all right. guys, have a great weekend. >> happy friday. >> thank you all for being with us. i want to apologize. mika, you were right. mika steps on me sometimes when i'm talking, interrupts me but i am a very patient guy. >> i'm sorry. >> i know. it's okay. >> i won't do it again. >> that's okay. i'm sorry as well. >> thank you. >> willie, it's way too early. what time is it? >> "morning joe." stick around right now for "the daily rundown" hosted today by luke russert. the republican field base is c pac, the annual get together for thousands of conservative activists. it's been called the wood stock for the right. high stakes for presidential candidates still trying to close the deal. the contraception mandate has the white house looking for compromise as more democrats break ranks. the administration expected to announce an accommodation on the issue later today. will it satisfy the church and defuse republican critics? in syria tanks move in as

shells fall on the largest city facing bloodshed and horror syrians call for help but what can be done? it is friday, february 10th, 2012. this is "the daily rundown." i'm luke russert in for chuck todd this morning. the white house will address the controversial contraception rule today. nbc's kristen welker is at the white house and joins us now with some of the breaking news. give me an update. when did the white house make this decision and what does this decision look like? where is the reversal? >> reporter: it looks like this was something decided sometime last night. senior administration officials have confirmed that there will be an announcement today coming out of the white house on this contraception rule. what will it look like? that's the big question. but sources who have been briefed on this both inside and outside of the white house say the key here is that it will attempt to allay the concerns of folks within the catholic community but at the same time it will preserve that core

principle that all women will have access to contraception. now i've spoken to some advocates of the contraception rule and they say this is a win. they've been briefed on this. they believe this will preserve the mandate of providing a contraception coverage to all women. they say the bishops are not going to like this announcement. we'll have to wait and see of course on that. they also say the devil is in the details. so they are going to be watching this announcement very closely, watching it like hawks. one of the ideas that sort of has gotten a lot of buzz this week, luke, is the hawaii rule. which essentially allows some religious affiliated organizations who might oppose providing contraception coverage to female employees to opt out but they have to provide information to their employees about where they can get comparable coverage. probably won't see anything exactly like that but that's one of the ideas that has gotten a lot of buzz around here as of late. so we'll be watching very

closely but we do expect an announcement sometime today. luke? >> kristen, thanks. it takes a talented correspondent to keep their composure with a dump truck going behind them. thanks so much for your help. >> thanks, luke. >> we'll have you back in a few minutes to look at other news out of the white house this week but first to this morning's first read nbc's deputy political director mark murray joins me now from d.c. mark, let's talk about breaking news right now. obviously the reversal out of the white house, it seems to me like they always step on these culture issues at bad times. you had the times square mosque, professor gates at one point. what happened do you think within the white house where they realized they were in some terrible political territory? >> luke, they really wanted to be able to rip off this band-aid and essentially put a period on this story. this has been a headache now for the last several days. and as we head into a presidential contest, the white house clearly wanted to keep this in february and not have it get closer to november. as you pointed out, stepping into the culture wars, this isn't something that occurs with all administrations.

it's really indicative of just how important the culture wars are to american politics. they might have been masked by a lot of the economic news over the last three or four years. but the culture wars have bedavid westerfieb bedevilled tons of presidents. catholic bishops wanted to refuse john kerry communion due to his views on abortion. the culture wars have always been with us. >> another topic going on in washington, d.c. is that of c pac. mitt romney is going to what a lot of folks are saying is the lion's den for him today. in 2008 he had the backing of the national review. he was liked by conservatives. in 2008 he announced his concession speech and i want you to come out on the other side. >> if i fight on all the way to the convention, i -- [ cheering ]

