worry more about asking forgiveness than asking permission. cities doing their own thing to mark the end of the iraq war and say thank you to the vets. best new thing in the world today. thank you for. b nelson mandela hospitalized this morning. we'll get the latest on his condition. also, home field advantage? not exactly for mitt romney. it's still a tight race, just three days before the michigan primary. changing times. how planned post office cuts might change life as we know it. and how do you feel? a new survey suggesting that the united states might be turning a corner when it comes to the economy. we'll get to all of that in just a moment. good morning, folks, welcome to "weekends with alex witt." i'm craig melvin. we start with developments on the health of nelson mandela, the former south african leader was admitted to the hospital

overnight. government officials say the 93-year-old sought specialist medical attention for what's being called a long-standing abdominal complaint. nbc talked with mandela family members. he joins me live from the phone. he's been there in capetown. there's been conflicting information coming out of south africa this morning. earlier we heard that the former leader had surgery. moments ago we heard that it was not surgery, this was in fact a planned visit. what can you tell us? >> reporter: well, i've spoken to high-level government officials, people extremely close to the family as well. everybody is saying the same thing. he's been monitored over the last couple of months. his military doctors have been watching him every day since the last time we reported on this last year. they've decided that he needs to be moved into the hospital as a precautionary measure but no

invasive treatment. he's basically been put in a hospital as a precautionary measure. they expect him to stay overnight. they are monitoring that particular condition of his. and he might be released today. >> are you hearing that he is in good spirits as well? >> reporter: that is correct. i've heard that he has indeed, he's awake. he's been chatting to people. he is in good spirits. once again, this comes from two different sources. one high-level government and one close to the family as well. >> before i let you get out of here really quickly, in terms of other health issues over the past few months, what can you tell us about those? >> i've spoken to the doctors about that. and it's very difficult getting information normally. having spoken to the family, he's stable as far as his other conditions are concerned.

the predisposition that got him into a hospital a year ago, he's stable as far as that is concern and he's being constantly treated for that condition. >> keieno kammies, thank you so much. appreciate that, sir. we'll check in with you later. also in a few minutes we'll hear from a correspondent who has been covering president mandela for more than 30 years now. for more on the hospitalization, head over to our website, msnbc.com. to politics now. to front-page politics. three days till the michigan and arizona primaries, now the gop presidential hopefuls campaigning nonstop today. rick santorum fighting hard for a win in mitt romney's home state of michigan. during a tv interview friday, santorum was asked about his 2008 endorsement of romney for president. >> fool me once, shame on you.

fool me twice, shame on me. i supported mitt romney when it was down to romney and mccain. i knew john mccain, i knew what kind of conservative he would be. i landed with romney. he proved me wrong. >> romney is in michigan, emphasizing his conservative positions. last night at a town hall in kalamazoo, romney explained his evolving position on abortion. >> i ran for president four years ago. and also ran as a pro-life presidential candidate. by the way, ronald reagan was pro-choice. before he became pro-life. george herbert walker bush was pro-choice and then became pro-life. henry hyde was pro-choice and became pro-life. >> meanwhile, newt gingrich met with voters near seattle, washington, friday, criticizing president obama over high gas prices saying the president is not willing to take advantage of america's oil potential. >> the fact is, we all need to say to barack obama, you know, he's president of the wrong country.

this is -- this is -- if he wants a country where he gets to tell people what they should do, he needs to move to europe. >> joining me now, d.c. bureau chief for yahoo! news and a reporter for "the atlantic." thank you so much for being with us early on this saturday. >> sure thing. >> mitt romney gave a major campaign speech yesterday in the detroit lions stadium. you were there, i understand. the stadium looked pretty empty. not necessarily the best of optics. is this another misstep for campaign romney? >> i don't think this is a major misstep. it clearly stepped on the story that they wanted to have out there, which was his economic plan, put a little more detail on his tax policy. he really wanted to paint himself as conservative, bold,

