please, stop it. you got anything else, johnny? >> yeah, one from from peter alexander.

watching barnicle reminds me of an old scooby do episode. >> i helped get you your promotion, i can help get you a demotion too. okay? all right. thanks a lot. see you later. "morning joe" starts right now. . >> tonight we had an opportunity to see what a campaign looks like. when one candidate isn't outspent 10 to 1 by negative ads. this is a more accurate representation, frankly, of what the fall race will look like. governor romney's greatest attribute is, well, i've got the most money and the best organization. well, he's not going to have the best organization and the most money in the fall, is he? no, we're going to have someone with other attributes to commend themselves to the people of

america. someone, someone who can get up and make sharp contrasts with president obama. someone who can point to the failed record of this administration and say that barack obama needs to be replaced in the oval office. >> that was rick santorum after winning all three primary contests last night. in colorado, the vote was too close to call until after midnight when santorum pushed ahead of romney by less than 4,000 votes. in minnesota, santorum's lead was overwhelming. the former pennsylvania senator topped his republican competition by double digits. and for the first time in the 2012 primary season, mitt romney placed third in the caucuses. and in missouri, santorum's lead over mitt romney jumped to 30 percentage points. ron paul finished in a distant third, newt gingrich was not on the ballot in the missouri primary contest. now, the missouri primary last

night was non-binding with no delegates at stake, colorado and minnesota didn't officially award delegates either. the caucuses were just an initial step in determining support for a candidate. good morning, everyone, mika brzezinski and joe scarborough here. with us onset, we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle who made it over from "way too early." we have economist dr. jeffrey sachs, and editor in chief of "newsweek" magazine and "the daily beast," tina brown. and in washington, we have mark haleprin. so a great panel, but, joe, let's start with you. we have rick santorum's win. we have the hhs controversy, which continues today, as well as the vote in california, which really all ties together. put it all in perspective. >> i'll tell you what. sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. rick santorum may be good, but this week the catholic

republican candidate has drawn an inside straight. and not only bad news for president obama, but bad news for mitt romney. you look at these three things that have happened. it started with planned parenthood and the planned parenthood controversy against the leading proponent of breast cancer research in the world and moved on to an hhs decision that even the "usa today" said was a dramatic overreach. and i think their quote was that the obama administration, quote, trampled on religious freedoms, violated religious freedoms, and the pullout quote is the obama administration didn't just cross the line, it galloped over it. and then, mika, yesterday, two judges in california, two federal judges overturned the results of prop 8, in the state of california, again, not a conservative state where 14 million voters went out and

voted to ban gay marriage in the state. this is a state that hasn't voted for a republican presidential candidate since 1988 or a u.s. senator that's a republican since 1986. and yet a federal court stepped in and overturned that decision. so it's not like alabama or north dakota's doing this, you take all of this together and you can almost hear pat buchanan at the 1992 convention talking about culture wars. but for republicans, and i'd love to go to mark haleprin really quickly, mark, it seems to me that there's a reason rick santorum outperformed last night on what all the polls suggested. all of these things are coming one after another after another, and it's actually pushing the president and the democrats out of the mainstream of american politics. >> well, joe, there's no doubt that santorum's three victories is owed to a lot of factors, for sure what you're citing.

the electorates in this contest were very conservative. they find the fire of rick santorum on social issues more appealing than mitt romney's more dry and less emotional appeal. but he also had an economic message. and that power of a social conservative message and a more blue-collar economic message in these states where romney didn't spend a lot of money, where he didn't compete was powerful. the question, obviously, is, can santorum go forward? but again, there's no doubt. as long as gay marriage and hhs controversy are in the news, santorum has a strong voice to appeal to conservatives. and as we talked about yesterday, he can talk about it in the context of the tenth amendment, states rights, washington overreach. the counter attack will be santorum's from washington. i think santorum will come back hard on that and talk about romney's ties to washington. >> mika, of course, we've talked about this before, there is a blind spot in the national

media. just because of the way we're based. on some of these social issues. but there's a reason why david axelrod came on our show yesterday and said they're looking for a compromise with the catholic church. they know they need it before november. there's a reason why barack obama refuses to come out and say he supports gay marriage. he knows they're out of the mainstream. this just proves again what prime minister mcmilan said that in politics a week is a lifetime and it's been a pretty rough week for the white house and especially for mitt romney. >> i think it has. i think the messaging has been difficult, and it's been a real opportunity for the republicans. specifically in this case rick santorum. what david axelrod said in our show, the white house will tell you, and they will tell you again and again that that is no different than the plan they put in place and the hhs decision they put in place, the way they define it with the grace period that is looking for the way to

work it out within that time. they're not backing down at all on their decision. >> well, you know, if they don't back down at all, that's certainly their prerogative. the president got elected 3 1/2 years ago and chances are very good if you look at the polls in swing states. if they don't back down, if they don't compromise with catholics across the country, they probably won't get reelected in the fall. >> i wonder -- >> i say that only because -- and again, i know that this enrages a lot of people that i'm actually doing political analysis -- like john madden analyzes football games. i'm not really -- you never hear me screaming about social issues here. i'm telling you, though, when you have the "usa today" gallup poll showing romney splitting the states with a lot of catholics, this is going to swing one or two percentage

points if the president doesn't -- if the president's being called by "usa today" a president that is "trampling on religious freedoms," that's just not good. that's not the "national review" saying that. and the same thing with gay marriage. it wasn't 14 million voters in alabama that were overturned by two judges yesterday. i'm saying, this just plays into the worst suspicions. forget whether you think that's a good thing or a bad thing, i'm just telling you, this is going to have a real impact on middle america. >> and people need to understand, it's a prognostication as to how this is going to be translated whether or not you agree with it or not. let's get to dr. sachs on this. but first, more news on last night, voter turnout was down raising questions about republican enthusiasm heading into the general election. in colorado, votes were down a couple thousand points from

2008, but in minnesota, there was a 15,000 vote difference. and in missouri, over 340,000 more votes cast in 2008 than last night. in his last presidential run, mitt romney won the colorado caucuses with over 42,000 votes and last night he came in second with just under 23,000 votes. romney also took minnesota in 2008 with almost 26,000 votes, but last night he came in a distant third with just over 8,000 votes. >> golly. that is horrendous. >> it's horrendous. and in missouri, romney had o r over -- >> oh, my god. >> this is more of the mitt romney story in my opinion. and i want to get to haleprin on this, but let's walk through all of the issues here. because dr. jeffrey sachs, whether or not what joe is saying and what the white house is saying about the hhs decision, could ultimately be the same thing, which is looking for a different way of doing business when it comes to contraception, like, for example, the hawaii model because there may be a way to work this out.

and it's not our views, it's not my views. my views is religious institution should not be forced to provide services they don't believe in. but there are ways to give people access to it without putting religious institutions into that place. i think the white house is looking for that. whether or not -- put that aside. what we think about that, put it aside. look at the votes that came in for rick santorum who is very clear and far to the right on social issues. this is an opening, this issue, is it not for republicans and the right to get a voice? >> i think this is so stunning for romney, though. basically there is no enthusiasm out there for him. and i think the national polls that pair him and the white house and obama really show that his chances of winning are really low and falling in the fall. it's stunning. >> every time he wins -- >> the big news is, this is not the white house, it will find a way to make a compromise. i think joe's right on that. but for romney, absolutely

shattering that in the mainstream when now he was supposed to romp to the nomination loses three in a row. and that collapses his vote compared to four years ago is remarkable. >> tina brown? >> yeah, well, i think romney has been increasingly with the negative campaigning et cetera really begun to define himself as this 1% candidate. i think the comment about not caring about poor people, you know, the tax 14% thing. he's really being now carved out as that sort of rich guy candidate, which has not been helpful to him. and also shows the only reason to vote for romney is a sense he's supposedly competent financially executive. as soon as the conversation shifts to any other aspect of what people care about, he's nowhere. and, you know, in a campaign is a long time. you can't be just kind of one-topic candidate. i really think that, you know, there's too much that happens that comes out of the box. like this last week when all of

a sudden the conversation wasn't so much the economy, it was actually the social concerns, which where romney has no -- >> and tina, let me ask you this question. could you imagine a margaret thatcher being lobbed an hhs softball, or being lobbed this gay marriage where two judges overturn the voting will of 14 million people? can you imagine what a margaret thatcher or a ronald reagan would do with this type of issue? forget the underlying issues of gay marriage and abortion or contraceptives. mitt romney can't speak the -- he can't deliver that conservative message. and i think that's really what his biggest problem is. somebody like thatcher would hit these softballs out of the park. >> i don't think there is any of

that core in romney. and that's why he keeps getting exposed as a candidate. in the end, you cannot be this one-note johnny all the way through one campaign. you can't feel that every time you get thrown something that takes you off script. and that's why i don't think he's going to get anywhere. i don't. >> i've got mike barnicle here. mike then mark. >> the vote last night in these three states, you know, it reminds me of an old sports thing. don't let someone back in the game. and what happened last night, the conservative element of the republican party, they got back in the game. whether it's rick santorum, newt gingrich, ron paul, or whatever, i think they got back in the game. they are now energized that wing of the republican party, joe, i think is now energized. much more so than it was 24 hours ago because of what happened last night. >> the social issues. there's always that hot thing that keeps rising up. >> true. >> joe, go. >> and the crazy thing is in this case, mark haleprin, it

seems to be the left that is reengaging in fights and they don't need to reengage in. but let's talk about mitt romney for one minute. the guy's been running for president for the better part of six, five, six, seven years. and you look at those vote totals and it's absolutely staggering. in one state he got about 33%, 35% of the votes he got four years ago. you can't spin that, can you? this guy is being rejected by the republican base. >> well, they are spinning it, and they're right about a couple of things in boston. one is they did not compete in these states the way they have in the states they won. they didn't spend a lot of money, they didn't have tv ads, didn't systemically set out to destroy the person who stood in their way. santorum now has an opportuni opportunity -- but you've got to look at the calendar going forward. the romney campaign's right, this is about delegates.