>> i want you to know i've given this a lot of thought. i forestall the launch of a national campaign. and fraunch frankly i'd be maki easier for senator clinton or obama to win. >> remember those days? it seems it is a little different this time around. >> the roles have reversed, luke. now all of a sudden mitt romney is john mccain from four years ago and it was really interesting. you heard some of the applause mitt romney was able to get from that crowd. he was a rock star four years ago by virtue of being the nonestablishment candidate who is running. all of a sudden now as mitt romney addresses c pac four years later he is still seen as the favorite to get the gop nomination and the one just like john mccain who is getting questions about his conservative bona fides. >> mark, we have the main caucus coming up on saturday. we know that new englanders are notoriously fickle in terms of

who they support. mitt romney won this back in 2008 with 52% to john mccain 22%. maine a neighboring state to massachusetts, a lot of massachusetts folks moving up to maine. do we expect mitt romney to walk away with this one or could there be another surprise like we saw this past tuesday? >> luke, i'm not making any bets after what we saw on tuesday. particularly even in colorado which was again a contest that romney won four years ago. even the polling, robo polling had shown he was probably going to be able to win this. caucus contests are very unpredictable. what i can say is we'll get the results saturday night. and it will be the ninth result, set of results so far in this republican nominating contest and the race continues to move on. >> continues to move on and nobody knows what will happen next. a lot different than we thought in the beginning. we all thought it was a romney slam dunk and seemingly going to be a long primary. we love that on msnbc the place for politics. thanks, mark. what a week it has been in

politics. let's go back now to nbc's kristen welker. she has a look at the wins, losses, and frankly some of the big missteps of the week. kristen, missteps, huh? >> reporter: luke, as you know, it is always busy around here so we wanted to take a look back at this week in washington. >> contraception controversy. >> the obama administration and health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius dealt with the contraception controversy and secretary sebelius also tackled a less controversial issue, alzheimer's. on tuesday she unveiled a new proposal to help combat the degenerative disease that according to the national institutes of health affects 5.1 million americans. the plan includes $50 million already available that will go toward improving research. it also calls for 80 million for additional research. that money will be woven into the president's budget. translation? it'll be tough to get the additional money approved. here is a little something we thought you should check out one more time. >> all right.

back up, guys. >> reporter: president obama testing out a marshmallow launcher made by 13-year-old joseph huddy. >> oh! >> reporter: that piece of video really doesn't need any explanation but just so you know it was captured during the white house's second annual science fair, which celebrates the nation's standout math and science students. looking forward china's vice president will meet with president obama next tuesday amid mounting tensions. less than a week ago china and russia were the only two nations to vote against a u.n. security council resolution that would have supported a regime change in syria. >> what happened yesterday at the united nations was a travesty. >> reporter: violence is mounting in syria with the government cracking down on pro democracy protesters. and, luke, on monday president obama will unveil his budget for 2013 and as all things around

here it will undoubtedly spark heated debate on all sides. luke? >> kristen, former congresswoman gabrielle giffords did a bill signing today, giffords the mother of the 9-year-old girl who was killed in last year's tucson, arizona shooting will attend a ship naming ceremony today. what do we know about that? >> that is absolutely right, luke. on your first point congresswoman gabrielle giffords, vice president biden as well as giffords' husband mark kelly will be at that bill signing. it is the last bill the former congresswoman sponsored and voted on before she left office to continue in her recovery. this bill essentially gives more authority to law enforcement to crack down on illicit drugs and activities on the u.s. border so president obama is signing that today and then a little bit later on the pentagon will hold a ship naming ceremony. it's going to be probably an emotional event, luke, because christina taylor green, the