pro-growth. all the coverage was about the field. when they announced the change of venue, the detroit economic club, craig, was the hosting event. the romney cam pane says and the detroit economic club also says that the club themselves are the one that moved this event. >> why did they move it? >> because a lot of tickets got sold, more than 1,200 people wanted to show up when it was announced mitt romney was going to give this economic speech. they moved it from a smaller venue to ford field. >> there were no venues in between? i've been to detroit. there are lots of buildings in detroit. >> the optics were odd and it stepped on the message he wanted to have out there. >> romney also grabbing headlines, grabbing attention yesterday with this statement about cars. take a listen. >> i drive a mustang and a chevy pickup truck. ann drives a couple of cadillacs, actually. and i used to have a dodge truck. i used to have all three

covered. >> a couple? a couple of cadillacs? >> a couple of cadillacs. you heard the man. >> here's the thing. he says it and you would think, you say something like that and try to backtrack and correct yourself, what i mean was. he kept on plugging right along. and your latest piece in "the atlantic" you say romney is step on his momentum once again. is it because of statements like that? >> absolutely. he sort of has a knack for this. if you web when he said he was not concerned about the very poor, that statement actually was the very same night he won the florida primary. so he should have been coming out of florida with this big head of steam, suddenly seeming inevitable. the next day's coverage was all about his latest gaffe and there's a similar phenomenon here. >> at what point are these not gaffes? at what point are they no longer mistakes and missteps, what point do they become a part of who he is?

a general genuine detachment from real americans and blue collar workers, especially in the state of michigan? >> that's certainly what the democrats would like everybody to believe, right? he is this cartoonish, rich villain who has no idea that most americans don't have two cadillacs. >> or one. >> or one cadillac for that matter, that he's hopelessly out of touch, can't feel people's pain. that is the problem. when he does make these gaffes, it's a minor gaffe, right? he's talking about american cars. he's in detroit. it's not the end of the world to say something like this but the problem is it contributes to that perception and every time he makes one of these statements, it seems to add to that same perception that his opponents would like you to believe, which is this out of touch rich guy idea. >> david, is mitt romney at all connecting with misch begun vch? what are you hearing on the ground there. >> actually connecting with voters has been a problem of mitt romney's throughout this cycle.

yes, this is his homeland, where his father served as governor. we've seen polling show him closing this gap that existed. santorum had a bunch of momentum and now the race looks much tighter. talking to some of his senior advisers at the end of this week, craig, they feel pretty good about michigan. they're still predicting victory there on tuesday. he clearly feels comfortable there. he does feel at home. >> yes. >> and incorporates that into his speeches. there's connection going on. when you talk about mitt romney connecting with voters, that is something he's been struggling to do all cycle long. >> here's the thing, david. everyone knows mitt romney isn't just rich or wealthy. we know he's superrich, superwealthy. how is he going to be able to reconcile that with the perception that he's trying to create? >> well, listen, i think americans don't necessarily hold wealth against presidential candidates. fdr was super wealthy also. the question becomes can mitt

romney create a scenario for himself where voters understand that he's more concerned about their wealth, their well being, than about his own. this is what mollie was talking about, this frame that the democrats have built around him that occasionally he steps into obligingly, is a problem for him. but if he can keep the focus on, like he did yesterday with his policy proposal, about creating more wealth for all americans, i think people will care a lot less about his own wealth. >> let's turn to rick santorum here fast. campaigning hard in michigan, in many polls, including the latest nbc poll, he's in a virtual tie with mitt romney, today campaigning in two more michigan cities. what's your read at this point? does rick santorum have a real shot at winning michigan? >> absolutely. i think it's still very much up in the air. and you do see in the polls, you see a bit of a positive trajectory for romney, you see santorum falling off a little bit. i don't think they've put it away by any means.

we've heard confidence out of the romney camp. they've been saying they're sure he's going to win and win big. they're not doing anything to dampen those expectations. if they did, people would laugh. there's no question he has to win michigan. but it's still up in the air. a lot of people have already voted. there's a lot of absentee ballots that have been returned in michigan. those ballots were coming in when the polls were telling us something different. >> if rick santorum had mitt romney's machine, had mitt romney's money, had mitt romney's ground game, would rick santorum be in much better shape now or do you not think it matters a whole lot? >> if anybody had a ground game at all in this race they would be in better shape. this whole idea that mitt romney has a machine, i've been arguing is tremendously oversold. >> really? >> yes. his campaign did not have an absentee ballot program in michigan as of a week ago. they are not the obama campaign from 2008. they certainly don't have a grassroots network of activists across the country or there would have been more people in

