we have time for a couple of your e-mails. let's send it back up to morning city. >> an e-mail from kevin. he writes 2:34 a.m. 100-knot wi rocking and rolling on a region seven seas voyageur. >> a cruise ship off the coast of in you zealand. 2:30 in the morning. i'm glad you're still getting msnbc. be safe. what else you got? >> twitter, up with food poisoning, singing, not helping. >> we've got a barrage, already, it's only four minutes since we showed the clip of mitt romney's tweets. i'm sorry for your food poisoning, but we have to do this. ♪ america, america ♪ god shed his grace on thee ♪ and crown thy good ♪ with brotherhood ♪ from sea to shining sea

♪ ♪ why would anybody in the establishment think that in massachusetts moderate, which is a liberal, by republican standards, pro abortion, pro gun control, pro tax increase, pro gay rights, why would they think that he's going to be able to debate barack obama? i know the speaker is not real happy, speaker gingrich, he's not feeling very excited these days, i know, it's sad. he's been flailing around a bit trying to go after me for one thing and another. you just watch it and it's been painfully revealing. >> okay. there we go. good morning, everyone, it's tuesday, january 31st, welcome to "morning joe," we're live again from jerry's famous deli in miami beach on primary day

here in florida. with us on set, national affairs editor for new york magazine and msnbc political analyst, john heilemann and msnbc political analyst and former chairman of the republican national committee, michael steele, along with willie, joe and me. wasn't that a beautiful addition. >> the people of my home state, florida, have been waiting toor this campaign to start talking about the real issues, right? >> uh-huh. and so you got mitt romney deciding to sing "america the beautiful" in his closing pitch. >> that was nice. >> and you've got newt gingrich in retirement home, saying when mitt romney ran bain capital, he took away kosher food from grandmas. >> yeah. >> i think this is exactly where barack obama wants our party to be. >> it's -- absolutely is. we're playing into his hands. >> it's what the votesers want to hear and i'll put that in quotes and say that with deep,

dripping sarcasm. it just is not. >> michael steele, we're in a terrible place as a party, if you look at all of the negative ads, something like 92% of the ads that have been running in florida are negative. this -- we look at these races one day at a time. and the bottom line is, this has a lasting impact in a swing state, on the republican brand, on the eventual republican nominee. and it also has another impact, if romney wibz and he starts running negative ads against obama in the fall, he's already branded as a negative candidate. he doesn't have that impact. >> this whole thing kicked off in iowa and you're absolutely right. i think romney has gotten away from telling the contrast between him and the president, newt got away from telling the contrast between him and the president. and so you have them now focused on each other, obama is just sitting back in the white house going, i'm singing al green,

he's singing something no one understands. that's where we are. we're going to go to the polls, some 600,000 voters have already voted here. this is done. the question becomes coming out of florida, how do we pull this thing together to get back on the message of comparing and contrasting the record of the administration to what we want to do for the future. >> that will be up to mitt romney. but john -- >> they're definitely not doing it. >> but at the same time before we just criticize them for going negative and just saying that that, isn't that what works? isn't that what mitt romney needs to do, john heilemann, at this point? >> i mean look, there's negative and there's negative. you know and there's, you know, i understand why politicians are, negative campaigning does work. negative ads do work. >> showing what the options are. >> well there's that. again, there's negative and there's negative. and there's contrasts and personal assaults and personal attacks. the analogy that people always draw is well, the race between obama and clinton helped obama in the long run.

you know, i think someone in chicago was quoting a "washington post" piece last week saying you know that obama elevated himself. it was a tough fight. but in the end it was a fair fight. you didn't see a negative ad in clinton/obama until the texas and ohio primaries in march. there were no negative ads until march. this race has been much more personal and vitriolic and i think no one can look at the race and say mitt romney or newt gingrich has elevated themselves in the process. no one looks like a bigger figure than when the race started. they've punched holes into each other. that's not saying that that mitt romney can't recover. but the race has been bad for them, rather than enhancing their stature, i think it's been, drug them down into the mud. >> i think the real question is michael said, what happens now. we've seen the polls, it looks like perhaps a double-digit win for romney today. we don't want to jump to the conclusion. but it looks like he's going to win. mike allen pointed out, women,

if you look at the polls have completely abandoned newt gingrich in the state of florida. he can't overcome that. what happens now. is this a crushing defeat for newt gingrich? no, because he's vowed to fight until the end. can he rally, can he get through the southern states? can he keep the money coming in? can he keep the train rolling? >> i don't know that it's great for mitt romney that we've seen polls showing him win by 20 points. there are other polls that have been out the past couple of days saying maybe single digits. if it comes in seven, eight nine points, would usually be a crushing win. suddenly he's underperformed and the stories are written about all of mitt romney's negative ads blowing up in in his face. people talk all the time. here's the public policy polling firm, that is accurate more times than not. showing last night, that it's only an eight-point gap. if that's the case, then voters have turned, turned against romney, most likely for negative ads. but i just want to say, you know, mika, there's an argument

that negative ads win. >> uh-huh. >> sometimes they do. but i've also seen many times a lot of candidates that live and die by negative ads. winning in the short run, losing in the long run and i go back to rick scott, florida's governor, he won by running one negative ad after another. it was endless, it was oversix months. he did destroy bill mccullum. and then when he got sworn in, he had a 35% approval rating. and he's about 30% now. because, yes, he won, he destroyed bill mccullum, but nobody liked him in the end because of it. >> except in this case we're talking about newt gingrich. so i'm not sure the same dynamic applies i'm serious. and i'm not trying to be facetious. >> it doesn't matter who he's running against. >> no, it does. >> it does not, people want to know -- why does mitt romney have nothing to say about mitt

romney, if he is such is great candidate. and all he can do is trash newt gingrich. people want to know, why does mitt romney close his campaign in florida by singing "america the beautiful." instead of telling us what he's going to do for america the beautiful? voters are not stupid. they want substance. if you don't give it to them, they'll make you pay in the long run. >> voters are not stupid, but the media is fickle. after he wins florida, he can turn it around with one or two good speeches. the bottom line is you have newt gingrich here who can be villainized, he's got a great record of things to use. even look at the ad we saw when we were looking at the "miami herald" online yesterday. it talks about the housing crisis and how newt cashed in on that. that's not untrue and that's something that's going to touch people in florida where the housing crisis has really hit. i think it's different to an extent. >> i think to tie this point into willie's question about what happens next.

zwroe, joe, you're giving voice to something that's appealing to a lot of people in the republican base. the interesting question going forward is now, you know, there are a lot of people who are angry at the way that mitt romney and the republican establishment have crushed newt gingrich in this race. the way they conducted this race. you've seen rush limbaugh. you've seen sarah palin. you've seen hemplen cain, a lot of possible lis, grassroots conservative leaders who have rallied to the side of newt gingrich the course of the last week and battle lines have been drawn clearly. there's a question about whether gingrich will have the resources to continue forward through the hard month of february to get to super tuesday. but the republican electorate does divide between establishment and grassroots, between elite and populist and the lines are firmly drawn. newt gingrich is now a flawed vessel. but people have rallied to his side as the anti-romney and they're mad at bob dole and mad at john mccain, mad at the way

that the establishment came here and vilified newt gingrich. so if gingrich can rally, we'll see some interesting contests in march, where the basic fault line of the party will be laid bare and we'll see what then transpires. >> and i'm not, michael steele, i'm not coming out defending newt gingrich any more than i would defend john mccain. because as i've made per nefect clear in every single way, for a conservative, these are not the two options i would pick. i would not put these two guys in the top of the list. however, that being said, i'm getting nervous. as a republican, that the guy that looks like he's moving toward the nomination, lass nothing good to say about himself. when it comes to taxes, has nothing good to say about balancing the budget. has nothing good to say about the debt commission. has nothing good to say about military planning, 20, 25 years

from now. has nothing, nothing good to say to conservatives who have been betrayed by the republican establishment over the past 25 years. and let me just say, if newt gingrich won, like romney, i fear he would betray the conservative, the conservative base as well. because he has before. >> that's really good. that's really good. >> i think both of you have summed up where republicans find themselves right now. and it's very, very interesting on your program, "way too early," the line that summed it up for me was the establishment always wins. and that's what the base hears right now, that's what they feel -- the establishment always wins. so you've got that narrative developing. to your point, you hear this frustration about well, okay, i get it. you've torn down newt. we've seen you rip him a new one in iowa, you ripped him a new one in florida. what are you going to do? how do we know come january 13th -- >> how are you going to balance the budget? where is the plan, show us, lay

it out so we can rally behind this thing. so we can rally behind you. >> just tell me something that you believe in. you know, talk about education reform. talk about health care reform. talk about getting the free market in both of those. just tell us something you believe. but everything is calculated, john. i saw interviews yesterday, it's like they punch the button and he goes out and says, politics ain't bean bag. >> he's not getting a message about these things, sorry. >> seriously, everything is planned. everything is calculated. >> and it's boring. >> look, we say we talk, you have to give them credit. they have the very dis -- they have a disciplined operation. it's good, they show up on time. >> give them the credit they give themselves. >> let's look again, this is a campaign that you know, they stage their events well, they show up on time.

they're, they're solid in that respect. >> solid and soulless. >> but it is true, that i haven't been to a lot of mitt romney events over the course of the last months, especially the last weeks, from iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, it is one of the more vac stump speeches, there's not much substance to it he's got to find a way to have a positive message, to have meat on the bones, or he'll just be the knee gags of everything else. >> one of the worst things you can say about the candidates, they show up on time. >> they did say something yesterday. instead of hearing how you say they don't say anything. speaking a a florida retirement community last night, the former massachusetts governor seemed increasingly confident focusing his attacks on president obama. something you've said he should probably be doing. rather than newt gingrich. romney tried to appeal to the

sunshine state's key senior voters. vowing to defend entitlement programs. >> i understand a few of you here are on medicare, is that true? that being the case, i hope you tell your friends, who always fear that republicans somehow might go after medicare, you can tell them a couple of things. one, we will never go after medicare or social security. we will protect those programs. but also, you make sure and tell them this, there's only one president in history that's cut medicare $500 billion. and that's barack obama. and guess what he did it for? he did it to pay for obama care. so if i'm president, i will protect medicare, and social security for those that are currently retired or near retirement. and i'll make sure we keep those programs solvent for the next generations coming along. we will protect america's seniors and america's young people with programs that are designed to keep them well and safe. >> you know what i wish?

i wish he would go back to singing "america the beautiful." because that, and i would say, i've said this of democrats as well as republicans. that is the most shameful demagoguery that i have heard on the campaign trail yet this year. to tell senior citizens that the program that is going to bankrupt america unless we figure out a way to bend the cost curve, is going to be protected forever and can you believe that barack obama cut $500 billion from it? it's just unspeakable. john heilemann, it is unspeakable, because this country is going bankrupt and mitt romney is trying to scare senior citizens -- you know what? it's what we called mediscare in

'95 and '96. it was pathetic when bill clinton did it it's pathetic when mitt romney does it, it's pathetic when he does it because of medicare advantage. pathetic. >> you've got to say it takes a lot of courage to come to florida and promise to protect medicare for all time. it's a profile in courage. it's also odd, you know, and inconsistent, because mitt romney has told a lot of audiences that the reason that newt gingrich is an inconsistent conservative is he's attacked the ryan -- >> paul ryan's plan. >> and mitt romney's on record as supporting paul ryan's plan. which as far as i remember it, actually takes huge, makes huge savings/cuts to medicare, depending on how you define it. >> the growth rate is reduced to 2%, which would be a dramatic drop. the entire nature of the program is changed. so now we have -- >> now we have the, you got paul ryan, who is being courageous.

and he's even said, this is a starting point. but let's talk about medicare. we got to talk about saving this program, but the two republican front-runners, one of them is engaging in mediscare in northern florida. and the second one called paul ryan's medicare plan, radical right-wing engineering. social engineering. and i've got to say, as i said earlier, as a conservative, is this all we have? >> no, there's more. >> really? >> i have another profile in courage for you. >> really? >> yes. >> did newt come out and say i'm wrong about paul ryan and this is what we have to do to save entitlement programs for the seniors of america? zh no, he's saving that. he was working on florida yesterday. so in a nod to florida's large jewish community, newt gingrich hammered mitt romney. >> is this about -- maybe moving the embassy to jerusalem? or saying no to the -- the right to return? i mean is that, what are we

talking about here? >> not really. >> is it moving part of the oslo accord of 2000 -- >> no, that would be great. >> maybe, we're going to have peace in the middle east. >> it's more about florida, he hammered romney about vetoing funding for kosher meals at nursing homes when he was governor of massachusetts. >> governor romney imposed activities on the catholic hospitals against their opposition and refused to allow them the right of conscious in romney care.

