curious question from enter surprisi young page. the miami strippers didn't follow back to 30 rock? bummer. they are in the last we saw last we saw them they were with mike allen of politico. that's burger billions on the left and tip drill right there on the right with mike allen. >> i got one more. >> okay. >> andrew writes, if you play mitt romney singing one more time, i'll stop watching the show forever. >> you know what? we don't want to lose viewers. frankly, we can't afford to, but we've got to do this. i'm sorry. ♪ oh beautiful fore spacious skies ♪ ♪ for purple mountain's majesty ♪ ♪ primary contests are not easy.

and they're not supposed to be as this primary unfolds, our opponents in the other party have been watching, and they like to comfort themselves with a thought that a competitive campaign will leave us divided and weak. but i've got news for them. a competitive primary does not divide us, it prepares us, and we will win. >> and when we gather back here in tampa seven months from now for our convention, ours -- ours will be a united party with a winning ticket for america. >> now, you'll notice the number of folks are holding up a sign about 46 states to go. we did this in part for the elite media because, you know, the same people who said i was dead in june and july and gone

after iowa, who seemed totally quiet the night of the south carolina victory are now going to be back saying what's he going to do? what's he going to do? i want to reassure them together. we are going to contest every place and we are going to win and we will be in tampa as the nominee in august. >> florida voters gave mitt romney a new burst of momentum in the republican race for president. romney won 46% of the vote last night easily outpacing newt gingrich. gingrich took 32% followed by rick santorum at 13% and ron paul who did not campaign in florida at 7%. the win gives romney all 50 of florida's delegates. he now has a total of 70 delegates, 47 more than newt gingrich heading into the nevada caucus this weekend. but a tiny percentage of the 1,144 he'll need to land the nomination. good morning, everyone. it's wednesday, february 1st. welcome to "morning joe."

we'll get to our panelists in just a moment, but first, thurston howell is here. what is this? seriously? did you just yacht in from palm beach? look at you. >> well, i figured it's the age of romney now, right? >> right. >> just start dressing like, you know -- >> he is going to be on the show. >> he is. and i've got to say, just wearing this, i kind of feel like i'm already paying 15%. in taxes. >> does he look rich, willie? >> no, he looks like he's early for wimbledon. >> or hazing week at the university of maryland. >> listen who should talk, with us onset, senior political analyst mark haleprin and chairman of deutsch incorporated with a vest on and a shiny blue tie donny deutsch. >> mr. chairman. >> probably very slick gel in his hair, right? that doesn't naturally sit like

that. >> willie mocked joe long before i piled on. and there's a lot you can work with over there, yet -- >> look at you. you're thurston howell. >> since this is the age of romney and in garb now, i'm going to start running $18 million worth 30-second attack ads against mika. we'll finish her off. >> i'm not piling on because i need a ride back to greenwich later. >> very good. what happened in florida? a week ago, we all heard the press talking about newt's momentum, the polls show newt was ahead, what happened? >> this was not inevitable. even in an unpredictable year, you run a lot of negative ads, you get the momentum back. romney entered south carolina with more money and with a better organization. he didn't have the momentum in the message. by the end, he had all four.

the most money, the best organization, the momentum from the debates and the best message. and that made it a decisive win for him. >> exit polls show romney won the support of 62% of voters who consider themselves moderate. romney was backed by 60% of voters who made more than $200,000 a year and by 59% of cuban-american voters. he also got the vote of 57% of republicans who do not support the tea party. romney won 52% of female voters compared to just 28% of women who went for newt gingrich. and among male voters, romney won 41% to 36%. but the polling shows romney is still struggling with the conservative wing of his party. 41% of florida voters believe mitt romney is not conservative enough to be the republican nominee for president and 38% of voters would still like to see someone else get into the race. let's go back to south carolina. joe, where you predicted what happened here, even when

everyone thought the surge might continue, spread to florida, you predicted mitt romney would win easily. how did you know? >> well, because i have lived in florida since 1978, and you see all of these elections, these statewide elections come and go, and you realize there's no way for momentum alone, or a speech here or a town hall meeting there to carry somebody over the top. the candidates that win, unfortunately, it is a political state when it comes to tv advertising or those that run the most negative 30-second ads. in florida, i grew up seeing one negative 30-second ad after another. unfortunately, some politicians have overlearned this lesson. rick scott still paying for the negative campaign, sitting at 31%, 32% approval rating, and he's been stuck there. he got sworn in as governor of florida with an approval rating in the low 30s because he was so

negative as a campaigner. this is going to stick to mitt romney. >> i would think so, and donny deutsch in the presidential race when obama takes on the challenger and if this challenger gets in there ugly, it adds to the narrative i think that's really bothering people today more than ever and on top of a bad economy. >> mark brought up an interesting point on willie's show, obama who spent more negative advertising than anybody in the history of politics -- i find it interesting, obviously big win for romney, obviously the fact he took 60% of people who said he's the most electable candidates, and republicans wherever they are, they want to get obama out of office. why does every pundit other than we want to keep thing this going say romney's got to start playing to the base? the base is not going to vote barack obama. and if i'm romney, i know i need the reagan democrats, the

suburban voters, i'm not going to go there, they're going to come along whether they like it or not. isn't this thing over? where is this he's not getting the third of the party that's very conservative? where else are they going? i don't know why -- >> what they're not getting from him, joe? >> why is that important? >> because republicans win presidential elections when the conservative base is energized. democrats win when presidential elections when they can reach out to moderates. candidates like john mccain lose. candidates like bob dole lose. candidates like gerald -- hold on, candidates like gerald ford lose. when you have a conservative that can gin up the base, even an unpopular conservative like george bush can be dragged across the finish line in 2004 because you can gen up the conservatives -- >> what does that translate to? >> turnout. that means that you drag people out of their houses that don't

vote in every election. >> the hatred for obama is so clear that i don't know if the base needs that -- that they're going to come either way. and that's why i think -- >> i -- you know, rich lowry wrote in the national review after the election last night, willie. about one of the problems. he said florida shows why when running for president you usually need to have a presidential campaign to be successful. gingrich was a lone man raging against the machine. it turns out that all those aides who quit on gingrich back in the beginning of the campaign for all their disloyalty were right that he needed to build a traditional campaign infrastructure. you can't buy tv advertising with any of those qualities. after south carolina, the cyborg locked gingrich in its sights

and marked him for destruction. it wasn't inspiring and at times it wasn't fair. but, willie, the romney team if you were just grading a campaign on doing what they had to do, whether it was soulless, whether it was unfair, whether it was cynical, and it was all three, they did what they had to do to keep their man alive. >> some numbers to support what rich wrote. romney's campaign combined with the super pac restore our future, 12,700 ads in the state of florida. newt gingrich's campaign and his super paquining our future, 210 30-second ads. the money was $15.7 million for romney, $3.9 million for newt gingrich. that completely supports what rich is writing. and it wasn't just about the money, though mark can speak to this too. they came out of south carolina realizing they had to go after

newt gingrich. they couldn't sit back anymore. you saw it in the debate performance. when he hit back, he went after, he dumped research right on newt gingrich and said we need to snuff this guy out before he gets away with -- >> and mark, i don't know a lot of candidates that wouldn't rather win ugly than lose pretty. jon huntsman lost pretty. mitt romney this past week won ugly. >> won very ugly. >> but that's -- i mean, barack obama won ugly in 2008. he ran more negative ads than anybody else in the history of television. he ran so many negative ads that he actually swung ahead of john mccain on the question of who do you trust on taxes? because remember the misleading ads he ran over and over again with mccain's -- i mean, these negative ads worked. they worked for barack obama, now they're working for mitt romney. >> i think we can take it for granted now that if romney is the nominee his team will be able to -- and his allies will

have a lot of money and run an effective ad campaign. the big variable to me is what do we learn in florida about romney as a performer? because in presidential politics nationally your ads matter, but your performance on the stump matter just as much, probably more. and i think the record on that is mixed. romney was very good at times in florida, but still having trouble with some of his presentation. i think he needs to continue to improve in his fight with gingrich over the next month at least as an opportunity to do that. >> joe, big picture, while all of this is going on in florida, and as you put it, mitt romney gets to win ugly, and it was ugly. and it could get uglier because newt gingrich is not the kind of person to walk away quietly and seems like he'll be taking this for the long haul. look at the president who showed up at i believe in washington, d.c., the auto show there. literally visually sitting in the driver's seat. and as he should given the very good -- no, seriously. well, you tell me.

you can -- i'm not trying to be smug, but -- >> there's no need to be smug. this is going to be a tough, long campaign. but donny deutsch, the man in the driver's seat right there ran more negative 30-second ads four years ago four years ago than any other candidate in history. the only difference between barack obama and mitt romney is the mainstream mediimmediatmedi "washington post," they all covered for him. nobody wrote that story because they wanted him to win. it was shameful the way they covered for him. but this is my take out of florida. as cynical and as depressing as mitt romney's campaign was this past week, if you're going against a guy that's going to run $1 billion worth of negative 30-second ads this fall, maybe just maybe republicans that don't like barack obama, as you said, have had it wrong all the time. because they've all been saying

newt can get mean and ugly with barack obama. no, newt's just kind of all over the place. he's unfocused. maybe you need a negative, nasty, cynical cyborg campaign apparatus to go after the most negative campaigner in the history of american politics. when you just measure by 30-second ads, barack obama. >> of course. first of all, you can't go that negative if you're shooting with a pistol and the other's shooting with bazookas. i think we should stop using the term negative ads. >> why? because i attached it to barack obama. no, i call a time-out here. because we've been using negative ads all week when attacking mitt romney and when i brought up the simple fact that every objective outside reporter has stated that barack obama ran more negative 30-second ads than anybody in the history of american politics, suddenly, it's, oh, let's not call them negative ads. was that a coincidence?