this stadium. they have a lot of establishment support in michigan. but in no way do they have this thing juiced in that manner. they're not quite that much of a juggernaut and if they were, they'd be better off if santorum had that, of course he would be better off. we saw this in iowa, too, nobody really built that, this presidential cycle. >> mollie, david, thank you very much. appreciate your time this weekend. >> take care. >> thanks, craig. michigan and arizona primaries up next on the campaign calendar, they will be held tuesday, february 28th, next tuesday. washington state's caucus, that will help on march 3rd. then 11 states holding primaries and caucuses. it is called super tuesday. it will happen march 6th. of course you can follow all that right here on msnbc. one of robert f. kennedy's sons arrested at a new york hospital. we'll tell you about that. plus, the big cuts for the postal service. what it means for our mail. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil

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more now on this morning's top story, nelson mandela is in hospital. joining me now is charlene hunter gault. in johannsburg. you've been covering nelson mandela for more than three decades. let's clear up what we're hearing, we heard there was surgery, then we heard there was not surgery, this was all plan. what are you hearing on the ground there. >> according to my sources there was surgery. there were abdominal problems.

he was admitted to the military hospital this morning. i'm told given his condition, given that he's 93 years old, is relatively good. and that he's a very strong warrior who will manage to get through this as he has other challenges to his health in the past. >> as you mentioned, nelson mandela 93 years old. his last very public appearance was at the world cup back in 2010. we haven't seen a great deal of him in public in recent years. i know that you have an you talk to a lot of folks there. how is he doing besides this? how is he doing before the surgery? >> well, i'm told as recently as just a few days ago, he was in very good condition. they brought him from his traditional home in the southern part of the country, back here to johannesburg and that he was gaining weight and that he was in very good spirits.

so this abdominal condition, i'm told, has been around for a while. and something must have happened that made the doctors want to take a look at it. and if the latest reports that i have are to be believe, there was surgery performed this morning. of course, it's a very fluid situation. it always is with the former president who is so beloved in this country. right now the only people giving out statements are the government spokespeople and there's a little bit of confusion even from what they've said. but at this point, we understand that he's come through the surgery and we'll just be standing by to see what his condition happens to be as the day goes on. >> before i let you go -- >> it's almost night here. >> before i let you get out of here, any word on when we may expect to see mr. mandela out of the hospital? >> no. if he just went into the hospital this morning and if he has in fact had surgery, my guess would be that, like anyone else, no matter how old they

are, but especially if they're 93, they might have to stay in a while for observation. but that's just my best guess. >> charlene hunter gault. thank you so much. we're going to ask you to stand by. we'll talk to you later. appreciate your time. thanks again. covering nelson mandela for more than three decades. of course, nelson mandela, the father of south africa's democracy and one of the legitimate global superstars. we will, of course, continue to watch his condition and update you as it warrants. right now, what to expect the major cutbacks at the post office. we'll talk about that. this is "weekends with alex witt." erything - everything. but why energy? we've got over 100 years worth. is it safe to get it? but what, so we should go broke with imports? look, i'm just saying. well, energy creates jobs. [announcer:] at conocophillips, we're helping power america's economy with cleaner, affordable natural gas. more jobs, less emissions. a good answer for everyone.

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3-day-old baby into a hospital elevator trying to go outside for a walk. nurses tried to stop them. they say kennedy twisted the arm of one of the nurses, and knocked another to the ground. his lawyer denies that. >> mr. kennedy was acting very quietly, politely, calmly. the only reason why anything happened here was because of the misconduct of two nurses. >> a spokesperson for the westchester county district attorney says charges have been filed against douglas kennedy for child endangerment and for allegedly attacking those nurses. big changes are coming at the post office. the u.s. postal service is planning to make massive cuts to try to save money, including closing some 223 mail processing centers around the country. they hope to eliminate 35,000 jobs. mostly through attrition. the plan would also end saturday and next-day deliveries. joining me now from washington is ed o'keefe who writes a blog