>> no, it will be, someday. >> smarten up. >> there are other choices out there. >> what are you talking about? >> come on, now. >> this is bad. this is bad. >> i -- >> you know this is bad. >> this is bad. this is bad and it's gotten here because folks have come to this game the wrong way. they've come in, looking at -- >> that's it. >> sort of this internal i don't like what you're wearing, you don't like what you're wearing. >> i like what you're wearing. >> but the problem is out there, connecting to people who have, as your brother-in-law noted, real problems. as you noted, real problems. who do i go to? who do i trust in this? the base of the party doesn't trust the leadership team they've got up top. they're tearing each other

apart. obama is sitting in the white house going, september, october, it's going to be a playground for me. so right now, i think it's going to be an opportunity for folks again, coming out of florida, to get their collective acts together. to stop the internal bickering and the push-back and focus on the goal of getting to the white house, securing the senate, and making sure conservative messages are articulated that people rally to, not run from. >> and mitt romney is not giving a conservative message. he's not really giving any message right now. and the republican establishment is, as john has said, has come together, they're all lined up. and the resentment against bob dole, john mccain, all of these other establishment figures who have all lined up behind mitt romney, is causing right now, a real split. >> a real split. >> and -- >> not good. >> the base is wondering -- two years after -- >> yeah. >> michael steele, your republican party engineered the

largest legislative landslide nationwide, we're left with these two candidates as front-runners? >> we've lost the power of that message. >> where are the conservatives out there? >> it's the american voter that loses out. >> that's why the establishment always wins. the establishment was in 2010, that's why this is such a precarious moment for the party because it lost that energy. >> we're just getting started from jerry's famous deli on miami beach. stay with us, because coming up, we'll bring in dnc chair, debbie wasserman-schultz, verne buchanan, "hardball's" chris matthews and in a few minutes, jose diaz-ballard. and the political playbook. let's go to bill karins right now for a check on the forecast. bill? >> what a beautiful day you had there yesterday and it's going to continue today in florida.

we're going to get up near 80 degrees in miami. all areas of the state are going to be rain-free. blue skies and temperatures are going to be up there somewhere in the 70s. maybe 80 degrees. in other words, really no problems for anyone getting out to vote. now if you have some morning trouble it's going to be in new england. we're going to be north of boston, some light snow this morning. especially around manchester to portsmouth to portland. also a little bit up there in the adirondacks. later this afternoon, what a warmup, 62 in philadelphia to d.c. mid 50s in new york city. and much of the country, this is spring break, spring fever. temperatures continue to be well above average. what an end to january today. dallas, 73. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. ♪

♪ what started as a whisper every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? nyquil tylenol: we are?ylenol. you know we're kinda like twins. nyquil (stuffy): yeah, we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. tylenol: and i relieve nasal congestion. nyquil (stuffy): overachiever. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't.

i was strong before weight watchers, but i'm stronger with it. i believe because it works. ♪ if you want it, you got it join for free. weight watchers points plus 2012. because it works.

all right. time now take a look at the morning papers. i really appreciate what you're looking at, joe, from "the new york times" online, the president's re-election team is now taking a jab at how mitt romney treated his former pet. >> come on. >> you might remember recent gingrich web ad, also hounded romney for a road trip years ago. when he put his family dog on the roof of his car. >> i have a yellow lab named winston, i would no sooner put him in a kennel on the roof of my car, than i would one of my children. question, what were you thinking? >> this is a completely airtight kennel, mounted on the top of our car, he climbed up there regularly, enjoyed himself. he was in a kennel at home a great deal of time as well. we loved the dog, it was where he was comfortable and we had five kids inside the car and my

guess is he liked it a lot better in his kennel than he would have in the car. >> i should have written david a note, he doesn't need tothis. >> just because stupid is breaking out all over america, he doesn't have to get in the party? >> david axelrod, the president's senior campaign strategist tweeted this photo of president obama with his dog, bo, inside the car, whoa, inside the car. axelrod's caption says how loving owners transport their dogs. >> come on! >> i think it's kind of cute. >> talking about politico and strippers, hey, the headline in this morning's "miami herald" is quote newt looks like goner in florida, but by how much? >> and the "florida times union" says it's florida's turn to pick a republican. the paper points out that more than 600,000 republicans have already cast ballots through early and absentee voting. that's a look at the papers.

>> look at this -- this article here with the great willy geist. now the "miami herald," willie, apparently following some -- well you know, they love "morning joe." they love politics and we love the "miami herald." so they're doing a story -- >> willie, you look good, what's it about? >> the south beach crowd stumbling into "morning joe." >> they sent their top political reporter to be with us, what he zeroed in on was the volume of strippers here coming in from the clubs at 4:30 in the morning to join us. and he focused on our dear friend, mike hallen, of politico, who apparently spent the morning with a 26-year-old stripper named strawberry. >> strawberry. >> and her friend -- >> this photograph reports the miami newspaper, is, that's tip drill, the stripper on the right. and on the left is burger billions, a self-described miami entrepreneur successful enough who bought the moet-chandon

sparkling imperial wine. >> that's with a "z" he's the type of entrepreneur that mitt romney and newt gingrich need to be talking to. how do we turn things around over the next four years. >> and what's the stripper's name? >> tip drill. >> tip drill. >> that's how mike allen spent the morning. >> that's terrific. >> do either of these entrepreneurs have their own twitter accounts for instance? kids at home want to follow? >> would you please stop? willie -- it's a lovely picture of you, though, i like that, you look cool. i wish the article was a little cleaner, but okay. >> that's a great article. >> mike, were you comfortable with strawberry and tip drill? >> clearly swing voters. >> they're swinging, all right. >> let's talk a little business. romney of course, mike allen -- feeling pretty confident. but politico reporting newt gingrich certainly not going to drop out any time soon.

>> he's not, but the way somebody put it to me is this race will last only as long as sheldon aidleson, casino guy putting money into newt wants to waste his money. romney campaign thinks that the general election starts tomorrow. he's got a big win here. they're going to have do what they're calling the straddle. they're going to keep an eye on the republicans, ron paul and newt gingrich. but they're start really going after obama. they know there's little chance now they can fall. so they're saying that if romney goes on to become president, it was in florida that he found his voice and the campaign found its spine. we talked about how south carolina wanted a fighter. in florida, people finally saw mitt romney as a fighter. >> we saw it in the beginning of the debate. is the romney campaign expecting newt gingrich along for the ride the next two months into the summer? >> they could. but i think there's going to be a lot of pressure for people to stop giving him money and i think they're going to start

trying to heal with the people that you've talked about and how we were talking about have rallied to him. that's harder than healing with newt. but what they say is as they get the contrast with romney, that the healing will take place automatically. >> so the base is going to say, we feel much better? i mean what are they going to do that they haven't done in the last six years? >> you guys just had -- >> running for president for six years and he is yet to get the base to coalesce behind him. >> and by the way, he's now reduced -- >> now i'm with you. >> he's now reduced to singing "america the beautiful" after six years. >> you are not going to like this. >> no, i'm not. >> but the vacuous message is deliberate. it's their clear view that the campaign is about mitt romney. he loses, they don't want it to be about obama. he has plans for all of these issues you talk about, but we're not going to hear him talking a lot more about it. he wants it to be about obama. >> wow. >> let me know how that works

out. >> did you get any sense of to how tip drill is going to vote? >> i think i might have to do a follow-up interview. >> you can follow the twitter feed. >> please, no. >> maybe she's talking about, what, talking about the campaign. >> she has an exciting social life. let's put it that way. >> here we go. you've got another sign up for you. >> thank you. that's adorable. >> that's a nice sign. thank you for coming in. and cleaning up this show. >> mike allen thank you, too. >> thank you, mike. coming up, chris matthews will be with us in south beach and also eugene robinson, chuck todd and peter alexander. and lebron james had the dunk of the season sunday and declared last night that blake griffin had outdone him. wait until you see the dunk blake griffin threw down, one of the best ever. we'll be right back to south beach. [ male announcer ] we know you don't wait

until the end of the quarter to think about your money... ♪ that right now, you want to know where you are, and where you'd like to be. we know you'd like to see the same information your advisor does

so you can get a deeper understanding of what's going on with your portfolio. we know all this because we asked you, and what we heard helped us create pnc wealth insight, a smarter way to work with your pnc advisor, so you can make better decisions and live achievement. the new spark card from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game. with spark, the boss earns double miles on every purchase, every day. that's setting the bar pretty high. owning my own business has never been more rewarding. coming through! [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet?

but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

welcome back to "morning

joe." live again this morning on primary day here at jerry's famous deli in south beach. we've got to show you this dunk from last night. >> blake griffin. >> this dunk -- might be the greatest you'll ever see in your life. l.a. clippers hosting oklahoma city. only one highlight you need to see, stunning the crowd this throw-down on kendrick perkins. he took a hit in the air, was pushed backwards and still cocked it up to throw it down. rookie of the year had 22 points. thoughing down, jordan had a few that were good, too. snapping the thunder's four-game win streak. even lebron james, who had a huge dunk on sunday against the bulls gave credit. he tweeted this, king james writing, dunk of the year, that blake griffin just dunked on kendrick perkins so hard, wow, guess i'm number two. here's the baseline slam where he fully hurdles john lucas, goes up and over, sunday in miami. pretty good, but not as good as

this one. let's see blake griffin one more time. >> let's have an audience phone-in, call in. >> you make the call. >> drawing the foul and throwing it down. >> that's impressive. >> even pushed back. >> amazing and the foul. >> that's impressive. is oklahoma state the best team in basketball right now? >> no, they're very good. they have the best record in the nba. and kevin durant. but i think either the miami heat or the chicago bulls is the best team right now in basketball and they played each other on sunday, with miami winning. >> so they're very good. >> they've got the best record in basketball. >> yes, they do. >> how did the knicks do? >> we're not going to talk about d.c. new york basketball. >> celtics not doing so good? >> we have to go. >> the old guys in boston. up next, telemundo's jose

diaz-ballard joins us. -one. -two.

