and that's when i took those images. >> mr. diaz hopes that these pictures encourage people to take cpr classes. thank you for watching. have a grade weekend. "the lead with jake tapper" starts right now. springlike temperatures today but the frigid air, we're told, is returning soon. i've seen more consistency in the figure skating judging in sochi. i'm jake tapper. this is "the lead." president obama says that he just picked up the phone to call russian president vladimir putin to discuss a peace deal that neither had a direct hand in negotiating. will it hold? the national lead. no shirt, no shoes, no straight relationship, no service. a bill in arizona would guard business owners who refuse to serve gays and others. is it religious protection or a license to discriminate? and the sports lead.

south korea's yuna kim unscathed flawless l flawlessly but loss the gold star to a russian skater, adelina sotnikova. good afternoon, everyone. i'm jake tapper. welcome to "the lead." we'll begin with breaking news in the world lead. the ukrainian president, the ukrainian opposition leaders and european union came to the table and made an agreement to hopefully end the bloodshed that we've seen this week in the ukraine but there are two parties i did not mention. the u.s. and russia. and yet the deal was the topic of discussion when president obama called his counterpart, russian president, vladimir putin just a few minutes ago. yes, the u.s. denounced the violence and, yes, russia's influence is deeply woven into the conflict in the ukraine but neither country played a public

role in this mediation. the white house says everyone benefits from an end to the clashes in the ukraine between the u.s. and an try government protesters which has left scores of people dead. >> it is in russia's interests for the violence to end in the ukraine as it is in the interest of the united states and our european friends and, most importantly, the ukrainian people. >> as you recall, the protests in the ukraine began and demonstrators want to see their future aligned with the u.s., not with similar vladimir putin. >> our goal is not to see some cold war where we're awarding competition with russia. our goal is to make sure that

the people of the ukraine are able to make decisions for themselves about their future. >> not a chess board. maybe more like a board from the game of risk? under the peace deal in the ukraine, the constitution has been changed to curtail the president's powers and he could be tossed out in elections that will be moved up from next year to this year. the last time president obama and vladimir putin spoke was january 21st where the topic was syria, security for the olympics and, quote, how best to advance shared u.s./russian interests. i have a feeling that the conversation was a little different this time around. joining me is tony. good to see you, as always. what is the president's message to putin? what is he trying to accomplish with this call? >> first of all, the ukraine was on the brink of a political implosion and now there's a way forward and that is a

significant progress. the president spoke a short while ago to the president and that's the critical thing now, making sure what is agreed gets implemented. >> how much did the u.s. have to do with this agreement at all? >> oh, a lot. i think this was a very good example of the united states and europe working very closely together in tight coordination to help get this done. you had the president coordinating with chancellor merkel yesterday, the vice president on the phone repeatedly with president yanukovych and yesterday they were trying to negotiate this deal. i don't think this would have happened without the coordinated efforts of the united states and europe. >> when the ukraine was in crisis on wednesday, president obama was in mexico meeting with leaders of canada and mexico. i want to play what he said. >> we'll be monitoring very

carefully the situation, recognizing that along with our european partners and the international community there will be consequences if people go over the line. >> the idea of sanctions, the administration has not been clear to the press or the public what those consequences might be. have you been clearer to yanukovych and the ukrainians and, if so, what are the tools in this tool kit? >> yes, we have been very clear and i think that had an important impact in getting people to move. first of all, we've already issued some visa restrictions on those who were responsible for the violence and repression and under the law we can't reveal the names of the people on that list but they are aware of it and that had an impact. we also told them that other steps could be forthcoming and i think that had a real impact on their thinking. not just folks in the government but some of the strong guards who support the government and

also didn't like the idea of possibly not being able to travel here to europe to do business in both places. so i think the possibility of those consequences was a real motivating factor. >> i have to say, i was a little surprised when president obama used the term people stepping over the line just because the red line with syria has been such a controversy because the united states threatened action if chemical weapons were used against people and then stepped back from that. i know there's this chemical weapons deal. theoretically, are you not at all concerned that when the president talks about lines being crossed, because of what happened in syria and the threat of use of force not being carried out, are you not concerned at all in the white house that that may ring hollow when the president makes a threat? >> i've got to admit, i don't really understand the criticism. when it comes to syria, we made it very clear we were prepared to act to deal with the chemical weapons. and what resulted was an