for "the washington post." good morning. >> good to see you. >> the post office's troubles are well-told at this point. is this a plan that's going to fix that? >> they say it will save them $20 billion by 2015 and it needs to happen because virtually nobody is sending first class mail anymore, at least the volume of it is down considerably in the last five years. this would close 223 processing facilities where the mail is sorted before it's delivered. most of these places employ hundreds of people. most of those workers would depart the post office through early buyouts or early retirements. others would be re-assigned and become letter carriers or clerks at the window at the post office. >> with the post office talking about closing more processing centers, won't mail delivery just get worse? >> it will get slower at least, yes, because in certain areas, use mail something from new york to yonkers just up the thruway. it could get there the next morning the way it works right now. if this starts to happen could take two days for that piece of mail to travel that far.

that kind of elimination of the overnight guarantee is something that bothers a lot of customers who say, look, why should i use a service that is only going to get slower at a time when things are getting faster? >> one of the things that's always struck me about the post office and you just mentioned it there, it costs and has for, you know, since post office has existed it costs the same amount of money to send a letter three blocks or 3,000 miles away. is there a discussion of paying base on how far the piece of mail has to go? >> no. this mail is all going to get processed the same way, no matter how far it's going. now it's going to potentially go so much further out of its way before going to its final destination. they say, look, the fact is you can get something from here to there in two to three days, four to five days and have it arrive in a safe condition. the fact you're only paying 45 cents for it is pretty remarkable. >> what about the role of

congress in all of this? are they making this better or worse? >> when they get back from recess on monday, they have a few other bills to sort out. most of the month of march, they claim, is going to be spent finally on a bill to do all these changes at the postal service, end saturday mail delivery, make it easier to close post offices and lay off workers and explore some ways for them to make more money. if it gets done by the summer, it would keep them out of the red, a considerable amount of money. >> it would be great if we could create a modern day post office. i have a special affinity for the postal service. my father has been a carrier for 37 years. at the daytona speedway, danica patrick won the poll position for nascar's first race of the season. it is in fact the super bowl of nascar. patrick, this is her first race as a full-time nascar driver.

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welcome back. i'm craig melvin in for alex witt on this saturday morning. more now on the hospitalization of south african and global icon nelson mandela. family sources say that the preplanned admission was not an emergency. nbc's kieno kammies talked to family members, joins me live from capetown. what are family members telling you there? >> well, they're not very concerned, of course, they're concern but they're not concerned that his condition is life-threatening. the place they're keeping him at the moment is kept under wraps.

what happened last year, it became an absolute circus. he is in a military hospital being cared for by military personnel, which is protocol at present. the family members are confident that this is definitely not life-threatening. >> the official statement says he was suffering from a, quote, longstanding abdominal complaint which doctors felt needed specialist medical attention. has there been any more of an indication of how serious this stomach condition is? >> well, they're not telling us what it is, first of all. that will be very difficult to get our hands on that bit of information. what i can tell you is that it has been monitored over the last -- between 8 to 12 months they've been monitoring this particular condition of his. they've been monitoring in his tribage veilage where he hailed from. he's moved, where it's been

monitored also. he needs noninvasive treatment to deal with this but it would be better to deal with this in a hospital environment, which is what they've done. >> 93 years old, last public appearance at the world cup back in 2010. we haven't seen a great deal of the former south african president over the past year or so. what can you tell us about the state of his health in general over the past few years? what do we know? >> what we know, as we've said, he's over 90. he's frail as any 90-year-old will be. the condition that he suffered is stable, very stable indeed. there's no concern as far as that is concern, according to officials i spoke to. that would be health department officials and his family. but he's had a problem with the cataract before.

we weren't taking photographs of him while he was in that stage. generally speaking, a lot of it, normal ailments that someone at the age of 92 would suffer. as i said, the main one, the respiratory infection is not a concern at the moment. they've got that one sorted. >> nbc's kieno kammies on the ground in south africa. keep us updated, sir. appreciate you. >> thank you. to syria, diplomats talk about a cease-fire. their government soldiers are still spoun pounding on opposition forces in syria. the shelling of the city of homs has continued with no signs that the government will enthe fighting there. meanwhile, secretary of state hillary clinton and other leaders meeting in tunisia, talking about ending the violence. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel is on the border between syria and turkey. good morning to you, sir. what's the very latest? >> well, i think you had it right. this is not a cease-fire and it shouldn't be portrayed as one. the violence is continuing.