the santorum campaign won no delegates yet. can either of them use the map, the calendar coming up to beat romney in places where he and his super pac spend a lot of money? he's the favorite to win this nomination, but they have a chance in michigan and arizona coming up at the end of the month. one or both of them to try to do more damage to romney. if i could say one thing about the abortion thing and the vulnerability of the white house here on the catholic church, clearly now they have to move politically. they must make an accommodation. the danger sign comes from what we saw in the fight with planned parenthood, which is the left will go crazy. just no matter what the compromise is, there'll be elements of the left who will go crazy and say the president's turned his back on the rights of women. that's a real warning sign for them as they try to navigate the next step politically. and santorum and to the lesser extent gingrich will be there every step of the way. >> joe? >> and let me tell you, mika,

you can almost -- wait a second, you didn't see star wars -- haleprin, you can almost sense the emperor landing on the death star and saying -- have we aimed the laser at arizona and rick santorum? they're already planning to destroy rick santorum, which, again, in the short-term may give him the victory and the long-term might make him unelectable in the fall. >> it just might. mike barnicle, go. >> the hhs story and mark alluded to, you know, abortion and contraception. that's the tip of the story. that's the headline of the story. but the real reason the white house is going to have to compromise here and compromise quickly is reality. if you take catholic teaching hospitals, catholic charities, and all the services of the catholic church in this country provides to the poor, the

hungry, the ill of all faiths. if you take them out of the equation because of this ruling and what's remedied, you're going to have a collapse of the social network system in this country. >> well, there certainly is a lot of reason why it should work. there are people who are not catholic who work at catholic hospitals who need to -- and they don't have options of other jobs, it's not high-level positions, who should be able to get their coverage and the health care that they consider health care that's important for them, but they don't have to get it from the institution itself. there is a way to work this out. and it seems to me that the white house is clear on that, but it's still an opportunity for republicans to seize on. is it not, dr. jeffrey sachs? it's a great opportunity. i don't get hhs timing right now. >> well, these are big bureaucracies and they're operating on plans that aren't necessarily based on the primary week. >> right. >> i think they'll find a way to compromise for the reasons that everybody is saying. but i think there's another

point that is worth bringing up today because it's also topical in the last 24 hours. that's what mark haleprin said. romney didn't spend big money. the super pacs weren't there. think of the role of the super pacs in each of these weeks how the big money is having such an influence and obama's decision yesterday, okay, i'm in it too, start pouring in the money. basically our politics are rotten and getting worse because where you win is where you're able to -- >> are you angry the president's doing this? >> of course. >> what do you expect until the rules are changed? how do you win? >> i think the president actually doesn't have to play the game exactly the way that the opponents do. and i expected more of the president to help lead real reform. how are we ever going to get reform if each side is saying we have to break every norm, every standard, every promise because

the other one's doing it. >> isn't politics about saying, hey, i'll win this and then i'll reform it. >> of course it is. >> that always happens -- >> it's clear why it's happening, but our system is so broken, so corrupted that how do we get out of it? >> that was the other big story this week so far we're following and that is the president aligning himself in a super pac. having said that, many say how do you -- how do you even engage if you don't have the same tools? maybe as an incumbent he had an opportunity. >> he did. >> who knows. coming up, we'll talk to last night's big winner, rick santorum, also pat toomey of pennsylvania, as well as kareem abdul-jabbar. up next, the top stories in the politico playbook. but first, todd santos with a check on the forecast. todd? >> good morning. the set up across the east today, a chance for a few snow showers to make in toward d.c. it's a little bit of rain maybe mixing in there.

there's a look at a quick-moving system. it's a three-hour loop and making good progress across portions of ohio. a quick 1 to 3 for a few areas. philly may be in the 1 to 2 inch range. part of that, not just the quick-moving nature of the storm, but temperatures very borderline. well above freezing, 32 back in pittsburgh, southern pa., those winter weather advisories go through this weekend. we'll see the chance for that 1 to 3 inches, d.c. just outside of the advisory. and there's a look at the forecast for today. few flakes mix in around new york, but a light drizzle later on today. we'll check in with weather in a little bit. ä%-;n for now, more "morning jo coming your way next. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about how some companies like to get between ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you and your money.

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24 past the hour. time now for a look at the morning papers, and we'll start with the "new york times" business section. the state department is planning to reduce the diplomatic presence planned for iraq. the u.s. staff in baghdad has nearly 16,000 people mostly confined to the new embassy for security reasons. u.s. officials say that just doesn't justify the $6 billion a year price tag to keep the embassy going at full capacity. and in the "new york daily news," a new study says 9 out of 10 americans are getting too much sodium. breads and rolls are at the number one culprit followed by cold cuts and pizza. come on, pizza's great. and the bottom of the list, chips, pretzels, popcorn, of course. it's linked to high blood pressure which can lead to heart disease, the number one killer in the united states. >> okay, so this is, by the way, the american diet. the american diet. >> i wish i had a pizza right now. >> this is what's killing us,

dr. sachs, correct? >> it is. we've got the worst and we have the worst numbers and you've been pointing it out. >> we'll keep going with that. and from the "washington post" online, silvio berlusconi says he has no problem with gay people. in an interview with "atlantis" magazine he says "i have nothing against homosexuals. let it be clear, quite the contrary. i always thought more gay people around the less competition." as for the bunga bunga party he added, i'm not a playboy, i'm a playman. my theory on -- >> that guy, joe. >> my theory on him is viagra. viagra, viagra -- >> i'm sure that's covered by insurance. >> okay. >> seriously, it is. what's that about? >> he's mentally ill. >> yeah.

>> it's viagra. >> he's o.d.ed, viagra poisoning. >> he's about 80 years old, isn't he? bunga bunga parties, saying stupid stuff like that? yeah. joining us now with the politico playbook. >> ask vandehei about it. >> are you a playman, jim vandehei? >> how come you always have these creepy segues into jim vandehei segments? >> do i need to answer that? all right. looking at last night's results, vandehei, did rick santorum win the night? or did mitt romney lose it? or both? >> certainly both. i mean, come on, if you're a republican right now, the polls just came out by public policy that shows that republicans are less enthusiastic than democrats about this race. at a time when they loathe president obama. republicans have to be kicking themselves. it seems that they're about to for the second time in a row, nominate a candidate against president obama who they've not

really been excited about. this campaign, santorum had a great night, but mitt romney who is supposed to be mr. inevitable performing this poorly in three states last time i checked are swing states. pretty important when you're looking at a general election. great night for santorum, and a bad night for romney, no other way to spin that. >> yeah. i mean -- i believe the campaign was trying to say yesterday nothing to see here, but did they expect to lose so badly? and what is that telling us big picture? and does it renew hope for santorum? >> well, undoubtedly he's going to get a second look. santorum can say i've won more states than any other candidate. he can say that mitt romney has underperformed in every state with the exception of florida from 2008. he can say he has momentum, he's the conservative alternative. newt gingrich hasn't even been part of our conversation yet because he performed so terribly in all three states. and so, yes, santorum's going to get a second look and there's a lot of conservatives out there that don't like this field,

probably aren't that thrilled with rick santorum. but to them, he's the lesser of three unappealing candidates and so, yes, he's going to get a lot of attention over the next week. he still has no money. he doesn't have much of an organization. he has nothing in most states that matter. so mitt romney still has the infrastructure that matters. but boy, if he doesn't have excitement, it's tough to win elections last i checked. >> jim, is there any chance someone will enter the race, you know, the savior to come in in this incredible mess of the republican side? >> i mean, no. it's almost impossible to see the mechanics of that happening. but i think there's a lot of republicans sitting there this morning going, what are we doing? isn't there somebody, mitch daniels, who can take the social conservatives, economic conservatives, the money men behind the republican party and unite them? because none of these three are doing it. it's clear. we have three regional candidates. one from the south, one from the northeast, and one from the midwest. it looks like that's how it's going to play out for the next

month or two. >> playman jim vandehei, thank you very much. >> take care. new york city salutes the giants as thousands of fans lined the streets of manhattan. we'll hear from the players and from one fan who was a little confused at who won the super bowl. it wasn't me, by the way. capital one's new cash rewards card gives you a 50 percent annual bonus. so you earn 50 percent more cash. if you're not satisfied with 50% more cash, send it back! i'll be right here, waiting for it. who wouldn't want more cash? [ insects chirping ] i'll take it. i'll make it rain up in here.

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huge day in new york yesterday. manhattan, new jersey, connecticut, the tri-state area because of the new york football giants. they're finally resting this morning after three days of celebrations following their super bowl win. fans packed into lower manhattan yesterday. mika was out there in her old cheerleaders outfit. >> i was. >> watching big blue mark their second championship in four years. mayor mike bloomberg presented the team with ceremonial keys to the city, and super bowl mvp eli manning joked about the team's pension for late-game rallies, eight fourth quarter comebacks this season. >> when we started the season 6-2, we said, coach, this is not tough enough. we need to lose four in a row to make this more challenging.

but that's what we did and we made it tough and the super bowl, we got off to a 9-0 lead, we said, coach, this is too easy, we've got to make it tougher, we've got to lose the lead, we've got to make a fourth quarter comeback, and sure enough, we did. we made it possible. >> one of the nicest guys in any professional sport. eli manning. for many, the party lasted into the afternoon drawing comparisons to the big easy from brandon jacobs. >> there's nothing like these new york parades. you know, if new york had a mardi gras every year, it'd be crazy. >> that's where i was, the mardi gras last night here. among the celebration, there was a young woman and she wasn't quite sure about exactly whom she was out there to see. >> what was it like? >> amazing. >> do you like? >> sanchez!