>> you make a choice, joe. >> not to answer my question. >> first of all, what i'm saying, negative ads whether it's barack -- >> donny. >> donny -- >> come on, giligan, get it out. >> those are what those ads are. negative ads work because you can put facts in them. and positive ads, there's no take away. we've got to stop calling it ugly and call it competent. they're playing within the rules. on both sides. if i was running -- >> no, willie -- >> by the way, i want my commander in chief whether it's either one of those guys to know how to win. >> this is so beautiful. no, this is so beautiful -- >> you're doing something naughty, as well. >> all week we're talking about mitt romney's negative ads and nobody interrupts me one time. >> really? >> now, we bring up the fact that barack obama ran more negative 30-second ads than anybody in the history of american politics and sudden suddenly --

>> hold on, everybody. >> it proves -- >> you can get facts into negative ads. >> you never -- >> you never answered my question, joe. which is big picture -- >> you could write a book about just this segment. >> exactly. >> i'm sorry. go ahead. just like john kerry's 13.1%. >> it's like popping popcorn with the top off. >> 13.1% tax rate, it's amazing nobody talked about that through 2004 but now they're talking about it. >> i asked you about whether or not the president is literally and figuratively in the driver's seat right now and you went to the fact he ran these negative attack ads. you're just as guilty. and you know he is. oh, please. >> no, he's not in the driver's seat. >> yes, he is. >> even david axelrod says they're not. >> you think president obama right now with a slight upswing in the economy and watching this, i won't call it a freak

show, but it is a clown show with absolutely no message and nothing to offer. >> hope and change. >> no, you even say that the republican candidates have given you nothing. >> hope and change. >> you don't think the president's in the driver's seat? are you crazy? >> no, i don't. and i don't for the same reason david axelrod doesn't think the president's in the driver's seat. when people congratulated him, we were at meet the press, congratulations, he looked at them and goes -- do you know how many more ups and downs there'll be? >> i'm talking this moment in time. >> you can save the tri -- >> i'm not trying to be smug. i was trying to pull the lens out. >> can i -- >> i've got to say, even at the palm beach yacht club, they don't -- >> willie, you're supposed to help. >> i would like to give the driver's seat argument and then counter it. i'm defending you. >> i know, but donny, you defending me is like -- >> he's in the driver's seat.

the mitt romney of the last five days could win, but the president's the favorite still. and his skills are part of it, and the fact that he's an incumbent, but mitt romney has a ton to prove over the next month, month and a half if he's going to try to get back. >> and i agree that the president right now is certainly -- you've got to be a favorite. but it's way too early. newt gingrich had a 75% chance of winning florida a week ago. >> 75.3%. >> with 1,000 caveats, didn't turn out quite that way. >> you would agree though too, joe, that mitt romney has to start putting a message out there. >> donny, thank you for trying to defend me, you just have to decrease the cheese factor if you want to defend me. you have to be credible. >> this is just terrible. you know, i -- we got a guy dressing like -- >> he looks like mr. rodger's. >> and i get mocked because i

have a little hair product in my hair? >> a little hair product? third world countries are fueled by this. >> he's in the driver's seat of a ferrari, that's how fast he's roaring. >> you know what? i -- i think -- >> that was a mustang shelby, by the way. >> i think i've been very clear about my concerns about mitt romney's campaign this week, but it's just -- this is going to probably be a pretty darn close election because i'm afraid the economy is not -- every economist i talk to says that we're going to -- >> cbo just came out with something that's saying that the economy's going to get more sluggish over time. so. >> the cbo report also on the debt, which nobody wants to talk about was really really depressing. >> yep. all right. coming up, we're going to talk to the winner of the florida primary mitt romney, also buddy roemer and rob portman will be

on the show. >> good. >> he is someone who some see as a possible vice presidential candidate this year. >> i'll put him on the short list. up next, a look at politico's top stories of the morning. but first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> welcome back, and thanks for bringing some of that heat with florida with you. temperatures incredibly warm throughout the eastern half of the country and the midwest. yesterday, 66 in d.c., 65 in kansas city, one of the warmest ends of january we've ever had around the country. still warm this morning, but there is rain out there, light rain, new york, philadelphia, exiting washington, d.c., but there'll be more showers as we go throughout the morning. showers this morning and then we'll clear it out for a nice warm afternoon. look at d.c. this afternoon, up to 67 degrees. still very warm from dallas to denver to kansas city. so when are we going to see the cold air? right now it's locked up there, the deep purple color. over next week, we don't see the

cold air making too much headway. it gets cold up in canada as we go through the second week in february, i think that's when some of the cold air will return to the u.s. looks like our mild winter continues for at least one week more. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. 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?

♪ i'm so in love with you ♪ above the fruited plains >> unbelievable. time now to take a look at

the morning papers. the "wall street journal," an alarming new report on global terror threats facing america. the director of national intelligence told congress yesterday that iran appears prepared to conduct an attack within the united states. he warns that iran's leaders are reacting to perceived threats from the u.s., and its allies. and pressure is being put on iran's nuclear program. >> you know, i'm skeptical of that. i just don't think the iranians are that stupid. one attack, seriously, one attack traced back to this iranian government, and the nation will be turned into a parking lot. americans have been waiting since 1979 to get their revenge on iran, and the iranian leaders, they have not stayed in power since 1979 by being that stupid. i'm just saying, i'm very skeptical of that report. >> okay. >> they tied it to the alleged assassination attempt of the saudi ambassador to the united states. i'm just saying, i'm skeptical. >> let's go to the "new york

times" which reports facebook will file official paperwork with the s.e.c. to begin selling stock on the open market. the public offering expected to value the company between $75 billion and $100 billion. >> let's go to a guy a lot of americans like to see, you know, his office turned into a parking lot. >> it's true. >> it's a little harsh. >> jim vandehei, i thought so. >> he is disliked. he's the ayatollah -- >> what's the word used in the video? >> don't do it, mika. >> hi, honey. >> let me say, if i run for president, not only -- and then i'll -- >> that's inflammatory and unresponsive. >> i'm going to turn politico into a parking lot. >> hey, that's jim vandehei. >> how you doing, man? >> i could not be better. i want to argue with you guys. actually the entire table. >> okay. >> everybody there is a little

obama's great, obama's going to win reelection, he's the favorite. i do not think he is the favorite going into this general election. ask anyone in the white house if they think he's going to win independents if unemployment's at 8.5% and there's anemic growth. and then ask economists, do you think it could be at 8.5% and we could have anemic growth, the answer is emphatically, yes, he's done poorly with independents the last two years, and even in match-ups amid this ugly republican primary, he still doesn't do well against romney or even ron paul in swing states. so for everyone to just assume, oh, obama's going to do great because he had a great state of the union speech, i think that is contradicted by the facts in the polls. >> vandehei, seriously, like all the boys here -- hold on. you know what? zip it. >> -- my ferrari, is that's what's happening here? >> all of you have listening problems and it's not surprising because you're all boys. you hear what you want to hear. all i said -- and i completely agree with you, jim vandehei

that it's going to be a very difficult race. but, joe, at this moment in time, it's looking good. at this moment in time. >> for whom? >> oh -- >> you don't agree with me then, mika. >> you -- >> i just got a shot of my sweater in the return, i've got to change this thing. >> too late. we all tried that earlier. >> no, it's awful. >> let's talk for -- >> this is taped delay? >> yeah. taped delay. super pac funds, we talked about that, it was huge in florida. what does it look like going forward? if it makes it into the general, how much money will he have stacked up against president obama? >> he's got his path to the general so much easier because he has $20 million and his super pac has even more. he has so much more money than the other candidates combined. he's extremely well positioned. and you can see the makings of a fund-raising base that can be

competitive with president obama. that's another reason i don't think president obama's path is as easy as others do. i think republicans between these outside groups and between business leaders who are frustrated with the obama administration can essentially make the fund-raising battle a wash over time. that's a much different calculation than people thought six or nine months ago where they felt maybe obama could raise a billion dollars between his campaign and other campaigns run by his friends that used to work for him in the white house. so i think romney is obviously well-positioned in the short-term. you can't completely count out newt. and what newt needs is he needs the anti-establishment conservatives to officially rally around him. he would really need -- and in short order, sarah palin, rush limbaugh, other conservative leaders that don't like washington conservatives to basically all gather around and say he's our guy. he's the official alternative. >> jim, he's got sarah palin because you listen to her last night on fox. and, i mean, she's everything

but a newt surrogate right now. not so with rush limbaugh, though. >> correct. >> and a lot of people have been mistakenly saying that rush has gotten behind newt. he's not going there. and i think newt gingrich did more to hurt himself with people like rush limbaugh and other bedrock conservatives with those silly bain attacks a couple of weeks ago. >> i think we need to e-mail -- one of our reporters e-mailed rush limbaugh yesterday before the vote and limbaugh said he was undecided on who you're going to vote for. so you're right, if he ended up voting for romney, that would be a huge surprise and big blow to gingrich. gingrich, i do agree damaged himself with the way he went at romney and gave some of these conservatives real pause. and the anti-establishment conservative movement is so spread out, there is no real leader other than maybe sarah palin and newt gingrich and a few others, and that's what

makes this really difficult to mount that kind of challenge. >> very difficult. and limbaugh yesterday commented on how he was getting hammered by some for not attacking romney enough. and, you know, not trying to read between the lines, but it's certainly possible judging from what he said that the guy voted for, you know, romney or santorum. >> part of what this month is about is waiting to see what happens to that conservative movement that jim's talking about and whether they see romney now as somebody that has to be stopped. jim, next week, cpak meets in washington, do you think that's an opportunity where gingrich can if he does well in washington, can try to coalesce the group the way you're talking about? >> it can. and i bet you newt gingrich is going to come out with whether it's an official contract with america or some other knock off. he's going to come out with something in the next couple of weeks that plays to the tea party and sarah palin. four or five policies that

differentiate him from mitt romney. basically the differences right now are stylistic, not that substantive. i don't see huge disagreements between the two. i think he's going to want to draw a clear line and really try to define himself as that conservative alternative. and if he can do that and somehow get a big endorsement, maybe that can help give him lift in what's otherwise going to be a tough month for him. >> who are we kidding? newt gingrich will never get this nomination. cpak, it doesn't matter, we're talking to ourselves. give me one scenario where newt gingrich is the republican candidate? >> jim vandehei? >> the scenario would be that there's still a huge contingent of people who don't want romney to be the nominee. >> i agree. >> there's a tremendous amount of uncertainty. if santorum weren't around, if conservatives laid their hands on newt, he could be. i would bet on romney, but there's an alternative. somebody's going to be that alternative. >> donny, you're fighting the last battle.

go back to the night after south carolina. this changes very quickly. romney won new hampshire and he was inevitable, and then south carolina, newt wins and suddenly people think he can win. so, yeah, romney won florida, ran a lot of negative ads. let's see what happens in nevada, ohio, what happens in arizona. >> i got 20 -- >> oh, i'll take it. >> i'm not betting on newt. but it's possible, you -- >> since joe's going to lose, i'll take it for him. >> mitt romney has to close the deal. >> absolutely. >> you may want to bring this up, i don't know if it's a human resources issue, the behavior of mike allen in south beach, here's a photograph right here. >> suspension without pay. >> we have reporters with edge everywhere. >> that's tip drill on the right. >> he was seen -- >> what are you saying? >> i would bring it up in the

staff meeting. >> we have reporters of all stripes. >> jim vandehei. still ahead, much more on the florida primary results, david gregory, chuck todd, and tina brown. also bill murray turns up on letterman dressed for the super bowl. we'll show you what he did when we come back. ♪ we were skipping stones and letting go ♪ [ 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. 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.