the war being carried out by the syrian regime against the opposition. and the armed opposition against the syrian government is ongoing. what we do see now is a very limited tactical cease-fire and attempt by the syrian red crescent and the red cross to evacuate a few people from the besieged city of homs. homs has received a great deal of attention over the last several weeks because about 30,000 people are trapped in this city, surrounded by syrian forces who have been shelling them from the perimeters of the city. of course, it received even more attention when the two journalists were killed, potentially targeted and killed, in the city of homs. we have been told that there are ongoing negotiations between all sides being carried out by the red cross to try and evacuate some people from homs. but it's a very small scale. overnight, only about 27 people

were taken out of homs. so it's limited in its geography and it's limited in scale. >> richard, there has been talk yesterday, saudi arabia, for instance, mentioned arming the rebels in syria. is that a sentiment that is starting to gain some support in the international community? >> well, it's hard to talk about the international community if that concept even exists. saudi arabia walk out of that meeting, a key meeting in tunisia. the united states was attending. saying it was a waste of time, and that it would be much more efficient to arm the rebels. we just came from a refugee camp here in this border area full of syrian refugees. they all want to be armed. the turks don't think it would be a bad idea to arm the rebels. and have even suggested in diplomatic channels that the weapons could go right through this area. if you look at this valley i'm standing in, that is syria, just on the other side. there are syrian army posts over there.

and this entire region could be a conduit for humanitarian aid and weapons. it is mostly the united states at this point that has the biggest reservations. the united states doesn't know this opposition well. the muslim brotherhood, the syrian muslim brotherhood is deeply involved if the opposition. the united states isn't keen to give that organization weapons or even more radical islamic factions. >> richard engel, stay safe my friend. appreciate you. to politics now, nbc news just released its new 2012 battleground states map. take a quick look, folks. dark red areas representing solid gop states. the lighter red indicate likely gop states. the dark blue areas, solid democratic states, light blue signifies likely democratic. and all of those yellow states, all of the states in yellow, florida, north carolina, toss-up states. joining me to talk about it is senior political editor.

good morning to you, sir. what are the biggest takeaways. >> how the map has started to tilt back in president obama's favor. the last time we did this back in november it was almost a virtual tie between the democratic states, the electoral votes and the republican states with 196-195. now that we do this, we see the democratic tally in the 220s with the republicans staying around 197 or so. and the big improvement for president obama and the democrats has come in the midwest. we've seen some recent public polls that have shown president obama with double-digit leads over mitt romney and the other republicans in michigan as well as wisconsin, which is what you're starting to kind of see democrats feeling much safer about those states in the industrial midwest. >> let's go and take a look at the electoral college score card as well while i have you here. this is the score card according to new map, the dems at 227, the

gop at 197. that leaves 114 electoral votes in the toss-up column. that's been moved to president obama's favor. why? >> it has. there are pretty much three factors. one, president obama's political standing has improved since the debt ceiling blues back in the summer. you've seen better economic numbers which have obviously helped him. of course, in between the last time we did this map in november and now, we've been in the full throes of the republican primary season. you look at almost all these polling and the divisive primary season has not been good so far for the republican party. >> michigan and arizona, primaries take place tuesday. romney expected to do very well in arizona. but it's close in michigan. with romney and santorum neck and neck. how do you see it playing out there tuesday? >> craig, we had a recent nbc/maris poll that showed mitt romney at 37%, rick santorum 35%. that's a statistical tie.

it will be very close. mitt romney has the political organization. he has the romney name in the state of michigan. that should be able to help him. he still hasn't been able to pull away with conservative voters, tea party voters. this race will be one to be able to watch. craig, it matters so much heading into the super tuesday contest, that we're going to see across the country, particularly in states like ohio, oklahoma, georgia, tennessee, and so while we have these contests coming up on tuesday, what happens the tuesday after that could be also just as important. >> sure. when's the timetable for the end game? when might we see the republican primary season finally come to a close? >> i don't think anyone has the answer to that. mitt romney being able to win on tuesday, decisively in both contests, being able to win on the super tuesday contest could be a way for him to start having the momentum to have him completely pull away.