agreement with russia and with us that syria adhere to to give up the chemical weapons. and had we acted militarily, we would not have been able to remove all of the chemical weapons. the targets largely would not have been the chemical weapons. because we were prepared to use force, syria has now destroyed all of its capacity to produce chemical weapons and the weapons themselves are moving out of the country. so that, to me, is a tremendous success success and it was done without having to fire a shot. >> obviously the relations with russia have not exactly been incredibly strong in recent years because we have the problem with syria, the problem with the ukraine, human rights issues, edward snowden. president obama and vladimir putin are on the same page when it comes to the ukraine now? >> jake, i can tell you this. president putin said he supported the agreement reached in the ukraine. he said he wanted to work

cooperatively with us, with the europeans, the international monetary fund to help with a package going forward. it was a very positive conversation. they also talked about iran and the cooperation that our teams are having together in working with iran to try and get a nuclear agreement. indeed, we just had a session, as you know, this week where the russians played a very positive role. we obviously have our differences over syria but we'll see you tomorrow. there will be a vote in the u.n. security council on humanitarian access on syria. hopefully that will come out in a positive way. look, we obviously have our differences. but what we've demonstrated is when we're able to work together we can get things done that benefit rush sharks the united states, and the international community. >> tony, let's quickly turn to venezuela. we're often seeing bloody violence and nicholas maduro. why isn't the u.s. being as

aggressive with nicolas maduro? >> jake, when it comes to venezuela, we've been very clear in our views but we also don't want to give maduro the execution of making the united states look like the problem. this is a problem that is of his own making and they need to resolve it. putting the united states in the middle of the story just creates an easy distraction and an ability for him to point pictures at something that is not the problem. >> tony blinken, thank you so much for your time. >> thanks for having me. coming up on "the lead," a controversial bill sitting on the arizona governor's desk. does it protect religious freedom or discriminate? some people say both. sure, netflix's "house of cards" is a little over the top

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about everything that comes standard with our base auto policy. and if you switch, you could save up to $423. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? . welcome back to "the lead." a hypothetical for you. let's say a gay couple walks into a business and the owner refuses to serve them. the couple sues and the owner loses, that is violates his religious beliefs. which party in this hypothetical was actually discriminated against? now, it may not be much of a quandary in arizona if jan brewer signs a bill passed by state lawmakers. it would allow individuals and businesses to cite their religious beliefs against lawsuits claiming discrimination. supporters of the bill, like the republicans who passed it in the state legislature, say that

their beliefs are being substantially burdened. a photographer was sued for refusing to i can wedding pictu a same-sex college. opponents say it's discrimination. gays and lesbians could be denied, say, medical treatment as a result of the law. let's bring in one of the republicans who voted in favor of the bill arizona state representative john cavanaugh. there's a lot of discussion about what this bill would allow and not allow. there's obviously some tension in this country between religious liberty and discrimination. this bill would protect business owners from lawsuit against discrimination if those actions were part of the business owner's religious views. so give me an example of where this might be applied. you're saying it wouldn't be applied for somebody refusing to serve a same-sex couple at a restaurant. so where would it apply? >> well, it would only apply

where a person had sincerely held religious beliefs. so, for example, if you were to go after a physician or orthodox against abortion and you were suing them because they wouldn't perform abortion, that's where it would apply. >> for instance, if there was somebody religious observant and believed homosexuality to be a sin, owned a hotel that was opened to the public and are they allowed to not let a same-sex couple get a room at that hotel? >> this law would not shield that particular hotel owner or a waiter in a restaurant because we're not talking here about substantial burdens. let's take the case of a

photographer. one of the reasons why this bill came to light was you had a photographer who was being sued because the photographer would not officiate or take pictures at a gay wedding. being involved in an action, a gay marriage that your religion says it wrong, that's a substantial burden because you're deeply involved in the ceremony. if that same gay couple came in for a passport photo, there is not a substantial burden upon your religion and you could not use this law to do that. >> but it is in the eye of the beholder, i suppose, where the substantial burden is, for example, disapproved because of his religious beliefs, he could refuse to treat a sexually transmitted disease of a gay man? is that -- would that be part of the significant burden? >> no, not under this law. treating a sexual disease with anybody is not a burden on one's religion. i think what you have to

