scores three wins in one night as republican voters say thanks but no thanks to mitt romney. good day, i'm chris matthews in for andrea mitchell, of course you can see me, romney rejected. in minnesota a state that romney won by nearly 20 points he finished third last night with 17% of the vote. wow. the missouri primary was a beauty contest and a vote not just for delegates but for popularity. santorum by 30 points and in colorado where romney won 60% of the vote, santorum beat romney by 3500 points. chuck todd, and john heileman, i have to start with you.

is this a game change, john? this is something we were talking about yesterday and would you the trifecta for all three, it's that romney is so bad that people cannot go in and vote for him. >> the average was about 25% for romney. he is getting every nonconservative voter that showed up. real conservatives he has a problem with the base for over a year now. he is not, the victories he had have not solved that problem and it goes to the fact that he does not have a positive inspiring message that conservatives can rally around. >> how about the very being of him, to they see him as a out source? >> they do not think he is one of them. >> this was, think about the people that bothered to show up, caucuses in a primary that did not count. these are on the people on the front lines of the phone calls

and they are knocking on doors and putting up the signs. they are not for r they are not for romney. he -- they do not have a message for conservative yet. they just don't. >> the republican primary is like force feeding the conservative voters, you have to have romney, because he is the only guy that can win. >> yes, and by spending a lot of money, that they will destroy anything in their path, when they focus on that, they have success, with enough money and enough negative ads they force other's negatives so high that he slips through. but the basic problem, is not whether romney can somehow ever rally the conservative base but whether in the end, as was the case for john mccain an amount of the conservative base says i'll stay home. >> that was one of the spins this morning from the romney

campaign, well john mccain lost 19 states. >> yes, >> and lost the general election. by a land slide. >> let's talk about technicality. can the three guys running against romney, santorum, gingrich and paul together get more than 50% of the vote regularly enough so there's clearly not a majority vote for romney? >> romney organization has the ability to prevent that from happening. they have been able to push one down and the other does not really the other two to the side. paul, is an entity to himself. >> he helps romney get 50%. >> he does but the paul vote may not go anywhere else. >> what do you think, john, if mitt can get his usual 25 and santorum 20 and newt gets 20 and paul gets 15, how does it add

up? >> the question is whether the forces are enough to keep romney from being able to get the number of delegates that he needs to get in tampa is a live question. if we go to super tuesday and romney loses ohio, suddenly you have a question about whether he can win it in the midwest. i mean -- >> the electability argument in ohio, santorum, the last poll, he is only six points behind the president there. >> this is a stat, it was said, that romney won every hillary clinton won and lost every state that clinton lost. hillary and mitt has similar problems. it was the inevitablity that they are trying on sell and it

not selling, and there was a missing passion for her inside the democratic base and the same for romney. the idea that he can force his way in and win these things -- can he do it? >> i think the republican party do not like the new money, they do not think it came to him by sweat. let's look at him, here he is talking about his hard knocks dad. >> my father never graduated from college. he apprenticed as a plaster carpenter and he was good at it. he could take a handful of nails and stick them in his mouthd and spit them pointy end forward, on the honeymoon, he put paint in the trunk of the car and sold it to hotels along the way.

>> but never tied his dog to the roof of the car. >> chuck made this point, it sounds like a good bio, but it not fair to say that he did not earn his money. >> but it made money off of money. >> but he had the safety net. it was not like he ever -- went through life with a degree of comfort and security, unlike people that took themselves from motion granted to something. >> why doesn't he embrace this, you look at the polls, we had this poll number, do you think your children will have it better off than you and part of the american dream has always been, my children will be better off than i was and that number is not high. why doesn't he say, my father lived the dream and i want to hand off the success to the next

generation and i want to provide that to the next generation. it's as if he fears his wealth and he does not know how to own it. >> he has a hard time talking about himself period. we thought the economy was the only issue but apparently the social issue carries a lot of weight and events occur like this between the president and the catholic church. mandating employers to provide health insurance for birth control is getting hits from the right and left, listen. >> i share my concerns of my constituents and citizens across the nation that see the recent rule issued by the administration for what it is, afront to our religious institutions.