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all right. we'll take a break from florida, do a little sports quick. peyton manning, there have been rumors he's going to retire because of problems he's had, spinal fusion surgery in september. he told espn yesterday, he's not retiring, he plans to play. he says his recovery's going as he hoped it would. the big question, though, will the colts keep them on their roster. they owe him $28 million. >> that is the one thing that rob lowe has gotten wrong. >> yes, so far. >> so far. >> he may be right in the end, though, we'll see. last night, bill murray, this is a loose tie to the super bowl. bringing a little flavor to letterman's show. bill murray's appearance marked the 30th anniversary of the time he was dave's first ever guest

in 1982. and he showed up in full gear. shoulder pads over the jersey, representative the giants, and then they took it outside where bill murray attempted a field goal with dave holding and regis philbin as the referee. >> hut, hut -- hut two! >> there it is! no! >> no good! >> wait, wait, wait! >> oh, my -- >> was that good? >> one more, one more. yeah! >> regis -- regis looked like an old timy ref, the baggy pants. >> this one's for you. >> oh, good. >> guy in england, soccer match yesterday, wanted some international attention. and he's getting it here.

>> does it involve handcuffs? >> it does. >> the guy runs out on the field, instead of running around drunk and half naked, tries a new approach. he handcuffed himself to the goal post so they couldn't run him off the field. police tried to find a set of bolt cutters. they eventually did cut him loose. everton won the game 1-0, our good friend roger bennett suggested something on twitter. to prevent copycats, police should give him the scar face treatment. i believe that involves dismemberment. >> a wonderful metaphor for newt gingrich holding on dearly for the run for the republican nomination. i thought there was a great story in bringing those two things together. >> it's not a negative ad, it's just contrast. >> what's wrong with everything right now? it's not working. >> i'm going back to palm beach. >> it's not working. >> you should change the sweater. >> i love the sweater. just a tie. a tie with that. >> let's shake it up.

>> a whole ode to collegiate america. education, i like to tie these things together. >> we've got to bring back the -- >> you set the tone. it starts with you, so let's reset. shall we? >> you've committed to it. stay with it. >> stay with it? >> mika's must-read opinion pages, you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. the employee of the month is...

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44 past the hour. time now for the must-read opinion pages. but first, an update on something mentioned at the top of the show, the congressional budget office is projecting that the united states budget deficit will shrink to $1.1 trillion this year, that's down a bit from last year's $1.3 trillion deficit. the agency predicts the fall is

due to the strengthening tax revenue and a slow down in government spending. but, the cbo notes that in the next ten years, entitlement programs are likely to drive up spending again. and in more difficult news for the obama reelection team, the cbo predicts the national unemployment rate will remain above 8% for both this year and next. and i have a "wall street journal" op-ed that will back that up. >> and the headline really is, the cbo's headline was -- and in fact, they said, it's not just the economy, it's the debt also. this will be the fourth year in a row the united states has run deficits of over $1 trillion a year. the first 200 years of the united states, we didn't accumulate $1 trillion in the aggregate, and now we're doing it every year over the past four years. bad, bad news for this economy in the long run. the debt does matter.

deficits do matter. >> look at europe. >> we have to balance an approach to job growth with also the approach to slowing down the massive deficits that we keep accumulating. >> all right. from the "wall street journal," mark haleprin, listen to this, $5 trillion and change, this is the paper's editorial. about $1.25 trillion, cuts come from the automatic reductions that congress and mr. obama agreed to last year. but wait, more than half of those cuts will come from the military budget and even defense secretary leon panetta says these could be devastating to national security. to sum it all up, cbo's facts plainly show that mr. obama has the worst fiscal record of any president in modern times, no one even is close. is that fair? >> well, he inherited a big problem and he's dug us out part of the way. >> i agree. >> but he's certainly not done anything to -- in the last few

years -- come forward with a serious deficit reduction plan. and i understand some of the reasons he's held back, but i think going into an election year, the political system should demand that he comes forward -- if he doesn't like these cuts, he should come forward with his own explanation at how he'd put us on a path to balance. >> he inherited a problem from george w. bush and he's made it much, much worse. >> that'll be a very good republican slogan. >> it's a matter of math, numbers, you can google it, look at what the deficit's been, look at what the deficit's projected to be if he stays in office for eight years. it's not a close call. george bush doubled the national debt from $5 trillion to $10 trillion. eight years with barack obama would double the national debt. based on his own projections from $10 trillion to $20 trillion. >> what's mitt romney's solution? >> that's answer number one that could be good for -- >> it's a nice change of subject here, but -- but let's focus on barack obama for a second here.

>> i agree with you -- >> and this "wall street journal" editorial, as a matter of math, if you look at his policies and project them out ore ten years, the "wall street journal" is dead right. you can talk about -- you can talk about oh, what barack obama inherited. and i'll be the first to say george w. bush had a miserable record on fiscal restraint. >> during better economic times for this country. >> but barack obama has projected a ten-year deficit and a ten-year debt that will cripple the united states of america. and as mark haleprin has said, he's not done anything about that. in his first three years. >> but to be fair, he inherited slow economic growth, you'll never reduce a deficit without robust growth, and you cannot balance the budget without increased revenue and republicans refuse to -- >> i'm agreeing with you, but, okay, we need a solution. what are the republicans' solution? >> mitt romney's offered no solution. >> that's all i'm saying. i'm with you there. but it's easy for all of us to

go like this, but someone's got to -- >> it's what i've been saying for years. you've got big government democrats and you've got big government republicans. and i've said, willie all along, one of the things that concerns me about mitt romney is we may be about to elect another big-government republican. if you take what mitt romney said a couple days ago on florida about he will never touch medicare -- >> and like him or not, newt gingrich made a speech last night after the result came in where he shook conservatives and said, guys, look at this guy, and look at me, and then he laid out the things he would do, which were a little ambitious, i think is a polite way to say it, the day he got into office. saying one more time, are you really, conservatives, going to go with this guy? i'm the conservative in the race. and that was the case he tried to make last night after the result after he lost by 14 points. >> by the way, a fascinating article by bill crystal, why february could matter. he says watch february because

there's another story going on here. it's the santorum versus gingrich story. what happens if santorum catches gingrich in one state or two in february? does that turn santorum into the possible conservative alternative to romney? >> he's that likable guy. i don't agree with anything he says, he's the one candidate you look at and go, this guy's for real. you believe what he says. still ahead, we'll talk to mitt romney fresh off his florida primary win. and also, willie's news you can't use is next. when bp made a commitment to the gulf, we knew it would take time, but we were determined to see it through. today, while our work continues, i want to update you on the progress: bp has set aside 20 billion dollars to fund economic and environmental recovery.

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oh, yes, is it time, willie? >> it is time for -- >> what do you have? >> i have a quick update from the best dressed of all of our friends, jonathan capehart. the sweater is fantastic. don't change. >> i'll change back. >> i think he wasn't comfortable in it. >> i thought it was a good look. >> i was very comfortable in my look. >> you were comfortable? >> donny liked it a little too much. >> that's the problem, you were not comfortable. >> when jonathan capehart speaks about fashion, america listens. so the first lady last night was making her case for her

husband and not mitt romney as the singer who can lead this country for the next four years. first, president obama, you remember a couple of weeks ago at the apollo. ♪ i'm so in love with you >> and now the first lady, michelle obama on the tonight show last night. >> did you ever think at this point in your life together he would become a singing sensation? did you ever think that would happen? >> who -- no, not at all. he sings a lot of al green, marvin gaye, a little stevie, he likes the classics. >> did he say to you, i'm going to sing? >> no, that was completely spontaneo spontaneous. i didn't even hear about it until it got on youtube. but he does have a beautiful voice. and he sings to me all the time. >> really? >> yes, he does. >> like what? >> he does.

he sings that song. that's why when people said he sang and i said i bet he sang al green. >> he would have a better singing voice than you? >> yes, he does. absolutely. >> that was cute. that was adorable. >> how did she feel about the performance the other night in florida? of the man trying to take her husband's job. ♪ oh beautiful forspacious skies, for amber waves of grain ♪ ♪ for purple mountain's majesty above the fruited plain ♪ >> did you hear mitt romney sing? what did you think? >> i saw it in the green room. >> right. right. >> it's beautiful. >> beautiful? >> that was great. >> that was great. there was a perfect pause there. >> i think we can agree on that. that's not a partisan issue, the president was better than romney. >> oh, boy.

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in the state of the union address, the president actually said these words. he said, let's remember now how we got here. don't worry, mr. president, we remember exactly how we got here, you won the election. leadership is about taking responsibility not making excuses. in another era of american crisis, thomas payne is reported to have said, lead, follow, or get out of the way. well, mr. president, you were elected to lead, you chose to follow, and now it's time for you to get out of the way. >> before we get to go to the various balls that night, we are going to have a work period because this is going to be a working presidency. i may not get in as much golf as obama, but i'll get in a lot more job creation. and i'll tell you up front, i'm not going to compete with obama in singing because i'm not running for entertainer in chief, i'm running for

president. and i would say to him now, mr. president, you cannot sing your way past a disaster of your presidency. >> mitt romney won the florida primary yesterday with 46% of the vote easily outpacing newt gingrich. gingrich took 32% followed by rick santorum at 13% and ron paul who did not campaign in florida at 7%. welcome back to "morning joe," everyone, top of the hour, mark haleprin and donny deutsch are still with us. and joining the table, the editor of "newsweek," tina brown is with us. >> mika, you make a singing reference. newt makes a singing reference, right? >> he did. >> and he talks about barack obama. he decided not to the talk about mitt romney, but i think that was directed at mitt romney, as well. >> could have been. >> so santorum may break out into -- >> but neither newt nor mitt mentioned each other last night. >> isn't that fascinating?

they went from tearing each other apart -- >> to just ignoring, to not even knowing the other was there. >> talking about the president. no, it's -- this is about how it looked in florida this past week. here's a cover of newsweek about the gladiators. they, mika, these two guys just tore each other from limb to limb and there are a lot of republicans worried that it's going to damage the party in the long run. >> it was ugly. and i think we're going to have mitt romney on the show this morning. and i think you know what. we had a pretty heated conversation yesterday about what it is he has to offer, what is his message? what does he plan to do? and why don't we make a point of asking him? >> yeah. >> what it is. what he's about, and go beyond the negativity of what we've seen and see what's there. i -- i don't know still. >> mark haleprin, break down the numbers for us. >> that's because you're not listening. >> you're not either. >> the numbers from florida? >> what happened? >> the crushing victory for mitt romney. he won every group but the most

conservative voters, he did well with a lot of groups who he needs to do well with in order to win a nomination in a general election. and he as i said before, he became the most conservative candidate in the race, which he wasn't going in out of south carolina. he outflanked gingrich on the right on enough issues. he was able to take the money he had, become the momentum candidate again and organize the thing much better -- >> the numbers that mattered really, though, had to do with the money spent on 30-second negative ads, right? >> you know, that is a big part of winning races in florida and presidential politics, but he drove -- excuse me, he drove a message much better than newt gingrich. it should be a great parallel universe if gingrich should come out of south carolina, continue to talk about the economy, the contrast with mitt romney, had good debates, then it would have been an interesting race. >> but give me $16 million with my opponent having $3 million, i'm going to drive the message much better, as well. >> if you ran against mitt romney in florida and he had 16 and you had 3, who would win?