9-year-old who was also killed, her mother will be there for that event as well. i can tell you, luke, i covered that tragic shooting in tucson. it will undoubtedly be quite a moving event today at the pentagon. >> indeed it will. a lot of emotions. kristen welker, thank you so much for that wonderful spot and for being with us this morning with all the dump trucks keeping your composure. you are an all star. thank you. another topic generating a lot of buzz this week was clint eastwood trying to sell cars or a candidate in this chrysler ad that ran during the super bowl. >> this country can't be knocked out with one punch. we get right back up again and when we do the world is going to hear the roar of our engines. yeah. it's halftime, america. and our second half is about to begin. >> the 81-year-old legend himself responded to critics who say he was actually making a political pitch for president obama's economic policy. here is what he told cnbc's becky quick on "squawk box"

today. >> half way through the recession let's work our way out of it. that doesn't mean anybody is endorsing or any particular products or any particular philosophy. i'm surprised that people that are supposed to be intelligent have it interpreted otherwise because it is very disappointing when you see that because the average person seems to get it. >> but eastwood may no longer be able to contain the buzz at c pac on thursday rick perry latched on to his line about it being halftime in america. >> if it's halftime in america, i'm fearful of what the final score is going to be if we let this president start the second half as a quarterback. >> politics and football? they go together like america and apple pie. up next another city under siege in syria. bombs explode in aletho as tanks and troops move into the already

devastated city. with the violence and bloodshed escalating will the west step in? still to come we'll take you live into the c pac conference as the gop candidates make their case to the base. mitt romney is walking into the lion's den. can he convince reluctant republicans that he can win in november? but first a look ahead at the president's schedule today. you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. gabrielle giffords will be a star at the bill signing ceremony at 11:40 a.m. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement, if your car is totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. liberty mutual auto insurance.

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in syria a pair of massive explosions killed dozens at security compounds in the northern city of alepo but there are conflicting reports as to

who is to blame. it comes amid a week-long government siege of cities sheltering rebel forces. nbc's reporter is live in cairo with the very latest. give us a sense of what's going on. is there still an abundance of violence going on in the streets? where do the people seem to side today? >> good morning, luke. absolutely. let's start with that explosion and the accusations there. the state tv and government showed what they said were attacks at security offices inside syria's largest city and are saying that is the type of violence and terrorism the syrian regime is fighting across the country. for its part the syrian opposition says that this is exactly the type of propaganda that the syrian government is using to incite attacks and to try to discredit the free syrian army and opposition groups fighting for their freedom. as you mentioned it comes on the heels of six days of

unrelentless shelling in the city that has become the uprising center. there people are saying the humanitarian situation is worsening by the day. low supplies of food and according to activists hundreds of people have been killed over that six-day assault. according to some of the activists we've been speaking to they say the syrian army is preparing to move into the city of hums and reclaim it. some parts were liberated if you will by the syrian opposition but eyewitnesses are saying thousands of trups aoops are preparing to move in on what is unfolding to be a humanitarian disaster. >> please stay safe there in syria. despite nearly a year of internal dissent president assad has refused to release his iron grip on syria. we have the deputy naleid itor of "time" magazine joining us in the studio. thanks for coming in. i'm interested in the sort of proxy war that seems to be going on. the syrian regime has 5,000 tanks, 3,000 armored personnel carriers, 3500 artillery pieces.

they got them all from russia. russia and china seem to be alining with syria and the government here in the united states obviously on the side of the protesters and folks wanting freedom. can you talk about this proxy war going on? >> that is the difference between syria and libya. libya the world and the united nations security council all united around the idea of international convention. that is not happening in syria because russia and china have vetoed any proposal that might lead to any sort of regime change in damascus. with russia and china it's more than just a matter of selling military hardware to damascus. there is a principle the way moscow sees it, the principle that the international community should not interfere. after all moscow has also sent tanks into its own -- >> the chechen rebels. >> they don't want to set a precedence here that might be

used again. >> putin obviously aware of his own grip on power does not want to say it is okay to overthrow a dictatorship. >> there is very strong opposition to him in his own country. we've seen in the past couple months mostly peaceful demonstrations against him. who knows where that might lead. he is looking over his back a little bit when he does this. china has consistently taken this line they made an exception in the case of libya but went back now and they are also opposed to any foreign intervention in what they see as one country's sovereign affairs. >> another interesting aspect of what is going on over there is the one of religion. obviously the government is backed by a shiite sect, a majority of the population through these areas of syria being attacked are sunni. is the government trying to make this a religious war so that perhaps some disenfranchised shiites will say we have to be on the side of our religious ideals here? >> yes. the government needs to keep its -- the core elite of the