-three. -one. two. three. one. -two. -three. -one. -two. -three. [ male announcer ] with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% back on groceries. and 3% back on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. -it's as easy as...1. -two. -three. [ male announcer ] 1, 2, 3 percent cash back for the things you buy most. the bankamericard cash rewards card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. can you get me out of it? of course. travelocity? that's amazing! but i'm still stuck. come on man, dig it! [ female announcer ] travelocity. get great deals on all kinds of beach vacations. get great deals on all kinds between taking insulin, testing my blood sugar. is this part of your life? freestyle lite test strips? why, are they any beep! wow, that hardly needs any blood! yeah. and the unique zipwik tab

targets the blood and pulls it in. so easy. freestyle lite needs just a third the blood of onetouch ultra. really? yep, which is great for people who use insulin and test a lot. max and i are gonna run out and get some right now. or you can call or click today and get strips and a meter free. test easy.

mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback right now, get 5% cashback at gas stations. it pays to discover. we are reminiscing about our cbs days, here with us host of telemundo's sunday morning public affairs show, jose diaz-balart. >> after the evening news on telemundo. >> you worked with him such a long time you can't even say his name. >> although we sat next to each or other for years. >> so good to see you both. welcome to south florida.

there's some things you should know about south florida. i don't know if you caught on to the rules yet. >> want to hear the news? >> number one, you can never be too thin. number two, everything that happens before 7:00 a.m. happened last night. that's an important thing to say. a lot of people feel that there should be one official language, but that english can be spoken as well. other than that, anything you do before 7:00 a.m., is acceptable? and please, kiss when you say hello. it doesn't matter. just -- >> what was the first rule -- you can never be too thin? >> we're in trouble. >> back to boston, mike. >> i'm going home, man. >> back to boston. >> mika -- >> i'll go from two leaves to one leaf of lettuce a day. the "washington post," this is interesting, richard cohen, it sounds like you guys this morning, republicans have only themselves to blame. it is entirely appropriate that last week's gop debates fell between "pawn stars" and

"american pickers." they are sheer entertainment. having little to do with us and our problems. the republican party has veered so far from reality that gingrich is lambpasting romney as a massachusetts moderate. romney, who has all but collapsed his ribcage to conform to conservative dogma must be perplexed. others have prudently stayed out of the race. the republican establishment that has risen up to smit the bratty gingrich has only itself to blame. it has been mute in the face of belligerent anti-intellectualism. pretending that knowledge and experience do not matter and that washington is a condition, and not a mere city. the endorsement of gingrich by cain was not a bulletin, it was a feeble blip on a scope. the gop is brain-dead. >> well, i mean i don't know that i heard richard cohen complaining about a lack of experience when barack obama was running for president four years ago. but i do hear that now.

listen, the republican party, jose, has done a miserable job in putting out its conservative credentials and explaining how these republican presidential candidate are going to be different. on the debt and on the deficit. and on saving entitlement programs. it's a pretty sad scene right now. because our best candidates, jeb, chris christie, paul ryan, mike pence decided to stay home. >> i think that it's been very poor, the republican party, in getting out a message that really resonates with what people are feeling on a daily basis in this country. which is the uncertainty of the future, the fact that if you have a job you're worried about keeping it. if you have a part-time job, you used to have a full-time job and don't know how to get back on track, those are the issues that people really want to hear, both parties talk about. and more than talk about, be willing to act on it. i think that it's our fault in the media to be focused on a

number of different issues on these debates. you know, we sometimes start debates on people's personal lives. if you believe they're at one time believe that an open marriage was a way to go. i mean really? it's also our fault. what do we decide to talk about and focus upon. and the fact of the matter is that people are sitting back saying, don't you guys in the media, don't guys in politics get it? i'm having a really tough time making ends meet. and i'm worried about my future. >> but if the candidates said that, that would resonate, would it not? do you not get it, people are worried about their jobs. i don't want to talk about this garbage. why can't they do that as well. i agree, the media focuses on the moments, they're fickle, they'll move on quickly. they'll grasp upon what sells. absolutely. the candidates don't have to play. >> look, yesterday, mike barnicle, you've got mitt romney singing "america the beautiful." you can look through the entire speech and not find anything of substance in that, that stump speech that he gives day in, day

out. that americans haven't heard before. that floridians will listen to and go, you know what, he gives me a reason to hope that we're going to turn this economy around. and then you've got newt gingrich as well. spinning wildly about kosher food and, i mean it's so small. both sides. >> you know well i think there are a number of things wrong with the political process lately and it's all being magnified in the republican primaries. one of the major things that's gone wrong is the way we cover politics. politics is now over the last ten years, has become so intertwined with our culture, that the media doesn't really cover the cultural aspect of campaigns. it sticks with the politics. so it will cover mitt romney singing "america the beautiful" or referencing newt gingrich talking about kosher food being unavailable to seniors in massachusetts. instead of they go out and do mortgage stories. there was a story in one of the papers the other day about a fellow who was in trouble on the second home that he bought.

and is under water now on both homes because he couldn't carry this -- i'm sorry, that's not the story. the story is the hard-working couple with one home, and a couple of kids, trying to get the kid into college and say one of them has lost their job over the last year and a half or two years. that's the story that's happening to millions of americans. it's politics, but it's culture. we don't cover it well enough. >> and jose, quickly, i was in little havana yesterday at a diner, all anybody wanted to talk about was jobs and the economy, a not a lot of stuff we hear on the stump. what's the feeling in south florida at large about this campaign? how do they view these candidates? >> look, willie, if you ask anybody that's here or anybody in the street, about the value of their homes, i would say 90% of the people you speak to on average, are under water on their homes. we all have friends, if it hasn't happened to a family member, that are in the process of dealing with losing their home because of a foreclosure.

it's a reality. and you know what? it burns families. it hurts people's future thoughts about themselves. that's a reality that all floridians are living with. there's not one person here who doesn't have a house that is worth less than when they got a mortgage for it. there's not a person here who doesn't know somebody who has, or in the process of losing their homes. that's a reality we're facing on a daily basis in florida. i've got to tell you, we're going into nevada, those are issues that are happening throughout the country. and that, you're absolutely right, mike. we're talking about kosher food and we're talking about how you treat dogs, which is all important stuff, i guess. but people are losing homes, man. people are families are breaking apart. >> that was extremely well put. thank you very much. we'll be right back. i want to hear what happened. live from miami beach on primary day.

[ male announcer ] you are a business pro. lord of the carry-on. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i deserve this. [ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do. go national. go like a pro. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want.

ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪ >> my name is jane and i've got osteoporosis. but i'm an on-the-go woman; i've been active all my life. that's why i'm excited about reclast. it's the once-a-year i.v. osteoporosis treatment. reclast helps to restrengthen my bones to help make them resistant to fracture. and with reclast, well, no other osteoporosis treatment is approved to help protect in more places-- hips, spine, even other bones. >> announcer: you should not take reclast if you're on zometa, have low blood calcium or kidney problems, or you're pregnant, plan to become pregnant or are nursing. take calcium and vitamin d daily. tell your doctor if you develop severe muscle, bone or joint pain, if you have dental problems-- as jaw bone problems have been reported-- or if you

develop new or unusual pain in your hip, groin or thigh. the most common side effects include flu-like symptoms, fever, muscle or join pain, headache, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. if you have questions about your current treatment, ask your doctor about reclast.

welcome back to morning joe,

live inside jerry's famous deli in south beach. you have to travel quite a ways from south beach to find republicans. he went to find them in their natural habitat in little havana. where there are plenty of republicans. and asked them what's the most important to them as they head into voting booths today. ♪ ♪ >> what's the one issue that's most important to you as you think about which candidate to vote for? >> the issue is the country. right now. the economic problem in the country, it's got to be number one. >> well, obviously the economy. more than anything else. >> i will tell you what would help this country a lot. if they make sure and they bring the companies back into the united states. >> what do you think the president could be doing differently that he's not doing to help the economy. >> number one, i think improve

the employment for the opportunity. create more jobs. >> you're a registered republican? >> yes, i am. i've never been so confused for a nomination before. >> who do you plan on voting for tomorrow? >> i'm kind of leaning toward mitt romney. >> is there any chance you would vote for barack obama in the fall? >> absolutely not. >> who do you think wins tomorrow? >> gingrich. >> do you think newt gingrich will win tomorrow or mitt romney? >> i think mitt romney have the more probably chance to win the election. >> we're a great country. as long as we stay together, stay behind our president, whatever president that may be, we have to unite as a nation and know that we will come together and find the solutions. >> my thanks to george, the owner at esterant.

>> delicious especial cuban sandwich. talk about the dynamics of cubans being so overwhelmingly republican in south florida. >> in south florida they tend to be overwhelmingly republican because they're most cuban-american. there's a large nicaragua nicaraguan-american population. in this community, the fact is that i think what you're seeing is that people depend, see their allegiance to a party in contrast or in sim lart to how they perceive that party deals with their country of origin. >> i saw a lot of that yesterday. a lot of fans of newt gingrich. some fans of mitt romney and no fans of obama. my thanks to the good people at the restaurant, delicious food,

check it out if you're in little havana. this new at&t 4g lte is fast. hey. did you guys hear... ...that mary got engaged? that's so 42 seconds ago. thanks for the flowers guys. [ both ] you're welcome. oooh are you guys signing up for the free massage? [ both ] so 32 seconds ago. hey guys you hear frank's cat is sick? yeah, we heard. wanna sign the card? did you know the guys from china are in the office... [ speaking chinese ] [ male announcer ] stay a step ahead with the 4g lte galaxy s ii skyrocket. only from at&t. ♪

forty years ago, he wasn't looking for financial advice. back then he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future. but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement planning for our military, veterans and their families. now more than ever, it's important to get financial advice from people who share your military values. for our free usaa retirement guide, call 877-242-usaa. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller.

over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the storybook narrator... [ man ] you're left with more electric trucks. more recycled shipping materials... and a growing number of lower emissions planes... which still makes for a pretty enchanted tale. ♪ la la la [ man ] whoops, forgot one... [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter.

"o beautiful for spacious skies" for amber waves of grain" for

purple mountains majesty" across the fruited plain". >> can you sing that song? i love that song. ♪ oh beautiful for spacious skies ♪ ♪ for amber waves of grain ♪ for purple mountain's majesty ♪ ♪ above the fruited plain ♪ america, america ♪ god shed his grace on thee ♪ and crown thy good ♪ with brotherhood ♪ from sea to shining sea [ applause ] >> welcome back to "morning joe." here at jerry's famous deli. a beautiful morning here in miami beach. we have a wonderful, very

affectionate crowd. and joe, i just want you to know that i think -- things are going to be -- okay. i do. >> no. >> don't worry about it. >> no, they're not. i've been an internal optimist my entire life. >> yeah. >> the glass is always half full. i've always believed that tomorrow is going to be a better day, that the sun is going to come out tomorrow. that america was always going to be the last great hope for a dying world. but -- after seeing this republican primary come to close? i'm not so sure any more. >> "america the beautiful" did not move snu. >> the demagoguery over medicare, where we've got republican front-runners sounding like democrats demagoguing entitlements. and then newt gingrich talking about kosher food and -- it's just -- >> you're down. >> it's pretty depressing. >> if you believe that the

republican establishment has betrayed the conservative cause for a decade, and it has, and then you look at these alternatives that we're faced with, it's, it's pretty depressing. >> well let's try to find a strain of hope. for that, we turn to mike barnic barnicle. >> john heilemann is here, i want to hear what you were saying at dinner last night. your imitation of mitt romney's speeches. because you've been to so many. and joining us now, pulitzer prize-winning columnist and associate editor of the "washington post" eugene robinson. i'm sorry about my performance yesterday, it was horrible. you're going to have a finder better. >> i'm terrible. only john jonathan capehart can bring it out in me. let's go to the polls. it is winner take all tonight. florida's 50 delegates are at stake in a fight that could determine a republican front-runner for president or send the race into a months-long

battle straight up to the convention. voting is now under way and the latest polls show that this is mitt romney's race to lose. the nbc news/marist poll had the former massachusetts governor with a 15-point lead over newt gingrich. this morning new numbers from public policy polling romney is still in the lead, but by a smaller margin. it has romney and gingrich just eight points apart. nd a new suffolk university poll shows romney's lead widening. and newt gingrich and rick santorum and ron paul comes in last with 9%. >> i wonder, gene robinson, are we going to show some clips from these candidatesnd it's vacuous. but i remember, and i won wonder if this is where we are as a nation. if this is how we elect our presidents. i remember last year or four years ago, watching barack obama, this guy with very little

experience, being swept to victory by talking about hope and change. and commented halfway through that campaign, it's like selling potato chips. it's about branding. i was jumping up and down saying -- this is all a big pr campaign for a guy that's really a glorified state senator. is that where we are as a nation? that this is somehow we elect our leaders? >> that's the way we run our elections now. and not where the nation is, because we've been in all of these states. we talk to people, they have concrete, real concerns. and, and they want them talked about and addressed and more than that. they want something done. they want movement. they want, they want an end to what they see as perpetual gridlock in washington. in which our fundamental problems don't get addressed. and they're not getting it.