the pattern we've seen is, as soon as mitt romney ends up winning contests and the next week he lose, that's a recipe for this to go on for a very long time. >> mark murray, political editor. have a good weekend. >> thank you. which party is raising the most money for elections all over the country? the democrats. new government figures show that democrats have raised $334 million in the current election cycle. the republicans more than $277 million. the dems have spent about $75 million more as well. that leaves the republicans with about $11 million more cash on hand. ♪ playing my song you know i'm going to be okay ♪ ♪ yeah there's a party in the usa ♪ can't wait 'til morning. wait. ♪ it's morning in the himalayas... [ male announcer ] it's sweet. it's nutty. it's absolutely delicious. kellogg's crunchy nut.

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i was trying to figure out how i could get rid of 99% of the lead i can pick up traveling through your pipes, and then... [ click ] it just clicked. get it? it clicked... like the thing...click... now to the three biggest money headlines generating the most buzz this morning. how do you feel?

feeling groovy, running on empty? msnbc analyst vera gibbons joins me to help make sense of it all. there have been better than expected reports on consumer sienement this week especially. how do you feel? >> i feel good. i think consumers in general are feel good about the economy. sentiment rose to a one-year high, they're feeling good about the resilience of the economy, they're expecting economic growth to continue and expecting good news on the job front. >> the dow crossed 13,000 this week. why was that so significant? >> fundamentally it's not that significant, technically it's no that significant. psychologically it is significant. it's a round number, a number we haven't seen before the financial crisis. the dow crossed this mark eight times on friday. it's propelling -- stocks are higher for a number of reasons, better economic data, the situation in europe is improving. greece, the bailout there was agreed upon. that's all propelling stocks higher and we're feeling good about that.

>> let's talk gas prices quickly. let's talk about what everyone else is talking about. reportedly not affected by supply and demand issues. what is pushing up prices so much at the pump. >> the iran situation, speculators bidding those prices up, wall street traders in the game there, bidding those prices higher. making the big bets in the futures market in hopes of making big money, that pushes prices up. oil at $110 a barrel, gas 42 cents higher than a year ago, up 12 cents in a week alone. in new york, parts of california are paying over $4 a gallon. in some parts of the country we could see $5 in the not too distant future. >> vera gibbons. thank you so much. just three days to go until the michigan republican primary. one comment by mitt romney sparked controversy yesterday. in just the latest case of the candidate failing to connect with blue collar voters. >> i love this country. i should love this state. just feels good being back in

michigan. you know, the trees are the right height. the streets are just right. i like the fact that most the cars i see are detroit-made automobiles. i drive a mustang and a chevy pickup truck. ann drives a couple of cadillacs, actually. >> the latest nbc news poll has governor romney, rick santorum neck and neck in the race. why hasn't romney been able to secure the home field advantage just yet? and why has his former political director yet to endorse him? joining me, jamie burnett, political director for mitt romney's 2008 new hampshire primary, republican consultant with the profile strategy group. what say you? why has the director not endorsed mr. romney just yet? >> thanks, craig. listen, i think like a lot of voters here in new hampshire right before the primary i wanted to give everybody a fair shot to see what they had to offer. see what kind of ideas were out there. i'm familiar with mitt romney, obviously. i like him. i think he's in a pretty strong

position still. >> so no endorsement this morning? >> i'm staying uncommitted in the race. >> okay. >> at this time. but i think that he's in a pretty strong position still, i think to get this nomination. we'll see what happens on tuesday. >> let's talk about that cadillac comment for a second. i'll pose the same question to you that i posed to a guest earlier in the broadcast here. >> sure. >> at what point are gaffes like this no longer mistakes? at what point do comments like this become a fundamental part of who romney is, detached from the average american? >> i think on his comments, it wasn't one of his better moments, obviously. but i think a lot of it came out of the fact that he has great affection for his home state. you're right, i think he had difficulty in connecting with voters. and occasionally had some of the problems when he's been speaking. >> i want to stop you there, jamie. why has he had so much

