remember this and go bake. >> but today's white house visit with china's next leader likely to be all business, decision 2012, santorum surge, it's national. will it last is this john stewart weighs? >> what the heck, american, i leave you alone for 1 week. 1 week. i expect you to -- i expect you to go a little crazy, but making this guy the front-runner? >> well, good day, i'm chuck todd in washington and i'm in today for andrea mitchell, time for the daily fix, it's rick santorum, three new polls out, can he put together a national campaign. chris, managing editor for post

politics.com, it's the first time that santorum has been in the lead character as conservative foil of the on again off again mechanical front-runn front-runner, mitt romney. >> you are right, if you go back and look at polling you'll see everyone to now rick santorum they have rose and fell. perry rose fell and rose and fell again. romney never goes above 30%, i usually dismiss it and we have talked about it. >> it's always a lagging indicator >> and it's notity a national election, the people saying i am for this person. now, we are getting very close, super tuesday, you have ten states voting. it's going to be a national election that means the polling, more important than it was say a

month ago. >> watching santorum yesterday, one of those days of a unique day. you see all the reports in this morning and i'm watching the santorum event this morning, the lighting, they cannot handle a few protesters. this is not a campaign that is ready yet to go national. they are trying staff up. they hired a press person trying to deal with media. they are not ready for prime time. >> you are right and you do not get, the problem is, do you in the get a break anymore in that he is essentially trying to change from running clothes into a suit while running. it's not easy, you cannot just pause your campaign and put together the organization. he is not there. that has been mitt romney's advantage, he has an organizational and financial advantage over them all. >> mitt romney has fallen into an odd bad moment in the campaign and that is that suddenly michigan is in the play? if michigan is in play and there's evidence that it is.

look at what they are doing. they are doubling down today, they are out with a new aide, he is driving around, i'm a man from michigan. all of that, he is having to play that card heavily. >> his super pac and spending big in michigan. >> this is another one-here we were talking about how national, he loses michigan that is as big an impact if he had lost new hampshire. >> and it bodes poorly. the week in between february 28th and super tuesday will be a terrible week. because -- >> could be a disaster. >> i agree, michigan, seems me, they, the romney campaign, will spend as much as they need to, they will go as negative as they need to with the super pac, to your point, he loses michigan, the story line is terrible for him. >> the romney super pac, i'm surprised how many southern states they are buying into it. we do not know the strategy, we

assume it's all anti-newt? >> largely anti-newt. but is that a good question for them? they have effectively destroyed gingrich, in a lot of these states but it's not necessarily a good thing for them. a one on one thing for, pickly if approximate -- if santorum had has beaten him in michigan -- >> right now, vice president joe biden and secretary hillary clinton are hosting a lunch for the chinese vice president, president obama met with the vice president he is set to be the next president of china in 2013, these meetings come after a strained relationship with china. especially in key issues how

much business can get done with him, this is as much a education, get to know you session as anything else? >> absolutely. chuck, president obama and the administration needs to strike a delicate balance here, it's an election year so president wants to seem tough on china but on the other hand he has to welcome him in large part because this is the person who will likely lead china for the next decade or so. so president obama today in previewing that buy lateral meeting said that he welcomed a growing china and they need to follow the rules of the road, of course that is a reference to china's currency. as you know, the administration has accused china in the past of manipulating the currency, and president saying he would address human rights issues with the vice president, as we speak, there are 200 protesters outside of the white house protesting china's policies in tibet, which

they say amount to human rights violations and iran and syria on the table as you know, china has really broken with the united states, taking a very different view of what is happening in syria. so a lot of serious issues to address but all coming while president obama wants to welcome the vice president as he prepares to take over china, chuck? >> at the white house, krstine thank you very much. the china vice president will visit an old stomping ground of his, iowa, of course. in an about face house republicans are saying they are willing to extend the payroll tax cut lthrough the end of the you're, no strings aattached. why the change of heart? pennsylvania pat toomey. i know you and i had a discussion on this this morning. how comfortable are you with the