>> eli. >> okay. >> what did she say? >> little refresher course for her and many others. that's jets' quarterback mark sanchez on the left of your screen and that's giants' quarterback eli manning, super bowl mvp, he's on the right. now, some say eli manning's two super bowl rings make him a future hall of famer, i would agree with that. but not so if you ask kurt warner, former super bowl winning quarterback and former teammate of eli manning. check this out. >> he's had two great playoff runs, or his team has had two great playoff runs, but i also look at the rest of his career. he's an 82% quarterback rating throughout his career. you know, he's had five of his eight seasons where he's thrown 16 interceptions or more. to me, those aren't hall of fame numbers. and by that i mean every time you step on the field, you're a game-changer, a difference maker, and i don't believe eli

manning has been that guy until this year. >> he's wrong, right, barnicle? >> yes. up next, we've got this morning's must-read opinion pages. plus jimmy fallon becomes the latest victim of michelle obama's fitness crusade. go girl. more "morning joe" in just a moment. [ male announcer ] we know you don't wait

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okay is there a woman i can talk to? ♪ sfx: cheetah growling sfx: car tires accelerating sfx: cheetah growling sfx: friend with girly scream. trust us. it's fast. the veloster turbo, sfx: friend screams from hyundai. my father never graduated from college. he apprenticed as a lath and plaster carpenter, and he's good at it. he could take a handful of nails, stick them in his mouth and spit them out, on his

honeymoon, he put aluminum paint in the trunk of the car and sold it along the way to pay for the gas and hotels. there were a lot of reasons my father could've given up and set his sights lower, but the america he believed in a lath and plaster guy could work out to become head of a car company, and the guy who sold the aluminum paint out of his car could end up being governor in one of the states where he sold that state. in dad's america, small businesses, entrepreneurs, they were encouraged and respected. the spirit of enterprise and innovation propelled our standard of living and our economy past every nation on the planet. i refuse to believe that america is just another place on the map with a flag. we stand for freedom and hope and opportunity. >> all right. time now for the must read opinion pages. the "wall street journal" has an editorial on a topic we have been discussing heatedly over the past 24 hours.

obama care's great awakening. and it in part reads this, joe. the political furor over president obama's birth control mandate continues to grow even among those for whom contraception poses no moral qualms. and one needn't be a theologian to understand why. the country is being exposed to the raw political control that is the core of the obama health care plan. and americans are seeing clearly for the first time how this will violate pluralism and liberty. maybe hhs thought the public had become i neuroed to such edicts. won't be protected until obama care is repealed. but on this issue, joe, if you look at views of the catholic church in terms of the press releases they put out from the hierarchy, i don't think it matches catholic followers. and there's a ppb poll out that

shows a solid 56% of majority of voters support health plans to cover birth control. and the majority of catholic voters, by the way. >> well, the bottom line is, again, i think as we've said around this table, none of us are shocked by the use of contraceptives. and i think well over half of catholics may feel the same way. but even those who had absolutely no moral qualms of contraceptives and don't understand why the catholic church does, respect the rights of the leaders of that church to stick to their values that they've held for over 2,000 years. and when the federal government steps in and says you must do something that undercuts the tenants of your faith, that troubles all americans. i brought this up yesterday,

it's like i don't understand why muslim women wear head scarves. but in france, that government is banning their right to do that. i don't think that would fly in america either. so i think to each their own. and i think in this case, though, again, it's more of the procedure that the federal government is taking than the actual policies. you have, again, the "usa today" saying the obama decision "tramples on religious freedoms" for the catholic church to do what the catholic church wants to do. in california last night, you had two judges overturn the popular will of 14 million people voters, regardless of what you think of prop 8, that's going to offend a lot of independents and a lot of conservatives. and so it all feeds into a narrative. you look at the cover of "newsweek" this week, the war on christians, that's a global warm.

but again, what liberals need to understand that don't live in the heartland, all of this together feeds into a narrative that may drive liberals crazy, but it drives conservatives to vote. and that is what they should be concerned about. that's what david axelrod is concerned about, and that's what the white house and mitt romney are worried about. let me just say really quickly. and then i'll pass it back to you. that mitt romney speech i just saw there, that's probably the best mitt romney speech i've heard in the entire campaign, talking about his dad, that's powerful stuff. i wonder where that mitt romney's been. >> let me go back to the first thing you said. this is the white house or a liberal saying you must do something that undercuts your faith. i think they're saying let's try and figure out a way to have these medical services whether you agree with them or not offered in some way without undercutting your faith and

without forcing you to provide them under our model -- hold on. >> that's not what they said. that's not what they're saying. >> you know what? they're trying very hard to say that but because it's such a hot-button issue, it is immediately, immediately translated to the right differently than it is to the left. and i understand why. >> no, no, mika -- no, this is -- no, but, again, i don't think the editorial board of the "usa today" is revved up reading press releases from focus on the family. i don't think that david brooks who talks about being discouraged by this decision is sitting there listening to rush limbaugh. these are people who are regularly mocked by the right who are coming up saying this is a distressing decision. now, i'm not talking about you here, mika, but i know it comforts liberals to look down on conservatives and on independents on social issues. and if they want to do that, they're going to lose an

election this fall. i'm just telling you there are a lot of reasonable, rational people on the right and in the center and yet even on the left. and even atheists i've spoken with that said, why is the federal government doing this? we have a first amendment for a reason. let me read something else that the "usa today" said. the obama administration didn't just cross the line separating church and state, they galloped over it. the first amendment's guarantee of religious freedoms deserves more than the obama administration allows. that's not a pro-life radical planning to go bomb an abortion clinic, which is, of course, a caricature that a lot of people in the national media like to paint pro-life people. these are mainstream people saying this is a governmental overreach. >> i just want to ask you -- me asking you, when "usa today" is saying they galloped over it. how are they doing it? what are they saying that the white house and hhs is doing by

galloping over the line? forcing something? because they're not as you know. there's a two-year grace period where they're trying to figure out if there's a different way, a different model. and i'd ask if you think the hawaii model is actually potentially -- may not be possible in this case, but a sign that it can be worked out where -- >> you're -- you are saying and the white house are saying two separate things. the white house is saying we're not backing down, but hey, we may back down and go the way of hawaii. the white house is saying we're not trampling on religious freedoms, but they are saying and what catholic leaders are saying and "usa today" is saying and david brooks and a lot of people in the middle is you're going to give us one year? to go back on 2,000 years on religious teachings? and for people that aren't intelligent enough to decipher what we are saying here, i've got no problem with

contraceptives, most americans have no problems with contraceptives, but the catholic church does. it's not the federal government's business to tell them what they have to do. >> okay. >> listen, mika, they overstepped their bounds, they need -- they need to sit down and figure out a compromise. >> okay. and i want to point out that the catholic church hierarchy -- >> and so many of its own members. it was so interesting. >> very -- >> who actually favor it. >> listen, i think most people understand that. most people understand that the hierarchy of the church is male. most people understand that the hierarchy of the church has been blind to many problems. >> and about this very issue. >> most catholics, a lot of catholics regard the ban on contraception as fine and they're going to use contraceptives. the problem here with this ruling is the reality of it. and the reality of it is, joe was talking about it a bit. the way it's going to play down

in the politics of our system today. here's the way it's going to play out. you're going to have st. elizabeth's catholic parish on one side of the street and the catholic teaching hospital on the other side of the street. and the way people are going to end up thinking about this and i bet they're thinking about it right now when they do think about it is the federal government is saying, you know, whatever you practice, whatever you say in a sermon in st. elizabeth's catholic church, that's fine, you're protected. you cross the street, whatever happens in st. elizabeth's catholic teaching hospital, the federal government's saying no, no, you can't do that or else you're going to lose funding. and people look at this as another intrusion of the federal government in our lives. >> they're also on there's almost 56% of catholics who are thinking i'm so happy now to get this coverage and they understand in a sense, they're more nuanced a bit in that in the sense they know that they actually disagree with their leaders on this. doesn't mean they're not catholics -- >> they disagree with their leaders on it, but the idea of

the federal government telling the catholic church or catholic teaching hospital, catholic charities what they can and cannot do bothers people. >> do they have a choice now that they can? >> is that a pun? getting choice in there? >> but again, though, you strip this all down, this is not about contraceptives, not about sterilization services, this is about the first amendment. and there is a separation between the church and the state. and that's -- that wall that is erected as thomas jefferson said a long time ago goes both ways. and in this case, as "usa today" said, the obama administration galloped over the line regardless of what the church's edict was. >> okay. we're going to leave it -- >> well, they're going to change it. >> they can't. no, they're not. okay. i'll make a bet with you. still ahead last night's big

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there's probably another person who maybe is listening to your cheers here tonight also. and that might be at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. you better start listening to the voice of the people. then again, i wouldn't be surprised if he isn't listening. why l would you think he would be listening now? has he ever listened to the voice of america before? i don't stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to mitt romney. i stand here to be the conservative alternative to barack obama. >> that was rick santorum. after winning all three primary contests last night. in colorado, the vote's too close to call until after midnight when santorum pushed ahead of romney by less than 4,000 votes. in minnesota, santorum's lead

was overwhelming. the former pennsylvania senator topped his republican competition by double digits. and for the first time in the 2012 primary season, mitt romney placed third in the caucuses. and in missouri, santorum's lead over mitt romney jumped to 30 percentage points, ron paul finished in a distant third, newt gingrich was not on the ballot in the missouri primary contest, but the missouri primary last night was nonbinding with no delegates at stake, joe. colorado and minnesota didn't officially award delegates either. the caucuses were just an initial step in determining support for a candidate. having said that, i believe, joe, mitt romney story as much as a rick santorum story. >> it certainly is a mitt romney story. and those numbers that you put up last hour actually made me gasp. i could not believe how much mitt romney underperformed this year in these states compared to four years ago. it is bad news for mitt romney.

you look in colorado. he went from getting colorado where he went from winning the caucus and getting 42,000 votes four years ago to getting about half of that last night. and you can do that state by state, mika. it's bad news everywhere. he underperformed terribly in minnesota. and he also underperformed in colorado. and missouri -- >> yep. >> and this morning, the romney people are going to be spinning it saying it really doesn't matter that much. but this is happening state after state after state, mitt romney has to find his voice and he's got to start making it more about him and why people should vote for him than making it about the other candidate and why they're defective. >> seems like every time he wins, he loses. carl bernstein joins us, as well, and carl, that's just it, mitt romney wins, then he loses, he wins, then he loses.