difficulty? this is not mitt romney's first time at the rodeo here. what is it about this candidate, this guy, that's made it so difficult for him to connect, not just with voters but specifically blue collar voters especially? >> i think that he's -- i think he does connect. you know, listen, he's been more consistent than pretty much any other candidate that has run in this race. and i think throughout the process, so far, there have been a series of front-runners or co-front-runners with mitt romney and they've had bright moments and then they faded pretty quickly. right now, rick santorum is taking his turn at the front. or tied at the front. but i think romney deserves some credit, because he's been consistent throughout. he's had strong debate performances. >> that consistency -- here's the thing. that consistency hasn't paid off in the polls. my question is, why is that? >> i think it's a long process, you know. maybe this time around because of calendar, because of the way some of the states award their

delegates, it will be a longer process. but i think, you know, for romney, he tried to build a campaign this time that could go the distance. they, i think, internally felt it might be a long process. >> yes. >> and now they're trying to -- i think they're able to compete and they'll be able to stay in this and i think they're still in the best position to win this. certainly on tuesday, if rick santorum is able to pull off an upset in michigan, that becomes a bigger problem for mitt romney. i don't think it's the end of this race. >> okay. >> but we'll see what happens. >> jamie burnett, political director for mitt romney's 2008 new hampshire bid. thank you so much. appreciate you. >> thanks. "meet the press" tomorrow, david gregory will speak with rick santorum. be sure to check your local listings to see when "meet the press" airs in your area. [ male announcer ] the draw of the past is a powerful thing. but we couldn't simply repeat history. we had to create it.

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higher education is headed

to court. the u.s. supreme court has agreed to hear a case challenging the use of affirmative action at the university of texas. under texas law, the university automatically accepts the top 10% of high school students and fills out the rest of the class with other applicants where race is considered for underrepresented minority students. the supreme court last tackled affirmative action in 2003 when they upheld the policy. the court has changed composition since then and now expected to take a more conservative stance. join me is paul butler, george washington law school professor and former federal prosecutor as well. thanks for being with me, sir. >> great to be here. >> does it suggest something to you the supreme court is taking up the case right now after ruling on it nine years ago? >> sure. when the court ruled in 2003, it did something it almost never does. it gave a timetable. it said afermive action is constitutional and good public policy but for the next 25 years. justice o'connor wrote that

opinion and said we will revisit this in 2028. >> why the time limit? >> no one knew. she doesn't explain where she got that number from and no one is crazy about using race in admissions or imphoimt but it is needed if we want a chief environment. we will see if we still need to use race in 25 years. the business community, the military, all of these folks who use affirmative action. now, we got this bombshell last week that the court is going to revisit this issue not 25 years later but 10 years later. >> what other main questions will the justs be asking when they look at this case? >> one thing is how much of a factor is race? in the precedent, race could be considered but it can't be the only factor. >> okay. >> the other thing will be is there any way we can have diverse college admissions, a significant number of african-americans and latino especially without using race? craig, the early answer seems to be no, that when college

admissions officers want to have a lot of african-americans and latinos, you have think about race. >> give us a historical perspective here. how have the justices individually, historically, stood on affirmative action? >> we have nine justices and four severely conservative and we have four who are moderates and then we have got justice kennedy. he is in the middle. he is usually conservative. but sometimes he swings a little to the left. so everybody is going to be making their arguments to justice anthony kennedy, the most powerful man in supreme court. >> his swing vote power continues? >> yeah. justice kagan is reconfused herself. she worked for the obama administration which defended this in court. >> you're also involved in higher education. from that perspective, is there still a need for affirmative action at colleges and universities across this country? >> oh, absolutely, craig. i have friends who teach in

california and michigan where, under state law, affirmative action is outlawed and they don't have african-americans and latinos in their classes. so i've had conversations with people who are teaching racial profiling, the law about that, brown versus board of education. no african-americans in the room. the court said in the old case, we are not doing this to be touchy-feely. we are doing this because it's good for education and employment context, it's good for business. the military context, it makes us a stronger military, so the business community was kind of united behind this. >> paul butler, paul, thank you for your time. folks, that wraps up this hour of "weekends with alex witt." "up" "with chris hayes continues and be sure to come back alex witt, two-hour edition. that starts at noon eastern. all that straight ahead. right here on msnbc.

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