>> so you know what? i want to read from your column this morning, it's fantastic and go to john heilemann. eugene's column in the "washington post," why does mitt romney want to be president? and in part you write this, gingrich, rick santorum and ron paul have all laid out bold visions, more properly, hallucinations where they would take the country. but where is romney's shining city on a hill? what's his compassionate conservatism? his hope and change? what is it that mitt romney, deep in his heart, down in his gut, really believes in? free enterprise seems to be what he's most passionate about. but that's not really an answer to the question of core beliefs. who doesn't believe in free enterprise? >> actually a lot of people. obama would advocate a bit more regulations than romney would. santorum and paul less. gingrich wants free market spaceships to fly us to the moon. >> you know, gene, even with free enterprise, i have heard ron paul give speeches on the

free market and i've heard him being passionate and i've heard him laying out a vision -- >> a vision. >> a free for free markets that energize high school and college students. we've got a young kid with a ron paul sign here, and he's talking about free enterprise. and he's talking about an overreaching federal government. you can talk about free -- i read hyatt and i'm a dork, but i get excited. i read milton friedman, i get excited. i hear mitt romney talking about free enterprise -- >> you don't get excited, do you? >> it's like a punch line. a very bad joke. >> yeah, yeah. it's about -- >> i don't even know if he believes in free enterprise, he made money about it. but i don't know, because listening to him -- he just -- >> in the highest sense, he does not. because he believes in, he has said for example, markets need to be regulated. i'm serious that he would do a

little less regulation than obama would. obama would do a little more. but we're talking on the margins. and -- >> you judge his record by what he did in massachusetts. and he is a big government republican. >> well, yes. yes. >> so how is a big government republican going to be that much different from a big government democrat? i just don't know. >> well, that would be newt's argument. and that's -- >> one interesting thing that happened in south carolina and looks like it's going to happen here again. where ron paul was the big loser in south carolina, his numbers have really gone down and it doesn't look like he's going to do well here. i'm wondering if he's going to be a nonfactor. >> back to mitt romney, john heilemann, you've covered a number of his speeches as a reporter. tell us what basically, the kbuts of hguts of his speeches are b. are we missing something? we're the fickle media. we just want the moments that

you know, sell. so we're probably not interested in content. what's the content. >> there's not much content there. just to put it in the proper framework. it is true that joe, your analogy to obama and clinton, you know, in primaries, there often isn't that much difference on policy between republicans on an inter-republican primary. so you end up having primary campaigns that are based mostly on stylistic differences, on differences of resumé, that's not unusual. and there will be a greater contrast in the general election, because there is a big difference between mitt romney and barack obama. just as there was between barack obama and john mccain. that being said, you know, mitt romney gives a stump speech that is you know, pretty much totally substance-free. it takes a couple of shots at barack obama in the course of it. it talks about how you know, america, it talks in very vacuous terms about believing in the private sector and free

enterprise. and then it ends up always with a recitation, not usually his, i've never heard him sing "america the beautiful" but normally he recites the portions of "america the beautiful." we've seen it on tv a lot. in iowa he talked about the amber waves of grain and made a joke about iowa. and in new hampshire he would talk about the purple mountain's majesty and talked about the mountains of new hampshire. now here, i saw him on the space coast on friday, and he talked about how the sky -- spacious skies, obviously applies to the florida space coast. because you know, we go into space. it is -- >> it's depressingly unbelievable. and if you want to underline just how cynical this campaign is, we're going to show a clip in a second where he demagogues medicare in the same way bill clinton and the democrats in congress did in '95 and '96.

but i just want to disabuse americans of the belief that this is the way you win campaigns by being this cynical and this substance-free. and i give you a great example. marco rubio talked about medicare and social security. and when it counted, when he was neck and neck with charlie cy crist, he went into fox news and told chris wallace, he may have to raise the retirement age until 70. you know what happened? we heard this was going to destroy marco rubio. he got over 50% in a three-person race. this is how mitt romney decided to address medicare last night. >> i understand a few of you here are on medicare, is that true?

that being the case, i hope you tell your friends who always fear that republicans somehow might go after medicare, you can tell them a couple of things. one, we will never go after medicare or social security, we will protect those programs. but also -- you make sure and tell them this, there's only one president in history that's cut medicare $500 billion. and that's barack obama. and guess what he did it for? he did it to pay for obama care. so if i'm president, i will protect medicare and social security for those that are currently retired or near retirement. and i'll make sure we keep those programs solvent for the next generations coming along. we will protect america's seniors and america's young people with programs that are designed to keep them well and safe. >> you know, mike barnicle, what mitt romney is telling those people, and the seniors of florida are -- i think you're stupid. i think you're stupid. because i don't trust you to tell you that this isn't about

ideology, it's about math. that there used to be 15 people working for every one person on social security and medicare. now there are three people working for every one person on social security and medicare. by the time the baby boomers retire, about 10,000 are retiring every single day. there are going to be two people working for every one person on social security. i know firsthand, you can tell voters the truth. you can tell seniors the truth. in the state of florida, and you get rewarded for it. marco rubio did the same thing. and he got rewarded to it. this is shameful, but this where our politics unfortunately descend in presidential contests. >> joe, you talked earlier, coming off the clip we showed at the start of the hour with romney reciting and then singing "america the beautiful." look, the truth is, that this campaign, on both sides, but specifically the one we've been covering the most, republicans, has been a depressing soul-robbing experience.

for most of this country. why? because the country is always ahead of the politicians. never more so, i think than this year. and people are smarter than the people running for office. regular people are smarter than the candidates running for office. why? because they know our existence. we have been at war for ten years. the economy is now a shadow of what it was five and six years ago. people know what they live with. you reference barack obama. the state senator who became president. why did he become president? because for one moment in time, he got lucky and he had skill. he planted a flag and he told the american public, there's some light down this path. follow me. we'll get there together. >> it ended up being a train coming out the other side of the tunnel. >> but he did it. now there's no longer any sunlight out of these candidates. there's only cynicism. and attacks back and forth.

and people are just pleased, enough, i've had enough of this. >> and we get a state of the union that was vacuous as well. a laundry list of items that added up to a good campaign. >> a campaign speech. but it was not a governoring document. and mark it down, a year from now, you're going to see it had absolutely no impact. there's cynicism on both sides. >> joe, absolutely. i mean we just heard romney, you know basically saying to senior citizens, i know you're stupid and you'll buy this. you'll buy this i'm selling this, you'll buy this. have we heard any of the candidates stand up and say, you know something, we need a national service act. we have to bring rich people and poor people, their children, we have to bring them together. you have to graduate from high school or college and you have to work for this country for two years. >> and if you don't have the money, guess what, you work for the country for two years, we'll forgive your college debts. >> whatever the idea is, gene,

just have courage, step forward with it. americans will follow, they are hungry for leadership. and yet, we have mitt romney demagoguing medicare. that's one of our conservative choices. sounding like bill clinton in '95 and '96. and then on the other side, we have newt gingrich, who attacked paul ryan for having the courage to bring up medicare. it's just -- >> after south carolina, mitt romney's got to win florida, right? so how does he go about winning florida? well, it's all about tearing down newt gingrich. and not at all about any sort of positive vision of a better future that he can, that he can talk to floridians about. it's about you know, you should hate newt gingrich. and by the way, america the beautiful. that's -- >> exactly. i don't mind necessarily a good fight if there are real issues to fight over. but i also want to hear what

you're about. >> i have one question, so mitt romney said before that he was in favor of the ryan plan. the paul ryan plan, right? which proposes rather dramatic changes to medicare. >> 2%. >> last night mitt romney said that basically, we're not going to touch medicare. which of those two do you believe? >> we're not going to touch medicare. >> you know -- >> there's one big conservative credential is that i backed the ryan plan. was that last night, did he not just basically repudiate the one thing that was supposed to give him credibility with conservatives? >> he said we're not going to touch it. which means you're like a doctor that's opened up the patient and you've seen cancer throughout the patient's body. you close up the patient. he woke up, you tap him on the foot, you said, you're good. go with be your grandkids, you're going to live a long time. >> he also just said, everything i said about the ryan plan was a lie. >> you can, you can loathe the

ryan plan if you wish. paul ryan had the courage to do what democrats haven't done. they haven't even passed a budget in over 1,000 days, he put a plan on the table. and as he said to bill clinton, offstage, it's just a starting point. we're just trying to get this conversation going. and yet, here you have like you said, mitt romney now distancing himself from real medicare reform. >> it seems like this. >> to say it's unfortunate, is -- unbelievable. >> i appreciate what you're saying and i actually know it's not easy and i don't want to revel in it because it would be better if they were better. it would be better for us. >> and by the way, we're talking about republicans because republicans are having an election today. don't even get me started about what this white house is done or what it has not done on the entitlement reform for four years after telling me for four years, we're moving that direction. no, they're not.

the president of the united states through his othrew his on debt commission under bus. president and the united states snats have been such cowards that they have refused to put a budget on the floor for over 1,000 days. so if you're at home and you're hearing all this negativity about republicans, it's because i expect my party to be better than the other guys. and they're not. >> can you imagine that? he's saying all of this in front of the elite media? >> still ahead on "morning joe," live from miami, we'll bring in dnc chair, debbie wasserman-schultz and congressman verne buchanan and jack kingston. up next, nbc's chuck todd and peter alexander on the dynamics shaping today's presidential primary. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ male announcer ] is zero worth nothing?

♪ imagine zero pollutants in our environment. or zero dependency on foreign oil. ♪ this is why we at nissan built a car inspired by zero. because zero is worth everything. the zero gas, 100% electric nissan leaf. innovation for the planet. innovation for all. an accident doesn't have to slow you down.

with better car replacement, available only with liberty mutual auto insurance, if your car is totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy?

governor romney imposed activities on the catholic hospitals against their opposition and refused to allow them the right of conscience in romney care. just as, by the way, he eliminated serving kosher food for elderly jewish residents under medicaid. i did not know this, it just came out yesterday. the more we dig in, i understand why george soros in europe yesterday said it makes no difference to us whether it's romney or obama, we can live with either one. but now, but now gingrich, that would be a real threat. [ applause ] >> seriously?

it's like a food fight in a fifth grade cafeteria and unfortunately, we're talking about presidential politics. joining us now from new york, nbc news political director and host of the "daily rundown" chuck todd. and also with us from the beautiful waterfront in tampa, nbc's peter alexander. that's a nice shot. look, we're beaming to peter, it's dramatic tv. where now is peter? we'll do the reveal. and then zoom in. he nods his head lick a model. >> let's go to chuck todd. >> chuck, you're from the sunshine state. i'm sure you've been hearing us debone both of the leading candidates. and i'm dead serious here. are we too close to this? or does this strike you even in new york as one cynical, negative soul-crushing experience of a political campaign?

>> when is primary politics not cynical and soul-crushing a little bit? i mean you know, remember, remember four years ago, when during the ohio primary, hillary clinton and barack obama started arguing about nafta and obama went to the last of her on nafta in ohio. and then very quietly, austin ghoulsby, got caught telling a candidate, oh, don't worry, this is just a primary. primaries are cynical by nature sometimes when they get heated. because the differences are usually not as great and yet you have to exasperate them. i have to say, i didn't expect kosher meals for medicare recipients to become the closing argument of the gingrich campaign. that was a little stunning. >> or mitt romney singing "america the beautiful." let me ask you a second question historically. is this campaign more negative than most primary campaigns that

you can remember? where 92% of the ads, i believe are romney and gingrich tearing each other up. >> i think it feels more negative for two reasons. i think one is, there is a saturation factor on television in a way we haven't seen in previous primaries. part of that there's just more money on the air. the super pacs have allowed, they've expanded the budget. i'm shocked we're looking at a $30 million ten-day campaign in the state of florida. on television. $30 million. >> $30 million. and mika, so $30 million, 92% of the ads are negative. 30-second ads. that explains why this feels like such a negative, dirty campaign. >> a lot of the ads, peter alexander, tap into some of the crises that we face in this country. the housing market and some of the things that you can tie the candidates to. like newt gingrich and his money that he was receiving while the housing crisis was getting under way. having said that, is it also

because these candidates are not touching a chord with what really is affecting americans now. that we're going through a dark time? >> by 4-1 margin right now, romney is outspending gingrich and in some ways, it's taxing his campaign as they go forward. i think after this florida primary is over, the romney campaign and others may look back and say, our two goals in south carolina were focused on going after gingrich and to better clarify why we, mitt romney can be the better candidate to improve the american economy. they'll say they did a good job on the first half, but not a good job on the second half. the message has been lost. the lead clip on a lot of the broadcasts is mitt romney singing "the beautiful" as well as singing "happy birthday." we know what he's against, but not very many people have a sense of what mitt romney is for.