>> you've studied this guy before. he was your cover story. people keep liking -- they love to say, this is the end of newt. this is newt's waterloo, newt keeps coming back. i've got a feeling newt has a lot more fight in him. >> i do think newt is going to keep going just kind of powered by that kind of, you know, mean spirit of his. he'll want to keep going just to kind of show his fists, you know -- >> wait a minute, i'm sorry -- >> no, no i don't think so. but i do think it's interesting and people keep trashing the primary process. in some ways i kind of love it because it's forced romney to show that he can be a carnivore. we've always felt romney is this tepid guy. so what if he drowned newt in money in a sense. that's what it takes and he showed he did it. and at this rate he won't need chris christie to be his running interference for him. >> i don't see the carnivore. and pasty faced mean spiritedness, only tina brown could say that. >> you know, the thing is, tina

brings up a good point that we were talking about earlier. republicans have been saying for some time that, you know, newt's the guy that can take down barack obama in a debate, in a campaign. maybe the very things that have offended me in mitt romney's campaign, how cynical it was, how much it was driven by negative 30-second spots, as rich lowry said, how they were like a cyborg that marked gingrich for extinction, maybe over time tina's right, mitt's proving he may be the guy th that -- that's best lined up to at least organization wise beat barack obama in the fall. >> let's also not criticize the guy because he was able to raise $15 million. that plays to his strength, number one. number two, very interesting thing in the polls that 40% of the people said advertising swayed their decision. people never -- >> they won't admit that. >> no, never, ever, ever.

so the fact that almost 2 out of 5 people are saying you know what? admitting ads, which means it's probably more 2 out of 3 people are actually being affected -- >> they were drown in it became like the american idol of ad-making. >> two other things. the good news for mitt is newt has forced him to put some testosterone and show some fangs. the other thing, very interesting, at newt gingrich's speech last night, there were more people in the audience from the press than there were actual people there. and it just shows what's going to keep newt alive is us. because if we don't, there's nowhere else to go. and basically, there was a hardware convention and most of the people in the audience were media people or people from the hardware convention. and how much of is it -- i want him in there versus the real desire -- >> it's interesting how 29% of women only, you know, voted -- he lost women, newt, he did. it's interesting how the

evangelicals are more willing to forgive newt than women are. >> romney won 52% of women voters compared to 28% who went for newt gingrich, that's not surprising to an extent. and male voters, romney won 41% to 36%. but the polling shows romney's still struggling with the conservative wing of his party. 41% of florida voters believe mitt romney is not conservative enough to be the republican nominee for president. and 38% of voters would still like to see someone else get into the race. joe, what do you make of that? and does that concern you big picture about the party's choices? >> i think i've been very clear -- >> you have. >> i'm concerned about the party's choices. >> this late? >> well, i think it is too late for a true conservative -- let's say a mike pence, a jeb bush, a chris christie, to get into this race. but, you know, we have, mark haleprin, what we have. and we've got one guy who i fear

is a big government republican in mitt romney, and another guy who i fear is so erratic that i don't know exactly how to label him. he's talking about lunar colonies by the end of his second term. and i'm dead serious. newt's always had sort of this flare for these grandiose ideas. and if you just say grandiose ideas and went home thinking about his grandiose ideas, that would be fine, but many have to do with using the federal government to ford those ideas. i don't see small-government ideas. you look a the fact we're facing five more years of high unemployment, look at some of the other things. spending's out of control. we don't have an anecdote to that in the republican party. >> romney's running as a small-government conservative. that's how he's running. and i think if he's the nominee, there's going to be an

engagement with the president. >> what's his balanced budget plan? >> more economic growth. >> down the road. >> down the road. >> that sounds like george w. bush. >> why would you -- >> i've got more questions, you say he's running as a small-government conservative. what's his plan to save medicare? >> he likes the ryan plan. >> what's his plan? >> he likes the ryan plan. >> is he going to have the guts that marco rubio had to say if you're a senior, you're going to keep -- the way your social security benefits are coming in, that's fine? but if you're younger, you're going to get it when you're 70? have you heard him say anything? >> i have not heard the president say much of that either. >> of course. but he's not selling himself -- >> if romney's the nominee, i think it's possible we'll have that debate. >> you've been saying for three years that barack obama was going to do the responsible thing on entitlements and you've been shocked every time when he's pulled back at the last second. these politicians -- these

big-government democrats, and big-government republicans they're not going to do the responsible thing. >> i've said it before, like donny's friend arthur fozarelli, i was -- >> i feel the way you do and i go barack, barack, it's not working and i want to go somewhere. and then i watch mitt romney. and i can't get there. and i go back and i think that's what happens to people. anybody who is logical agrees with what you're saying. okay, time to go somewhere else. and you see that man, and you can't bite. you just can't bite. >> what a way of -- >> wait, wait -- >> i want to hear -- >> i'm going to -- >> do you know why you can't embrace mitt romney in the end? >> why? >> and most americans can't. >> because you've never voted for a republican in your life. >> not true. not true. false. >> i want to hear what tina brown has to say. >> he talks about how, you know, mitt struggled to be mr. right.

to actually win his own party over. it means that, in fact, you know, for his first term if he wins, he's going to govern in a much more right-wing fashion because he's going to be a hostage of that wing as soon as he gets in because he's had to fight so hard to prove that he is mr. right. i think he is going to govern far more from the right than people will give him credit. >> could he not be at heart a conservative who managed to run in massachusetts instead of utah? you wonder why he didn't run in utah. if he ran in utah, he could run as a conservative. >> i think he was running in a state of massachusetts did require that positioning. and i mean, you could argue that romney is a man of expedience, okay, but he is a practical man. and you know, he did what flew in massachusetts. so i do think he's much more conservative at heart. and i do think that he is really trying to say that now, but it's difficult for him. and i think he's doing pretty good at it at the moment. he drowned newt in money, but it takes that. >> that's it. >> and it does to donny's point, it shows he has been immensely

competent and organized in massing this money and running it well. >> if he's elected and there's a republican congress, he won't be held hostage to them, he'll get a chance to do what he wants to do. >> they should get onboard with him very likely. >> we have some election polls. saying electability was the quarter that mattered most. mitt romney beat gingrich 53% to 38%. compare that to south carolina where voters who compared electability voted for newt gingrich 51% to 37%. another key element to mitt romney's landslide victory, the debates. voters who said debate performance was important, mitt romney got the best of newt gingrich 42% to 34%. in south carolina, it was newt gingrich beating romney 50% to 23%. south carolina was just set up for gingrich to win. >> gingrich -- >> debate wise before they

started. >> mark haleprin, the question is out of florida. and we've been talking a lot about the negative ads. but newt also hurt himself with two debates. he had two flat debate performances in a row. i think all of us that have followed these guys can understand how you can have one flat debate performance because it is such a brutal process, but expecting to come back that second time, and he was just as flat, just as bad. what are you hearing? what happened? >> he's clearly tired, and part of what february's going to be about for him is getting better rested. politicians make mistakes when they're tired. he's just -- he likes to fancy himself as someone who can go all day. he was tired -- >> he's 68. >> and the other thing is, the romney campaign got in his head discombobulated him. he lost badly, but imagine having lost worse given he had about ten days of zero good moments. >> does newt not have a trusted

adviser around him that can take him to the side after south carolina and say, hey, listen, newt, they're going to come at you with everything. they're going to -- you're going to see millions and millions -- we all knew this was going to happen. they're going to try to destroy you and it's going to be just as ugly as iowa. keep your head, you know it's coming, let's figure out how to work it to our advantage. doesn't he have anybody around him? one person that can whisper in his ear he can trust? >> he's got a handful, and there was some of that whispering that went on, but it's built around the personality of newt gingrich. it rose in south carolina on that and it's fallen three times based on that, as well. he's going to have to listen to people and execute. and as i said, the advantage to him of the february calendar, it's slow, spaced out, some of the contests won't matter that much. he has time to rest, give major policy speeches, which he's planning and try to execute some of that advice he ignored in florida. >> and, tina, the conservative

base needs to figure out whether they're going to put their arms around newt gingrich or not and romney. >> to mark's point there, i do think what we're seeing so much again more and more in these elections is the turbulence and craziness of the climate, immediate climate really requires a cool temperament to take you all the way through. we saw that with barack obama, there was this immense cool temperament which did him in good steady. he's not a hot guy, not volatile personally, and you see the same thing with romney. a cool temperament. and i think the hot temperament doesn't do well anymore at all. and this is gingrich. he's up, he's down, he's beat, he's angry. whereas romney does keep up that steadiness. >> and maybe that's what it takes to survive in modern day politics. you know so many people said of hillary clinton, it's almost like he's a robot. how does she just keep going? you would look at her in the middle of the impeachment trials, you know, all the

problems she was going through, and he just kept going. >> and what hurt her was when bill became emotional, it didn't help her. he kept coming in emotional. >> maybe it's such a brutalizing process, you know, that people like romney, people like obama they can be detached a little bit emotionally -- >> serves them better. >> it's the only way to survive ultimately. coming up, we'll talk to the winner of last night's florida primary, mitt romney. also, presidential candidate buddy roemer, and republican senator rob portman of ohio. up next, nbc's chuck todd, david gregory, and tony perkins joins us. but first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill? >> good morning to you, mika. a little bit of light rain greeting people this morning from d.c. to philly to new york. so far, the airports are doing all right. no delays reported. we could have minor delays, but it's going to be another warm day. not going to rain in this region of the country.

just light rain on and off from now until about noon. forecast today, look at these temperatures. this is march weather, folks. 67 in d.c. today, 62 in new york. and just soak it up while it lasts. temperatures around the southeast also warm. as we look toward the west coast, rain this morning in seattle, that should clear out for this afternoon. a peek at tomorrow's forecast, a big highlight come thursday and friday. a little rare winter snowstorm. do you believe that? it can snow this winter. watch out denver to omaha. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ 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.