idea of decoupling, because this is what this is, it's a two-part strategy, decoupling the payroll tax holiday extension from unemployment benefits and the so-called doc fix, and extending it a year without paying for it? >> i'm going to think about it, chuck, i have reservations, i think it would be better for it to be paid for. it comes out of social security resources and yeah, it should be offset, so i'm going to wrestle with this one. >> and i want to ask you, you want this extended for sure or do you simply say, if you are going to do this, you are not crazy about it, but you have to offset it? i'm trying to understand your position. >> i'm comfortable with an extension of it, but i think the extension should be offset. let's see what the house sends over, but i have reservations. >> and about the unemployment insurance benefit and the doc

fix, you okay with that as long as it's paid for? >> they should be paid for, i would like to see reforms in the unemployment insurance approach, the doc fix, it's a fiction in our budget that we maintained for years pretepding that we would have a massive cut in reimbursement for doctors, it was never going to happen. it will never happen, we have to be have an honest budget that reflects reality. >> there's a funny thing when talking about the budget, if you guys did nothing, enacted no laws between the doc fixes and the bush tax cuts, the money could come into the government and the deficit would get cut quickly. >> it does not take into account the damage that would happen to the economy because of the biggest tax increase in american history. it's the worst kind.

if you think you need to generate new revenue they have all agreed the way to do it is to simplify the tax code and clear off tdeductions and lower marginal rates, and the president wants to increase the margin rates and that is bad for the economy, so i know on surface it looks to solve the economy but it does not do the job. >> let's look at this one specific issue, you were talking about taxes on dividends and investments. do you feel there were a lot of people that took too much advantage of the 15% tax rate on whether it's carried interest or a dividend income and maybe there's a happy medium here that accounts for people that are stashing income in maybe phony small businesses? >> no, i do not think that is what is happening at all. i think the people that wants to raise it simply want to raise

tax on investment income, one of the reasons that is bad is it depletes the capitol that can be invested in the economy and that allows you us to grow and increase wages and jobs. the other thing to remember is dividend income to the owner of a company, the shareholders that son-in-l corporation, that is only possible after a top tax rate is paid. a dividend can be paid after the tax can be paid and now the president wants that to be subject to a 43% tax when you include his top personal income tax rate and the taxes that he proposed and are in law from the health care plan. the net effect is to have marginal taxes on investment of over 60% and that discourages investment. >> do you believe the bush tax cuts, they are on the ballot in november? president obama wins we go in one direction and the republican

nominee that we go in the other. is that one of the more tangible decisions that gets made on election day? >> i think that is right. the president made it clear he wants higher taxes and the republicans are in favor of lower taxes extending the current rates or reforming the system, and get rid of deductions and lower marginal rates further. it's a contrast, and the voters will weigh in on it. >> thanks for coming on. >> thanks for having me, chuck. >> president obama is pressing for a fast fix to payroll tax holiday. just this morning he called on congress to act fast. >> congress needs to extend that tax cut along with vital insurance life line for folks that lost their jobs. they need to do it without drama and without delay, pass the

extension of unemployment insurance and the payroll tax cut and do it before it's late and i'll do it right away. >> senator, it sounds like the president does not want to decouple the payroll tax extension from the unemployment benefits and the so-called doc fix which has to do with the fees that medicare pays doctors and it has to get reformed all the time because apparently the way it was originally passed in law was a mistake. so it's also having to get fixed. it's called a fix. are you okay with this decoupling or do you want it all together? one negotiation? >> i think you are right, the president is signaling that he wants them all to go forward and i share that view. we need to extend the payroll tax cut for the rest of the year to sustain the recovery and make sure we do not raise tax on millions of working families but