>> you know, jose, if you had, i'm going to actually compliment the romney campaign now. it's been a long time since i have. but leaving south carolina, knowing the state of florida like you and i know the state of florida, if you're going to win, you're going to run negative 30-second ads, you're going to spend millions of dollars here. that's basically, jose, the playbook. >> that's exactly the playbook. and get as many of the established political forces, different groups and ethnicities behind you to do a lot of the dirty work for you, as well as to be the ones that prop you up when the other side's dirty ads are hitting you, albeit, a whole lot less. >> hey, chuck todd, are you seeing many things in the polls in florida that you think may cause concerns to say newt gingrich, the gender gap? are mitt romney, the excitement gap, that even after the florida results are going to cause

problems for these two candidates? and is there any glimmer of hope for say rick santorum moving forward? >> i am curious that the santorum number. in our poll, we showed post-debate, he actually got, if you think about predebate, post debate, he got a five-point bump, which translated into an overall three-point bump. i'm curious to see if he can break 20. and the higher he gets, that's obviously bad for gingrich. one of the last-minute exit poll questions that the consortium added had to do with the impact of these ads. and you know, one of the things in the last, in many ways, romney is borrowing from the rick scott campaign playbook of 2010. which was sort of, go over the media, you may be having a lot of negatives. but just saturate the state with television ads. rick scott did that. he won the campaign. he has been digging out politically ever since. so you know, there is a price to be paid sometimes when you have

to do whatever it takes. and we've seen it in our national polls. mitt romney still has this negative problem. it's on his personal rating. he's got to figure out how to fix that. and he can't have newt gingrich shadowing him the whole time, fixing it because he can't be always looking over his right shoulder. at some point, he's got to actually look to the center, look to the middle a little bit. in order to start focusing on the general. >> michael steele, rick scott is sitting at 30% approval rating. he was sworn in with a 35% approval rating. as jose knows, all he did was destroy bill mccullum with 30-second ads and it ended up killing mccullum, but it ended up wounding him. >> it did, because the voters turned their focus on the guy who won and they said now what are you going to do? they're sitting there waiting. when he starts to roll out things that they're hearing literally for the first time in some cases, they go really? that's all there is? and it doesn't move the voters to stand behind you.

as you were talking about in the campaign to have the lift? the voters -- >> in six months from now -- >> endorsement? >> eight months from now, romney goes before florida voters again and the same florida voters have seen all of these negative ads, when he starts running negative ads against barack obama -- you know what? it's going to be a lot like linda mcmahon in connecticut. really? we're going to see more negative 30-second spots? and they're going to turn him off. >> they might. in previous primary campaigns, four years ago, you hear all of these ads, we're tired of them. it's worse this year, 92% and just saturation. and nothing that puts the candidates' policies in some sort of big-picture framework. here's where we're going to go. this is how this fits into it. it's just disspiriting to me. >> chuck todd and the very dapper and handsome peter

alexander. >> hey, joe -- you know what tomorrow is? >> national signing day, buddy. forget florida. tomorrow national signing day. that is a national holiday in the south. >> that is a national holiday. how are the hurricanes going to do? >> you know, as always, it always looks good on paper. and nothing like mr. saban. >> always looks good on paper. >> guys, thank you. great job. still ahead, representative debbie wasserman-schultz and verne buchanan. and jack kingston. ♪ there's a place i dream about ♪

♪ where the sun never goes out ♪ ♪ and the sky is deep and blue ♪ ♪ won't you take me american flight 280 to miami is now ready for boarding. ♪ there with you fly without putting your life on pause. be yourself. nonstop. american airlines.

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. [ female announcer ] nature valley granola bars, rich dark chocolate, toasted oats. perfect combinations of nature's delicious ingredients, from nature valley. ♪ nature valley granola bars, nature at its most delicious.

welcome back to jerry's famous deli, we're here in south beach as the sun comes up. believe it or not, i found two more republicans in south beach. john, who are you going for today? >> i'm going to newt gingrich. i think we need someone who understands how to get things done in washington and knows what the problem.

are and i think if romney is the nominee, i think obama will obliterate him. >> you think newt gingrich has a better chance than mitt romney in the general election which goes against conventional wisdom. >> i think that conventional wisdom is wrong. we've seen it again with mccain before, right? you had this idea if you just get the independents and you go moderate, it's going to be okay. but what happens is you depress the base, depress the core, you don't have the people fired up. they're not going to come out and support you and you don't have the contrast you need between obama and the republican opponent. and unfortunately, i think that's going to happen again. so we're back right back in the day. >> and sylvia, who are you going for? >> ron paul. >> no doubt about it. he's been the only consistent conservative in the entire race for 30 years, he's definitely for personal liberty. sound money and limited government. and he's the one that brings in the independents. so we need that to beat obama. >> and he hasn't campaigned in the state of florida, that doesn't bother you? >> not at all. we're hoping for the caucuses and he's going to win. >> and do you think there's any

chance that ron paul comes out as a third-party candidate somewhere down the road? >> if he does, it wouldn't be something i would be against, either. we're at the point where we need somebody, somebody other than what we've got. so anyway, ron paul. >> sylvia from miami, john from palm beach county, we appreciate your time this morning. we'll be right back here at jerry's famous deli in south beach. congressman verne buchanan of florida. [ male announcer ] we know you don't wait

until the end of the quarter to think about your money... ♪ that right now, you want to know where you are, and where you'd like to be. we know you'd like to see the same information your advisor does so you can get a deeper understanding of what's going on with your portfolio. we know all this because we asked you, and what we heard helped us create pnc wealth insight, a smarter way to work with your pnc advisor, so you can make better decisions and live achievement.

[ male announcer ] from our nation's networks... ♪ ...to our city streets... ♪ ...to skies around the world... ♪ ...northrop grumman's security solutions are invisibly at work, protecting people's lives... [ soldier ] move out! [ male announcer ] ...without their even knowing it. that's the value of performance.

northrop grumman. the reporters who run the debates have no interest in asking any question which will affect obama. that's why, that's why as your nominee, i will not accept

debates in the fall, in which the reporters or the moderators, because you don't need to have a second obama person in the debate. >> he's in your hometown. >> pensacola, florida, welcome back. >> 43 past the hour. welcome back to jerry's famous deli on miami beach. and with us now, republican representative from florida, congressman verne buchanan, also with us, "time" magazine senior national correspondent, michael gruenwald, you've been based in miami for six years now and he's working on a book on the administration. he brings a lot of different perspectives to the table. >> what have your thoughts been on the campaign so far? >> looking pretty good for obama. >> that's the bottom line, actually. given everything this we've talked about today? it looks good for the president. >> a lot of negativity, obviously. i think we're seeing the super pacs having a real impact where

people are pumping $30 million into this race and running negative 30-second spots and tearing each other down in the republican party. >> i was watching the heat game last night and all i could, all i could see was boy, you know, gingrich is awful and romney is awful. you could just imagine david axelrod sitting there and watching, thinking this is great. >> and verne, that's the message, you're a florida congressman. you know $30 million spent in the our state, with republicans basically doing barack obama's bidding. tearing down the other candidate. >> you're right, i did a town hall saturday and sunday and joe, you've done a lot of them in florida, we're glad to be here in florida by the way. but at the end of the day, it was about civility. they want people to talk about the future, about a plan. what their vision is for the country. people are concerned about jobs, foreclosures, they want to have small business, what can we do to help small businesses. be more successful. they're very concerned about the future in terms of the debt and

deficit. they feel like we're bankrupting the country. >> what's happening in the campaign? first of all, have you endorsed any candidate? >> i'm endorsing mitt. i think as it relates from a small business standpoint, i think he's better on the issues. that's really my focus. 99% of the companies registered in tallahassee are small and medium-sized businesses. at the end of the day, they create the jobs. >> do you think it's a good idea, though, verne, for mitt to be running so many negative ads? >> no, i don't. i'm not, you know, unfortunately i came in in a cycle in 2006, where it was all negative ads. 10 was negative ads. it's an unfortunate part of the business. people want to hear, that i hear all the time, tell me what your plan is, what you're going to do. >> what's mitt romney's plan? >> i think, you know, i look at his business plan, it's a large plan. i think at the end of the day, it's going to help businesses be more successful. what i mean by that, create an environment that can help them be more successful. with tax code that makes a

little more sense. reduce regulation. i mean everybody talks about that. but the other thing is trying to help them being more successful. you look up and down main street, it's small businesses, to help them be more successful. being in business a lot of years, i had a lot of partners. the people we put in business, my goal was to help people be successful. i think our governor here, you mentioned earlier, has got some challenges with his numbers. but he is focused every day in helping create jobs. >> mike barnicle, are we just being whiners here? is mitt romney doing what mitt romney has to do to win? and we're, maybe we're just too naive to figure out what it takes to win in 2012? >> i don't think we're naive. i think as a nation, as a nation of voters, we're kind of schizophrenic. you know, the congressman is right -- people, you go out and talk to people. they say oh, let's have a little more civility. let's have a little more civility during the course of the campaign. and yet, negative ads work. >> yes, they do.

>> they clearly have be a impact. >> and mike, as we said before and i guess it bears repeating right now, no candidate in american history has run more negative 30-second ads than barack obama. the 2008 campaign, it is a matter of record, the numbers are overwhelming. there's not even a close second. >> but you know what -- >> it works! >> it works. >> it does work. but we are, michael, in different times. we are in times that we haven't seen in a generation, in terms of economic disparity, unemployment and just, the housing crisis. and kind of a sense of depression and malaise and lack of mobility and lack of hope that's going on in this country. i think now more than ever people actually mean what they say when they don't want to see this bs about kosher food or whatever, bickering like a cafeteria food fight between the candidates. they actually want to see some hope. some plan. do they not? or am i giving too much to the

american voters? >> i think certainly by the time the general election rolls around you're going know a lot -- whoever it is, it will be obama and presumably romney or whoever. but they're going to have a lot of money, they're going to be able to get their message across. people are going to know what they're about. i think to some extent, it's going to depend a lot, whether the hope is picking up. if the economy is picking up, people won't be so sour. but in terms of it actual different process, the idea that suddenly negative ads, they don't want to see them, i think people always like mike barnicle said, people always say it, but -- >> one thing on negative ads, i would just say, the primaries, joe, as you know, my primary, my first one, a lot of negative ads, it was after labor day, it's tough to pull the party back together. i think if this thing gets resolved in a month or so, and i'm hopeful that it does, ideally. >> it's not, verne, this one is going all the way to the convention, baby, because of the super pacs, let me ask you, are super pacs a good idea?