understand is that these laws, this protection, they came about the federal government in the 1990s. arizona passed a certain law. and what the law says is the government can't substantially burden a person's free exercise of religion unless there's a compelling reason and even then only in the least restrictive manner. all we did was put two changes to that law. the first change was, we clarified that the definition of a earn approximate, tperson, no but corporations and associations and the hobby lobby case was the reason for that. the second thing we did was expand what it protects against. the original federal and state law says it only protects you against a government action. we said, hey, this should also cover a private person using a government law and as a concession -- >> representative calf havevana a lot of gay and lesbian couples, it sounds as though you're saying businesses now, if

somebody has a religious objection to what they do, it sounds as though you're saying they now have an ability to discriminate. i don't yet understand exactly where this burden is. the examples i gave you say they don't meet the burden. where is the line? >> they are incorrect. the law about the substantial burden has been in effect federally and at the state level since the 1990s. we simply changed who it protects and included associations and said it also cover covers somebody when they are being sued on a you la. we increase legislation against discrimination. it has to be a sincerely held belief and then we said the burden can't be any burden on the religion, it has to be a substantial one. we made it harder for somebody to hide behind this law. i don't understand why now -- since the 1990s, there's been no concern or demonstrations about

this. we passed a law that does minor clarifications and makes it harder to discriminate and they are taking advantage of it to get publicity. >> the governor has not said, whether she's going to veto it or allow it to become law. do you think she's going to allow it to become law? >> i think she will. the main objection last year was that the terminology was too vague. and it would be too easy for people to gain this law and she required a tightening of the language and that's exactly what we did. we tightened the language. we took in arizona supreme court tests to make sure that it's a true burden. so i think all of her problems have been met. >> state representative cavanaugh, thank you for your time. we appreciate it. >> thank you. in other national news, they are distinguished in the wars of the 20th century but now long after they left, four died on the field.

they will finally receive the highest military decoration in the land, the medal of honor. most of them were minorities who may have been overlooked in the past. 21 of the honorees will receive the medal of model postumustously. congratulations to them all and thank you for your service. coming up on "the lead," michelle obama hits the late night to make a push for obamacare and she's no longer afraid from her daughters to get a laugh. and a life of purpose and meaning was infused into a corporate culture. there was a commitment to creating new jobs out of recycled metals, right here in america. and a bank that helped carolyn rafaelian's business grow from a rhode island storefront into a global sensation.

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welcome back to "the lead." now it's time for our money lead. our money lead is roughly $7 billion. that's how much u.s. taxpayers are making from fannie mae, according to the government. they will put that profit into the u.s. treasury next month. this is more than just money. it's a milestone, they say. taxpayers have now gotten back all $187 billion from the fannie

and freddie bailouts. officials say a drop in mortgage delinquency had a lot to do with that success. little brother freddie mac has already repaid its bailout. rubber necking in a car accident is free out on the road but you can actually pay to gaze at wreckage at bowling green, kentucky. what a shame. apparently people really want to see these damaged cars, dings and all, so the museum is planning to put them on display before they are sent to the body shop. the vets are still in the hole and won't be pulled up for a another couple of weeks. volvo used to get a bad rep for being boxy. now volvo is experimenting with

a new technology that will allow ups deliveries to the trunk of your car by giving delivery guys a special key that will grant them temporary access to get inside. customers will be able to track their deliveries and even see when the truck is popped unlocked. what could go wrong? coming up on "the lead," politicians cutting deals with prostitutes and drugs thrown in. but if you take away the murders from "house of cards," how far off is it from the real washington? plus, a shocking gold medal win from the home town. did the judges play favorites? ♪

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welcome back to "the lead." a wise man once send, if you don't like the way the table is set, turn over the table. that's what francis underwood a

show set in the underbelly of a fictional d.c. where corruption, sex, and power ruled the day. by most accounts, the netflix version of washington, d.c., is far more hideous than the real one. but the other day we here at "the lead" were discussing about how one way the fictional version is preferable to our d.c. reality. how? take a look. i want to warn you, there are some minor spoilers in this piece. here are two stories about reforming social safety net or entitlement spending in washington, d.c.. one from real life and one from netflix's "house of cards." and amazingly, the more cynical version is not the bloody, sleazy inmoral one. if you can get past the show's

