it for. all right. my team is the american people. not the insiders in washington. >> so how do you respond to governor romney's criticism that you're taking it it for a bunch of washington insiders and that you play by insider rules because you're one of them? >> oh, my goodness. what team is governor romney on when he voted and led the fight along with ted kennedy for government-run health care in massachusetts? what team was he on when he appointed that the most liberal judges, activist liberal judges to the court in massachusetts? you know, what team when he had that health care bill that provided $50 abortions when he stood up and made the cat lirk church violate their conscience in that health care bill? what team was he on when he attended planned parenthood fund-raisers and filled out questionnaires that he was going to be a leader in the cause of -- look, governor romney has been on the wrong team and so maybe he doesn't understand when i was supporting president bush and his initiative, that he had taken to the american public. that's the team i was on, trying to get accountability in education. the bottom line is, governor romney supports that bill. that's the amazing thing. he's a criticizing me for something that he supports. this is the hypocrisy of governor romney. he's been on the wrong team. he was on barack obama's team when it came to the wall street bailout. he crowed about being with the environmentalist and believed in glo global warming. >> how would you describe the team that governor romney's on? what team would you call that? >> well, i would say that's the laugh. that's the problem with governor romney and the election. >> he's a member of the lefrt? >> look at his tax plan. he's for government-run health care, cabinet trade and co 2 emissions. he's not put forward a tax plan that is driven. he has 295 lobbyists that have contributes to his campaign. >> governor romney would say -- but governor romney would say you left your job in the senate and became a lobbyist yourself, right? >> i was not a lobbyist. i absolutely was not a lobbyist. i never did lobbying or anything close to lobbying. i was working in the private sector, was a number two guy at a start-up company for three years. i was out writing. i was out lecturing on public policy. i was not a lobbyist and governor romney knows that. this is the kind of stuff that he does. he attacks personally. i'm talking about governor romney's positions on the issues. the positions for governor romney, for example his tax bill, which adopts the rhetoric of the occupy wall street folks. he says we're going to cut taxes and then we're going to increase tacks on the 1% to make sure it's revenue neutral. we don't need someone that is going to adopt their play book as our nominee. >> senator, let me show you something. the new gallup daily tracking poll is out. you are in a contest for the presidency. if you look at these numbers, today you are at 33%. on tuesday you were at 36%. you've dropped a few points. governor romney has gone up one point. you're still ahead but are you coming out today and really attacking governor romney because you're worried that his attacks on you are actually starting to stick? >> well, it's funny. governor romney has gone full bore at attacking rick santorum and he's doing so falsely and he's misrepresenting his record. even at the debate, gloria. he went out and basically didn't tell his truth on forcing the catholic church to go against their values and catholic hospitals in distributing the morning after pill. this is something that is direct misrepresentation and i'm not going to stand for him lying about his own record and lying about and misrepresenting mine. >> you zoned to me a little bit like newt gingrich when newt gingrich was attacked by mitt romney in iowa and other states are you sort of thinking that he's trying to do to you what he did to gingrich? >> it's a pattern. anybody that's ever been up against mitt romney, he has a super pac out spending by a huge amount of money trying to misrepresent their record as well as he has done and misrepresent his. i'm going to go out and tell the truth about my record, about governor romney's record, and tell the truth about what we're going to do to change this country and i'm the best candidate to contrast against barack obama because i've got a solid principle record on the important issues of the day, cutting spending, balancing the budget, making it inclusive for manufacturers and people working in the energy field so blue collar people can get jobs in this country. we're going to talk about the importance of making sure the american family is stable and prosperous. that's what our agenda is. if governor romney wants to talk about dead issues of the past where he was in fact in agreement with me and he's criticizing me on those issues. >> well, that's on support for no child left behind. but let me ask you something also, those that some of us who have covered this race have been covering. we noticed it at our last debate and the campaign trail which is -- and you have said it, actually, in the spin room the other night after the debate that you noticed that there seems to be some kind of an alliance between ron paul and mitt romney. presumably against you. do you think there's a deal of some