and this is a triple hit. >> i think this is huge. >> i think it goes to the perception of romney by more than just tea party people, by others in the republican party that there's something ungenuine about him. and i think that's coming through in the exit polls that he's pretending to be a conservative, a lot of people are saying, both conservatives and non-conservatives. there's a story in "washington post" today that job creation under governor romney in massachusetts in 2000 coming out of the tech bubble was 47th in the nation. going to his record, mike knows something about this, as governor of massachusetts he claims to be a job creator. i think and the record is a bit different. i think what's happening is -- and the press loves this story. and they're going to keep hammering it. and there's a question about how viable a candidate he can be by the time of the nomination if he

gets it, and i think there are a lot of republicans that are saying, i wish we had jeb bush. >> yeah, yeah. there is that. but, joe, i mean, it just seems like he should've found his voice by now. >> yes, well, you know what's so fascinating, we showed a clip earlier where it sound like mitt romney maybe was trying on a new voice? maybe this is the real romney? not the poll-tested romney. but you know, he was singing "america the beautiful" and doing a lot of things. listen to this clip of mitt romney. i think it's one of the more compelling segments of a speech he's given the entire year. take a listen. >> my father never graduated from college, he apprenticed as a lath and plaster carpenter, and he's pretty good at it. he could take a handful of nails, stick them in his mouth and then spit them out pointy end forward. on his honeymoon, he put paint

in the trunk of his car and sold it along the way to pay for gas and hotels. there were reasons he could've given up and set his sights a lot lower. but he believed in america, and the america he believed in, a lath and plaster guy could become head of a car company and the guy who sold aluminum paint out of his car could end up being governor in one of the states he sold that aluminum paint. in dad's america, small businesses, entrepreneurs, these were encouraged and respected. the spirit of enterprise and innovation and daring propelled our standard of living and our economy past that of every nation on the planet. i refuse to believe that america is just another place on the map with a flag. we stand for freedom and hope and opportunity. >> now, that's a voice. >> maybe mitt romney should lose three races in a night again. because you know i wasn't looking at mitt romney there, i was looking at the people behind

him, and for the first time in this campaign i saw people smiling, nodding their head like they were really getting it there. that's a powerful message. it may be poll-driven, may be market tested, but it doesn't feel it. that actually is one of the first times i said, you know what? this guy's speaking from his heart. he really means this. >> well, you know, joe, and i know you know this. you can get so overcoached that you lose whatever element of spontaneity you have in you. whatever element of connection you might be able to provoke to a crowd, within a crowd. you can get so overcoached you lose that. and i think romney has been so overcoached and so self-aware of i can't make a mistake, i can't say something what my father did, brainwashed, i don't want that happening to me. and so there's a rigidity to both his physical presence on a stage as well as his rhetorical presence. it was not there in that clip, you're right.

people want to like at one level they want to like who they vote for. and romney's got to do more of that. >> you asked me what voice i was talking about, dr. sachs, what i saw there was finally someone talking from the heart for the first time. that's not the whole picture because i think the big problem with mitt romney is that people still, still, still to this day don't know what he believes. >> well, there's a huge amount of baggage he's very recently taken on, cayman island bank accounts, swiss bank accounts, tax -- low tax rates, the 1% candidate. so he may talk about his dad's america, but he's going to have to defend his own record and, you know, era we're in right now, the 1% is not going to win the election in the end and that's what he's being tagged as, the candidate of the 1%. let's get to this next story, and i want to bring the host of "meet the press," david gregory into the conversation.

the obama administration is reiterating that it is seeking ways to make hhs health care law more acceptable to religious leaders. the provision requires religious institutions to offer access to contraception to women as part of their insurance coverage. the white house press secretary jay carney spoke about the issue to reporters yesterday. take a look. >> the president is committed to making sure that all women have access to these important preventive services. but i think it is important to remember what was clearly stated when this policy decision was announced, and that is that we will be working with those organizations and individuals who have concerns about the implementation of this rule. but let's be clear, the rule does not require any individual or institution to provide contraception. it requires coverage for women who work there of different faiths or of any faith.

>> but with the election fast approaching the issue has already become a major point of discussion on the senate floor. >> no one in the united states, no one, should ever be compelled by their government to choose between violating their religious beliefs and being penalized for refusing. yet, that's precisely what this mandate would do. >> and we are not going quietly into the night on this one. we will be here, we will fight back, we will fight for women and their families and health care. and we will fight to keep politics out of the equation. >> all right. rick santorum also spoke about the mandate on his victory speech last night. >> i never thought as a first generation american whose parents and grandparents loved freedom and came here because they didn't want the government

telling them what to believe and how to believe it. we had a first amendment that actually stood for freedom of conscience, that we'd have a president of the united states who would roll over that and impose his secular values. on the people of this country. >> okay. so joe, let's bring david gregory into the conversation. but i'll toss it to you with this problem. and that is that what mitch mcconnell was saying a lot of people would say simply not true. except i believe that those on the right and mitch mcconnell and rick santorum absolutely believe what they are saying to be true and that is the problem with this issue. it's like abortion, just a clear cut -- >> well, again, i'll say it again, it's not just mitch mcconnell and rick santorum that are offended by this. david gregory, you know when you're in the white house and you're having "usa today," the

most read newspaper in america and a fairly moderate newspaper saying that the obama decision "tramples on religious freedom," and "galloped over the line of separation of church and state." and you have david brooks, actually the republican that a lot of conservatives love to hate talking about how disappointing this decision is. you know that the white house may have some problems with independents and especially with catholic swing voters. >> i'd be shocked, shocked, joe, if the white house does not figure out a way to get around this and compromise on this issue. i don't think this is a fight they want to have in an election year. hearing the debate this morning on this program. we talked about it on "meet the press" on sunday. and to your point, the fact this is a widespread view. to mika's point, it may be misinterpreted by some conservatives who are attacking. the white house concedes privately they got off to a bad start on this issue, they didn't

explain it properly, it got misinterpreted right away in their view. and beyond that has become the pivotal kind of role of government issue. government intrusion kind of debate that is not only important for catholic voters, important for a lot of women, but it -- there's a lot of others who are not catholics who don't -- it's not on the line here who are wondering about this and wondering if the government's going too far. this is the sort of role of government debate already on the table with health care generally that i just don't think the white house wants to she through. >> and of course, david, your home state of california yesterday, you know david axelrod is like going, oh, my god, will this stop? i want to talk about the economy and the jobs numbers. but poor david axelrod politically now having to grapple with a referendum where 14 million people voted, overturned on gay marriage by

two federal judges on an issue where even the president refuses to come out and support gay marriage. here's another thing. and this happens in politics all the time, but it seems to be happening quickly here. where you're getting distracted from a great jobs report last week. this is not the week did axle r axelrod expected to have. >> i think gay rights and gay marriage is an issue that the president wants to change course on very badly. and will certainly do that early in a second term if he is reelected because i think the tide of public opinion is changing. but i agree with you, it's certainly not a debate they want to wade into in the course of the campaign. and certainly not to fortify a republican primary race with some social issues that can help them run in the south or in parts of the midwest where rick santorum was so successful last night. >> so dr. jeffrey sachs, in terms of these social issues, dive in ideologically.

>> i think there's two deep principles. one is an individual's right and for poor people need for help to make choices that are very important for them. >> -- what that help is even? >> in this case, access for contraception. and on the other side is institutions that strongly oppose this being told what to do. so these are two pretty strong principles clashing. they're both important principles. i think david gregory's absolutely right that the white house is going to have to find a way around this, a different way from the one that they've set. because to tell a catholic institution you must provide this coverage runs very deep. and i think they're going to have to find a different way, but they're going to do their best to also honor the need of individuals for health services they want, which is another important principle. both are at stake. >> joe? >> hey, jeffrey, let's talk the other side of this. because obviously we've been

talking from the point of view of catholics in america. obviously, though, people like yourself -- and i don't want to put words into your mouth. let's just say people who have been concerned about poverty globally have always had concerns with the catholic church's position on contraceptives and the impact that might have on a population explosion. go ahead and tell that side of the story, as well. >> well, it's a real story that if population continues to rise at the rate it is in the poorest countries, it's devastating for those poor people. it's devastating for those countries, it's actually a major crisis for the world. right now, the fastest population growth is in the very poorest places in the world that can't support this. and there are not family planning services available because poor people can't afford them right now. so you get into what's called a

vicious circle or poverty trap where high population growth deepens the poverty and makes it even more unaffordable. this is a very major global issue. how to enable access to basic reproductive health services for impoverished people so they can get out of the poverty trap. that's a real issue. very serious. >> here's part of the rub about this issue off of exactly what you said. you can go to the poorest parts of the world. go to the philippines, central america, southeast asia, you can go to the poorest parts of this country, go to kentucky, new york city, i don't care where you go, you are going to find the catholic church delivering food to poor people, delivering to poor people. now you've got the federal government seemingly telling the catholic church that it's okay, you can preach whatever you want from the pulpit, but your teaching hospitals, catholic

charities organizations, you have to adhere to our rules or you're going to lose some federal funding, we might put you out of business. >> there are two issues here. one is these organizations do not want to do this. and it's understandable why not just like you're saying. on the other hand, i meet bishops all over the world, cardinals, bishops who say, you know, we need contraception in the -- i can't say it, but in fact, we need it all over the world. >> carl bernstein and david gregory. >> well, i wrote a biography of pope john paul ii, and what dr. sachs is saying is true, there's a movement within the church that would like to see contraception particularly because it's the one institution in the world with the infrastructure to give birth control education to people in the third world. and the second point being, this is a huge symbolic issue like a hornet's nest that unnecessarily the obama white house has walked into. there's a solution, it's in hawaii, it's a plan in which

insurance is given to a third party organization to provide -- >> it's not a solution across the country, but it's a sign there's hope. it can't be done across the country. >> i think you can find a way -- >> there's ways to make it work. >> we've talked about the global problem, the pope, david gregory, bring us back to politics. final thought. >> i think carl's alluding to the hawaii solution. the idea you can have these organizations say i can tell you where to go. to barnicle's point. the social contract that a lot of ways is to go to faith institutions providing such great care for the poor and the needy in this country and maybe even providing federal dollars, but, you know, even to continue doing that, they're doing that as basically a favor as a service to their communities. and do you want to break that contract over this kind of disagreement? where there's a potential for a compromise where again you tell the patient where it is you can go if it's outside of that space

where there is religious objections. >> david gregory, thanks very much, and thanks to you all. i think this was a really good conversation on an issue that could get really heated and just distasteful in a heartbeat. and we've got to work through it. still ahead, last night's big winner, rick santorum will join us also senator pat toomey and newly appointed cultural ambassador kareem abdul-jabbar. yes, up next, nbc's chuck todd on where the republican race goes from here. and with us onset. [ malennounc, there's been a seismic shift