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i recognize, of course, that it would be -- it would be wonderful if campaigns were all nothing but positive, but that's certainly not the reality. president obama will have a billion dollars or so to attack me. he's already gone the afl/cio

spent about $1 million in florida attacking me. so there are going to be attacks and the right thing to do is respond to them aggressively, clear up those things that have been said that are incorrect and point out the weaknesses or the differences between yourself and those that you run against. >> welcome back to "morning joe," 22 past the hour. joining us from washington, we have the moderator of "meet the press" david gregory, and here on the set, we have nbc news chief white house correspondent and host of "the daily rundown" chuck todd, and also president of the family research council tony perkins. >> what's your take on last night? our home state? >> when you look at it, on one hand it was an impressive tactical victory. they ran up the score. you know if you take just the five counties, half of mitt romney's margin came out of miami, broward, palm beach, pinellas, and hillsboro, half of his margin, and you saw that in

the way the county map looks. newt did carry the southern part of the state, the culturally southern part of the state. and the question you have now is, okay, romney still has that one little issue he's got to deal with, which is core conservatives not fired up. and by the way, the one exit poll number i think we're not making enough of is the fact that nearly 40% of republicans went to the polls to say they're not satisfied with the field. >> yeah. >> that's a stunning thing to actually go to the polls, vote -- usually if you're motivated to vote -- >> still not happy. >> still not happy. >> you know, and david gregory, chuck todd had a great insight last night before the numbers started coming in. he said take a look at north florida where i'm from. northwest florida, the so-called red neck rivera. if they go more gingrich than romney, that may be a problem super tuesday and beyond. we've got georgia, alabama,

mississippi, louisiana, tennessee, basically all the states i've lived in my whole life. they're all coming up. and look, is that pink? do we have pink? >> you know what i got accused of last night? >> that's salmon. >> that's orange and green, and i got accused of doing hurrican hurricanes. >> looks like the orange up top. that's newt territory, mitt's still not nailing it with the social conservatives, is he? >> i should point out while we have that map up there. the most stressful of any election day, primary day for chuck todd is going through all of the color swatches, trying to decide what he's going to put on a map. >> salmon and orange. it was a tough decision. >> he has to be in a big room by himself with all the swatches and it's stressful for him. i think it was a good point. and i think there's two things that you have to look at if you're mitt romney at this point, which is, i think if he keeps rolling here, and i believe inevitability has been restored, eventually a lot of these core conservatives are going to fall in line.

may not be real happy about it. i know there's a scenario where you could have a third party run. they may not love him at any point, but as he gets farther along, they want to beat obama more than they dislike romney. but there's another way to look at it. if you do look at that path. if there's sheldon ettleson who is going to keep giving money for the super pac, look at the northern part of florida, hey, there is a path here for gingrich, what does romney do to make that connection? so far in all of these debates, only gingrich has reached out to the ron paul people and talked about some of the things he cares about the most. what is it that romney's capable of doing to connect to some of those core conservatives? is it something fiscal? and if he does that, does it make an impact? or does it end up hurting him for a general election? i think that's a question he's got to ask himself. >> tony, we're talking obviously about newt gingrich as the conservative alternative to mitt

romney. a lot of conservatives don't think newt is particularly conservative at his core. bill crystal's talking about the possibility of a rick santorum push in february. if newt stumbles and rick moves into second place, maybe santorum has -- but where everybody's talking around mitt romney, mitt romney, is he getting any closer to making the sale with movement conservatives? >> well, i think you look at the numbers last night as chuck pointed out. it was an important night, big night for romney, he moves closer to the nomination, but not nearly as close as mccain was in 2008. mccain beat him by five points in florida and then romney dropped out. gingrich and santorum are going nowhere. in fact, santorum had a record fund raising month, raised $4.5 million, he's not going anywhere. and the numbers are soft for mitt romney among conservatives. he only improved by about six

percentage points this time around over last time. he's got a lot of shoring up to do. it might be the path way to the nomination he's on, but if you look at what mccain did when he did not have the support of social conservatives, it did not lead to the white house. >> so what does mitt have to do to close that deal? or begin to move toward closing that deal? we were talking about rush earlier today. rush was on yesterday and he wasn't dismissing mitt romney out of hand? you got a sense those crazy newt gingrich bain capital attacks may have actually pushed rush a little closer to mitt. >> why are we beating people up over the things we support? you were talking about this earlier over the primary, why tina said i think it's a good thing. it is a good thing. you saw this in florida where mitt romney became more aggressive, began stepping up his game a little bit. i think he's got to step up a little bit.

last night in his speech, he mentioned religious freedom and the administration's attack on cont contraceptives to be in the health care plan. but he's far from closing the deal. >> and chuck todd, looking at the front page of the business section in the "new york times," another article on the housing situation. this one focused on atlanta. >> but it also shows miami, tampa, orlando, florida -- >> such a big issue in florida. >> that was sort of an odd, you know, some things don't fit. and all of those negative ads are run against newt on freddie mac and apparently the more important foreclosure was -- actually the closer it was between those two a little bit, and you wonder some of that had to do with the wall street or an anti-establishment sort of anger at washington in general, and so the more -- remember, newt's sole counter punch is he's the insider candidate a little bit.

but this is sort of the bigger thing. and you look at it last week, joe, and what did we learn about mitt romney's housing policy this week? in the state of florida? >> what? >> that's what i'm asking? what did we learn -- >> what did we learn about anything? >> correct. we didn't. we learned that newt gingrich is bad. that's my point. >> that's something. >> what -- david gregory, you have the "national review." "the national review" talking about romney is a cyborg, other people talking about how, yes, romney may have won, but saying it could be a costly victory in the long run because mitt's still not telling a conservative guy like me that doesn't trust the republican establishment in washington because the big government status. he's not selling us.

is this a problem for mitt in the long run? >> yeah, i saw you tweeting the other day. still wanted a conservative candidate for president. >> right. >> i think there are a lot of conservatives who feel that way, and i think that for much of this campaign, romney has relied just on his biography as a businessman. and that's not enough to really sell conservatives. today and the coming days, rick santorum, is going to stay in this race who has been very effective going after romney on health care and how close it is to the president's health care reform is going to be leading that charge. so, again, i think that beyond his 59-point economic plan, mitt romney has to be able to articulate a conservative vision, an anti-establishment vision that he actually brings into the white house. i mean, he is -- give him credit even on the economy, you know, even though he may have a complicated message that it wasn't obama who caused the recession, but he made it worse, he was tagged by the other day

about that being a complicated message. he's got to make a more specific case. >> tony, do people that are a part of your group -- people you talk to out on the campaign trail when you go to conventions, conservatives, are they as skeptical of the washington republican establishment as me? >> yeah, without question. i think that's actually where you see a lot of ron paul support. you see a number of young evangelicals who are supporting ron paul. i don't think they've completely looked at his platform, which is a little whacky if you ask me, but they're tired of the republican establishment, the republicans who promise and never deliver. >> are you tired, as well, of that? >> well, i think that's what people are looking for. a candidate who has both the rhetoric that matches the record and that's why i think a number of evangelicals are supporting rick santorum, although it has not reflected in florida. newt i think has gained -- well,

he actually lost a little bit over south carolina in that evangelical vote. i think this is going down in history as the yo-yo primary. not the candidates, describing the way one was up, one was down. one was up. and it keeps going back and forth. >> volatility, as we said, chuck, "new york times" last week was saying newt gingrich has a 75.3% chance of winning florida. >> yeah, that's a good idea. >> and it's just like, you know -- >> and one week later, it is up and down. >> he'll surge in all these early state polls. it's been a momentum game. >> we've got caucuses coming up. >> tony perkins, thank you so much. david gregory, thank you, as well. we'll see you soon. up next, senator rob portman joins the conversation. "morning joe" back in minutes. [ male announcer ] we know you don't wait

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all right. look at this. a live shot of capitol hill. boys, joining us now. we have the republican senator from ohio, rob portman who has endorsed, not surprisingly, mitt romney. very good to have you on. >> senator, great to have you here. chuck todd and i are talking about recruiting classes. how did ohio state do? >> you know -- >> sounds like ohio state is doing great in recruiting. >> listen to that. >> they're doing great.

>> the senator knows. >> irvin myers coming up there, you think he's going to turn it around? >> i went to ohio state basketball game a couple of days ago and irvin myer came out at halftime and people went nuts. talked about that great issue of recruiting players and the fact that the ohio state football team is going to make ohio proud. we're pumped about it. >> well, very good. let's talk about mitt romney's campaign and winning in florida. some have said even the "national review" have said this morning that he won ugly in florida last night. do you agree? >> no, i don't. i mean, i think he won the way you usually win primaries, good message, and a great debate performance, as well. it wasn't just about the money. it was about being a better candidate and a couple good debate performances. >> so what is his message on balancing the budget? the cbo came out, obviously, you

know they came out with an explosive report talking about the fourth year of trillion dollar deficits. now, what's his plan to balance the budget, to save entitlement programs from bankruptcy? >> well, first of all, you're right about the congressional budget office report. it came out yesterday, it's a nonpartisan group, and it was frightening what they said. first of all, it was a very dire prediction on the economy. next year, economic growth goes down, not up, it's about 1% growth, and also said that unemployment goes up, not down. over 9% unemployment next year, which, of course, is mitt romney's central message. his economy's going in the wrong direction. in terms of the deficit and debt, you're right, using realistic projections, joe, it's about another $10 trillion of debt over the next ten years. and what mitt romney's saying, very clear message, we do need to balance the budget, we need to get the spending under control. and this administration has ignored it.