criminal cerrors, the plots are kind of similar. start with the proposition that both democratic and republican lawmakers in both real-life and the tv show believe these shows need to be reformed that not enough money is going in and not enough out. let me give you a minor spoiler alert. in the first few episodes of the netflix show, lawmakers actually passed a controversial reform. they raised the retirement age to 68. in the show, democrats have to do it on their own after republicans walk away right before a key vote. and here's the point here, the democrats do it on their own. >> now, this would be a good time for a frank underwood-like aside. please understand, regardless of

the merits, it would be significant and very politically risky thing to do. >> order in the senate. >> you don't see president obama or vice president biden making such a big policy move, despite the claim that they make a political dancing partner. in fact, this week, in real-life washington, the obama administration cpi and consumer price index to the budget proposal. it's a change in the inflation formula. it's a cost of living increase and once on the table now, off the table would not slow the growth in social security spending as much as the house of cards idea. it would slow growth. president obama recently expressed envy at frank underwood's ability to get things done in washington.

the ways of achieving things are downright illegal. not just immoral. it also turns out news flash the real-life politicians aren't as courageous as their tv counterparts. >> now i'm only 3 feet away. >> sorry about the spoiler. so would washington run smoother in frank underwood was calling the shots? joining me now is white house correspondent for the white house journal and deputy chief for "time" magazine. let's avoid the "house of cards" construct but talk about what the president just did in his budget or is about to do. he had a proposal that was a modest reform to the growth of these social safety net programs and now it's gone. why? >> because he wants to play to the political base but the white house's version of that story is he took it out of his budget

which is going to come out in a couple of weeks because they tried working with republicans and that didn't work and they offered them olive branches such as changed cpi. so the way they tell it is that they are moving back to a more traditional order where the president sets a budget and it's his priorities and then congress can do what they want with it. but essentially it's an acknowledgement that, a, nothing is going to get done on the deficit this year and, b, the president has some things that he needs to do to get democrats and they were upset that he put this in the budget last year. >> so the president has said that he thinks the entitlement or safety network programs need to be remember reformed. the math doesn't added a up. why not try to do something if that's what he believes, regardless of whether or not the republicans have come to the table. >> i suspect the answer is that politics is the art of the deal

and you get concessions from the other side when you have a very adversarial side. when you give away a good thing, you -- it's just a missed opportunity. and you -- and actually, you create a perverse incentive for a party that has dug in and not willing to deal with you if you throw up your hands and say, i surrender. the question is, at what point does the policy -- is it so important that you have to violate these basic practices of politics where you don't give something without return? and i think in this case the white house is probably thinking there's another way to do it. it doesn't have to be done right now. the public will survive. >> the way that all of these bipartisan groups say that these entitlements need to be reformed and the deficit would be brought down is a combination of the spending cuts, entitlement reforms and raising taxes. republicans, to be fair, have agreed to go along with any of that. >> on one hand the president is

trying to have it both ways because he's taking this out of his budget which the base loves. on the other hand, the white house is making clear that he'd be willing to do that but only if republicans moved on taxes. >> and by the way, the political environment has changed a little bit. there was a freak-out after the economic crash, after the stimulus where people rightly or wrongly felt that people in washington were throwing money in the air for no reason. that's cooled down. deficit is going to rise again but we're in a moment where people are not as upset about those issues. >> let's take a quick look at michelle obama, the first lady of the united states, making an appearance on the jimmy fallon show last night. >> thanks to the affordable care act, young people can stay on their parents' insurance until they are 26 but once they hit 26, they are on their own. a lot of young people think they are invincible but the truth is, young people are knuckleheads.

they are the ones who are cooking for the first time and slice their finger open. they are dancing on the bar stool, you know. >> young people. >> yeah, young people. >> obviously part of the reason that she's on jimmy fallon talking about that is -- >> they need to get young people to sign up for obamacare. the only way it works is if you have young people do it. using a term like knucklehead is funny. it will break through. i don't know if young people will ever learn it. that's the challenge that they are up against. >> how did she do? >> she got plenty of laughs. she's done things with jimmy fallon in the past. >> they seem to like each other. >> they do. they were jumping around in potato sacks in the east room. >> fallon has a close relationship with michelle and conservatives will be shut out but i'm sure that won't happen. carol lee, mike crawley, thank

you. what some people fear the fcc, the federal communications commission is talking about doing. plus, the stakes were high and i'm not talking about the gold medal. i'm talking about battling with our neighbor to the north about who gets stuck with one not so well-behaved star. if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about trying or adding a biologic. this is humira, adalimumab. this is humira working to help relieve my pain.