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welcome back to "morning joe," 25 past the hour. joining us now from washington, nbc news chief white house

correspondent and political director and host of "the daily rundown," chuck todd and david gregory, the moderator of "meet the press" still with us. let's get your comments on what happened last night. david gregory, we'll start with you because we didn't get to it, but rick santorum won but even more so, mitt romney lost, but won before in these very states. it's not good. >> yeah, look, i think mitt romney's going through a tough period. he'll tell you he can't win every contest and john mccain, you know, dropped something like 19 contests in 2008. some buyer's remorse for romney. his negatives are driven up by so much negativity coursing through the race and he's behind a lot of it as he tries to take down newt gingrich. the upside here is that bad night for gingrich and romney can look at santorum and say he neutralizes gingrich a little bit. but rick santorum has earned the right to get a second look. he's debated well, givened into

speeches, attacked romney and his conservative credentials effectively and without the baggage gingrich has. i think there's a real look at santorum. again, adds that level of volatility into the race and fractures that conservative vote a little bit more. >> joe? >> chuck todd, politically a remarkable week, but last night, pretty remarkable results. what's your headline out of last night? >> i think conservative activists continue to reject mitt romney. i mean, yes, santorum swept, but let's think about who showed up last night? right? so you had a beauty contest in missouri, you had caucuses in minnesota and colorado. who shows up? well, these are the people, joe, and you know this better than most, they will go door-to-door in the general election, they're going to make the phone calls. they're the most active members of the republican party, the active part of the conservative base and they showed up to register essentially a negative referendum on mitt romney.

they're not -- romney has not done anything yet. we keep talking about this, he hasn't done anything yet to rally conservatives to his cause outside of trying to use the electability card. and it clearly is not enough. how much evidence does romney need to have out there that that's not enough? it's enough if it's a one-state night and you can have newt gingrich as your opponent. he can do that every once in a while, but it's not enough for the long haul here. and i think that's got to be the take away from last night for him. they still haven't refined their message to rally conservatives to his cause outside of this electability issue. and again, it's not enough, clearly for these activists. >> here in new york we still have carl bernstein and dr. jeffrey sachs, and joining us onset cokie roberts who wrote the introduction for the new book. let's talk politics and what happened last night.

would you agree with the analysis you just heard? >> sure. conservatives keep rejecting mitt romneyment th. they don't like him and make that clear over and over again. how many not romneys have we seen in this campaign? >> you predicted iowa, did you not? >> i did. i knew he would win last night because of exactly of what chuck was just saying, the people that turned out are the people who would be for santorum. i think we're likely to have, you know, i think the likely result of this is not that people turn to santorum because he's got a good bit of baggage, as well. i think you're going to hear a lot of the republican party saying we need another candidate. we need another candidate and of course, it's too late. but we'll see. >> dr. sachs and then carl. >> it's clear the conservatives don't like romney. but what i'm wondering about, where is romney's own base at this point? by now he should have his own enthusiastic followers that are ready to show up at caucuses

even if he can't win the right of the party, why isn't he mobilizing any part of the party seemingly with excitement, i mean? >> well, you know, let's just take colorado, and i think that was the one place he was going to make a stand a little bit last night trying to sort of write off minnesota and wrote that off because of polling, not because it didn't have delega s delegates. missouri is something worth writing off because of the beauty contest. but it's a great question. his base has been the casual republican voter or a place like new hampshire where he spent a lot of time not just as a neighboring state governor but also owns a home there and a place like nevada where the large mormon population helped cement his victory and make it a big victory. so you're right, you start picking through this and you are in search of the romney base. and i think when you look at it, the romney voter, if you look at all of these contests has been the casual republican voter, the businessman's voter while

particularly on a caucus, low turnout, those folks aren't the ones that pick up the phones. they may write a $200,000 check, they're not the ones that pick up the phones, knock on the doors, show up to do a caucus. and you need those folks too. >> all right, joe to david, real quick. >> yeah, i was just going to say, david, the republicans aren't left with a lot of great options then. if this is an anti-romney vote and rick santorum doesn't have the organization to take him through to tampa and newt gingrich obviously has numerous flaws, what's the republican party left with except for the dream of a brokered convention? and does last night get us closer to that? >> when you've got a delegate strategy in this kind of year where the delegates are allocated proportionally becomes hard, you've got newt as a southern candidate and santorum playing well in parts of the midwest as he did here with more conservative voters. romney's go got to find a way to

charge his path, independents viewing him more negatively and independents viewing him as more wounded over bain and other of these wealth issues. that's what he has to consolidate. he's got time to do that, but that's why he's got his sights set on super tuesday. >> standby, we're trying to get to a window with rick santorum. chuck todd and david gregory, thank you very much. up next, senator pat toomey, keep it here on "morning joe." so, this is delicious okay... is this where we're at now, we just eat whatever tastes good? like these sweet honey clusters... actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber beyond recognition. fiber one. hey, i love your cereal there-- it's got that sweet honey taste. but no way it's 80 calories, right? no way.

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♪ we're going to fold in more voices as this conversation continues at 35 past the hour. cokie roberts, though, we were talking in the break a little bit about how mitt romney, you think, is stepping on his own foot as this election goes on. >> yeah, because we keep seeing the conservatives aren't rallying behind him. the more he tries to woo them, the more he drives away independent voters, which is his whole electability aura is among independents and he's driving them further away. >> what is his base? >> he has no base. and even the question of experience and our last abc poll, people thought that newt gingrich's experience because

better than mitt romney's experience to be president. people aren't buying the businessman thing either. >> right. >> so, yeah, he's got a tough road here. and what i'm hearing much more from republican operatives is they're focusing on the senate. the senate is everything because they're looking at this presidential race and not feeling very good about it. >> i want to bring -- carl, i want to go to you, but let's fold into the conversation, senator pat toomey. good to have you on the show this morning. >> good morning, mika. >> carl, you can take it to pat, but republicans have a problem, don't you think? and that problem is playing out as we watch this election pass by before our eyes. would you agree? and we'll let pat respond, they have no clear conservative leader. >> well, i think heavy got a wounded front-running candidate who is likely to get more wounded as we get deeper into the process. and i'd like to ask the senator, though, look at those stories in the "washington post" this morning about the need for institutional reform in the house of representatives in the

senate showing the huge effect of pork back home kind of cronyism in this country that nobody wants to see. why is it the leadership of the house and senate can't get up and say we're going to make institutional reform our big issue and have a consensus on that? >> well, that's exactly what i'm trying to do. as you may know, i've got a bill with claire mccaskill that would ban all earmarks. earmarks are the heart of the story that the "washington post" has written about. and certainly it does create the impression that there are members who may have used earmarks to further their own. and in the past this has happened. so we've got a temporary moratorium, but it can be subverted. it is only in place for another year. i think we should institute a legislative ban. and the republican leadership in the senate voted with me and

claire mccaskill in support of my amendment. i'm not going to give up on this, we lost the vote last week, i'm going to introduce this amendment to the highway bill that we're going to take up later this week, and i hope we can pass it because i gragree, need the institutional reform. >> joe and dr. sachs. >> let's talk about mitt romney's problems. obviously you and i have been critical of our own party over the past ten years for spending too much. too many deficits, too high debts. sort of the big-government republicanism we don't repeated over the next four years. is that mitt romney's biggest problem? that conservatives still don't trust him to be a small-government conservative? >> you know, i think we've just got a series of very intriguing candidates in this race. we've got a lot of -- and it's been a fascinating race. no candidate's perfect, right? everybody's got their baggage. but just a week ago, mitt romney racked up a pretty amazing win

in florida, rick santorum had a fabulous night last night, no question about it. but there's no perfect candidate. i'm confident in this process the voters will sort it out. >> okay. dr. sachs, there's baggage, and there's baggage. wow. go ahead, joe. >> senator, we loved that, enjoyed that enormously. but -- >> glad to help. >> senator, back to the reform issue, is insider trading part of your legislative proposal also? because we -- there are a lot of insider trading scandals throughout congress right now. and it seems that, again, house leadership on the republican side is stalling on addressing the insider trading loopholes that congress seems to have. >> well, look, i think that the same rules and laws that apply to everyone else need to apply in congress with respect to insider trading. i have to think they already do, but let there be any doubt, there's another bill that will

absolutely reiterate that. that's a separate bill, it's passed the senate. i think it is going to pass the house and eventually be signed into the law, eventually relatively soon, i think. my effort is separate, it's not inconsistent, but separate from that and focuses on just earmarks. >> great. good to hear that. i wondered if you could say a word about what's happening with payroll tax negotiations right now. >> well, i'm not at that table, but my understanding is those negotiations have been stimied. that's new here in washington. running into gridlock. it's frustrating, we should've put this back behind us in december. >> cokie roberts, i'm reading the book, it's about the place for women in politics and the fact they had a voice in the 1880s, the way it filtered through. >> these are letters of mrs. henry adams.

relative to what the congressman's saying right now, she says in 1883, congress bumbles on. everybody assumes spasms of virtue, no one is deceived by reform pretenses. that is kind of the way it's been from the beginning. and congressman toomey, i wonder if the reason you've had so much stymying has been this assumed virtue over earmarks. because there's no way to make a deal anymore. you can't say to somebody i'll do this for you, you do this for me. now we can get some place. >> yeah. i don't think that you need earmarks. this very wasteful process with no transparency where we fund things like bridges to nowhere and indoor tropical rain forests and all kinds of egregious programs that that is a necessary component of the legislative process to get things done. i don't agree with that. i think it's more likely that

the gridlock results because virtually any given cycle now, control of congress hangs in the balance. let's face it. we think we're going to pick up the senate on the republican side. but it's not a given, likewise the house could be in play. so there's so much at stake politically, it's hard to get people to look past the election and do what's right for the country. >> senator pat toomey, you intrigue me. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. thanks for having me. cokie roberts, thank you, as well. it's great to have you on. come back and talk politics with us. the new book "first of hearts." up next, rick santorum joins the table. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ male announcer ] to the 5:00 a.m. scholar.