sort? >> oh, i have no idea. i just found it odd that ron paul was supposedly holding himself out as the libertarian in the race. certainly not the conservative and his ratings are pathetic. holds himself out as pathetic and somebody for little government that to my knowledge has never attacked mitt romney on what he's supported over the years and seems to delight in attacking me and here we are in michigan where we've got a race going on and i don't think ron paul is actively campaigning in the state of michigan. >> why? >> but yet he's running ads in the state of michigan attacking me. >> so what do you think is going on between you -- >> i have no idea. i just look at the situation and we're out there as the real conservative. i'm not the libertarian. i'm not the moderate republican. i'm the true reagan conservative in this case and folks on either side of the wings in this party are coming out to attack the real conservative. you know what? we are up to it. we have a record that stands the test of time. we have a solid record of standing up for the conservative principles that they want to see taken to obamacare in massachusetts and disqualified on taking on the issue of government takeovers of wall street and to suggest that he's against dodd frank but dodd frank is simply the follow on legislation as to what the congress did in the wall street bailouts. again, not credible. >> senator santorum, thanks so much for being with us and we'll see you out on the trails. thank. >> thank you. and he's a dare devil known as the bird man and he flew all right, smack into a mountain side. plus, you'll never guess what all of this fuss is about. sneakers. potentially worth more than $1,000. that's just ahead. ok, guys-- what's next ? chocolate lemonade ? susie's lemonade... the movie. or... we make it pink ! with these 4g lte tablets, you can do business at lightning-fast speeds. we'll take all the strawberries, dave. you got it, kid. we have a winner. we're definitely gonna need another one. small businesses that want to grow use 4g lte technology from verizon. i wonder how she does it. that's why she's the boss. because the small business with the best technology rules. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 1-800-974-6006. here are the top stories in "the situation room," including a major problem for a car company. >> that's right, gloria. luxury auto giant porsche is recalling more than 100,000 cayennes. they will ask owners to fix the problem at no charge. it's not aware of any injuries or accidents tied to this problem. well, sweden is welcoming its second in line to the thrown, crowned princess victoria, the heir to the throne and her husband have announced a baby girl. she weighed in at 7 pounds and 3 ounces. check out this incredible video of a base jump that almost turns fatal. that is bird man jumping from a 3500 mountaintop in south africa. he flies to close to a ledge and slams into it at 100 miles an hour. he landed in brush 200 feet down before being air lifted to a hospital and he spoke to abc about the incident. >> i have to be honest, when i impacted, i really thought i was dead. i didn't think i could survive a hit like that. >> that is amazing. fortunately, he's only had some broken toes, a broken ankle and a fractured leg and it could have been a lot worse. i just can't believe those pictures, gloria, as i see it over and over again. >> i hate it when that happens, don't you? >> lucky, lucky guy is the only thing that i can say. >> they can also say, don't try this at home, right? >> that is absolutely correct, gloria. >> thanks a lot, lisa. some customers of a leading goelgold dealer. we're reading the fine print of a new settlement deal? but, next, remarkable footage that takes you inside the deadly battle in syria. in a way that you just haven't seen before. 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[ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ chaos erupting in cities all up and down the east coast. and it's all over a new kind of sneaker. let's bring in cnn's martin savidge with the details. >> reporter: this is the shoe that is the creating foot frenzy. it is known as the nike foamposite one. retails for $220 if you can find them. and it's the finding them that is causing all the problems. in orlando, home to this weekend's nba all-star game, more than 100 sheriff's deputies wearing helmets and holding riot shields to guard. outside the florida mall as a crowd waited for the shoe to go on sale there. they eventually had to move in after authorities say shoe fans became disorderly. outside a mall in suburban washington, d.c., the crowd began growing yesterday for the shoe to go on sale today. when the number of people got to 1,000, the shoe store canceled the release out of safety concerns. >> huge disappointment. i mean, i was out here at least seven hours waiting on the shoes. and no shoes. so it's pretty sad. >> reporter: elsewhere in other cities there were reports of long lines but no real problems. nike issued a statement calling for calm, saying "we encourage anyone wishing to purchase our product to do so in a respectful and safe manner." in miami they resorted to name calling. >> two more times. michael bradshaw! as in a lottery system to keep things orderly. this guy managed to get his hands on