>> i don't think so. the fact that someone can put $10 in a race, you could keep life into a candidate forever. that's probably going to happen. so super pacs i don't think make any sense. they have played a big role in iowa and here in florida. >> verne, let's talk about congress, last year, republicans ended the year, pretty badly, being painted into the corner as opposing a payroll tax cut for middle class workers. the deficit went up by another $1 trillion. is there anything that the house republican leadership can do, to make sure in 2012, that we don't have another trillion-dollar deficit? >> well, we passed a lot of things out of the house as you know, in the senate it gets over there and sits there. but for the last year and this year, my focus and a lot of our focus is on what can we do to help small business and create

jobs. i hate to keep coming back to that but there's a lot of people in florida suffering and need a job. the unemployment rate is probably realistically 15%. the when you consider people not on the rolls anymore. that and we're sinking as a ship financially. we get downgraded, and that needs to be the focus. we introduced the constitutional balanced budget amendment, which didn't go anywhere, but at least we got a vote on it. it was a big issue that you pushed, joe. but at the end of the day, it needs to be about getting our financial house in order. we're $15, $16 trillion in debt, going to $20 trillion. my first year here, we spent $2.7 trillion. our revenues are down $500 million and now we're spending $3.7 trillion. where else can you get away with that for the last three years? >> it's unbelievable, unbelievable. verne, thank you so much. >> thank you, verne. >> michael, thank you. final question, important question, the miami heat, will they win it all this year or will lebron choke again. >> oh, please, he says. >> this is the year. >> this is the year? >> this is the year.

>> then everybody will say, oh, it was the short season so we have to do it again next year. >> you know how it goes. verne buchanan, congressman, and michael grum wald, thank you, gentlemen. ahead, "hardball's" chris matthews is here, it's on deck. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. ♪ the employee of the month is...

spark card from capital one. spark cash gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. it's hard for my crew to keep up with 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. 2% cash back. that's setting the bar pretty high. thanks to spark, owning my own business has never been more rewarding. [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? this guy's amazing.

♪ you and me and the big old tree ♪ ♪ side by side, one, two, three ♪ ♪ count the birds in the big old tree ♪ ♪ la la la [ male announcer ] the inspiring story of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. ♪ ♪ you and me and the big old tree side by side ♪ but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the charming outfits. take away the sprites, and the storybook narrator... [ man ] you're left with more electric trucks. more recycled shipping materials... and a growing number of lower emissions planes... which still makes for a pretty enchanted tale. ♪ la la la whoops, forgot one... [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter.

♪ ♪ on. this is mary. who has a million things to pick up each month on top of her prescriptions. thankfully, her walgreens pharmacist recommended a 3-month supply. now, mary gets 3 refills in one and for 3 months she's done. ask your pharmacist about a 90 day supply and how to save with the prescription savings club. individual memberships are just 5 dollars. enroll today.

walgreens. there's a way to stay well. [ thunder crashes ] the first and most important step toward accomplishing something is showing up. [ thunder crashes ] and with the most advanced all-wheel-drive system in its class that adapts to conditions as they change, now all you have to worry about is what you accomplish when you get there. ♪

take the privileged investing tools of wall street and make them simple, intuitive, and available to all. distill all that data. make information instinctual, visual. introducing trade architect, td ameritrade's empowering web-based trading platform. take control of your portfolio today. trade commission-free for 60 days, and we'll throw in up $600 when you open an account.

the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be. ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu. ♪

why would anybody in the establishment think that a massachusetts moderate, which is a liberal by republican standards, pro abortion, pro gun control, pro tax increase, pro gay rights -- why would they think that he's going to be able to debate barack obama. >> i know the speaker's not real happy, speaker gingrich. he's not very excited these days. i know. it's sad. he's been flailing around a bit trying to go after me for one thing or another and you just watch and shake your head. it's been kind of painfully revealing. [ applause ] okay, welcome back to "morning joe," live at jerry's famous deli on miami beach. lovely beach. >> it's great. >> still on set, mike barnicle,

also jose diaz ballard and joining us now also, the host of msnbc's "hardball" -- where's the cook? can i see him? do you want him to sign it? >> yes. >> here, i'm going to sign it for you. >> well, show the front of the book. >> there you go, is that good? >> oh, wow! >> wow. >> are you marilyn monroe? is that who you are? >> no! >> all right, we're just trying to get it. but that's jack kennedy's elusive hero." it's doing great. people love it we love the book. >> but they don't get the kiss in every book. >> right, no they don't. all right, so, let's talk about what's going on. we have a big primary tonight here in florida, winner take all. florida's 50 delegates are at stake in a fight that could determine a republican front-runner for president or send the race into a months-long battle straight up to the convention. voting is now under way, and the latest polls show this is mitt romney's race to lose. the nbc news/marist poll yesterday had the former massachusetts governor with a

15-point lead over newt gingrich, but this morning, new numbers from public policy polling indicate romney is still in the lead but by a smaller margin. it has romney and gingrich just eight points apart. however, take a look at a suffolk university poll showing romney's lead widening to 20 points over the former house speaker. rick santorum follows 15 points behind gingrich, ron paul coming in last with 9%. we've been talking for two hours now about how negative this campaign has been, and is it more negative than, perhaps, the past campaigns that we've covered, or are the times darker and people responding? so, my questions, we start off for you, joe, and what would you do if you were mitt romney right now? what would you say to turn this around without having to go negative, which you know works? >> you know, it's interesting, you say the times are darker than they've been in a long time. i know chris matthews and mike barnicle and jose, you were old enough to remember this, things

were pretty dark in 1979 and 1980. ronald railingan didn't run a slash-and-burn campaign. he talked about his vision of america, the america that he believed in. margaret thatcher in 1979 in great britain, she was part of a crumbling british empire, but she talked about the things she believed in. mitt romney could do that. he could talk about -- >> smirking. >> two very unique differences between what barack obama and big government democrats believe versus what small government conservatives believe. the problem is, chris matthews, campaigns are always about a contrast. and if we conservatives, us conservatives, we believe right now that our choices are between a big government democrat and a big government republican. and the reason why is, if you

look at these two gentlemen's words over the past 20 years, there's not a lot of thatcherism or reaganism in what they say. >> the irony is that mitt romney's only claim to public -- who had a public office was when he ran as a moderate and then as a liberal. >> against ronald reagan. >> actually when he ran for governor of massachusetts, he said i'm to the left of ted kennedy on social issues. he put in place the biggest health care plan of any state anywhere. he was pro-choice. everything he did in public life was that of a centrist or a liberal. now he's saying because i was once a governor, i should be president. if he hadn't been that moderate, the liberal governor, would he even be in this race? so, the irony he has to face is, the only public record he has is that of a moderate to liberal, and now he's running to win the hearts and minds of people like you on the conservative side, people on your right. it's ironic, he has no claim to fame as a conservative. that's his problem. >> no claim at all. >> by the way, motive is the key thing people look for in politics. >> right. >> you mentioned thatcher?

you didn't have to ask what she stood for. from the second she ran -- >> you knew. >> that's why she ran. churchill was the empire, reagan the common man. you knew they wanted those things before they went into office. with romney, all you knew is he wanted the office. >> he wants the office. >> then he came up with reasons why he should want it, but he had to come up with a list of things. by the way, don't you think his consultants are telling him right now what he believes? >> you know, i actually -- >> they're telling him! >> i had a good friend, a close friend of mine that was a governor four years ago of a state, an important state, said he sat with mitt romney alone and asked him, why do you want to be president? just mitt and my governor friend in the same room. mitt couldn't answer. he asked him two, three times, and he finally gave up. you know, jose, though, this is what frustrates me. if you talk to small business

owners, whether in miami, whether in pensacola, florida, you know what, they don't believe that barack obama has the answer to their problems. they don't believe that a centralized federal government has an answer to their problem. they all say the same thing, whether they're democrats, independents or republicans, just get them out of here! let me hire who i want to hire, don't tell me, you know, all these new regulations you're going to place on me, because i'm not going to expand my business. the sad thing, is the conservative vision of america is winning the day, and the sad thing is, we don't have a candidate to drive that message home. >> look, joe, that's the ethos of the american crisis today. i think whether you're a small business owner or you rent a house or you own a home and you're under water and your bank won't refinance you, you're paying a lot more than you're making right now because you lost your job, that's the ethos of the crisis in america.

and i've got to tell you, until politicians on either the democrats or the republicans focus in on that, all these other issues about whether they ran as a liberal or a conservative, whether when they ran massachusetts, they were pro thatcher or to the left of kennedy are moot because people only care about the future that they see in front of them. and quite frankly, for a lot of americans, including hispanics and african-americans that are severely affected by this crisis, they don't see a lot of light at the end of the tunnel. >> and mike, campaigns are all about contrast. i can show you one poll after another that says by margin of 2-1, americans consider themselves conservative versus liberal or even moderate. i could show you polls that show an overwhelming margin -- you talked about reagan, government's not the solution, government's the problem? who do you fear more, big government or big business? it's like a 3-1 margin for big government over big business? i'm not saying that to say that big business doesn't scare the hell out of me at times.

what i'm saying, though, is that americans are waiting for a thatcher, for a reagan, for somebody that's going to clearly annunciate how we get out of this crisis, like reagan did in 1980. and you've got mitt romney, again, who when he ran as governor, angrily said i wasn't even a republican when ronald reagan was president! i won't take you back to reaganism! and now, of course, everybody's trying to grab that mantle furiously. >> on one level, and it's a very true level, all campaigns end up being mirror reflections of the candidate, whether it's reagan or romney or jack kennedy or anybody, bill clinton. one aspect of the campaign is going to be a mirror reflection of that candidate. unfortunately for us as american citizens, the last ten years of american politics has been one long campaign that has convinced people, i think, of one thing

above all else, it is time for term limits. they stay too long, they should go home and try to lead normal lives. why? because of what jose just referenced. we now measure the future as americans, too many of us, by a month or a quarter or the end of the year or a tuition payment. my parents looked at the future of america as what i would do, what my brothers would do. >> a generation. >> we don't do that anymore in this country. >> chris, you've written this incredible book about jack kennedy, and you go back and you read about the campaign in 1960. and i love teddy white's view of it, but it may have been glossed over a little bit. are we being naive when we're looking at how campaigns are being run in 2012? >> well, the quality of the candidates. joe, go back and watch the

nixon/kennedy debates, and you'll be embarrassed for our times. the knowledge they had of american history, the world politics they faced. they were students of the second world war. they grew up under leaders like-degreeal and churchill and roosevelt, and then they tried to be like those guys. there's no role models today. i mean, who's mitt romney trying to be like? he doesn't each know what to want to be like. by the way, i think people want to know what the person believes before they vote for them. i don't think it's all about mechanics, because -- >> what does mitt romney believe? >> i think he believes that his father should have been president and he's going to get there. >> okay. >> i think that's i big part of it. >> jose, what does mitt romney believe? >> there's nothing wrong with it. >> i've long ago stopped being psycho analytical about people and just tried to follow what they say and what they do, and that's a difficulty in these periods. they've changed. >> base e >> based on what newt gingrich says, what does romney believe at his core? >> i think he believes he is the ideal candidate to get jobs once again as a priority for this

country. i think that's basically what he's trying to get across, even though there's mud-slinging on all sides. and i've got to tell you something, there are a lot of people in this country who have other issues that we don't often hear about in english-language media, like their positions on immigration reform, like their positions on the dream act and how they're changing and pivoting depending on how the political winds are blowing. >> so, mitt romney -- >> self-deportation, that's what he believes in. >> so, let ma ask you, jose, mitt romney used rhetoric that concerned jeb bush so much that jeb bush called him up and said, cut it out, you're going to destroy our chances of winning the hispanic vote come this fall. and yet, you look at the nbc news/marist poll, and mitt's running away with the hispanic vote in florida. >> explain that. >> well, the hispanic vote in florida is vastly different than the hispanic vote in nevada and california and texas and new mexico, but i think that it will

be interesting to watch which percentage of the non cuban-american hispanic vote he gets here, too. >> throughout his career and his professional life, joe, up until this moment in time, mitt romney believes above all else that no matter what you're talking about, no matter what the issue is, he can manage it more effectively than you can or that obama can. and in a sense, whether it's foreign policy or domestic policy, well, let's go in and take a look at it like we're purchasing a company. what can we cut off, what could be eliminated, what can be added to enhance the productivity of the product that we're looking at? the product he's looking at now is america. >> so, he believes he can be a better manager. >> yes. >> and that he can take on the opposition. >> but his main project right now is to annihilate newt gingrich. >> yes. >> and to annihilate him here by double digits. he's hoping to annihilate him, remove him from public life and i think he's made a calculation based on inhuman thinking.