country united behind it and much of that elite is as you say the shiite sect. so the government is trying very hard to portray this as a shiite vs. sunni thing. that is a double edged sword. the majority of the arab world around syria are sunni and the challenge for the opposition now and it's a little hard for them, they are being slaughtered, but the challenge for them now is to reach across sectarian lines and persuade the shiites who are supporting the government that, look. you've got to come and join us, come and join this -- because it's better for the future of our country to be rid of assad. it is not a matter of shiite versus sunni but it should, that all syrians, also christians, kurds, many different religions and ethnicitys that everybody should unite against assad. >> with the u.s. and russia sort of at odds with china and almost kind of cancel each other out on this because they don't want to escalate anything, which international powers should have the most clout here that could

bring this to an end game that could be satisfactory? >> well, at the moment turkey and qatar are taking the lead in any efforts to coordinate with the syrian opposition, to deal with the refugee crisis, and trying and failing to persuade assad to ease off on the slaughter. turkey is a substantial economic partner, a big neighbor of syria's. qatar has played this role of mediator in the middle east before. so they're trying to get in there and trying to make change happen. they haven't succeeded so far but i think as the international community, as the outcry over this violence grows, that might empower them in their dealings with assad. >> we appreciate it. thanks so much for coming in. >> any time. now to an extraordinary ten-year "dateline" investigation that airs this sunday. jon-adrian velasquez is serving 25 years to life convicted of murdering a retired new york

police officer. is the wrong man in prison today? it is an investigation i joined four years ago. here is part of my interview with jon-adrian vels kwasquezve >> an innocent man has done over 14 years incarcerated while another man who is a killer may be on the train with you. >> reporter: meet new york state inmate number aa 203 jon-adrian velasquez convicted of killing a retired new york city police officer during a botched robbery in harlem a conviction he has always claimed is unjust. you say you had nothing to do with the crime. you were nowhere close to the scene. why is it that you were picked out? >> luke, that is probably the best question in the world because i don't know the answer. >> reporter: you can catch the rest of my report on "dateline sunday" at 7:00 p.m. eastern, 6:00 p.m. central. set your dvr. watch it. tell your friends and family it is a very moving piece about eyewitness identification in the criminal justice system in this country.

what can we expect on wall street today? the market rundown is next. plus the battle for the base. while the candidates throw red meat to the crowd at cpac what is the mood really like in those key swing states needed to win the nomination? we'll show you the must see video of the day, nancy pelosi takes on super pacs and steven colbert. today's trivia question first. how many women have held both congressional seats and cabinet posts, name them. tweet us. the first correct answer gets a follow friday from us. the answer and more coming up on "the daily rundown." i know one off the top of my head. i'll struggle for two, three, and four. you're smart political junkies. get on it and tweet us at daily rundown. we'll be right back. my heart attack happened

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we are two min frustrate the opening bell so time for the market rundown.

cnbc is here. how does the market look today? >> good morning, luke. the futures are lower ahead of the open as investors continue to monitor the daily ups and downs concerning greece and its debt crisis. the greek government reached a deal on thursday for new budget cuts but european leaders are imposing more conditions on the deal before they approve a new round of bailout money. meantime we've got more stories. retailers will be feeling love on valentine's day. the national retail federation is predicting that consumers will spend $17.6 billion this year up 9% from 2011. jewelry is going to be the biggest gift item with spending expected to hit $4.1 billion followed by a night out and some flowers. men will be the bigger spenders with an average of $168 per gift and $85 per women. also apple. the rumor mill is spinning again. reports are saying apple has chosen the first week of march to unveil the next version of its ipad with an event in san francisco. no word on a street date but it could be in stores about a week after it's announced. reports say the ipad 3 will be similar to the ipad 2 but it

will be faster with better graphics and go figure, luke, i just bought the ipad 2. get ready for the upgrade. >> jackie, you pre'em tiffly put every guy in the dog house with valentine's day spending up 9% this year. we're all now expected to be in that 9%. >> even a card is enough. >> the daily rundown will be back in 30 seconds. back now on the daily rundown.