97-0, that's hard to do, we'll see what he sends up in a couple of weeks. but looks like the president as he did in the state of the union address is choosing to ignore the fiscal problem because it doesn't make good politics for him. >> mark haleprin? >> newt gingrich says he's going to fight all the way to the convention, what standard do you think speaker gingrich should use to decide when to get out of the race? if to get out of the race at all? >> my sense is he's going to stay in, and i think ron paul and rick santorum will, as well. and that's okay. chuck todd used the word momentum earlier and inevitability. i think if mitt romney keeps winning, and he's got good states coming up, i think it'll be clear who has the momentum and i think that'll help him in these primaries. if you look at the number one issue, it's the economy, number two is electability. i think they'll stay in, but i don't think it will be a significant problem because i think at this point after winning a big diverse state like florida so convincingly, mitt romney's got that momentum. >> all right. so let's talk about

electability, senator. do you think that it's important that the republican candidate has a direct connection with the core conservative base? and if so, what is mitt romney's? >> well, i think it's incredibly important. but i think he's starting to develop it. this primary process has actually been good, it's been somewhat painful. i saw you down in charleston and south carolina the day i endorsed in south carolina. helped a lot. but the fact is, you know, he became a better candidate. and you saw this in his last two debate performances. it wasn't just that he stood up to newt gingrich and stand up to the attacks. it was how he could take it to the president of the united states in a debate and that is how do you get this economy moving? and how do you deal with these record debts and deficits? >> so i think he's doing the right things to be able to get people like me, i'm a conservative, people like joe excited about an alternative to

the president. in the general election, there are going to be two choices. it's either president obama or a republican candidate. and i think at that point, a lot of people will be excited about mitt romney's candidacy. and i think it goes beyond republicans, frankly. a lot of independent voters in places like ohio who are tired of the status quo. they want to see change they can believe in and that means getting this economy moving and this guy's got the background to do that. >> all right. rob portman, always great to see you. thanks so much for being here. >> thank you, senator. >> we'll talk to you soon. >> tina, that is the real challenge. how does mitt romney rev up the conservative base? >> what's interesting is romney's personal negatives have gone through the worst, how does he address that? one of the big problems he might have is -- >> approval ratings have collapsed, all of them. and is that because of the super

pacs? you think? or the negative ads? >> i think it's the contentious campaign and the fact there is this dissatisfaction in general with the -- everybody seems to have an issue with somebody in the field, and they're uncomfortable, and this is a problem. john kerry was sort of in a similar position. he sort of got the nomination in '04, and by the way, democrats kept saying, you'd have democratic senator counterpart like senator portman say, you know what? they're not going to beat president bush. and you get on the ballot and it's going to be president bush, what happened? you know, kerry, you look back at history. nixon's the last guy and frankly because he was running against humphrey where the base wasn't that excited about him at any point in time. >> chuck todd, tina brown, thank you very much. good to see you. coming up next, republican presidential candidate and winner of last night's florida primary mitt romney. we'll be right back.

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♪ hey, welcome back to "morning joe." you see the results of the gop primary in my home state. >> a big win. >> a big win. >> a clean win. >> the former governor of massachusetts, mitt romney. >> welcome. >> here we sit, governor, on top of mt. olympus. i, of course, the greek god of bad sweaters, and we were shocked by the negative campaigning in florida. i suggest it may hurt our party moving forward. do you think the campaigning in the sunshine state was too negative? >> well, i think what really drove the results in the sunshine state were the debates. the debates are what changed the

numbers, changed the trajectory of the race. that's where people focused their attention. ads come and go, there'll be a lot of ads, i'm sure in the general election, as well. but i think people focusen on t debates, watch what's seen on tv, the earned media, if you will, i think that drives the campaigns far more than do the ads. >> did you all make a calculation coming out of south carolina that you had to destroy newt gingrich politically? >> oh, i think we made the calculation coming out of south carolina that he had been effective in the debates, he'd gone after me in an aggressive way, we hadn't responded and it made sense and describe the things he was saying as being inaccurate and make sure we mounted a full and aggressive campaign. it was -- we got taught a lesson in south carolina and i made sure when i came to the debates i was ready to defend my record and ready to reverse the things that the speaker had been saying about me. >> mika?

>> all right. couple of things. i thought you were fantastic in the debates. that was really great to watch. >> he can exhale now. >> stop. so we have a few questions about what your message is moving on beyond the negativity. i'll start with overall electability and your connection with the core conservative base. do you have a direct connection with that? we just interviewed rob portman, senator, supporter of you who said you were starting to develop one, which i thought was an interesting answer. do you have one? and is that important? >> well, you know, i have the positions that i have. and, you know, i can try and change my positions and make them more attractive to certain segments of my party, but i'm not going to do that. and i think over time, people recognize i am a solid conservative, my record as a governor is a solid, conservative record. sometimes i have to chuckle when i listen to people who think newt gingrich is the conservative in this race. i know what he was in the past, but on the issues that people care about now, you have to

scratch your head. i mean, as you recall, he was the guy who sat down with nancy pelosi arguing for climate change legislation. he was the guy who called paul ryan's medicare plan right-wing social engineering. and we just found out -- i think it was yesterday that up at least until 2009, and that wasn't very long ago, he was arguing for a federal insurance mandate. so, so the idea that he's somehow the conservative guy just doesn't square with his record. my record is conservative, i believe that people in this country will recognize that as time goes on and i'll be able to get more support. and by the way, here in florida, tea partiers, and people who called themselves conservative voted in a majority for me. that's a good sign. >> so let me ask you about medicare. >> okay. >> you -- you brought it up. you had a speech a couple nights ago where you were criticizing barack obama for cutting $500 billion from medicare and you assured voters that you weren't going to touch their medicare,

their social security. do you believe that the cost curve of medicare has to be brought down dramatically over the next 30 30 years? do you believe that medicare will go bankrupt if we don't dramatically reform it? >> no question about that. and there are two ways of getting that done. one is to make sure for people who are not retired now and not near retirement that we change the medicare promises to make sure we can afford them so i laid out a plan that talks about a premium support program which gives people a choice either of current medicare or going to a private plan. that's something which senator widen and congressman paul ryan have also adopted as their proposal. that gets medicare on a long-term solvency track. there's a second part of what has to be done is to bring down the cost of health care. in my view the way to do that is not with cost controls or limiting the reimbursement rates

but instead getting health care to work more like a market, health savings accounts helps do that, something called co-insurance may help to do that. if i'm president i'll see states experiment with some models to make sure we find a model that brings down the cost of health care. that has not happened yet. >> what about raising the retirement age for medicare and social security. life expectancy was 62, and now it's almost 80. doesn't it make sense if somebody was born after 1960 to say you'll get it when you're '67 or '68 or maybe as marco rubio suggested 70? >> i think the way to resolve for coming generations is to raise the retirement age but reduce the benefit growth for wealthy retirees and protect people who depend on social security but for those making a

lot of money and also get social security we don't need their rate of social security benefit growth to be as high as we do for people who are primarily relying on social security. same thing with medicare for higher income beneficiaries, medicare reimbursement support for their insurance plan does not have to be as high as for those that are in lower incomes. >> governor romney, good morning, it's willie geist. congratulations on your win yesterday. on the question of jobs, which as we went around the state the last few days it was the only thing anyone was talking about, jobs and the economy. what is the big idea? you have the 59 point plan. i venture to say many americans haven't waded through the document. what is the big idea? what will you do in terms of creating jobs that this president has failed to do in your estimation?

>> well thanks, willie. the first thing i'd do is do what i say. one of the funny things about watching the president in his state of the union address is he laid out several things he thought would be necessary to improve the economy and he's done the opposite on every single one, taxes, regulation, china and energy he's done the opposite. my answer, one you have to have competitive tax rates for employers, ours are the highest in the world. two, you have to get regulations to work for enterprise as opposed to crush enterprise. that's not happening today. three, you have to take advantage of our energy resources, this president has held off on them. four, open up new markets for american goods and crack down on cheaters like china and i'll mention one more, make it a fifth. you can't have the union bosses telling american industry where it can grow and how it can expand. the president's crony capitalism is hurting free enterprise in this country. those key ideas are going to get this economy going again and get

americans back to work. >> all right, governor romney, thank you for being with us. >> congratulations. >> congratulations on a big win in florida. where are you going next? >> i'm going to minnesota today for a rally at 1:00 and then off to las vegas for a rally this evening. you guys know what it's like, i'm going to be out there battling, joe, mika. >> our best to you. >> buddy roemer will be stopping by the set. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. ♪

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♪ there's your winner last might, mitt romney 46%, a big win in the state of florida, he's on today to minnesota and then going to vegas. still ahead on "morning joe" mark halperin, donny deutsch rejoin the conversation. plus act oor dermot mulroney jos

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nothing's better than gold. [ female announcer ] roc® retinol correxion deep wrinkle night cream. ♪ many have i loved and many times been bitten ♪ ♪ many times i've gazed along the open road ♪ primary contests are not easy and they're not supposed to be. as this primary unfolds, our opponents in the other party have been watching, and they like to comfort themselves with the thought that a competitive campaign will leave us divided and weak, but i've got news for them. a competitive primary does not

divide us. it prepares us, and we will win. and when we gather back here in tampa, seven months from now, for our convention, ours -- ours will be a united party with a winning ticket for america. >> now you'll notice a number of folks are holding up a sign "about 46 states to go." we created this in part for the elite media. the same people who said i was dead in june and july and i was gone after iowa, who seemed totally quiet after the south carolina victory are now going to be back saying what's he going to do, what's he going to do, what's he going to do. i want to assure them we are going to contest every place and we are going to win and we will

be in tampa as the no nominee in august. >> good morning, it's 8:00 on the east coast as we take a live look at new york city. welcome back to "morning joe." we have mark halpern and donny deutsch. >> a week ago we all heard the press talking about newt's momentum, the polls showed newt w was ahead. what happened? >> the negative ads, you get them back. romney entered south carolina with more money and a better organization. he didn't have the momentum and the message by the end he had all four, the most money, the best organization, the momentum from the debates and best message and it made it a decisive wins. >> roment know won the support of 62% of voters who considered themselves moderate, romney backed by voters who made more

than $200,000 a year and 59% of cuban-american voters and 57% of republicans who do not support the tea party. romney won 52% of female voters compared to just 28% of women who went for newt gingrich and among male voters romney won 41% to 36%. romney is still struggling with the conservative wing of his party. 41% believe mitt romney is not conservative enough to be the republican nominee for president and 38% would still like to see someone else get into the race. let's go back to south carolina, joe, where you predicted what happened here, even when everyone thought the surge might continue, spread to florida, you predicted mitt romney would win easily. how would you know? >> because i have lived in florida since 1978, and you see all of these elections, these statewide elections come and go and you realize there's no way for momentum alone or a speech

here or a town hall meeting there to carry somebody over the top. the candidates that win unfortunately, it is a soulness political state when it comes to tv advertising, are those that run the most negative 30-second ads. in florida i grew up just seeing one negative 30-second ad after another. unfortunately some politicians have overlearned this lesson, rick scott still paying for the negative campaign against bill mcculom and he's been stuck there. he gets sworn in as governor of florida with an approval rating in the low 30s because he was so negative as a campaigner. this is going to stick to mitt romney. >> i would think so and donny deutsch in the presidential race when obama takes on the challenger and if this challenger gets in there ugly, it adds to the narrative i think that's really bothering people today more than ever and on top