>> no one should have to choose between their religious believes and being punished for refusesing and this is what the man dadate will do. >> this is the over reaches, if you give government power, they will wooeld eild it over you. that is why you have to be careful. >> jen thank you for coming on. you have written a powerful statement about this. your outrage about the church position, why don't you voice it now. >> this is about one issue and it's about women's health and those that cannot afford it have access to health care. and you know, what really people are not talking about, about the issue is that contraception is something that can cost $600 a year. it's $50 a month. >> that is for birth control pills? >> exactly. and it's an issue where many

women across the country use it for health reasons that do not have anything about family planning. this this is about access to something. >> you have people like the archbishop of new york, and i don't know about his politicpoli think it a republican issue, how do you think it's going to be get resolved. one way is the church backs down and simply becomes like any employer and provides health care for women employees, which includes no copay for birth control, do you think they will back down? think of it politically. you are a political person. let's go between now and november? >> politically, i've not seen a single poll where the majority of people have not supported providing contraception without a copay. >> i have seen the polls too,

what about about the church leaders, the bishop, they can buckle? >> they can buckle and work with the administration to implement this, it the law in 28 states, so there are catholics in those states living in that law. and there are ways to work with it or they can continue to fight it. >> how do they teach that birth control is wrong and then they have to finance it through the health care plans. how do they finance the health care plans, they raise money from payments that go to colleges -- how do they justify using any of that money for what is going to be used for birth control if they believe birth control is wrong, how do they do it? >> one, if there's a catholic

doctor that feels morally opposed to this, they do not have to prescribe birth control -- >> what about the church itself? >> they are not mandating or passing out birth control in elementary schools or middle schools, this is providing access to a form of health care. >> they are financing it. >> they are absolutely. but this is a question of all women you know the church has done a great deal of good, they do a number of good things around the world and this is about taking a look at millions women across the country who cannot afford this when they need it both for contraception but also to take care of health care needs. >> i'm lucky in a number of ways, if you look dietary rules in the jewish religion, what is wrong with eating ham, nothing if you are not jewish. you tell a rabbi that they have to serve jewish. catholics may be pro choice, and

they are for using birth control, and you go to church and there's no more ten kids anymore. and i think the church knows it, i guess you cannot answer this question, because you are a pli political person, i wonder how the church will buckle on it, if they become part of what is a distribution of birth control devices or medicines or pills or morning after plan b pills once they are in that world of distributing it through insurance, how do they preach against it? >> there's 28 states that it happening already, so they have experience in implementing this. catholic churches are not a part of this, universities and other institutions are, they have an opportunity to look at what has worked in the past. >> good luck on the past. great to see you. >> we will get the latest on the

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well it's looking like a potential showdown on the issue of extending the payroll tax, it's due to expire at the end of this month and the negotiates cannot seem to make any progress. joining me now is congressman john larson. sir, let's talk politics here.

you guys have a winning issue here, you are talking tax cuts for the first time you are on the happy side of the taxes, which means cut it and you are on the pro side of jobs, you are on winning side of this issue. is this why the republicans want to screw you up? they don't want you to win this thing? >> well, chris, they have had a myopic loyalty to doing anything that will stop the president from the united states looking good. listen, i give boehner credit here, i think he understands this. we cannot go through another process of hostage taking where they take us to the brink. there's nothing out there to be gained. when you see senator demint saying the same thing, there's nothing to be gained here. let's come together and do something in the interest of the american people. that will benefit the president,

because this is his initiative. but more importantly it will benefit the american people and that is what it should be all about. so, i think we hope, that we are able to get this passed before the 29th of february, but right now, all indications are that we are leading up to another hostage taking situation. >> let's go to worse case scenario here, i heard this in a briefing, and i can not say how i heard it, there's a concern at the administration at the highest level that there's three ways that the economy can stop recovering and we now the economy is getting better. the unemployment is down to low eights now and hopefully below eight by the election. but the represeublican party do not want that. there's three ways to screw it up. europe, and you have the problem in the middle east with the possible war with iran, some type of war effecting oil supplies and you have the possibility that the republican

congress decides to create a problem, to make sure the bush tax cuts do not get terminated. -- >> we call that the status quo. >> right, the status quo, you do not get the advantage of the bush tax cuts and you do not get the advantage of the payroll tax. do you sense, or hear a buzz of the republicans planning to demollish this recovery by not acting on this? >> there's been a buzz, but increasingly and it's heightened by the election, frankly when you watch the state of the union message and the president is giving an address and you talk about the economy coming back, and you you talk about the american people doing better, and they sit on their hands, it's more than sub terrainian, and you see it seeping in, you are right in terms of laying out those three prospects. but i think the american people

are intelligent enough to understand who is on their sides and the republicans have to be careful here. i think, again, when you hear it from senator demint. clearly senator boehner understands it, but whether or not he can control the conference is another matter all together much he has not been able to in the past and they still wield a great deal of influence. >> isn't it frightening that jim demi demint has become the voice of reason on the republican party. it must be wild to see 200 crazy people once in a while. thank you congressman. >> i served with jim demint in the house, he is actually one on one, a reasonable and good guy. his political view on the other hand, well that is another question. >> when he says you have to tame the crazies i'm beginning the to wonder. anyway. thank you congressman. what is next for newt gingrich,

he was the odd man out last night, all the talk was about the big upset of santorum over romney. what about this guy, he is a problem for romney and by the way, a fitness throw down, the first lady versus jimmy fallon. she is great. look at her. she is great. >> we are all tied up, potato sack race for all the marbles. >> good luck, you are going to need it. ♪ [ applause ]