i'm luke russert in for chuck todd. other stories making headlines, alabama republican spencer baux chairman of the very powerful house financial services committee is reportedly under investigation for insider trading. "the washington post" reports that the office of congressional ethics is looking into a number of suspicious stock trades to see if bachus illegally used nonpublic information to guide his investment decisions. for the first time since the meltdown at 3 mile island the u.s. government has approved a construction of two new nuclear reactors inside the u.s. the $14 billion reactors will be built in eastern georgia and could be online as early as 2016. gabby giffords is endorsing her former aide ron barber's bid to finish her term in congress. barber who was shot twice in the attack that nearly killed his boss says giffords asked him to run in this spring's special election. even if he wins it is not clear whether barber will seek a full term in the fall. going to be a heck of a race. three of the four republican

presidential candidates are set to speak at today's gathering of conservative republicans in washington, d.c. they're trying to make the case to rally conservative support in the coming contest. joining me now on the phone is nbc's jamie novagrad. thanks so much for joining us. >> good morning. >> jon kyl who is in the senate leadership had a very interesting quote. he said it exactly a mitt romney-mania right now. how can you tell me what is going on on the ground? is this mitt romney-mania gaining traction? is there going to be good reception to the former governor of massachusetts's message? >> well the reason that he probably said that is that there was a lot of red meat yesterday with the crowd that was -- that seemed please to hear some pretty sharp speeches particularly one from minority leader mitch mcconnell who launched several sharp arrows at

president obama over all sorts of issues, the contraception issue, the contraception coverage built into the health care mandate with the -- was a big issue that drew big responses and mentioned quite often yesterday. that is probably why he said that. >> jamie, i've been to a few of these things and you're there right now and i can tell you the first one i went to is right after obama had been elected. you can see there was a lot of energy in that room. gauge that energy for me right now. how fired up are these folks? how much are they calling for real red meat and how much do they want to see blood from their speaker? >> well, you know, i think what they want to see is they want to see president obama out of office. and i think that's where the energy is coming from. to the degree they're not interested in seeing mitt romney i think that there is a requirement there to be convinced that romney can do it

and that romney can galvanize the base to the degree where he can usher the president out of office and that he can offer a convincing alternative. i think that's what the crowd wants. what you really sense is this kind of exhaustion or exasperation is a better word about the administration. >> jamie, thank you so much for joining us today on "the daily rundown" and have some fun at cpac. it is a heck of a thing to cover. >> thank you, luke. >> how is the cpac convention playing outside the beltway? joining me is bush 43 white house veteran, also the communications director for the indiana republican party where there is a tough republican senate primary race going on. but let's start out first, pete, you obviously know presidential politics. you know what this base wants, the bush operation is very talented in getting these folks to turn out. can mitt romney do that with his speech today, or is it still

going to take a matter of months where they say anybody but obama? >> look, you cannot under estimate the importance of those three speeches today. the folks that are at cpac will go back home to their states, arizona, michigan, later states like indiana, and share their experiences with their friends and neighbors about what they saw and of course people will be watching these speeches on television as well. so it's going to be very important for these candidates to share a message of electability i think for both romney and santorum. and maybe even contrast with their fellow republican candidates. but what i've been finding interesting, luke, over the last couple of days here in d.c., talking to folks, i kind of conducted a rather informal and impromptu focus group. >> a c poll. >> yeah. a c poll. last night with some college students from my alma mater the university of arizona. they're voting in two weeks. and nearly every single one of them, it's not -- if they're voting for gingrich or ron paul