a pair, but they aren't for his feet. >> if you go right now in line going to be worth like 1,000, $2,000. >> reporter: we decided to look on line to see what the shoe was going for on e-bay. $1700. $1200. i don't know if this person is a capitalist or an optimist. if you want to buy the shoe right now in $10,000. that's canadian, by the way. even more in the u.s. as one customer put it, the foamposite one is the most anticipated shoe of the year. at least until the next must-have sneaker comes along. and gloria there was even a man in new york city who was willing to trade or sell his 1996 chevy cavalier for a pair of those shoes. i don't know who would get the better part of that deal. >> you know, you'd think these sneakers would make you thinner, right? but no. let me ask you more seriously, though, is there any way for them to market the sneaker without triggering this kind of a frenzy? >> reporter: well, when i talked to retailers, retail experts they say sure, absolutely. for one thing why don't you pre-sell the shoes? do that either in the store or online. that way a person knows for certain they will get a shoe when they show the up with the receipt in their hands. instead of having all this pandemonium with people trying or wondering if they can get a shoe in the first place. it would stop a lot of that, but it would also stop a lot of the public hisity which some people say nike wants. >> you think? thanks a lot, martin savidge. and some customers of a leading gold dealer are now entitled to refunds. they claim they were victims of a costly bait and switch. stay with us. oh! 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[ male announcer ] for the road ahead, the all-new subaru impreza. ♪ experience love that lasts. for you today ? we gave people right off the street a script and had them read it. no, sorry, i can't help you with that. i'm not authorized to access that transaction. that's not in our policy. i will transfer you now. my supervisor is currently not available. would you like to hold ? that department is currently closed. have i helped you with everything you needed ? if your bank doesn't give you knowledgeable customer service 24/7, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. here's a look at this hour's hot shots. in iran a man sweeps up electoral pamphlets which have been distributed for upcoming parliamentary elections. in papua, new guinea children play cricket in the streets. in india a man climbs a pole to get a better view at a political rally. in hungary, a baby giraffe already 5 feet 7 inches tall stands alongside its mother. hot shots, pictures coming in from around the world. you've probably seen the commercials for gold line, one of the nation's largest gold dealers. no they've agreed to pay some customers millions as part of a settlement. cnn's mary snow has more. >> reporter: it's ads like these for gold line featuring conservative talk show host glenn beck that captured people's attention. >> before i started turning you onto gold line i wanted to look them in the eye. this is a top-notch organization that's been in business since 1960. >> reporter: and it's why 63-year-old catherine gavazzo says she decided to invest in gold line. >> there's five of them. >> reporter: catherine says she initially purchased five gold coins and then invested her $130,000 of retirement savings with gold line. the second time unlike the coins she never had physical possession of the gold. but she got statements that showed her investments were declining the first down to 93,000, then $74,000. >> they wouldn't give me a straight answer why gold was going up and mine was going down. >> reporter: gold line, based in santa monica, came under scrutiny. the head of the city's consumer protection unit says he received catherine's complaint and others accusing gold line of misleading customers on the size of the markup of gold investments and pressuring them under false pretenses. >> people were being told that gold boullion could be confiscated by the government and the only way to be safe was to buy these coins which were tremendously marked up above their true value. >> reporter: but the ceo of gold line international says the complaints make up a small fraction of total customers and denies his company misled consumers. >> absolutely not. when you look at our business, we have been the leader of disclosures in the industry. >> reporter: gold line has agreed to refund customers of up to $4.5 million and change sales practices under a settlement that drops criminal charges. why settle? >> we knew that we hadn't done anything wrong. once the charges were dismissed and when you look at the detames of how we're going to take care of clients it just made sense for us to settle this thing quickly for our clients, employees and for the company. >> reporter: under a court injunction, gold line must change the way it talks about a 1933 order. in it, president franklin delano roosevelt ordered people holding gold to sell it back to the company. some coins were exempt. now for one thing, gold line can no longer use the word "confiscation." the company must also be more transparent about the price and markup of their products. goldline believes it's been targeted because of politics, citing its ties to glenn beck. beck has not beenac