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you save. wow, what a night, rick santorum has a trifecta of wins now putting mitt romney on

notice today, where is newt gingrich in all this, jim joins us for the third man i should say, what is happening with the third man? >> how are you, chris? he is bummed, he doesn't win any of the three states. the last good moment he had was in south carolina, and now he is kind of the third person to be talking about like you mentioned. rick santorum is sort of the toast of conservatives today, deserves to get more coverage, a lot more scrutiny. you can say they are not as binding or significant as florida, they are significant. he has won more states than any candidate in the race right now. >> i have a simple theory, what is good is how you feel good after doing. i think that conservative voters feel good about going to vote in a caucus or primary to vote for santorum. they feel he is a good person, you feel good about him, you do not have that same feeling of having taken a nice shower after

voting for newt gingrich and feel good in any inspired voting for romney. what is your explanation for the win? >> part of it is the make up of the states and caucuses, a lot of evangelicals coming out, great issues for the week as a backdrop for him to run on. you have candidates running for three different parts of the country. have you a north eastern candidate in romney and a midwest traditional candidate in rick santorum. we should not generalize, so i will, i feel that like conservatives are feeling bummed out about this election so far, they are not excited about rate, the poll said today they are no more excited about democrats, it has to be because they do not like the field. it felt good to get santorum because had he do not like

romney and they do not like newt. >> it's the failure of the political party if you cannot put up a candidate that the people like. that is their only job. to find a candidate that the people like. coming up the greek debt crisis, this could matter to us, will it be a bailout or bust, and the church versus state issue. and oscar winner, one of the stars of the new series "smash" joins you us, you are watching "andrea mitchell reports," "hardball" is tonight.no gy. other makeup can sit on your skin, so it looks like...makeup. but trublend has skin twin technology to actually merge with your skin. how easy breezy beautiful is that? trublend...from covergirl. what is this shorty? uh, tissues sir, i'm sick.

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>> reporter: chris, we have been getting reports momomomomomomomo picture. first off. five days the city has been un of them in the city. among one of the key areas that was hit was a hospital where there was about 20 children or kids that were on incubators because of a power out aeagoutae children died, so that gives you an idea of what is happening. all of this happening, a stepped up military campaign in my other surrounding cities, the people are blaming the violence on what has been called a license to

kill government. >> are there other forces in the world who may be interested in backing the rebels in this fight? >> reporter: well certainly that comment has been among the most high profile to come out and say that the united states should consider that as an option, arming the rebels which is the free syrian rebels, no other country has come out to that degree and made it a matter of policy. there have been experts that suggested that some of the countries the weapons on defend our cities and our country, and it's starting to resonate with more and oss europ the united states, chris. >> thank you for that report. greek leaders are meeting today

faced with a tuation, accept entitlement cuts or let the country go bankrupt. we have the assistant editor of the nancial time s jo an, we ask why can't the greeks accept reality? >> it's something that the greek country is calling inch torture. you have a game being played on three levels. the greeks are trying to extract the least amount of pain in exchange for some kind of bailout and they want to go right to the wirerying negotiate to reduce the pressure on them and on their voters, frankly. and at the same time, you have the bank that is saying, well if there's a deal, we do not want to suffer losses our bonds that we hold on our on balance sheet,

because the european central bank has been dealing with greek debt and you have the germans saying we will not stand behind any kind of bailout package unless we see evidence that the greeks are see? is it europe or their own failed leadership in greece? is >> i think it's a combination right now. eece, in terms of what is being done to them by the germans and their government. and a sense of anti-german feeling is bubbling and there's a feeling, that we greeks did not mean to mess up here. we were brought into the european union and we have been forced to pay a heavy penalty as a result of the financial crisis. and the kind of measures that people are looking at are a 25%