of a bad economy. >> mark brought up an interesting point, obama spent more negative money on advertising in the history of politics. maybe you can help me and i'm not being glib, obviously the fact that he took 60% of people who said he's the most electable candidate and republicans just want obama out of office. why does every pundit other than we want to keep this thing going say romney's got to start playing to the base. the base isn't going -- the base is not going to vote barack obama and if i'm romney, i know i need the reagan democrats. i want the suburban voters. i'm not going to go there. they're going to come along with me whether they like it or not so isn't this over and where is it, he's not getting the third of the party that's very conservati conservative. where are they going? why is it important he gets that? >> because republicans win

presidential elections when the conservative base is energized. democrats win when presidential elections when they can reach out to moderates. candidates like john mccain lose. candidates like bob dole lose. candidates like gerald ford lose, when you have a conservative that can gin up the base, even unpopular upon serve life like georgia w. bush can be dragged across the finish line in 2004 because you can gin up the conservatives. >> when you say gin up, what do you mean? >> you drag people out of their houses that don't vote in every election. >> the hatred for obama is so clear. >> i don't know about that. >> i don't know if the base needs that, that they're going to come either way. that's why i think this is over. >> ricks lowery wrote "the national review" after the election last night, willie,

about one of the problems. he said "florida shows why when running for president, you usually need to have a presidential campaign to be successful. gingrich was a lone man raging, often quite literally, against the machine arrayed against town. it turns out all those aides who quit on gingrich way back at the beginning of his campaign for all their disloyalty were right that he needed to build a traditional campaign infrastructure. he got far han his native wit, his imagination, and his gutines gutinegu gutsiness. if you were just grading a campaign on doing what they had to do, whether it was soulless, whether it was unfair, whether it was cynical, and it was

three, they did what they had to do to keep their man alive. >> it's numbers to support what rich wrote, romney's campaign sbind with the super pac restore our future 12,700 ads in the state of florida. newt gingrich's campaign and his super pac winning our future 210 tv ads. money and campaign together, 15.7 to 3.9. it wasn't just about the money. they came out of south carolina the romney campaign realizing they had to go after newt gingrich. they couldn't sit back anymore and you saw it in the debate performance when he hit back, he went after, he dumped opo research on newt gingrich and said we need to snuff this guy out before he gets away with another state. >> i don't know of other candidates who wouldn't rather win ugly than lose pretty.

jon huntsman lost pretty. mitt romney this past week won ugly. >> won very ugly. >> but barack obama won ugly in 2008. he ran more negative ads than anybody else in the history of television. he ran so many negative ads that he actually swung ahead of john mccain on the question of who do you trust more on taxes. remember the grainy, negative false misleading ads that he ran over and over again with mccain's gray -- i mean these negative ads worked. they worked for barack obama, now they're working for mitt romney. >> i think we could take it for granted if romney is a nominee his team will be able to and his allies who have a lot of money and will run an effective ad campaign. the big variable to me, the bigger variable is what have we learned in florida about romney as a performer. in presidential politics nationally your ads matter and your performance on the stump matter just as much more. the record is mixed.

he was good at times but still having trouble with some of his presentation, and i think he needs to continue to improve in this fight with gingrich over the next month at least as an opportunity to try to do that. >> joe, big picture, while all this is going on in florida and as you put it, mitt romney gets to win ugly and it was ugly and could get uglier because newt gingrich is not the kind of person to walk away quietly and it seems like he'll be taking this for the long haul look at the president who i believe showed up in washington, d.c., the auto show there, literally visually sitting in the driver's seat, and as he should, given the very good -- [ laughter ] no, seriously. you tell me. i'm not trying to be smug, but -- >> some need to be smug. this is going to be a tough, long campaign but donny deutsch, the man in the driver's seat right there ran more negative ads, 30-second ads four years ago than any candidate in history. you talked about tinical and ugly. the only difference between

barack obama and mitt romney is the main stream media, every network, "the new york times," the "wall street journal," "the washington post," they all covered for him. nobody wrote that story because they all wanted him to win. it was shameful the way they covered for him. but this is my take out of florida, as cynical and as depressing as mitt romney's campaign was this past week, if you're going against a guy that's going to run $1 billion worth of negative 30-second ads this fall, maybe, just maybe, republicans that don't like barack obama, as you said, have had it wrong all the time. because they've all been saying newt can get mean and ugly with barack obama. newt's just kind of all over the place. he's unfocused. maybe you need a negative, nasty, cynical cyborg as rich lowery said, campaign apparatus to go after the most negative campaigner in the history of

american politics. you measure it by 30-second ads, barack obama. >> you can't go that negative if you're shooting with a pistol an the other is shooting with oozies and bazookas, in terms of 15 million versus 3 million. i think we should stop using the term negative ads. >> why, because i attached it to barack obama? know, no, call a time-out here. we've been using "negative ads" all week attacking mitt romney and when i brought up the simple fact that every objective outside reporter has stated that barack obama ran more negative 30-second ads than anybody in the history of american politics, suddenly it's, oh, let's not call them negative ads. was that a coincidence? >> hold on. >> first of all what i'm saying is negative ads whether it's barack -- i can't -- >> you can't even say it. come on, gilligan, get it out. >> we dubbed it because those are what ads are, negative ads work. >> yes, thank you.

>> because you can put facts in them and positive ads there's no takeaway. they're both going to use them. we have to stop calling it ugly and call it competent. they're playing in the rules on both sides. guys, guys -- no, no -- >> i want my commander in chief, either one to know how to win. >> this is so beautiful! no, this is so beautiful! >> you're doing something naughty as well. >> all week we talk about mitt romney's negative ads and nobody interrupts me one time. >> areal? >> now we bring up the fact that barack obama ran more negative 30-second ads than anybody in the history of american politics and suddenly it proves it's -- >> hold on, donny. >> we can get facts in the negative ads. >> let me get bernie goldberg on the phone. >> this is funny. >> you never answered my question. >> bernie can write a book about just this segment. >> exactly. >> sorry g, go ahead.

>> it's like popping popcorn with the top off. >> john kerry's 13.4 tax rate, it's amazing how no one talked about it in 2004. >> whether or not the president is literally and figuratively in the driver's seat right now. >> no i didn't. >> you went to the fact you ran all of the negative attack ads. you're just as guilty. >> he's not in the driver's seat. >> oh, yes he is. >> you think david axelrod says they're not in the driver's seat. they have their ups and downs. >> with a slight upswing in the economy and watching this i won't ka ul it won't call it a freak show but a clown show with nothing to offer. you even said it the republican candidates have given you nothing. >> hope and change. >> you don't think the president's in the dryer's seat? are you crazy? come on. >> no, i don't, and i don't for the same reason david axelrod

doesn't think the president's in the driver's seat. as david said the other day, when people congratulate him, "meet the press" he goes, congratulations. he goes do you know how many more ups and downs are in this campaign? he's not in the driver's seat. >> i was not trying to be smug. i was trying to pull the lens out. >> i've got to say even at the palm beach yacht club they're not like that. >> you're supposed to help mommy. >> i'll give the argument and then counter it. >> what do you know -- >> i'm defending you. >> donny, you defending me is like -- >> the mitt romney of the last five days could win, but the president's the favorite still and his skills are part of it and the fact he's an incumbent and the economy is coming back but mitt romney has a ton to prove including how he handles newt gingrich over the next month, month and a half if he

tries to get back to perry. >> i agree the president right now is certainly, you've got to be in favor of it but it's too early, just like "the new york times" a week ago said newt gingrich had a 75% chance of winning florida. >> 75.3. >> 75.3% chance with a thousand caveats. >> you would agree, joe, mitt romney has to put a message out there. he's just talking about newt gingrich. >> donny, you have to increase the cheese factor. coming up, buddy roemer will be here on the set. and from "the miracle" actor dermot mulroney will be on the set. bill, keep it generic. >> i don't want to hear from you "back from south beach" from your work trip. you could have chosen anywhere, you go to south beach. just a little bitter in me. good morning an amazing forecast

we're covering. yesterday was incredible, the middle of march, maybe even april in some cases with 70-degree temperatures in dallas, almost at 60 in areas like new york and chicago. d.c. was gorgeous. not quite as warm but mild and rain showers this morning, rolling through areas of new england so there was more clouds around but still going to be in the 60s today, well above average, february starting with a spring feel. we'll change a little bit of that tomorrow, a rare winter storm for this winter is coming into colorado thursday night and it will push into areas of kansas and nebraska as we go into friday. it's not a widespread winter storm. the rest of us watching the grass turn green. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks . the employee of the month is...

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♪ ♪ i so in love with you ♪ above the fruited plain >> 23 past the hour, joining us now republican presidential candidates -- >> this is big -- >> and former governor of louisiana buddy roemer. >> can you sing, buddy, "yea,

alabama, go crimson tide. >> i predicted a victory. >> you are wearing the crimson, though. >> so what do you see when you look at this republican race in florida? >> mitt is to be complimented. he did a hell of a job. i mean a victory like that is important. i thought he'd win by 12 to 15. he won by 14. he was right on target. it was super pac a against super pac b. i don't like that. i think in our party, the republican party, our candidates are decent but mediocre. >> no passion in the room you said in the break. >> they don't see the problem. here's what they say. washington's broken. no, it's not. it's bought. washington is bought. it's corrupt, and until you clean the room, you won't build any new furniture. >> okay.