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watched the white house there. big night last night for former pennsylvania senator rick santorum. rick joins us now from st. charles, missouri, where he won an election last night. in not only missouri, but also minnesota and colorado. congratulations, rick. a huge night for you. let me start by asking. is mitt romney now damaged goods politically? >> well, as i've been saying, making the case in all three of those states and frankly across the country that mitt romney is not the best choice to go up against barack obama in a central issue of the day. which is that government and government oppressing and taking away our freedoms, our economic freedoms and as we saw in the case of obama care, our religious freedoms, our first amendment rights. this is a government that's gone out of control and hurting our economy, it's hurting our families, and we need someone who has got a strong record to go up against president obama on the biggest big-government

issues of the day. and unfortunately, governor romney has sided with the government on three of those important issues. >> rick, congratulations, it's mika brzezinski in new york, we have dr. jeffrey sachs and carl bernstein onset here. carl has a question. >> senator, congratulations, it's very impressive. >> thank you. good morning. >> you were not considered among your republican colleagues to be the most popular member of the class in the senate, i don't think that's an understatement. and so my question to you -- >> hold on -- wait, wait, wait -- carl, hold on, let me just start -- let me just say that i was elected to leadership as a 42-year-old senator to the number three leadership position in the united states senate. because of the fact that i was out there, yes, i mean i wasn't popular in the sense that i was taking on a lot of tough conservative issues, but i wasn't maybe popular, but i was respected enough to be in a position of leadership and reelected twice and was actually in position to take a higher leadership position.

>> i don't think there's any question about that. my question goes back to among your colleagues in the senate, how many of the present republican senators do you think want to see you as the nominee? >> well, you know, it's interesting. because i really haven't gone out and asked for any kind of endorsements yet. i always felt like i really don't look for folks who are in washington, d.c. to affirm our campaign. we're looking for folks across this country who want to see changes to washington, d.c. to get on our bandwagon and help us out. if you go and talk to them, talk to the folks who are particularly some of the newer members out there trying to make some big changes in washington and see how excited they will be about having someone who can articulate a vision, their vision for conservative governance and getting back to the founding principles of our country in order to solve problems from nevada up instead of washington top down. and there's a fair amount of enthusiasm for that kind of message.

>> joe, jump in, and dr. jeffrey sachs. >> rick, i'm wondering, how significant do you think it is that not only for your victories last night, but moving forward in the fall, the hhs decision that even the "usa today" is saying tramples religious freedoms. the federal court decision yesterday where two judges overrule 14 million voters on the prop 8 issue. how big of an issue do you think that's going to be with independent swing voters, catholics moving forward? >> well, joe, you know, the first amendment's sort of important in this country. and while not everybody necessarily agrees on how you exercise that first amendment, people do believe you have the right to exercise it. and they don't believe the government should be coming in even when they may not agree with the church's policies or the individual's particular public policy. they agree they have the right to say something. and they agree they have the right to act consistent with their values and the government

shouldn't be forcing you to do things that you find deeply morally wrong. and this president tramples it on a regular basis. you saw you need to talk about the supreme court case. about tt case, the how sanaa tako case, how many 9-0 decisions on religious issues do you see from this united states supreme court? the assistant attorney general in the case actually argued in fact that the catholic church under their understanding of the law would have to hire women priests in order not to discriminate against the federal law. these are the kind of outrageous overreaches. when you give government power, they will wield that power over you, and that's why you have to be very careful about not just this administration, but any administrati administration. >> that was a long list and i'll bet there's a few questions on

the statements you just made. >> congratulations on the big night last night. i'm back from a trip to asia, where a lot of jobs that used to be in america are in and out in asia. we have a big skill gap. a lot of our kids just don't have the skills, and yet we're in a situation where we're cutting federal spending on preschool, i just wanted to now year is it position, how do we get the skills back up if we're taken down the size of government. >> government has obviously failed in the education business. the more we put in, the less results we're getting. it's not because of lack of money. the problem is we are not investing our money wisely, making sure that are single child has the best opportunity for what they need to be

successful. frankly the state government can't do that. we don't have public schools. we have government-run schools and increasingly from the federal government and it's a failure. we need to get the money and the resources and power back in the hands of teachers and parents. we have to get people at the local level designing programs that meet your child's needs, not what the government thinks your children should do. obviously it's failing and failing badly. it's not a matter of resources. it's a matter of making sure the resources are being trained exactly where your child needs it on an individual basis instead of trying to educate children with what the government thinks is best for them. >> senator, do you put headstart and the pell program in the failed categories also? >> well, look at the research on headstart. it's not particularly impressive, sir. you look at the money invested and they're basically back where they were with everybody who doesn't participate.

we need to get involved more in helping families being able to be there, nurture their children, getting dads back in the home and helping them form stronger families. you look at the problems in this country, and a lot of it is broken families, families stretched by financial distress and not being able to be there, to be able to be there at the home. we need the government to be on the side of families instead of trying to pull children out of the home and educate them in some sort of separate setting. >> last question, joe, take it. >> so, rick, what's next for you? do you have the resources? do you have the organization? let's say in arizona and michigan, to stand down mitt romney when he starts spending millions in attack ads against you? >> we're heading to michigan. super tuesday will be a very big

day for us. we have organization developing. we feel very good that we have an opportunity. we'll be down in arizona for the debates, and we think michigan is a great place for us to plant or flag and talk about jobs and manufacturing, giving opportunities for everybody in america to rise. >> all right. former senator rick santorum, once again congratulations. i think across the board we all can agree that was an impressive set of wins last night. >> i think he's really connecting with people. that's worth talking about. >> i'm hearing that. more "morning joe" in just a minute. we'll be right back. does any mother ever feel like their kids are adults? i have twins, 21 years old.

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tonight we had an opportunity to see what a campaign looks like when one candidate isn't outspent 5 or 10 to 1 by negative ads impugning their integrity and distorting their record. this is a more accurate representation, frankly of what the fall race will look like. governor romney's greatest attribute is, well, i've got the most money and the best organization. well, he is not going to have the most money and best organization in the fall, is he? we'll have to have someone with other attributes to commend himself to the people of america, someone who can get up and make sharp contrasts with president obama, someone who can point to the failed record of this administration and say that barack obama needs to be replaced in the oval office. >> that was rick santorum after

winning all three primary contests last night. in colorado the vote was too close to call until after midnight when santorum pushed ahead of romney be less than 4,000 votes. in minnesota sam tomorrow's lead was overwhelming, the former pennsylvania topped his republican competition by double duties. for the first time in the 2012 primary season, mitt romney placed third in the caucuses. and in missouri santorum's lead over mitt romney jumped to over 30 percentage points. ron paul finished in a distant third. newt gingrich was not on the ballot in the missouri contest. the missouri primary last night was nonbinding with no delegates at stake. colorado and minnesota officially didn't award delegates, either. they're just a initial step in determining support for a candidate. good morning it, everyone. it's wednesday february 8th. with us on set we have mike

barcnicle, dr. katz. we have the hhs controversy, which continues today, as well as the vote in california which really all ties together. put it in perspective. >> times it's better to be lucky than good. rick santorum may be good, but this week the catholic republican candidate has drawn an inside straight. it's bad news not only for president obama, it's bad news for mitt romney. you look at these three things that have happened. it started with planned parenthood and the planned parenthood controversy against the leading proponent of breast cancer research in the world. then you moved on to an hhs decision that even the "usa today" said was a dramatic overreach. i think their quote was that the obama administration, quote, trampled on religious freedoms, violated religious freedoms it

didn't just cross the line, it galloped over it, and then, mika, yesterday two federal judges in california overturned the results of prop 8 again, not a conservative state, where 14 million voters went out and voted to ban gay marriage in the state. this is a state that hasn't voted for a republican presidential candidate since 1988 or a u.s. senator that's a republican since 1986, and yet a federal court stepped in and overturned that decision. so it's not like alabama or north dakota doing this, you can take this together and almost hear pat buchanan talking about culture wars. but for republicans mark, it seems there's a reason rick

santorum outperformed last night on what the polls suggested. all these things are coming one after another after another, and it's pushing the president and the democrats out of the mainstream of american politics. >> there's no doubt the three victories are owed to a lot of factors. the electorates were very conservative, the continued of activists who find the fire of rick santorum on social issues more appealing than mr. romney's more dry and less if emotional appeal, and that blue collar economic message in these states where romney didn't compete was powerful. the question is, can santorum go forward. as lodge as gay marriage and is the hhs are in the news.

as we talked about yesterday he can talk about it in the context of tenth amendment. i think santorum will come back pretty hard on that. >> you know, nimika, we have talked about this before, there's a blind spot just because of where we're based on some of these social issues. they know they need it before november. there's a reason why barack obama refuses to come out and say he supports gay marriage. he knows they're out of the mainstream. this proves what prime minister mcmillen said, in politics a week is a lifetime, and it's been a pretty rough week. >> i think it has.

i think it's been difficult and a real opportunity for the republicans, what david axelrod said, the white house will tell you and tell you again and again that that is no different than the plan they put in place and the hhs decision, with the way they define it with a great period that is looking for the way to work it out, that they're not backing down at all. if they don't back down at all, that's certainly their prerogative. if they don't compromise with catholics across the country, they probably won't get reelected in the fall. i say that only because -- i say that only because -- and again i know this enrages a lot of people that i'm actually doing political analysis like john

madden always are analyzes football games, because i'm not really -- you never hear me screaming about social issues here. i'm telling you when you have a "usa today"/gallup poll that shows obama and romney are splitting the states, where there are a lot of catholics, this is going to swing one or two percentage points if the president doesn't if the president is being called a president that's, quote,gfrh trampling on religious freedoms, that is not good. that's not the "national review" saying that. 7 i'm saying this just=÷ playin into the worst suspicions. forget whether you think that's a good or bad thing. i'm just tell you this will have a real impact.