he doesn't know newt gingrich. newt gingrich you don't get rid of. the more you try to annihilate the guy, the more he's going to come back. newt knows exactly what mitt romney's up to. that's where mitt romney misses the point, the human quality. you can't eliminate the guy with bad advertising because he's going to come back and remember every bad ad you ran and spend the rest of his life getting even with you. >> and how interesting here -- >> that's what newt's going to do. >> it's fascinating, first time i've thought about this. you get a guy that is the most ordered, almost robotic candidate, against a guy who's the most human, the most flawed -- >> right. >> -- at times, the most gifted, the most maddening, at times the most inspired, and that's what we have now. and you notice, when newt gingrich gets ahead, it all goes off the tracks. >> yeah. >> but if you notice, i saw him yesterday, a clip from abc. he looked centered, he looked calm. i saw the clip out of pensacola. he looked centered, he looked calm. he knows he's on the ropes,

where he likes to be. >> this guy, mitt romney, is a smart businessman. this isn't a business politics. it's different. he's trying to beat newt the way lbj tried to beat the vietcong, overwhelm them with firepower, smash them, kill them, more troops, more ammo, and the more he did that, the more he made the other guy mad at him. and if anybody here thinks newt's going to quit after this election -- >> no way! >> chris, lyndon johnson facing the north vietnamese army and vietcong has not done one thing i've seen mitt done. lyndon johnson never had a psychological profile of ho chi minh. mitt romney, i would bet you, they figure three weeks going dark in february, they can go by killing him here in double digits, they can go newt gingrich into self-destructing by saying something himself. >> wow. >> we'll see. i think his anger's going to supersede his mistakes. the one thing about newt is he

lives off his mistakes. he keeps growing and growing. he's freddy krueger. he's going to keep coming back. >> i can't believe you said that! >> you could also say rocky. >> rocky. >> he gets knocked out -- >> freddy krueger's the monster in the horror flick, right? right when you think you've killed him? >> there's another movie. the drive-in's open the next night, there's a new one. >> the thing is, jose, though -- >> that's unbelievable! >> newt's going to have a month to reload, to stew, to prepare for super tuesday, to prepare for georgia, alabama, mississippi, louisiana, tennessee, oklahoma, texas, all these states that he's going to do, i suspect, well in. and i think this is going to just drag it all the way to the convention. >> yeah. >> i think it could very well go all the way to the convention. and i'm fascinated if the situation is this tense between someone spending four times more than the other candidate on

negative ads, what's going to happen come the fall, when both campaigns have a ton of money and they're both not exactly prissy about going after the other person. >> a totally negative campaign on both sides, $1 billion each. >> exactly. >> and nobody votes, they're so turned off to this thing. you can't turn on the tv without getting a negative ad down here. >> it's unbelievable. >> it's been nationwide for three months. >> chris matthews, stay with us. >> $30 million spent in florida in ten days. >> oh, my god. >> 92% of those -- >> unprecedented. >> -- as negative. >> jose diaz-balart, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thank you, jose! >> let's go to the guys on the beach. what is next? >> hey, mika, i'm out on south beach, starting to know what mike seidel of the weather channel feels like covering a hurricane. a little breezy, i can't lie. i thought it was a shame to come all the way to south beach, miami, and sit inside a dark deli all these mornings, so i came out here to get a little flavor. truth be told, not a lot of people out on the beach, just me and a few vagrants who, perhaps,

stumbled in from the clubs last night. but that's all going to change. the beautiful people will be out here soon. speaking of which, congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz will join us inside jerry's deli, also, congressman jack kingston here in support of newt gingrich. we will be right back to south beach on "morning joe." ♪ i believe in dreams again

♪ oh, yeah ♪ 'cause i believe in you and me ♪ ♪ oh, boy ♪ i believe in miracles ♪ and i believe in you and me ♪ ♪ see, i was lost ♪ now i'm free ♪ 'cause i believe in you and me ♪

but not your wrinkles? neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. its retinol formula visibly reduces wrinkles in just one week. why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®.

whenever you call. why wait if you don't have to. and absolutely no foreign transaction fees. does your card do all that? apply today and earn 50,000 ultimate rewards bonus points when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months. that's $625 toward your next trip when you redeem through ultimate rewards. so, why settle for gold when you can have so much more? chase sapphire preferred. a card of a different color. call the number on your screen or visit our website to apply. ♪

in a few months this is all going to be ancient history and we're going to talk about our own little captain schettino, who is president obama, who is abandoning the ship here in the united states, is more interested in campaigning than doing his job as president. >> what did you call president obama? >> i called him captain schettino, you know, the captain that fled the ship in italy. that's our own president, who's fleeing the american people and not doing his job and running around the country and campaigning. welcome back to "morning joe." 20 past the hour. we have a democrat and a republican congress persons here, and i'm not going to ask them about that sound bite, because i would say that was irresponsible and despicable and i wouldn't make that comparison between the president and the cruise ship captain. so, let's just leave it there. joining us now, representative jack kingston from georgia and debbie wasserman schultz, dnc

chair and democrat from florida as well. good to have you both along with chris matthews. i mean, really, do we need to talk about that comment by ron sprebus, who i like a lot, but that was just wrong. >> contempt. >> that was disgusting. i'm sorry. take it back. you all screwed up in a big way. you all sat around in a room and said, ooh, this would be so cool to say, ha ha ha, you slapped your knees and then you went on the air and then you spit that out, you vomited that out and made a fool of yourself. are we done? does anyone want to add? >> look. >> does anyone want to add? >> i don't know that you can say that was anything more than an independent contractor using his own words and his own writing. >> so, you don't think the republican national committee sat around and planned that before he went on "face the nation" with bob schieffer? >> i don't think so, and there is name-calling there, and i don't appreciate the name-calling any more than you do. however, there is also a point under it. the president does, in the state of the union, kind of revert

back to a kind of lot of small ball items and isn't really handling the big issues of the day. right now the payroll tax cut, which isn't a huge deal, seems to be his biggest focus, rather than -- >> that's great. we can talk about those issues, but what i'm saying is, it's not worth talking about unless you want to. that was gutter politics, a bad parallel, a stupid mistake, and i hope he didn't have help with that, but i think he is. >> politics. >> now we know. but apparently, when he was given an opportunity to actually walk it back, he doubled down. >> all right. >> and you know what, we're talking about families who still have loved ones missing, we're talking about people who lost victims in that tragedy. to compare the president of the united states -- >> ron, i like you a lot, but -- >> unacceptable. >> let's go to the head-to-head matchups between president obama and the other republican candidates, given the fact that we've got a lot of negative campaigning here in florida. what is this doing to the big picture? this could be a snapshot, i don't know, but we've got obama at 47%, romney at 41%, obama 54%

to gingrich's 40%, and you go down the line and see the rest of the candidates as well. i think, debbie, you've said that even as with marco rubio, who is, of course, here from florida, vice president couldn't help romney win the general election. do you think there is any combination with mitt romney that would give the president a run for his money at this point? >> well, look, i think this is going to be a close election, regardless. but in florida, and for me, as someone, we're two blocks from my district, so welcome to miami beach. >> thank you. >> the problem that mitt romney has, and as does the rest of the field, is they are so extreme, so out there on the issues that matter to floridians, that matter to the working families. i mean, we're talking about a field of candidates that support ending medicare as we know it. mitt romney, who sat on the damon corporation board while they were engaged at the time in the largest medicare fraud in history. i mean when it comes to trust, when it comes to conviction -- >> so, look at this, i'll cut you off there because you could go on for ten minutes.

>> i could go on for ten minutes. >> chris, it's too easy. >> what's the question? >> i mean, seriously -- >> well, it depends how you're going to run the campaign. if you're going for the jugular, you're romney and you have some guts, put chris christie on the ticket and go for the reagan democrats. go for the irish, all those people, jewish conservatives who normally vote democrat, but with the right mix will go the other way. so, you try to get them and that's who you go for. that means pennsylvania, ohio, maybe a shot at jersey. that's one way to go. if you want to go for the hispanics, you don't pick a cuban-american. you pick some somebody out west. that would be the smarter move, the governor of new mexico. i'd make a smarter move. but i also think there's another one, go boring and wasp, put portman on the ticket, bore the hell out of the country, maybe carry ohio. or totally clean western, go with newt. people like him, never makes a mistake. >> chris christie said the other day we should have put the civil rights act up for a vote, for a

referendum. really, their field is so unacceptable, whether -- >> chris christie is a strong campaigner. >> in florida, he's running against the only president who's ever cut medicare. $500 million -- >> you know that is not true. >> that is absolute -- debbie! i'm sorry, i love your district, but you know -- >> and i love you, but it is not true. he didn't cut medicare benefits. >> in terms of israel, he is the guy who stiff-armed netanyahu and i've talked to the pro israel groups down there. they're very outraged about that. >> making up. >> he's ignored south america. in florida, they do lots of business in south america they're concerned about. he's probably fellowing up to castro. not 100% sure on it -- >> oh, my god. >> i'm not sure he has a tough stand on it -- >> say he's the strongest financial attack in years, the secretary -- >> [ everyone talking at once ] >> i was saying that he and sarkozy were taking stabs and jabbing netanyahu, and --

>> unfortunately -- >> he stiff-armed him. >> come on. even ambassador michael young has said that's not true. >> he's an ambassador, he has to say that. >> he said president obama is his best friend. president netanyahu has said that the security relationship between the two has never been stronger. the president of paris -- >> let jack finish his thought. >> when you ask the israeli leaders -- >> debbie. >> you know another issue in florida, though, newt was really out there early on the space station, and a lot of the space-related stuff, he is passionate about that that's a big job driver here. but on the subject of jobs, you still have a nearly 9%, or nearly 10% unemployment rate, 11% if you count the discouraged workers. >> okay, jack, your candidate's newt gingrich, and he was on the stump yesterday. and i would think that people want to hear about jobs, that they want to hear about how to

maybe bring back mobility to the middle class, how are we going to push this nation forward? he went after mitt romney about kosher food. take a look. >> governor romney imposed activities on the catholic hospitals against their opposition and refused to allow them the right of conscience in romney care, just as, by the way, he eliminated serving kosher food for elderly jewish residents under medicaid. i did not know this. this just came out yesterday. the more we dig in -- i understand why george soros in europe yesterday said "it makes no difference to us whether it's romney or obama, we can live with either one. but now gingrich, that would be a real threat." >> all right, jack kingston, give it your best shot. what's he doing? i mean, seriously. >> i think he's making the case that romney is a massachusetts moderate, and that rings really well in the republican nomination process. you know, the fact is that he

did support romney care early on, which obama has complimented as being similar to what he used for his model, and he's not been a hard core conservative. he's flip-flopped on abortion and guns and a lot of the other litmus test issues that republican primary voters are very concerned about. so you know, this is a schoolyard for all at this point. we all know that. >> it is! it's a cafeteria food fight. chris matthews, does this work? it works. does it work? >> well, it works. i think it's a good debate. i personally love it. i want this to go on for months. i want this to go on until tampa. >> i think debbie, does, too. >> i want newt to get his time. >> hillary and obama went until june. so, it's only february. >> do you think he would name newt his secretary of state and the thing's all over with? >> as someone who represents floridians, the food fight distracts from the fact that president obama has taken us from bleeding 750,000 jobs a

month to now we've had 22 straight months of job growth in the private sector. i know jack likes to ignore that, but when it comes to making sure that we have a discussion and a debate about what we should be doing to make everyone successful instead of focusing on people who are already doing well, that's where the loss is in this discussion. >> you know, one of the big differences is, the dow jones -- and everybody's retiring here knoi knows about it gone from 1600 to 13,000. if a republican doubled the dow jones for all their retirees, they'd be spiking in the end zone, dancing in the streets. a democrat doubles the dow jones for every retiree in the state and you give him no credit. >> remember, the retirees are on fixed income, and they get a 1%, 2% return on their money. >> oh, come on. >> jack, with all due respect -- >> everybody listening knows -- >> seniors are on social

security and that's their own source of income. they have other investments. someone who represents -- i represent thousands of senior citizens. i can assure you that there are plenty of senior citizens who have investments in the dow, in the stock market, and they pay attention. because a third of seniors only rely on social security -- >> i know the wealthy seniors, but in less affluent areas -- >> here you go, the populist republican. >> they want to make sure they have a safety net. >> the great thing about your show is you do have bipartisan dialogue, which is extremely important. >> and you are! >> unlike what we have in congress. >> one of the problems is right now we need to elevate the debate on all levels. >> agree more. i agree. >> thank you so much. debbie wasserman schultz. very nice. well done. >> thank you. >> candidates, take note. thanks to you all. chris matthews, thank you very much.