we have to extend relief from the doc fix and ensure that unemployment extensions are made possible. we need to make sure that seniors have access to their doctors and the unemployed continue to have support as they continue to on look for work, we have 23 months straight of private sector job growth. the president's budget which he just submitted to congress, continueses to make the smart investments that we need to make to grow the recovery as well. >> would you go as far as voting against -- if the payroll tax holiday were separated into appear vote on its own without it being paid for on, having a pay to it, would you support it reluctantly? >> yes, >> but you would support it? >> we need to continue the support for our recovery. i do think we should not extend it longer than this year, it frankly creates some challenges in terms of long-term funding for the social security trust

fund. but i was persuaded to support it as something that would extend through this year and it would help continue the lift in our recovery. >> you were talking about the things about the president's budget that you like about it and the spending that he wants to do, and particular thely the things that he has been highlighting, job training and creation, the transportation spending he would like to see sped up and the research and development. what -- anything trouble you about the budget? anything you are like going, boy, i wish he would have done x instead of y? >> i am happy there's continued strong investment in education and skills and training and in r and d and innovation and the thing -- and he hit a target over the next ten years the ways that the targets were hit i can disagree with, but as the cochairs of the president's deficit reduction committee

said, the general target is something we can all agree on. as a member of the budget committee, i was struck yesterday to hear that five different republican sprenators come to the floor and say we have not passed a budget in 1,000 days. and we did pass a budget. several republican senators said we have a budget. it's important i think for the american people to know that we are operating within a budget frame work. >> let me ask you the same question that i asked senator toomey. do you believe that november is going to decide the future of the bush tax cuts? >> that is right. >> that if you know, if you -- if they stay a live it's with the republicans and if they don't, it will be president obama's -- that is what it would be because president obama is re-elected? >> there's large questions here infront of the american people and the election about whether they want a federal government that works hard to promote tax

fairness that makes possible equal access to opportunity and education, and that try on grow our economy by investing in it or simplily returns to bush economic policies of deregulation and tax breaks for the wealthiest i'm trying to focus on what we can get past this year. along with senator rubio, i introduced a package that would help strengthen job growth and i hope we can focus on those things. >> i have to leave it there. thanks for coming on. >> thank you. >> up next, a bit more on the president's big budget plan, by the numbers with one of my favorite people to talk to about this, the economyist greg. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc.ever tylenol: and i relieve nasal congestion. nyquil (stuffy): overachiever. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't.

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well president obama's $3.8 trillion budget is being blasted as a political document in an election year, shocked that politics happened in washington. they are trying to say it's dead on arrival. i have greg with me, let's focus on tax policy, here is the paving here. you know $3.8 trillion in spending and $2.5 trillion in revenue. that is the facts. they are operating with -- that is what the country will probably spend in 2013, it's really no other way around it. but one of the things they claim for in sort of new revenues and spending, $850 billion in savings from the unwinding wars in iraq and afghanistan and republicans say it's a gimmick, is it? >> it is, when the president says we will cut this much from the deficit, they have to say as

compared to what? and a reasonable person would say, what would spending and taxes had been if the president had not acted. most will say that we will not continue to spend in iraq and afghanistan what we will have spend in the last few years. >> maybe $850 billion is too much, but zero is too little. >> it's a political document, right? and the president is using accounting fudge and all presidents have done that, it gets back to the point, it's not really a serious fiscal document. it's a campaign document. >> you and i both went in on the tax proposals, at them yesterday, and one thing they admitted, yes, aassuming the old tax rates will apply and they say assuming we negotiate tax reform and you went in on the growth and dividend issue. go more at what you said? >> as we were discussing a

minute ago, this is like a greatest hits compilation, you see things like let's put the bush tax rates and wind back the tax cuts for the wealthy people and limit their deductions and cut back for the cuts for multi-nationals. this year they went further, they said let's make the wealthy pay ordinary rates on identify depends instead of that 15% rate. what is interesting about that, that is the main reason why some millionaires pay lower taxes than others in the middle class. this is the mechanical way had that you get to the so-called buffett tax. what is interesting, is that they continue to talk in grand visions of a buffett tax to make sure that millionaires pay a -- >> they are not sure how to implement the buffett tax, they admit, the example of just right