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welcome back to "the lead." time now for "the buried lead." imagine you work in my business. you're a news man or news woman and you're going over the stories for the day. it might look like this. now imagine a contractor who was hired by the fcc and he walks in and starts asking you questions like, what is the news philosophy of the station? who decides which stories are covered? or have you ever suggested coverage that was rejected by management? doesn't that sound like infringement of the freedom of the press? but those were the exact questions for a pilot program to go to news organizations in one south carolina city to find out

what barriers exist for the population on, quote, critical information needs. this fcc program and questions about government meddling in a fair and free press have generated a lot of controversy after commissioner tried to speak out against the study in a "wall street journal" opinion piece. he wrote that, quote, the agency plans to send researchers to grill reporters and station owners about how they decide which stories to run. as a consumer of news, i have an opinion but my opinion shouldn't matter more than anyone else's merely because i happen to work at the fcc. we spoke earlier today. explain to us, why did the fcc think that it was a priority for them? what were they trying to learn? >> so, the stated purpose of the study was to fulfill a statutory requirement, a law that requires the fcc to report to congress every three years on barriers

that entrepreneurs and small businesses face when they try to get into the communication's industry. when you look at the design of the study, it doesn't have anything to do with that purpose, and that led a lot of people, including me, to what the real purpose is and whether it's fulfilling a necessary goal of the fcc. >> what do you suspect the real purpose was, if not what the stated purpose was? >> to be honest, i'm not sure. i didn't have input into either the adoption of the study or into the implementation. but if you look at the study design, it goes into the core functions of the newsroom. how do you decide which stories to cover, do you have a news philosophy? listeners or viewers perceive that your station is biased. those are the types of questions that don't have anything to do with that stated purpose but do go to, i would say, editorial and newspaper judgment and freedoms. >> so this was written last year. what made you write this op-ed now? >> so the proposed study design was adopted last year.

in november, the first pilot site was located, was going to be columbia, south carolina. as i dug into the 78-page study design, i got a little more worried about what the proposed implementation would mean for our basic constitutional freedom of the press. that's why we decided to speak out on the op-ed pieces of the "wall street journal." >> you've acknowledged that tom wheeler, who came in after this program was already under way, he has said they plan to remove some of the more controversial questions. four people in the newsroom about their editorial judgment, about their philosophy. the fcc spokesman released this statement. by law, they must study the entrepreneurs to compete in the marketplace. they will not interfere in newsroom or editorial decision making. the draft questions in the study are being revised to clear up any confusion. what's your response? do you take the fcc, your

organization, at its word? >> i certainly think it's a positive step for the fcc to instruct the contractor to remove any questions about news philosophy, editorial judgment, and to keep the government out of the newsroom. my preference would be not to do the study at all so it doesn't relate to our purpose which is reporting to congress on barriers to entry. as i said, this is a positive step and the devil is going to be in the details when the study is actually implemented. >> is there not an interest -- i'm going to play devil's advocate. as a news man, i have a bias in that way. but to play devil 's advocate, aren't there places where local political parties have too much influence and it might be in the interest of the public to try to push back on that? >> well, one of the great things about the modern media marketplace is that consumers in markets big and small have unparallel choice when it comes to the news that they want to

get. it's no longer a few broadcasters and perhaps a radio station. they've also got print media, which is exploding in some markets, they have online options which never existed before, and so i think especially in the context of a more competitive media marketplace it doesn't really make a lot of sense for the fcc to assume that an uncompetitive marketplace is the norm and to send researchers out to confirm or disconfirm that supposition. >> commissioner ajit pai, thank you for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> there is breaking news on this story. after we interviewed ajit pai, the fcc said that the study would no longer include any questions to men and women in newsrooms. quote, media journalists will no longer be asked to participate in the pilot study," t" the fcc said. commissioner pai said this is a good step towards the first amendment. the pilot program will continue

once they create a new study design. coming up next, she was left speechless by her result after finishing lower than a skater who had fallen on the ice. ashley wagner is calling out the olympic judges. does they have a point? we'll be joined by brian boitano. [ police radio, indistinct ] the comeback trail. there is no map. no mile marker. no welcome sign. one day you may find yourself here. and you'll need someone to bring you back. to carry you home. at liberty mutual, we believe with every setback there's a chance to come back and rise. liberty mutual insurance. auto, home, life. and better is so easy withrning you cabenefiber.o something better for yourself. fiber that's taste-free, grit-free and dissolves completely. so you can feel free to add it to anything. and feel better about doing it.