you have some books to sign. everybody has bought your book, everybody. >> not everybody gets a kiss. >> jack kennedy, elusive hero" by chris matthews, still on the best-seller list. >> three months. >> amazing! good for you. up next, we'll look at the new thriller "game change" with julianne moore playing the role of sarah palin. she is amazing. we'll show you more on "morning joe" live from miami beach. the employee of the month isss... the new spark card from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game. with spark, the boss earns double miles on every purchase, every day. that's setting the bar pretty high.

owning my own business has never been more rewarding. coming through! [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? until the end of the quarter to think about your money... ♪ that right now, you want to know where you are, and where you'd like to be. we know you'd like to see the same information your advisor does so you can get a deeper understanding of what's going on with your portfolio. we know all this because we asked you, and what we heard helped us create pnc wealth insight, a smarter way to work with your pnc advisor, so you can make better decisions and live achievement.

♪ welcome back to "morning joe." we're on the north end of world-famous ocean drive. it stretches from here, right behind me, all the way down about a 15-mile walk down to a place called mickey beach where the locals like to hang out. notice all the art deco design and architecture here. this place was run down a little bit, believe it or not. if you've been to south beach or miami in the last 20 years, you wouldn't know it. when you see all the expensive boutique motels, the nightclubs, this wasn't the days of tony montana. but today, a beautiful part of miami beach and just steps away

from the beautiful sand and the water. this is ocean drive, and we will be right back to jerry's famous deli right here in miami beach when "morning joe" continues on florida primary day 2012.

an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement available only with liberty mutual auto insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer.

to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy? i have to be a tree in the school play. good. you like trees. well, i like climbing them, but i've never been one. good point. ( captain ) this is your captain speaking. annie gets to be the princess. oh... but she has to kiss a boy. and he's dressed up like a big green frog ! ewww. ( announcer ) fly without putting your life on pause. be yourself nonstop.

american airlines. ♪ we live in the age of youtube and the 24-hour news cycle. ♪ >> how else do you think a man who has no major life accomplishments is beating an

american hero? we need to create a dynamic moment in this campaign or we're dead. if you're going to seriously consider the governor of alaska, we have to call her now. [ ringing ] >> this is sarah. ♪ american woman, said get away ♪ >> you know what they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? lipstick. ♪ >> cnn has us even with obama. >> we can really win this thing. >> i'm not sure how much she knows about foreign policy. >> you can actually see russia from land here in alaska. >> oh, my god, what have we done? >> it wasn't my fault. i wasn't properly prepped. i miss my baby. >> she's on the verge of a complete numbers breakdown. >> telling me what to say, what to wear, what to talk. i am not your puppet! >> i can't control her anymore. >> i just don't want all that.

>> she's a great actress, right? why don't we just give her some lines? >> i am single-handedly carrying this campaign, i'm going to do what i want. >> it's not about you, it's about the country. >> this isn't the campaign i wanted to run. [ chanting ] >> sarah! >> we have to win this thing. i so don't want to go back to alaska. [ applause ] >> wow. that looks like it would be good. >> you, really? because i saw it, i was like, who's going to watch this garbage? >> exactly. no! >> listen -- >> not just because -- >> an amaze iing. the performances, julianne moore, ed harris, dead on, but it's going to take us behind the closed doors of sarah palin and mccain? it looks remarkable. >> it really does.

>> exactly. the people of hbo have done incredible. the guys who did "recap," the director and screenwriter, have knocked it out of the park, and all three of the lead performances, eddie harris as john mccain, woody harrelson is steve schmidt, and most extraordinarily, because of the amazing mimicry involved but also the depth of the performance, julianne moore is going to blow everyone's mind as sarah palin. >> we've obviously heard a lot about sarah palin behind closed doors, that she can be very tough. at the same time, we heard about the meltdown before the debate, where she just emotionally collapsed, and then she came back, of course, and finished strong. >> wow. >> this is really the story of sarah palin, and it doesn't look like it's going to be completely negative. >> oh, no. >> she's vindicated in many ways. >> it is an incredibly balanced portrait. we tried to portray her negatives and positives and they have stuck that movie. you see the dark side, you see the light side, and she is portrayed as an extraordinary

american woman placed in an extraordinarily difficult circumstance for which she was not very well prepared, and she rises to the occasion sometimes, and sometimes she doesn't. but just as a picture of what it's like to be in the crucible of a campaign, for someone who is from a small town mayor, suddenly put on this huge stage with all this pressure. it is an incredibly rich and satisfying portrait. >> i think it's going to be amazing. >> and of course, you know, at the end of the campaign, mike barnicle, it was joe biden that the obama people were keeping off the trail for a while, and it was sarah palin that was drawing 10,000 people to her events. i mean, she finished strong. >> she did finish strong and she's still strong, actually. >> exactly. >> talk about it all we want, she's still strong. but this film is further proof that film making in this country is going to go to places like hbo and showtime. hbo has invested so much in this film. i think internally, they think it's one of the best things hbo

has ever produced. it's going to get more eyeballs, more views as an hbo film than any other film they've ever made. and clearly, you can see from the trailer that we just showed, the performance, as john just indicated, by julianne moore, is just incredible. >> yep. >> the only down side of the film is that hileman makes a cameo appearance, i think as a groupie, which he is. >> plays quinn eiffel in the movie. >> also, willie geist, hbo has disproven the theory that you can't make chicken salad out of chicken crap, because they took a terrific book and they trashed it. >> just trashed. smut. >> dying gossip, and they turned it into what looks like a soaring -- >> we were at dinner last night with hileman. he is completely insufferable in every way. can you imagine now, he's going to have a blockbuster film to his credit, what kind of human

being he's going to become? >> i want to be sick right now. >> thank god for the high-brows in hollywood who lifted us up. >> you take verbal vomit to another level, i'm sorry. i've seen some of the best in the business. >> people have asked me this, and i don't know, how much you on the set, how involved in the movie? >> we were very involved and tried to help them out as much as they could through the every iteration of the screenplay. we sat in a couple times. but they were very, to a degree that i think people were surprised, you hear horror stories about studios taking your work and messing around. they were totally dedicated to trying to get the book right and the history right and they wanted to be as accurate as possible. they did some of their own research and reporting to make sure it was absolutely on the money, because they don't want to be criticized for being biased, almost like documentarians. they really wanted to get it right. >> the officials in baltimore

county had a restaining order from making -- >> oh, my god, i wish we had one. >> i don't get the part about how they changed john mccain's top adviser to a talking pie, but we'll have them explain later. i don't think that's the way it is. >> barnacle said it, internally, and we've heard this at hbo, they're as excited about this as anything they've ever done. >> i can't wait. >> they're giddy about it. >> i can't wait to see it! >> march 10th. saturday, march 10th. >> saturday, march 10th. >> look at that. >> hileman on march 11th. >> more "morning joe" in a moment. live south beach on primary day here in florida. [ jennifer garner ] there's a lot of beautiful makeup out there.

but one is so clever that your skin looks better even after you take it off. neutrogena® healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% saw improved skin. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics.

♪ welcome back to "morning joe" live at jerry's famous deli here in south beach. barnacle, you fond of cuban food? >> yeah, lasagna, especially. >> let's go back inside. >> completely worthless. >> anyway, cuban food some of the best in the world. seriously, thank you. some of the best in the world.

i went to little havana yesterday, to a great spot, great food and a little politics, too. ♪ >> what's the one issue that's most important to you as you think about which candidates to vote for, what is it? >> the country right now, the economic problem in the country has got to be number one. >> well, obviously, the economy more than anything else. >> i will tell you what will help this country a lot, if they make sure and they bring the companies back into the united states. >> what do you think the president could be doing differently that he's not doing to help the economy? >> number one, i think improve the employment fortunate, create more jobs. ♪ >> all right, george, so you're

a registered republican. >> yes, i am. i've never been so confused for a nomination before. >> who are you planning on voting for tomorrow? >> i'm kind of leaning toward mitt romney. >> is there any chance you would vote for barack obama in the fall? >> absolutely not. >> so, who do you think wins tomorrow? >> gingrich. >> do you think newt gingrich will win tomorrow or mitt romney? >> i say mitt romney have the more probably during the election. >> we're a great country as long as we stay together and stay behind our president, whatever president that may be. we have to unite as a nation and know that we will come together and find the solutions. >> my thanks to george, the owner of the restaurant. if you're looking for some good cuban food, hit him up. all right on "the daily show" last night, back-and-forth between colbert and jon stewart. remember, colbert had to turn

over his super pac in south carolina and last night that led to a chase scene. >> here it is, your moment. >> jon stewart, you hold it right there! let my super pac go now, that will be the end of it. i will not look for you, i will not pursue you, but if you don't, i will look for you and i will find you. >> i didn't know it meant that much to you. here, let me just -- you know what, i think i left it at the -- hold on, i think, where is the -- >> mother [ bleep ]! ♪

>> excuse me. i'm sorry to interrupt. >> what? >> have you seen jon stewart? >> no. >> what's he look like? >> about this tall, salt and pepper, giant head, tiny body, like a human bobblehead, but very old. >> no. >> very old. no? i'm so sorry. please carry on! >> so, anyway -- ♪ >> buddy? >> it's over, jon. >> oh! >> you don't have to give it to me, jon. i'm going to take it from you. >> ahhhh!

>> super pac! >> i think he got his super pac back. trying it read into that one. >> he did. >> do you have any more intelligent comments before break here? >> none. i've never had one. >> we'll be right back, tell you what we learned today. here's your business travel forecast. not a lot of bad weather around the country today. northern new england will deal with a little bit of snow. otherwise, it is warm for this time of year. temperatures will be in the 50s and 60s in the mid-atlantic states. atlanta will be beautiful today. chicago and detroit warm, slight chance of showers. same will go for seattle, very

mild. and dallas with a high today of 73. enjoy. you are a business pro. premier of the packed bag. you know organization is key... and so is having a trusted assistant. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above and still pay the mid-size price. here we are... [ male announcer ] and there you go, business pro. there you go. go national. go like a pro. that was as active and on the go as i was. weight watchers online is absolutely that tool. it was never further away than my pocket. my sidekick! the weight tracker really let me see that my real problem area was when i was traveling. it allowed me to kind of tailor my plan to my lifestyle. i lost 29 pounds with weight watchers online. i am like me times five. i'm like cara intensified. [ female announcer ] join for free today. weight watchers online. finally, losing weight clicks.

♪ hey, welcome back to "morning joe." it's time to talk to you about what with learned today. what did you learn, verne? >> it's been a tough primary, but it's a great day in south beach and we need to get focused on jobs and spending, get our financial -- >> there you go. i like that. what'd you learn? >> there will be life after florida, trust me. >> oh, you promise? >> i discovered that he's not a fan of our political process but i'm hopeful. >> what did you find out, mika? >> i couldn't find a baby but i found the next best thing, a teacher. eileen, thank you for coming out. >> hi, west palm beach. >> willie? >> i learned that yes, jerry's