>> and people need to understand it's a prognostication how this will be translated, whether or not you agree with it or not. let's get to dr. sax on this. vote you are turnout was down, questions about enthusiatheenthusias enthusiasm. in minnesota there was a 15,000-vote difference. in missouri over 340,000 more vote cast in 2008 than last night. mitt romney won the colorado caucuses in the last run and lasts night came in second. he also took minnesota in 2008 with almost 26,000 votes, but last night he came in a distant third. >> golly, mika, that's horrid rend out. >> this is more of the mitt

romney story, in my opinion. >> wow. >> dr. sax, whether or not what joe is saying -- >> holy cow. >> could ultimately be the same thing, which is looking for a different way of doing business when it comes to contraception, like, for example, the hawaii model, because there may be a way to work this out. i think the white house is looking for that. put that aside, what we think about that, put it aseed. look at the votes that came in last night for rick santorum, this is an opening, this is it not? >> i think this is so stunning for romney, though. basically there's no enthusiasm out there for him.

i think the national polls that pair him and the white house and obama really show that his chances of winning are really low and falling. >> every time -- >> the big news is really not the white house, they will find a way to make a compromise, but for romney, it's just absolutely shattering that in the mainstream, when now he was supposed to romp to the nomination loses three in a row, that collapse of his vote compared to four years ago is remarkable. >> tina brown? >> i think romney has been increasingly with the negative campaigning really begun to define himself as this 1% candidate. i think the comment about not caring about poor people, the tax, 14% thing, really being now carved out at that sort of rich guy candidate, which has not been helpful to him. but i think it also shows -- the

only reason to vote for romney is the sense that he's supposedly this competent financial executive. as soon as the conversation shift to any other aspect, he's just nowhere. a campaign is a long time. you can't just be a one-topic candidate. i really think that, you know, there's too much that happens that comes out of the box. where romney has no plausibility. >> tina, could you imagine a margaret thatcher being lobbed an hss softball or being lobbed this gay marriage, where two judges overturn the voting will of 14 million people can the imagine what a margaret thatcher or ronald reagan two do, forget the underlying message of gay

marriage or abortion or contraceptives. mitt romney can't deliver that conservative message. something like thatcher would hit these out of the park. >> because i don't think there's any of that core in romney. that's why he keeps getting exposed as a candidate. you cannot be a one-note johnny through a campaign. you can't feel that every time you get thrown something that takes you off script, you can't do it. that's why i think he won't get anywhere. i really don't. >> the vote reminds me of an old sports thing that, don't let someone back in the game. what happened last night, the conservative elements of the republican party, they got back in game, whether it's rick santorum, newt gingrich, ron paul, whatever, they are not energized. >> and the crazy thing is, in

this case, mark halperin, it seems to be the left that's reengaging in a fight they just don't need to be engaged in. mitt romney, the guy has been running for president for the best part of 5, 6, 7 years. you look at the vote totals and it's absolutely staggering? one state about 33%, 35% of the votes that he got about four years ago. you can't spin that, can you? this guy is being rejected by the republican base. >> well, they are spending it and they're right about a couple things. they didn't spend a lot

of money. he's the favorite, but they have a chance in michigan and arizona coming up at the end of the month, one or both, to try to do more damage. if you could say one thing about the abortion thing and as a rule neblt ofs white house on the catholic church. clearly they have to move politically. they must make an accommodation. the danger comes from the what we saw with the fight with planned parenthood. the left will go crazy and say the president has turned his backs on the rights of women. that's a real warning sign as they try to navigate this, and santorum and to a lesser extent newt gingrich, will be there every step of the way.

>> wait a minute, you didn't see "star wars," so i can't make the reference, you can almost sense the emperor landing on the death star and saying have we aimed the laser at arizona. they're already planning to destroy rick santorum. in the long term may make him unelectable. >> it just might. mike, go. >> you know, the hhs story and mark alluded to abortion and -- that's the headline of the story. the real reason the white house is going to have to compromise here and compromise quickly is reality. if you take catholic teaching hospitals, catholic chairs and all the services that they provide to the poor, the hungry,

the ill, of all faiths, if you take them out of the equation because of this ruling and once it's remedied, you'll have a collapse of the social network system in this country. coming up next former nba star turned diplomat, kareem abdul-jabbar joins us. but first todd santos has a check on the forecast. thanks so much. we're still tracking some of the snow showers, exiting portions of the ohio valley getting in towards pittsburgh, toward the tail end of the morning commute. the amount they're talking about an inch or so, a quick-moving system, not a lot of moisture, but places like d.c. not out of the question to pick up a dusting. there's a look at the radar right now slowly making its way into southwest p.a., the mountains of west virginia as well. as we push through this afternoon, one thing is temperatures try to struggle to actually climb, so it will be

kind of a wet snowfall and that will keep some of the numbers down. notice the numbers in d.c. 38 bess, winter weather advisories west and northwest of d.c. itself. across the rest of the one, the noest dealing with snoirs, and there's a look at the forecast for today, much improved across the northeast and the mid-atlantic tomorrow. much more "morning joe" coming your way next. 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.

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i think you're the greatest, but my dad says you don't work hard enough on defense. and he says that lots of times you don't even run down court and that you don't try except during playoffs. >> the helio. listen, kid i've been hearing that crap ever since i was at ucla. i'm busting my buns every night. tell your dad to drag walton you up and down the court for 48 minutes. >> okay. i did see that movie. that was legend and nba hall of famer kareem abdul-jabbar in "airplane." remember that, guys? we do, because we're old he's co-author of the new children's book "what color is my world?" the lost history of african-american inventors, a

great work. and he joins us on the set. i love that movie, by the way. just i have seen a movie in my life. mr. ambassador, are you getting used to the title? >> it's been difficult. >> tell us about the job, i take it you've already been to brazil. >> yes, they want me to do some personal diplomacy, just talk to people about what america is all abo about, talk to a lot of young people who have ambitions as athletes, so there's some hoops involved, so basically want to tell them the value of education, and give them an idea of how democracy works. brazil is interesting. they're taken with president obama. in his story, they see how democracy can overcome so many

things that were a problem in their nation. they have a history of slavery and denial of equal opportunity. that's changing now, and it gives them an opportunity to see how far it can go. >> looking at the graphic on the screen, hoop diplomacy, it says, and it really is true. sports and athletics can be an inter. >> look at the ping-pong diplomacy back during nixon's tenure. it was the same type of thing. >> mike? >> one of the elements of the african-american community in this country is you talk to young kids and say name me a couple heroes. it's always athletes, yet looking at this book -- >> i love this book. >> i'm stunned at several of the people you have picked out. african-american inventors, creators of things, and daniel

hale williams wo developed the concept of open heart surgery. >> yes. >> incredible stuff. why don't we hear more about these things? >> i think it's a bad habit. so many children, especially in minority communities are told their best chance is either in@let ecs or entertainment. there's a huge world out there to explore if they got the right educational foundation and applied themselves. no one has encouraged them. they don't even think that's possibility for them. they have to affect that dynamic as best we can. so my book is an effort on my part to so them what's possible that has not to do with sports or entertainment. >> how many of these people in this book did you know about before you put the book together? >> a couple of them. i did a history back back in '96 and did a whole capital on louis

lat mer, who we were talking about earlier discovered the filament for the light bulb. he also did alexander graham bell's patent application drawing for the telephone. so telecommunications and electricity, started the westing did not house corporation, was involved in all of these things. i found out about a lot of other black inventors during that resear research. >> why do you think it is all these years later he's clearly a genius, louis lat i mer, who world with bell, edison, helped the edison company what it is today, and you never hear of louis lat i mer? >> i don't know why. gender and race go a long way in letting people forget about contributions that significant

people make to american life and culture. there's a really great biography on edison that was written a couple years ago and lat i mer isn't even mentioned in it. >> your book has made me think about something. i grew up in jim crow washington, d.c., i went to segregated schools in the capital of the united states. what if we were to teach black history to white americans and somehow integrate black history into the crick lulls of american schools? >> plaque history is american history. it's american history denied or neglected. >> exactly. >> we have to get to a place where we understand that they are one and it's just that the light has not been shone in this corner, and go from there. >> when i talk to secretary clinton, when she gave you this honor -- and i can't imagine a greater choice -- >> by the way, is this the moment that we're looking at

here? >> yes. >> it's a great shot. look at that. adorable. go ahead, carl. >> did she talk at all about reaches out to young people in the muslim world? >> no. no. well, actually when i was being given my orientation, that subject did come up, and we have hopes for that, but we have to find the right circumstances for me to go do that. i get an assignment and i just go and do my assignment. >> let's talk about on it is shoulders of jipts as well. >> yes, please. >> i love the book. i'm taking it home and having my daughters read it. >> thank you. >> i think it's a book for all children. "what color is my world?" tell us about "on the shoulder of giants" because you seem to november have any personal time. >> it's about the early days of professional basketball and the greatest team you never heard of, the harlem wrens. they played in a dance hall in the 1920s and '30s.

they were the best basketball team in the country, but because of jim crow, they could not compete within the professional leagues. but they were so excellent and proved themselves so well they finally broke through. there was a tournament held in 1939 that had all the best teams come, the harlem globetrotters went there and the wrens. it's on dvd, out in stores right now. you can get it at best buy, amazon, bam. it's all over the place. >> you know, keep going, because the message is worth selling. >> every sport, oh, yeah, yeah. >> we would feel cheated if we did not ask you what you thought about kobe bryant being declared by a couple of people the greatest laker of all time. >> well, um, it's hard to argue with that, you know, but basketball is a game of

positions. a lot of positions, you can start back with george mikan, somebody may say he was the greatest. there are eras. i guess this is what sports bars are for, for people to argue about these subjects, because we're not going to settle it, you know? >> kareem abdul-jabbar, it's a pleasure to meet you. i love the work you're doing. >> thank you so much. >> the new children's book once against "what color is my world?" it's a great book. up next. >> if they want to find out anything more, go to my website kareem abdul-jabbar.com and they can find out more. i love it. up next how social media is changing the business model. more "morning joe" in just a moment. i want healthy skin for life.