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welcome back to "the lead." before the torch was even lit, it was already being called the most corrupt olympic games ever and now athletes and fans alike are crying foul over last night's competition. adelina sotnikova beat yuna kim to take the gold home. this sparked a firestorm of debate over the judging system. some pointed out that she seemed to stumble after landing a

triple combination. the committee says there's no scandal but team usa's ashley wagner says the results left her speechless and that she felt personally cheated when she came in seventh behind some skater who is had fallen during their programs. this morning, wagner gave a more diplomatic response to the "today" show. >> i think the ladies in the top three, absolutely hands down belong in the top three. i don't question that. i think that the system is too opaque. it's not clear enough to the audience and it needs to become more fan-friendly so we can get a wider fan base. i think we need to get rid of the anonymous judging. >> for more on this, i'm joined by olympic gold medalist and a member of the u.s. delegation to the sochi games, brian boy tan kn boitano. mill a million people have signed an online petition. who do you think won last night?

>> you you know, jake, it's such a mathematical equation that it comes down to component scores which are the skating skills and choreography versus the technical skills. yuna kim and adelina sotnikova are more technical and sotnikova brought more technical expertise and risk factor. which should be scored higher or lower? in my opinion, i think yuna kim needed to be further ahead of everyone else after the short program because her component scores are too strong. that being said, she wouldn't have been able to make the difference and yuna kim would be an olympic champion again. >> what do you make of all of the outrage? >> i understand the outrage. the thing that i read online today was 90% of the 1.5 million are from korea.

so that makes a lot of sense because they are standing up for yuna kim and it makes a lot of sense to me. >> one of the judges had been suspended for a year for trying to fix an event at the winter olympics 16 years ago another judge is married to the head of the russian skating federation. this is where a lot of these conspiracy theories come from. is there anything there, do you think? >> i don't know if there's anything there. we're figure skaters. we grew up in a very couldn't injuri controversial sport. it comes down to a judge's opinion and we're used to dealing with the politics. i do agree with ashley wagner about the judging system, it has to be more transparent but it's a subjective sport. you're in front of judges and it's always going to be subjective. whether or not you have the old judging system or the new system. but i do think it needs to not be anonymous anymore.

you have to put a number with the face. >> adam lee for the u.s. figure skating analyzed the performances for "the new york times." he said that the russian's double axel triple toe combo how much is this at a judge's discretion? >> that's pretty much a science. most skaters who see a combination know that double axel triple toe is more difficult because you have to land the double axel with a lot of speed and in a certain way so you can add that other rotation on a second jump into a triple. it's much harder. the flow in between the two jumps. that being said, a triple being first and then a double, you can do a double from a standstill so you don't have to have the preciseness on that. so most all skaters know that. i think the problem comes in that some of the judges that are judging this sport haven't been skaters and they may not know

that, you know, one thing is more difficult than the other. >> i apologize for mispronouncing -- i'm new to judging this sport. one other question, brian. you came out publicly after being named to the delegation. >> yeah. >> do you think putin got the message at all over russia's anti anti-gay laws and what the rest of the world thinks about them? >> jake, i definitely do. when we went over there with the delegation, everybody in russia knew why we were being sent and the message of president obama's tolerance and diversity message through the delegation and the reason that i decided to come out publicly, i think everyone knew why we were there. we did press conferences. we did individual interviews. and the americans knew why we went and president putin definitely got the message. and i just talked to billie jean king who is on her way over for the closing ceremonies on the

delegation and i'm so glad that she's able to go as well. >> well, you're the first gold medalist that we've had on "the lead" and we hope to see you again soon. thank you so much, brian. >> thanks, jake. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper and i'll hand you over to mr. wolf blitzer in "the situation room." mr. blitzer? >> jake, thank you very much. the horrific violence in the ukraine. it may not be heartful but the rocker ted nugent apologizing for the vicious slurs aimed at president obama. is that enough to get him and republican candidates off the hook? and decades after discrimination kept their heroism from being recognized, 24 veteran americans are now finally to receive the nation's highest military honor. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we beg w