>> mark halperin, process that me fa to are in three, two, one. >> governor you have been prosthelytizing on this issue. >> yes. >> you talked about this when the president was a candidate, a republican likely nominee who has never been tainted by scandal. >> right. >> never indication was bought as an elected official yet the public imagination does not seem to have been captured by this issue. is it too late or do you hope 2012 is the year in which americans say we need to break the connection between money and politics. >> at a minimum we can start the journey because i think it needs to happen. i don't think that two major candidates now get their hands around it. they talk about washington being broken and they're going to do tax reform, budget remember form, immigration reform, fair trade reform, bank reform, health care reform. no, they won't. they don't control wash.

the special interests do. look at the record. here's my approach. if we don't clean up the room, nothing good will happen. if we don't address this problem, nothing will happen. now, i've done -- i think the best i've done in a national poll last week was 4% across america. that's a small number. might be deciding in this race. >> and some probably thought you were buddy edson. >> probably were confused about somebody else. the problem is it's not about me. it's about us. we've lost an economy the size of canada the last 15 years, unsustainable trade imbalance. there were 1 billion cell phones made in the last year, none made in america. we have half of the jobs in america than we did 14 years ago and there are 47 million more americans. we are a nation in trouble and will it make a difference between obama and romney? i prefer romney but it won't make that much difference until we address the problem.

and the problem, mark, is special interest money. it owns these guys. i'm in katrina in new orleans, and i see the president land three days later, and say, "good job, brownie"? you know how brown got a job of fema, gave a $10,000 check to the republican committee and he bought it. >> governor this is good until you overturn the supreme court in 2010 which brought us the super pac. is it inside washington or the judicial system? everything else is discussion. next week the anonymous donors opened. until you solve that, it changes our democracy. >> i cannot argue with you. your point is valid. >> i think it's as simple as that. >> i do, too but you can approach it different ways, by the leader of our country making it an issue. mr. obama seems not to. you could make it an issue in

the campaign. so far it's not been an issue. >> do you agree the republican-driven supreme court made a big mistake with that? >> what do you mean the republican-driven supreme court? >> 5-4, mark, help me out on that one, just keeping score. >> it's not about republicans and democrats. it's about america. so quit doing it, donny. >> i love america. that's why i'm defending democracy. >> i think the country is better than it's showing now. i think we're a nation in decline, let me say it. i can give you all the evidence you need, a debt that will never be repaid, a budget that will never be balanced, a tax reform bill that will never get to first base. you can't read the tax code. g.e. pace nothiys nothing. you paid your taxes. how do you solve it? quit having special interests run washington. your question is that depends on the judiciary.

let me tell you what congress can do. >> i know, i like to break things down to what they really are. >> donny you want to solve it in. >> yes. >> congress could require 4-h r 48-hour full disclosure, limit pac contributions to 2500, by law, congress could make lobbyists not able to participate. >> buddy -- >> let me tell you what i've decided i'm going to do. this is going to make buddy mad. >> don't do that. >> i'm going to start a pac, a super pac of buddy, call it the crimson tide pac and he can't do -- >> steve colbert already do that. >> he could do well in the south. >> i like his message. >> you've already declared romney the winner here. >> no we have not. >> but some people at this table

who shall go nameless. all he needs are 1,054. way to go, mitt. four states have spoken. odds on it's romney but it's not over. >> once again before we call romney the cyborg, he's not the problem. it's that one supreme court decision. it was the most important decision of the last century, guys. >> donny's right. >> oh, donny. shut up. >> nobody wants to address that. >> i refuse to be paralyzed, i refuse to quit. >> as i do, too. >> governor, after the decision -- >> shut up. >> listen to mark. >> fight, joe, fight. >> the president tried to make it a big election issue and it didn't go anywhere. >> really stayed with it. mark, come on. he's b.s. and you know it. he doesn't care. here's the only president in american history who barely two

years into a four-year term announces re-election and i'm going to raise $1 billion. guess where he got it from? wall street and goldman, how does it go? >> goldman friggin' saks. >> this president was the one after all who said i'm not going to be held to the spending limits, i'll be the first in u.s. history. >> double-crossed john mccain, they had an agreement. >> made a vow to the voters and broke his word. >> the press made him pay a price for that. >> oh, yeah they really held his feet to the -- look it's not about obama and romney. it's about us. it's about america. stand up! and let me give you a place to do it, buddyroemer.com, please. >> write that down, joe. >> you got buddyroemer.com, the

donations are limited to what? >> $100 or less, no pac money. >> i'm going to be starting crimson tide pac for buddy and you can give me $10 million and we'll funnel this into his campaign. >> i want matching states. thanks. >> you apologize to donny. >> for what? he told me to shut up. >> anybody ever told to you shut up on the show before? >> that's terrible. i don't like those words. >> i'm mitt romney. >> that's foul language in the household. >> you said something else we're not going to repeat. >> hush. one of the stars of "big miracle" dermot mulroney joins us on set. we're back in a moment. this is an rc robotic claw.

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right away. so does my commander in chief have a plan b by any chance? >> i was hoping you'd have one for us. >> all right, that was a clip from "big miracle" which opens this friday, joining us within of the stars of the film dermo t mulroney. i got it right. >> your parents watched the show? >> from brenmar, pennsylvania. >> hi mom and dad. they told me be careful, those guys on that show are smart. >> oh, well. >> i bring the curve. >> we lowered the average. >> that's why i'm here, too. >> oh no, that's very kind of them. tell them thank you. "big miracle." >> this is a great movie, true story that took place in 1988, maybe you all remember it. i don't, but three whales, a

family of whales were trapped under the northern, north of r barrow, alaska, couldn't make it out to the open sea. groups of individuals came together to make that happen. >> a lot of people may not remember there was a geopolitical aspect, you can reagan and gorbachev and they had to come together over the three wales. >> the story is completely true and there are aspects that are almost unbelievable and vanessa shaw plays the adviser to the president of the white house in '88, and he gets wind of this story and as we remember he was looking for the human interest angle and so forth, so he grabbed on to this, bush sr. is running and so he sends her out to make it happen. she hooks up with me in more ways than one. i play the international guardsman who has some equipment

that she'd help break the ice to get the whales out. >> uh-huh. >> of course, donny. julia roberts, cameron diaz, which way are we going? >> i've managed to dodge that question for 18 years and not about to answer it now. >> what are you talking about? >> "my best friend's wedding." you don't watch anything but pbs. >> "your best friend's wedding?" sorry i'm not very pop culture. >> she has absolutely no idea. we had bradley cooper and she congratulated him for the "a" list. >> well, so sorry. >> it's fascinating that bush used this incident to push himself as a pro-environment politician. >> correct, that's the notion in the film. they touch on it without taking a strong opinion. he now how they do in hollywood. i'm told by bonnie carroll, the living person who vanessa shaw

plays -- >> this is a shot of the real rescue. >> here it is exactly, amazing. this is a wright whale surfacing for air and the citizens and people were busting open holes leaving the path out to the sea. in the white house she's having a conversation with the character i played, colonel tom carroll and he said, can't you get that russian icebreaker over to the coast of alaska, and she said, well, the fact is, we've just been overheard discussing this so let's see what happened, because in that time probably now, too, everybody can listen in. so that's almost too unbelievable to put in a movie, but indeed what happens is this icebreaker comes and bashes the ice wall preventing them from getting to the open sea. it's a photo of the man i play but the first time ever an

american military had stepped foot on a russian navy very some that picture still exists and i got to play him. it's a great story. >> that's crazy. this is an inspiring movie, sounds like something that the entire family would love to go see. not as much so the case in the other movie you're in right now, the top movie in america "the grey." tell us about "the grey." >> i did these movies in reverse so i worked in extreme cold temperature force six months last year. >> no good. >> i loved every minute of it. >> "big miracle" filmed entirely in alaska, one of the few hollywood movies that have ever been filmed up there. >> i think it had been a long time since anchorage had seen a film crew and they opened their arms. we built this incredibly outdoor set, hundreds of yards long, right in anchorage port, right on the mud flats there so we're looking at the city to our left and inlet in front of us and then the computer enhancement

did the rest. >> must have been beautiful. >> where was "the grey" shot? >> partially in and around vancouver but the cold stuff we're in 35 degrees below zero, blizzard conditions, fantastic fun, that was in smithers, briti british, columbia, 500 miles north of vancouver. >> this movie is going to go through the roof in the box office. it is family friendly. people want to feel that amidst all of the stuff we talk about today it's pitch perfect. >> but it even has some bearing on what you talk about. what you see people who normally wouldn't cooperate, doing so. it sends a great message in that regard, and it's simply a fantastic story and even more so because it's all true. >> bringing you back, what was it like to work with liam

liam neesen, a total pro. >> he is the tollal pro. i knew he was in it when i was looking at the script and auditioning for this and hoping to have the chance to do it. he and i and seven other guys left to our own devices in extreme weather conditions and all made it through and some of the footage is incredible, it's like a documentary. >> you can catch -- >> both of these movies. >> "the grey" wi want to see. "the big miracle" and "the grey" both in theaters now. still ahead we have the clip that "the daily show" couldn't resi resist. coming up, hopefully somebody will escort donny off the set. >> it's time. >> it is time. >> let's pull the trigger. [ male announcer ] we know you don't wait

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welcome back, it's time for "business before the bell" and we'll have one headline, facebook is going to be filing initial paperwork with the s.e.c. to begin selling stock on the open market and trading could still be a few months away with the initial public offering expected to value the company between $75 billion and $100 billion. by going public, facebook's ceo mark zuckerberg is rolling the dice on what value advertisers might place on the personal data of more than 800 million users, unlike other ipos, there's speak clags it may include a provision to allow individual investors to have a chance to buy in on the initial sell, but donny as we've seen through the years, i mean, i remember yahoo!'s ipo was

monstro monstrous. ipo is struggling now. yahoo! is struggling now. google now worried that they're chasing facebook. i see valuations of $75 billion to $100 billion and roll my eyes. >> you have to become a student of history and they're very clever about opening up to the every man because to the every man ooh, facebook. it will be a wild initial ride but as you said what history teaches about technology it's hard. look at microsoft, to own a space forever. the definition is always -- so i would not be buying that over a ten-year delta. >> myspace was very hot until kids decided one day that myspace was out. i remember saying to my oldest boy, you on myspace -- i had some question about his myspace spanlg, page, i don't do that anymore.

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presidential candidate in 30 minutes or less, herman cain, made this strong endorsement. >> a shucky ducky! >> oh, shucky ducky! i wish he was still in the racy wacy! by the way, the duck that he shucked has signed a nondisclosure agreement. >> we do miss herman. >> we do. >> kohl bert has so much material. >> they do. good segue. last night you knew it was coming after the mitt romney singing at the villages in florida, jon stewart had at it. >> tell me, tell me! mitt romney is not about to woo elderly voters with the power of song. can you sing that song? i love that song. you no he that song? ♪ o beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain ♪

>> all right. you sang a verse of "america the beautiful," very nice, we can move on. >> there's another verse i won't make you sing it because you won't all know the words. >> you know the reason no one knows the words is no one ever subjects their audience to two verses of the song. >> wow, thank you. gentlemen, ladies, thank you. wow. impressive. and one more verse that's not as familiar to some. >> it was then that everyone in the crowd at the villages pressed their life alert button at the same time. and faked a stroke. he's singing and i can't get up! >> oh, my gosh! >> there's a third verse. >> he didn't sing that in fairness to governor romney. >> he wanted to. >> could be dancing, could be worse.

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>> voting research? come on. >> is that under miscellaneous? >> donny what did you learn? >> chuck todd is contemplating wearing a three-piece suit coming up on "the daily rundown" talking fashion and a good promo. chuck, three-piece brother. >> chuck, don't do it, no. >> regardless of what donny deutsch looks like the age of disco was killed in 1979. stay like you are. >> nobody likes an old time referee like regis. >> love him. >> he was awesome. >> the president is indeed in the driver's seat. >> there he is. >> that's all i have to say. >> and i learned that mitt romney was willing today, i was hopeful about, this willie, to talk about entitlements and the need to do some very concrete things that aren't politically popular, that's a good step. maybe if he drops one verse of singing "america the beautiful" and talks more about entitlement reform