cut in the m stuff. >> i've been skeptical of the european economic union because the northern countries are more tight fists, they are tougher, hard currency people, maybe this is a prejudice, that the further south you go, the more loose it gets. is that correct, you get further south in europe and they are looser in terms of their fiscal polici and they look for more, excuses and maybe a little more dance room on the dance floor when it comes to economics then this should be getting? >> there are big cultural gaps between the north and south and also in in terms of productivity. germany has raised productive and greece has not. the head of the ecb came to new york and pointed out, if you look at the disparity in the

euro zone, between unemployment rates and inflation, it's less than in the united states today, the u.s. has a central bank, rather central banking system that is able to operate and enforce policies. you have a federal government that can transfer money around the system in a sense of common identity and that is what europe is lacking. >> thank you, what a great newspaper. the pressure is mounting on the white house over the decision to mandate religionlyly mandate religionlyl fill 80 -- >> as i said, it was said, we will continue to work closely with religious groups to discuss their concerns. and i would note that 28 states, have similar contraception

coverage requirements and eight states do not have exemption that this bill requires. >> senator, i read your statement today, your article, what will happen here? how does this come down? >> well, i think the administration should reverse the decision, obviously we have legislation in the senate, i'm co-sponsoring it and you'll see legislation in the house as well to reverse this decision. >> what would, tell me what it says, does it broad enthe exemption to include catholic universities and hospitals and charitiable organizations? how broad does it read? >> that is right, it expands the clause to make sure that not only religious organizations but their off shoots, schools and so forth are exempted so they are not put in a position that they haveo pay for services that go against their religious and morale beliefs. >> do you have the votes, do you

believe, sir? because speaker paboehner is moving in this direction. >> i believe we will because of the out pouring of support that is coming across the country. you mentioned catholics but this is all groups, this is a fundamental belief in freedom of religion. >> why do you think the president did this? he is running for re-election, i guess catholics are split 50/50 between the two parties, it's not a voting block, really, it's a bunch of independent voters. why do you think he risked that support, just you are a politician why did he do it? >> i do not know. there was a decision made in health and human services and how directly he was involved, i don't know. clearly it's the wrong decision and he needs to address it and

he needs to address it now. we will move on this in congress and across the country. one thing people understand, we are guaranteed religious freedom in the country, so it a fundamental issue for americans. ? you are a former governor, so i trust that you know how to work in bipartisan bases, governors do it all the time. do you have bipartisan alliances in this rega. do you have people on the floor of the senate to back you on this? do you knotheir names? >> we are just getting into it now, i think you'll see, chris, that there been people on both sides of aisle that support this issue as a fundamental religious freedom that is guaranteed by our country, through our constitution, something that is fundamental. >> women that work for these organizations and generally practice birth control, it's an

american, whatev whatever it is use it for a lot of reasons. single and married people, health reasons as well as birth control reasons i'm told, why should that not be covered if they happen to work in georgetown university hospital or notre dame or anywhere >> the issue is requiring the employer, the religious group to provide that service. contraception, and those types of services, when it violates the their beliefs. that is not saying that that person cannot acquire contraception, it's the issue of requiring a person to provide it. >> would you want to see copays, how couwould you handle it? would you have people pay an extra set amount of dollars. the great irony is that if you are using birth control, you are

saving the insurance company money, because having a baby is more money. >> the whole idea with the conscious clause was to exempt religious organizations but this goes to a problem, when you have governnt run health care, these are the kind of problems that are created for americans. americans want more control themselves over their health care and providers. >> senator, thank you for coming on today. >> thanks, chris. >> up next, i love visiting your state, i love mt. rushmore. >> chris north dakota. >> i like north dakota too, i got a -- >> you are invited we would love to have it. >> anyway, next, one of the stars of the new series "smash" anjelica huston will join us and

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hall, rick santorum spent part of the d with pastors in texas planning his next move meanwhile romney's camp is trying to move the conversation to his new story of being an every man, saying he is the son of a carpenter. plus, speaker john boehner issues a threat to the white house over the new contraception policy under fire by catholic leaders, and the washington post reports more than a dozen lawmakers have given earmarks to groups tied to their families. well this week, nbc's new musical drama, "smash" kicked off. the show is about the dreaming and scheming and whatever it takes to be a hit. oscar winner anjelica huston

plays a producer. take a look at the trailer. >> give me to the end of the week. >> you do not have to the end of the week i got a phone call from your soon to be he can husband. they have a role i'll be perfect for. >> we are started with less than a completed show and we will get an where had an idea of what we have got. >> wow, the devil runs broadway, anjelica huston, with "smash ", i am wowed to meet you. >> thank you. >> my wife and i looked across the room and we saw you and bill robins and you were drinking and having a good time, and we said would you, this is hollywood.