now a millionaire minimum tax d does not work. >> the only constant is mr. buffett himself. this is a campaign document, both sides know that the other side's vision will not be resolved until after november. until then they are positioning. >> this is all about november, people do not realize how about big that election is, and we have six weeks to do tax reform. that is fantastic. >> we are good at getting these two-month extensions. greg, thank you. still ahead t the politico briefing, the contraception fight, round two. my heart attack happened completely out of the blue... i was so young... you just don't think that that's something that can happen to you. i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. first line of defense, right?

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released after being held for questioning at a pakistan apartment today, william charles was going to islamabad. he was part of the diplomatic service team. inspections are beginning at chinese plants make apple products after reports of dangerous working conditions. israel's defense minister is accusing iran of being behind a bombing in bankok. it happened after attacks in r syria, israel said they will settle the score with the attackers. up next, fight over contraception, it's not over folks, and funeral plans have

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well republicans are saying the fight over contraception is far from over, it was called an accounting gimmick, has offered an employer, any employer to escape the contraception mandate. and senate democrats responded to the proposal. >> this amendment would give employers an unprecedented license to dictate what women and men can have covered. it is extreme, it is dangerous. >> in a country known for its medical break throughs and advancements, republicans would have us go back to the medical dark ages. >> john harris' politico editor and chief. it feels like an attempt to

create a roll call vote because whether they can make it a presidential issue or not, they do not care. it's about snenate races in places like missouri and virginia and ohio that they want to see those senators cast votes. >> i think you may be on to something, chuck, and i'm not taking any offense to the bait and switch to come to the "andrea mitchell reports" and see you chuck, i think you are on to something. what we have right now is a fight of. and the perfect conditions of a fight. at the moment, both sides see incentives to take it publically. when it first launched, clearly democrats felt that president obama over stepped and was in a vulnerable position, obama himself reached that conclusion. i do not think a lot of democrats mind having the fight. they think that republicans are over playing their hand, support for contraception is a majority

position probably even with catholics as long as they do not feel the governmenti is pushing their values. there are states where clearlily democrats would prefer not to have on get in the middle of this problem. but i think the activists to democrats side won't let them off the hook. in other words, they want to fight just as much as republicans do. >> and there's an unintended consequence, the last person that wants to have this conversation is mitt romney as he is fighting with rick santorum when it comes to this issue? >> that is right. he wants to diminish the social issues all together, because that mays to santorum's strong card with activists. >> you know, there's always some sort of slice of the electorate

that is what we do not think it is. a private funeral service will be held for whitney houston this saturday at her home church in newark, new jersey, what is the reaction so far? they say no public funeral, but there's been talk of a public memorial. but yesterday we thought it was going to be a public funeral, what do we know today? >> what we know today, chuck, as you say, the family has decided that they want their private time with their daughter. their sister, their cousin, their mother to lay whitney houston to rest. the word has been put out that they want to share this time alone with whitney. no public viewing of the body. no wake as there's been speculation of that happening on thursday and prerhaps a funeral on friday, but it will happen on saturday, at her childhood church, where she sang in the

choir and her mother was a singer there as well. and as far as my public memorial to her, there's been no talk of that yet. maybe that will come down the road but nothing of that is being mentioned right now, there will be one camera inside the church, but it will be an invitation only funeral service. chuck? >> thank you very much. now to foreign policy news, rising tepe tensions in the str hormuz. here st. george and the uss, a military helicopter fired flares to force the iranian boats to turn away. syria is on the brink of civil

war is the warning. syrian government forces are pummeling the city with rockets and tank shells. activists say it's worst yet. right now we know what the april leag air -- what the arab league is talking about. what could the u.n. do, could they send a peace keeping force even though there's no peace keeping resolution? >> reporter: that resolution that was passed here used very careful language, one of the really more important pieces of that resolution stipulated that arab countries were allowed to provide political support to opposition, that was clarified saying that the material support means arms, that if the syrian opposition wants weapons from arab countries, they could according to the resolution