or rick santorum it wasn't an anti-romney vote but a pro gingrich vote, a pro-santorum vote. they are voting for these guys because they like what they bring to the table. and i think that's kind of where it's up ending conventional wisdom a little bit in that regard. >> so people are sticking true to their beliefs even when there is a chance of how well they can play in the general. >> "the washington post"/abc poll i think last week also kind of buried the fact that three quarters of the people polled were affirmative for their candida of choice. the whole i dpee dea it is antiy i think misses the point. >> in indiana there is an interesting race. richard luger who has been a there for a number of decades got hit with this attack from the dscc that said, quote, dick luger moved out of indiana then lefd hoosier taxpayers with a $50,000 bill for 325 hotel

nights. dick lugar has not lived in the state of indiana since 1977. he is getting quite a run for his money from a tea party candidate in the gop primary. is this emblematic of what is going on with romney and gingrich and santorum right in your own state where you have an establishment guy getting hit not only by democrats but also the tea party for not being authentic enough? >> well, first, my official response is just to laugh. i mean, give me a break. these attacks just don't work no matter who they're thrown at. but what we've learned in indiana, and i think what you're going to learn in this presidential primary process as well is primaries are good. they make candidates stronger. i worked for dan coates, former now current u.s. senator in the 2010 cycle. and having a competitive five way primary made him a better general election candidate. they had to debate and defend and offer ideas on debate stages

across the state and it makes people stronger. i think you saw that with mitt romney and the two florida debates. >> two guys at dscc they say in indiana it could be another sharron angle and christine o'donnell in delaware and richard murdoch, could he be a loss in indiana which is now trending red after being for obama in '08 because he's too far to the right for those indiana voters which like a guy like dick lugar who has reached across the aisle before? >> you know, democrats are in such desperate straits in the state of indiana that really the only race is the primary race and that's why you see a lot of people jump in these like the fifth congressional district where dan burton just retired. a lot of people are getting in. the primary is the only race. president obama is so unpopular in the state and he was able to

pull people with a blank slate in 2008. it won't happen again and his coat tails will bring down a lot of candidates in 2012. >> you don't think the president has any chance of winning indiana again? that was a one and done deal, an anomaly in 2008? >> and one and done is actually what we say about it. i'm glad. i'm glad you used that. but yeah. look. he is unpopular. the stimulus didn't work. his promises to create three, four million jobs through the stimulus did not pan out. they promised 70,000 new jobs in indiana because of the stimulus. less than 6,000 have been created. >> where would mitch daniels be right now if he was in the race? >> well, obviously a little bi s biased in that, luke. i think he would probably be leading the pack. it is because of a results-oriented record. >> he should have gotten in. he should have gotten in. >> you know, i think -- i've heard today mitt romney is really going to start focusing on results in his record in massachusetts and how he is

taking conservative values and turned them into results. i think that is a great path to take. >> running against ted kennedy and those conservative values in massachusetts. it will be interesting to see. pete, always a pleasure. good to see you. >> thank you, luke. >> it's been another wild week in the race for president. our friday political panel will be here next to put it all in perspective and a programming note this sunday on nbc's "meet the press." jacob lew and rick santorum will be david gregory's guests. check your local listings. but first the white house soup of the day. this is really narly. coconut crab. i wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole. maybe you would. if you're adventurous on a friday, coconut crab. it just sounds gross. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc.