your father was one of my faf d favorite actors, let me ask you about broadway and the marilyn thing, i just saw a week with marilyn, why sit something out of the '50s, we are talking about marilyn monroe as a focal point. >> she is a sex symbol, she, men love her, women love her. she is a talking point even today because she ran the sort of path of brilliance to sweetness seamlessly. >> you are playing a big broadway producer, you are now the boss. that is new. >> finally. >> in television, a woman is finally the top dog, you are running a broadway play, you have your money on this and you have to make a decision about what will work. >> that is right. and i have a horrible

ex-husband, jerry, who i'm having to deal with. >> well you did deal with him, you threw a drink in his face. you do it with such power, like a reflex like i've done it a million times. thank you, i got a lot of rehearsal in. >> let me ask you about show business, why do we love back stage, i love it. >> i love it too, you get to see all the ins and outs and the love affairs and relationships, i think it's the most fascinating. >> and i guess, american idol and all those reality shows, you see the suffering and the, what they used to say, the joy of victory and agony of defeat, people like to see people with the flop sweat and the kid win, the old judy garland, we can put

on our own show. >> it proves we are all human at the core. >> what drives you and the show business person that gets out and stands on the stage and that is where they have to be? >> we were talking about this before we went on the air, it's largely interest. that is what my father was all about. having something to occupy one's brain and that is what "smash" is doing for me, i'm a busy girl and that is good. >> i think it is interest, i saw a good play, "anything goes" amazing play and then i saw something terrible, follies, and i was saying why did i go see that. >> courtney and bes is great too. >> and how is jack nichol son

doing? >> he is doing great. >> he keeps going and going and go iing how does clint they do you're much younger than either of those guys. >> thank you. i think that's just staying occupied. >> knock on wood. break a leg. hope you make it with smash". especially here on nbc news, we can use a big winner in primetime. it's an honor to spend three minutes with one of the great stars. thank you, angeljelica huston. >> up next, what political story will make headlines -- switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. good gravy, bill. our insurance company doesn't have anything like it.

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so which political story is going to make headlines in the next 24 hours? we're going right now to the "washington post" ann corn

blume. >> hi, chris. yeah, there's a lot of political news at the moment. the biggest political story is going to be the continued fallout from the last night's caucuses. rick santorum the big winner, mitt romney and newt gingrich both losers. i think we'll be looking to see whether he mitt romney makes any changes, regroups, decides to shift gears heading into the next races. a little lull before we hit arizona and michigan later in the month. it will be interesting to see how romney chooses to spend his time heading into two states that should favor him. it will be interesting to watch rick santorum basque a little bit in the somewhat unexpected victory he had. >> good for rick. i have to give credit to somebody who sticks with it. romney's strategy seems to be pound the opponent of the day with the relentless negative advertising from your super pacs and deny them a debate. is that going to be what he does, don't debate the two the opponents and pound them with negative advertising? >> look is, going negative has worked for him, the only thing

that seems to have worked decisively for him. there's another debate on the calendar in a couple of weeks. it will be interesting to see if romney is even talking to rote voters or reporters in the next couple weeks. yes, hunkering down has been his m.o. in the past. it will be interesting to see if he does it again. anne kornbluth right there on duty. that does it is for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." tonight on "hardball," john sununu. my colleague tamron hall has a look what's coming up next on "news nation"ing. >> hey there, chris. coming up in our hour, a.b. stoddard and michael smerconish will join us. santorum spent part of his day in texas hanging with some pastors. meanwhile, romney's camp is desperately trying to move the conversation to his perhaps new narrative of being an every man, even saying that his dad was i an carpenter. plus, speaker john boehner

issues a threat to the white house over the new contraceptive policy is under fire by some catholic leaders. we'll get the latest response coming out of the white house. wheeeeeeeeeeeee! whee! whee! wheeeeeeeee! ah heads up. wheeeeeeeeeeee! everything you love about geico, now mobile. download the new geico app today.

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and there's a chance to get on the ground floor of something big, something that will bring us back. not only this company, but this country. ♪ right now on "news nation," an old thorn in the side resurfaces. one day after his surprise sweep, rick santorum is not letting up the pressure on mitt romney, spending part of the day with pastors in texas. how does that is play into santorum's next move. plus, how does mitt romney explain poor numbers last night than he pulled back in 2008 in the very same athlete states in the. >> this attack by the federal government on religious freedom in our country must not stand. >> and republicans in congress now warning the white house to change its policy requiring faith-based employers to offer workers free contraceptive coverage. why some are convinced the