provide that support. that was one line in a resolution that also called for the u.n. and the arab league to send in a peace keeping force, you can imagine the reluctant feelings that came forward. china and russia vetoed a weaker resolution last week. other european countries have expressed reservations of sending that kind of force into syria at that stage. the focus will shift to tunisia, friends of syria will meet there to discuss the ways forward, what other solutions can come out of it. but it seems that the arab league has given a green light to opposition forces outside of syria to respect and get material support from those countri countries the syrian government that is what it's fighting and it's a mounting civil war in its

own country. the death toll continues to rise. >> still quite, when you think of the history of the arab league, quite surprising, thanks for your reporting. well, back to domestic politics, newt gingrich is pinning his hopes among other things on making it to april third where the big texas primary could be or maybe not. we have no idea. a federal court in san antonio has spent months refereeing the fight over redistricting, and we will find out when the texas primary is when that happens. you are a texan. why do we say it's on april third, there's no way it's on april third, correct? >> right. it's going to be very hard, and the dispute is over redistricting in these four new congressional districts that the state of texas will get, even if the federal court comes to an agreement, the ability on get your ducks in line to have a

primary is not enough time. chuck, instead of april third, what about june fifth or some time in may. you are talking unintended consequences, there could be an unintended consequence of having the texas primary later. >> listen to newt, he is all about texas. here is what he said yesterday about the texas primary. >> they will do what they have to do and we are organize a campaign with governor perry and we are happy to get there whenever we can. >> he cannot, if super tuesday is a disappointment, it's hard to see if he can stretch to get to texas, and see if perry's organization is rally a victory. if we are talking june -- >> texas by itself as 155 deg

gate -- all of a sudden, it gives you a opportunity, a chance if texas goes later. if you are rick santorum, maybe it's a state you do well at the tail end. >> another thing to think about. if texas has an unknown date and this thing is in chaos, it could be the first place for a new delegate to file, this thing is nuts. >> and coming back, it's always chaos, we saw it back -- >> how many times did you guys draw maps? >> you flee to oklahoma or new mexico. >> there it is, mark murray. the new poll about inaccurate voter registration, how serious? >> it's very. someone moves to virginia to maryla maryland, it's hard the to keep track of who the who. it's part of the reason the campaigns spend so much money,

they have more information on whether people are a live and where they are living. >> could that information be shared? >> some have said that a federal repos repo repository is in charge of that. >> thank you, go back and get your maps ready. how vulnerable are the nation's justices. new questions about security efforts after a justice came face to mace with-- face to fac with --

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marks a major concession by house speaker john boehner and some of the gop leadership, meanwhile, some of the rank and file file, upset about the possible move. some are saying is it a retreat or trap. and call it a timely thief, listen to this. a traveller ses an opening and then swoops in and steals a $6500 rolex that a woman left behind. you see it caught on tape and the guy has not been caught. unbelievable. all right, police are searching for a man who used a machete to rob supreme court justice bryer while he and his wife and family were on vacation. first of all machete, it's the tool of choice if you work on this island, explain. >> there's a lot of sugar down

there, and it's used to harvest machete, so it's not uncommon. but the justice was down there with his wife and house guests. he has a vacation house there. it's to rental market and he stays down there prevent freque d -- frequently a man broke into the house and robbed them and took about $1,000 and took off. >> for give me, how are the local authorities not able to round up the unusual suspects? >> they may try to do i'm sure that is one of the things they will do. and they know it's bad for tourism. on the other hand, there's been a crime problem there. and theft problem and robbery problem are a big problem especially there but in many of the caribbean islands so it's