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i stand before you today to announce my candidacy for president of the united states of america. >> daily flashback to that day in 2007 when in front of a crowd of thousands of freezing folks, a morning in springfield, illinois senator barack obama formally joined the rice for president standing in front of the state capitol where abraham lincoln delivered his famous house divided speech. obama called on the country to unite to change the ways of washington. i remember chris matthews was here. he turned red because it was so very cold. so how much has changed since a united country, very polarized these days? can mitt romney close the deal with conservatives when he takes the stage at cpac about three hours from now? last night romney previewed the message he is going to try and sell these rvoters. >> what i'll say in my speech is first describing the challenge as a nation and the conservative

choice that has to be brought forward but secondly will look at my record and describe it as governor. some of those things get hidden over time. people forget. >> msnbc contributor joann reid is managing editor and nick is a political reporter for the "new york times" and "morning joe's" willie geist also "way too early." it's not booh. >> absolutely. like thank you so much. >> joann, i want to play this clip from rick santorum talking about what he is expecting to hear from mitt romney today saying mitt romney is going to run on his record in massachusetts. >> right. >> take a listen to this. >> his record of government is -- governor is not one that he talks about. there is a reason for that. this is the politics of mitt romney. he is not interested in talking about the issues but interested in trying to pander. >> joann, here is somebody in mitt romney that ran against ted kennedy. said i wasn't for reagan-bush and voted for paul tsongas. when he was in massachusetts was a very pragmatic, moderate

republican. even had flyers he distributed a gay rights parade as a progressive. can mitt romney go into cpac and run on his massachusetts record? >> that's the problem. if there was a slogan for the mitt romney campaign for president it would be, guys, what do i have to be? just fill in the blanks for me. that's the problem. he is fundamentally not trusted by conservatives. the conservative wing of the party. the problem is he is going into a place where he has no credibility and will try to describe his record in a way that sounds conservative but the actual facts of his record are an anathema to the people he is talking to. he hasn't figured out a way to sell it. >> today is a big day. santorum comes in less than an hour but cpac is everything mitt romney is not. it is visceral, emotional, rhetorical, rick perry saying if this is halftime for america i don't want to see the second half with this quarterback. mitt romney is none of those things. to the audience in that room, you've been there, it's rabble rousing, cheering, yelling. mitt romney is not their guy.

rick santorum is their guy. this is in fact the delineation this campaign is about. >> it's happened to the red blood conservativism? >> it is odd he wants to focus on his record as governor of massachusetts. how do you become a republican governor of massachusetts? you run as a moderate, as a businessman, as a prague mattma. the cpac crowd does not want a pragmatic, nod emoderate candid. >> there was an interesting story in "the washington post" this week about his economic record in massachusetts is not stunning by any means. there is not a lot of job creation. massachusetts was still stuck with the recession coming out of the tech bubble. >> and talking about planned parenthood, a sort of hot issue, the rule now being debated by the u.s. conference of catholic bishs and catholic charities is a rule that it was in place when mitt romney became governor of massachusetts where women were

allowed to get contraceptives as part of their health plan. he didn't fight that. he didn't try to sort of institute some sort of conservative revolution when he was governor of massachusetts. he governed the way you govern massachusetts. but what i find ironic is that rick santorum has a record that is similar dissimilar to the base right? when he was in the senate he was considered a big government conservative. newt gingrich used to believe in climate change. but they know how to sell it. they know how to say the words. they know how to speak the language. >> and rile up the crowd. >> that is the untold story. because he is a social conservative but fiscally was behind medicare part d, the bridge to nowhere. rick santorum is behind all of those. >> talk about tapping into the fervor there at cpac i want to put this clip from mitch mcconnell on the screen. he is not known to get fired up. listen to what he said at cpac yesterday. >> the president seems to have forgotten he was elected to lead all americans, elected to be president of the united states not the occupy wall street fan club. these things demean the office

of president. they corrode our democracy. and they need to stop. >> i cover mitch mcconnell on a daily basis on capitol hill and that is as fired up as he gets. that kind of demonstrates what romney has to do. mitch mcconnell is a very dignified senate leader and he said the obama presidency was a disgrace. >> yeah. it's interesting. mitch mcconnell is a reserved guy, right? even he, though, has a well spring of kind of fundamental conservative belief and principle and experience. he's been there for a while. mitt romney doesn't have the fundamental connection. he wasn't there back in the day. he wasn't there in '94. he wasn't there with reagan. he can talk the talk. but the problem is can he communicate it and connect with people? i don't see him doing that. he can mouth the words and he can get enthusiastic and as we've seen he is adept at turning on a dime shaping his message but it's kind of hard to see him with that crowd. >> if mitch mcconnell can do it mitt romney can.