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i say it's time to start making money for the facebook. who is right? >> well, neither of you yet. facebook is cool. that's what it's got going for it. ads aren't cool. >> it's like you're throwing the greatest party on campus, you don't even know what the thing

is. >> that's exactly right. >> how big it can get. this is no time to take your chips down. you know what's cool? you. >> a billion dollars. >> that shut everybody up. welcome back. :36 past the hour. that was the clip from "the social network" another one that i have seen, mike. >> you've seen two movies? >> anyhow, it showcases how facebook founders devised their core strategy. here is david joans, who highlights facebook in his new book -- why good business is better business. let's start with the basic premise, being socially responsible is what you're talking about in terms of good business. >> yeah, fundamentally i think what we have going on in the world we're entering into the

age of damage, where people have been empowered by social media to make companies and leaders behave the way they said to. whether you're the head of an arab spring country or ceo of bp, a misbehaving congressman or fashion designer, if you do not behave in the right way, people can remove you with the power of social media. we've seen with verizon and bank of america being forced to back down, even last week with komen and the whole scandal around the funding of breast cancer. people can now hold businesses and leaders accountable. >> and it can also be -- is it fair to say it can have a negative overall impact as well some some might argue that public outcry can often not necessarily be representative of how everybody feels, because not everybody is online? >> i think there will be people who argue that you can misuse

this power and it can be abused. >> kind of like the wild west. >> but i think fundamentally if you look at the last three, four years, and look at the people who have been victims of this, none of them -- i would argue that 99% of the cases of the people who have ended up being removed, losing their jobs or their corporations actually have been behaving in the wrong way. you can't think of any example of somebody who has been unfairly victimized. >> how do you get to the point where you convince corporate leaders twha doing well means doing good, and by doing good, you with do well. they will tell you we have an obligation to our shareholders, and yet the larger universe of consumers is beyond that ethos, isn't it? >> i think that's the fundamental point. that's why we're living through a pretty amazing inflection

point. actually if we're in the mess we're in today economically it's because of irresponsible leadership both on the parts of governments who ran up too big of deficits and debts and the part of the business leaders. i think the splrtest have realized that the new price of doing well is doing good. in the future you will not longer be able to make sustainable profit unless you set out to do the right thing. i think it's being driven by a new generation. they understand business has to make money. they see the problems around the world, but they want to know what's your purpose best hind the profit? if you look at zuckerberg's letter to the investors, one of the key points he makes, he ace saying facebook is not here to make money. facebook is here to deliver services, and we will make those services better because we make money. >> interesting. >> if the bottom line is more than just the bottom line and entails this element of social responsibility, where does bain

capital and mitt romney fit in the scale that you have laid out in this book? >> i mean i think -- if you look at the behavior from the financial sector overall and the banking sector, it was the pursuit of irresponsible profit that has led us to where we got to. i think fundamental -- it's a -- my analogy would be somebody who smokes and has cancer. we have a tumor going on in the world caused by the smoking. we have the problem economically. if we do not change the behavior that is at the core, yes, we can cut the tumor out, but we'll have a new one in a few years. i think we're seeing some of the biggest businesses in the world setting out to be genuinely socially responsible. it's not easy, but i think it's a very exciting time for business. >> but specifically bain capital, mitt romney, have you spent any time thinking about that? >> i think for me the issue around romney tie into the book

is less about the bain capital point and much more about the transparency around his tax returns. one of the things i talk about in the book is how the new rules of social media and leadership are transpanes, authenticity and speed, and his worst week, with the exception of last night is when he dodged and ran from the tax issue. in today's world you have to be authentic, by honest, otherwise you'll be punished and taken down. you were talking about the fact that you're somewhat of an optimist, especially here -- >> probably less of a pessimist rather than an optimist. >> explain that. why? >> what's going on is europe is clearly in a real mess. europe is only one part of the equation. the chinese economy is going well, if you look at the size of -- they're so much bigger than fiveiers. if you look at the digital and social revolution, apple sold

more i phones in 2011 than any single year prior to that and technology is creating opportunities. if you look at the fact that the banks have reined in their behavior, most companies have their balance sheets under control and even in places like the eurozone, the leaders are actually starting to act on the issue of debt and deficit. i'm not saying it's going ton an amazing year but i don't think it will be quite as negative as everyone thinks. in terms -- i was in davos a couple weeks ago, i saw 12 ceos in -- >> do you like the iphone? >> i do. >> yes. i don't get it. it's a quell phone. you drop a cell phone, right? >> you get a cover for it. >> you don't drop it. that's the other option. >> yeah, thank you. >> a blackberry wouldn't break. yeah, okay.

just try and live my life for one day. i'm just running around after kids and schools and teachers, and you boys, and i'm sorry, this doesn't make sense. and talking to it doesn't make sense, no. >> that does not make sense. it will work one day. >> it doesn't work right now. >> about my accent, it has absolutely no idea what i'm saying. >> david cameron and rupert murdoch, what's going to happen? >> i think -- >> we're going to break. go ahead, in a word. what's going to happen? >> i put news down as one of the companies that behaved in the wrong way, and it cost them. i think david cameron has been very clear that he made a mistake giving somebody the job, but i don't think it's an issue about cameron and murdoch. for me it's an issue about you have to behave in the right way. >> i have to get the scotch tape back on my iphone. the book is "who cares wins." very nice to meet you.

we'll be right back with business before the bell. [ male announcer ] to the 5:00 a.m. scholar.

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roll it over with a company that's helping more people reach retirement than anyone else. call or come in for a free portfolio review today. mitt romney's been very dominant lately despite the occasion at foot in the mouth like this statement about our national anthem. >> i love the hymns of america. of course our favorite is the national anthem. you know we're the only people on earth that put our hand over our heart during the playing of the national anthem. >> we're the only people on earth who do that? need did any of the people in italy or gault palla or croatia

or bali or japan, our the ukraine or venezuela. i guess you learn something every day. >> pretty funny. all right. :48 past the hour. time for a check on the business with brian schactman live at cnbc headquarters. we'll start with greece? >> i want to start with your iphone, just go into the apple story, be patient and nice and they'll give you a new one. i've smashed two ipads, i was almost in tears, and they gave me a free one. >> thank you, brian. >> i happened to be, brian, using this, because it works better. is it okay to say? >> you can say that. >> that's the best thing that's happened to r.i.m. in a year. >> go to the apple store and get it done. i guarantee you'll get a free one.

what am i going to add to the conversation? brian sullivan said the same thing yesterday, we're waiting, but one thing that hasn't been discussed enough, they have to get a deal that the new government in spring will -- they have to make sure they'll have something that last. disney beat on profits, but a couple interesting things, espn which is an absolute beast for them had ratings go down and the ad revenue was flat. they make money off fees and advertising, so that's something to keep an eye on. mcdonald's global comp sales were up everywhere on the planet, even in europe. >> so, brian, is there a setting where you can tell it to stop telling you what you think it's writing and just write what you want. >> yes. >> do you know what i'm talking about? >> yes. you go to settings, and you

can -- you have older children like the rest of us, you could get this problem solved. >> i go to anybody under the age of 30, tell them my problem and they solve it for me. >> brian shactman, thank you. i need therapy, obviously, iphone therapy. we'll be back with the best of late night. the employee of the month is... spark card from capital one. spark cash gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. it's hard for my crew to keep up with 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. 2% cash back. that's setting the bar pretty high. thanks to spark, owning my own business has never been more rewarding. [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles

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the parade went well down the hero of canyons and new york city crowds. got bless them. only three giants missing, but the parade was great, and the people, the humanity that you feel in new yorkers. we have a reputation around the world of being cold and we don't have the time of day for others. not so. i saw a group of new yorkers, three or four of them, total strangers, they banded together at the parade and they got together and with their resourcefulness and willpower and spirit as new yorkers, strangers, minutes ago set fire to a car. it was unbelievable. god bless them. >> it was a beautiful day in northern today. the skies cleared for the super bowl champions parade. an estimated 1 million people showed up to celebrate and be part of the parade. didn't clint eastwood saw we were supposed to get back to work? hundreds of thousands of fans,

and also this lady. >> would you like -- >> sanchez. >> the problem with that is mark sanchez doesn't play for the giants, he plays for the jets.

today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. all right. time to talk about what we

learned today. mike? >> i learned never to do this program or any program with a hangover. with a hangover. a bad hangover. >> you are such a baby. what a whiner, man. serious. you take the cake. >> supposed to report for work. that's it. >> i'm so sorry. carl bernstein. >> however unacceptable rick's politics might be, he's connecting with people, because there's a genuineness there that romney lacks. that will be a huge problem for romney. >> i'll second that. thanks very much. mike, let's sigh if you can get through this. i know it's so rough for you. >> the finish line is in sight. >> if it's too early, what time is it? >> morning in america, but right now mika, it's time for our old pal chuck todd and