not the easiest thing in the world. >> let's talk about the security for the justices in particular. i've been surprised a lot. i knew they had security here, i did not know that they did not have 24 hour security with them all the time. >> we will never get a direct answer to that. that is something that the supreme court police do not want to say. because they do not want people to know what it is. when the justices are traveling here in the u.s., on official business, the marshal service goes with them, when they are on business, they are all over the place, when they are on vacation, traveling internationally what they do is notify the embassy and country that they are coming and the security situation will be assessed and appropriate security is a ranged. i think you can assume, where it's going to be the least is when they are on vacation. >> sure. >> but this issue of, for instance, federal judges coming under threats every once in a while. we know we have a polarized

political climate, there's been movements to increase the security for them. >> definitely. and after the murder of a federal judge in chicago that very much changed and there's a more aggressive marshal presence around judges when they go home. you know, at night there's additional security. so, that picture has changed here domestically and it has changed for the supreme court as well. when a judge is vacationing, there's only so much they can do. especially when they are outside the country. >> a bizarre incident and it could have happened to anybody. >> no indications of anything other than random crime. >> what political story will make headlines on the next 24 hours? that is what is next. after a morning of walk-ups, it's back to more pain, back to more pills. the evening showings bring more pain and more pills. sealing the deal... when, hang on...

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so which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours?

ann joins me now. i'm going to put a little hint on it. here is president obama from his state of the union. >> what's happening in detroit can happen in other industries. a few weeks ago the ceo of master lock told me it now makes business sense for him to bring jobs back home. today, for the first time in 15 years, masterlocks plant in milwaukee is running at full capacity. >> all right. explain why i played that sound bite. >> if you didn't know it, we know the president is going to milwaukee to visit the masterlock plant. it's kind of a twofer for the president. milwaukee is an important swing state in the election. i'm sure for the white house is this company which has unionized workers has been adding jobs. the owner says it's been doing so because the cost of labor

overseas is rising be p this makes the president's point that unions can be good and high wages can be paid in the u.s. and with his policy jobs can be insourced and brought back through a variety of methods. he will be visiting this business. he's going to be taking a tour. i saw before i came over here that he will be doing that with the governor of wisconsin, a republican. he's had some interesting tarmac encounters lately. this should billion another one. >> that's right scott walker who is facing this recall fight to keep his job this year. talk about a state that's going to be completely burned out on competitive campaign politics. that's the business end of this trip, and there's also a campaign end to this trip. tell me about the rest of the three-day trip. >> he's going to be doing fund raising. he's going to be doing the

l.a./san francisco stop, which we've been referring to around here as the internet hollywood fight. he's going to be raising money and he's also going to go to seattle. this is a big swing from him. not surprising after the budget release. they wanted to get out on the road and raise money, which gets even more important in this election season. >> i have to say, it's going to be quite the ipod filler here. we have the foo fighters . the former front man for sound garden and the head and the heart, a seattle band will perform. it's all rock for the president. that's a change of pace for him. >> now that he's singing so often, i think we can only expect he'll be joining in for some of it. >> i think now it's a must for all of these. ann kornblut.

that's it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." she's back tomorrow. remember, to follow the show online on twitter at mitchell reports. tamron hall has a look another what's next on "news nation." take it away. coming up, we're following developing news. what really happened between u.s. navy warships and several iranian boats in the strait of w hormuz. the latest on the private funeral arrangements for whitney houston. her family said they shared her for long enough with the public and now it's their time with her. a theft caught on tape. a guy swipes someone else's luxury watch.

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dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. right now on "news nation" developing news. whitney houston's funeral is set for saturday, but will her fans be left out in the cold? >> they have shared her for 30-something years with the city, with the state, with the world. >> plus, why chaka khan said this about whitney houston's finances. >> you're worth more dead than alive. republicans stunned by the party leaders reversal on payroll tax cut extension without commanding it be paid for by cuts to the budget. is it a retreat by the republicans or a trap for democrats. you better watch out, an airline traveler caught on tape