>> he has tried in the past but i think the question a lot of conservatives have, is it in his heart? does he mean it or is he out playing president? i think you'll see that today. >> we'll be right back with this great panel discussion. right now it's trivia time. we asked how many women have held both congressional seats and cabinet posts? the answer is four. secretary of state hillary clinton was of course a senator from new york where i'm at. labor secretary hilda solis is a former california congresswoman. lynn morally martin of illinois was the first woman to serve in the house gop leadership and margaret heckler ha secretary under president reagan and eight-term congresswoman from mchls. we'll be right back. you are watching the daily rundown only on msnbc. the panel is here fired up and ready to go. you don't go anywhere. still have a lot of fun left. [ male announcer ] the inspiring story of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take away the faces on the trees...

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let's bring back our panel, joey and joy. i want to show you something here. rick santorum was up with a tweet talking about the amount of money he raised. as of 7:00 p.m., he raised $2.2 million in two days. but, he's been funded by a certain super pac. steven colbert and nancy pelosi got into this. >> steven colbert used to be my friend. i signed his cast when he broke his hand. since the day he's been taking money, he's been out of control. using his super pac to attack my friend, newt gingrich. he must be stopped. i'm nancy pelosi and i support this ad because americans deserve a better tomorrow,

today. >> nick, you have a series of reports on this. nancy pelosi getting in on the action. they need the super pacs to survive. >> yeah, yeah. >> is that going to continue to be the game in politics? >> absolutely. look at what a huge impact the groups have had on the primary. they rescued newt gingrich, rick santorum. they crushed gingrich in iowa. they make it easy for the first time ever to combine money from corporations, unions and rich people all together, right away, get out in the air, hit the other candidate. it's super easy for them, huge amount of influence. >> what's interesting about the ad from pelosi, a day after he announced that, president obama comes out and cuts him off at the knees. open the flood gates. >> who would think it increased

the agony of republicans. it's prolonging their agony by not letting them get to a nominee. >> it's making it possible for a couple candidates who can't raise money the old fashioned way to stay in the race. in a weird way, you think santorum and gingrich are the grass roots. it's ironic, it's a couple wealthy benefactors kept them in the race the whole time. the tweet from santorum, one guy can give $2 million in two minutes. it changes the game if you have supporters like that. >> have folks masters technicalities of soup pacs? 5013 c and that, is there an understanding of how to get it done? >> i think the smart lawyers know how to do it. they have been deadlocked for awhile now.

they haven't put out new regulations in response to conservatives and liberals. you can't directly coordinate. as long as you don't, you can do what you want. we are running out of time. we have to do the shameless plug. >> we have the 100. today is the lebron james of chess. when you can say that in the same sentence, it's a win. a profile of rick santorum on the trail written by manny fernandez, everyone should read it. >> jeremy lind tonight at the garden against the l.a. lakers. sunday at 7:00 eastern, luke russert, conviction. >> my first "dateline" prime hour. dvr, tivo. willie geist, joe an, thank you for joining us. that's it for this edition of

the daily rundown. chuck will be back on monday. i know you miss him. coming up, chris jansing will speak to foster friess. at 1:00 p.m., "andrea mitchell reports." god bless her for coming back. we love andrea mitchell. ♪ it' s nice to be here ♪ ♪ ♪ it's nice to see you... [ male announcer ] this is your moment. this is zales, the diamond store.

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