the state of ohio. mitt romney closing the gap with rick santorum. we'll look at what's astake and who is ahead in the money race. plus the war on women. georgetown university law student sandra fluke speaks out about being degrated in the worst possible way by rush limbaugh. and serious questions about a gate crasher, a suspected drunk driver arrest aed after smashing through a gate and getting on to a major runway with a passenger jet seconds from touching down. i'm thomas roberts. great to have you with me. just four days until the all-important super tuesday. the day known for making and breaking candidacies. no prize bigger than the state of ohio with 66 delegates. the battle for the buckeye state already a nail biter. pollsters saying it's a two-man neck and neck race. santorum ahead 35% to 31%.

important to point out there. joining me this morning, strategist debbi ding l, and harry bacon. a poll shows romney has narrowed this gap. a third of voters saying they can still change their mind. but when you look at the demographics of ohio, 79% making less than $100,000 a year. santorum seems to have the advantage when it comes to that demographic. romney and santorum so different when it comes to how people look at them and their financial background. which one has to take ohio? >> i think it means a lot to both of them. you have had momentum shifts back and forth. you're going to see a pretty big map. in ohio, even though it's not the one with the most delegates,

that would be georgia. that's what everybody is going to be looking at because of the battleground in the general election. whoever takes ohio is going to take another big momentum shift. if it's mitt romney, he can say i'm the nominee, i think he can say this is a race to tampa. i have proven i can win in tough states. this is a big state for both of them. >> let's talk about newt gingrich. the camp that he has rolling out. targeting santorum in oklahoma and tennessee. everybody take a listen. we'll talk on the other side. >> rick santorum talks a good game about his blue collar roots, but here's the record rick santorum doesn't want you to know about. as a senator from pennsylvania, santorum cozied up to the labor union bosses and voted for the afl-cio. >> it sounds like your nice neighbor calling you on the phone. what does gingrich have to do to make sure that he can make a knock at santorum?

or at least a chip in his armor. >> gingrich has to win georgia to keep going. i think he has to make a push in oklahoma and tennessee too. these are the states with evangelical voters. he has to get past santorum and get into the ring. he's way behind now. he really has to get back in the game. >> we can't forget about michigan and especially what's going on there with the delegate count. it was an even 15-15. now it's 16-14 after romney was awarded the two at large delegates. i want to play what rick santorum said about it and get your reaction on the other side. >> the good old boy networks. they have to change the rules after the game so they can win. that's pathetic. >> that's a heavy spin at the romney camp. did michigan do the right thing?

>> i think it depends how you look at it. the fact of the matter is mitt romney won the popular vote. as you talk about ohio though, it's a neighboring state and the same dynamics from michigan are playing in ohio. the auto industry politics, the bashing that mitt romney is doing of labor was very significant here in michigan. those same dynamics are at play in ohio. i agree with the analysis you heard earlier, but rick santorum on the ground that day was actually ahead of governor romney. he won by the vote. you have a lot of the same dynamics that play in ohio. >> one of the thing i want to bring up. the college student who was barred from testifying in a committee hearing about birth control. she had a virtue question

answered by rush limbaugh pretty rudely. >> the first day of women's history month, on that day a woman is being called these names in an attempt to silence all of us from speak about the health care that we need. >> your reaction first. a well-spoken woman. is she being used as a political football? >> what was said about her was absolutely inappropriate. i cannot believe we are still listening to this type of fight and a group of males would not allow a woman to testify in an issue guarding women's health. you have to pay attention. we're going backwards. regardless of your individual believes, every person is sbielted to their own believes. to name call a woman like that was one of the most inappropriate things i have seen this year. >> i'm going to ask you to stick around with me. mitt romney is going to be back in ohio tonight. right now, he's in washington

where he made a plea for more money and looking for shallow pockets to keep his campaign on a roll. we find garrett hay. and awarding delegates why romney is putting so much focus there right now? thomas, there's one good reason why romney is in washington state. it's the money. it's not cheap to run a campaign like this. to have ten states competing in one day. i was told that romney raised $600,000 at one of those fundraisers at a hotel here in bellevue. they are starting to see a transition to reaching out to the small-dollar donations. in fact, in the last report, we learned that romney only raised 9% of his total campaign haul from donors who gave less than $200,000. they are trying to up that number any way they can.

including things if you donate, you win a fleece or a t-shirt. but the most effective thing is to rally around the politico story from several months ago that several sources said they were going to "kill romney." we have to defend our guy and we need voters to vote with their checkbooks as well. >> not something we hear from romney all the time, but he's driving that message home. garrett haake, thank you. we'll bring back the panel. chip, let me start with you. late night is having a lot of fun with the presidential race. take a look at this. >> jeb bush. >> jeb bush. >> of course, jeb bush. america is hungry for another leader from that talented family. the bush presidential trilogy will finally be complete with the return of the jebbi.

>> jeb bush was a great governor of florida. his family meant a lot to this party, but i don't think there will be a brokered convention. he's a big part of our party. >> this is going to be fun for all of us. i want to get you all involved. "the washington post" has a piece about the gop candidates likability. would you want to have a beer with any one of these guys? everyone remembers the beer summit. so who would you have a beer with? who would you like to have a beer with? those are the four faces to chug a 12-ouncer with. >> i think he'll have an idea about starting colonies with newt gingrich. so for me, him. >> debbie?

>> governor romney. i want to understand why he's saying things he's saying. >> chip? >> i have been drinking a lot of beer during this presidential primary system. so i think i would have a beer with myself. >> obviously, you like yourself. a beer with yourself and call it a day. thank you to all of you. just two days after a rash of deadly tornadoes ravaged parts of the midwest and south, residents there scarred forever by this devastation are bracing for yet another assault from mother nature. a new outbreak is expected to hit parts of ohio, kentucky, and tennessee. just a short time ago, emergency officials say houses have already been destroyed in alabama. take a listen. >> i'm nervous. i'm shaky. i'm tired. i just don't even have words for everything that you feel. >> maria louisiana row is a is

tracking it for us. this is adding insult to injury. what is the prediction for today? >> all right, thomas. it seems like the atmosphere has already flipped a switch. it's go time once again. unfortunately, a lot of areas that saw the rough weather are in it again. we're showing here the red boxes. these are the tornado watches. that means in this area, we're likely to see conditions favorable for tornado formation. this one to the north including indianapolis out until 6:00 central. but already seeing tornado warnings, as you mentioned. it's that cell to the northwest of huntsville and produced that damage. we have a couple warnings already into tennessee. this one north of crossville. we're already seeing the activity. it's only going to increase. interestingly enough, the areas seeing the active weather not under the greatest risk. that's the area in white including nashville, louisville, and lexington.

here we could see what we saw last april with long-lived, destructive tornadoes. let's talk timing and show you that this area likely to see the greatest risk between noon and this evening. through the evening hours into nashville and pushing further to the south. even on into this evening and overnight. thomas, back to you. >> maria larosa, thank you. there's little time to clean up. clean up is under way in harrisburg, illinois. 6 people perished in harrisburg. this storm was listed as an ef-4. that's the secondest-highest damage rating possible. it was 200 yards wide with winds up to 170 miles per hour.

>> there's really no rhyme or reason to this. we know it was a horrific monster that came through here and took six of our lives and really hit this community right in our heart. >> keep it locked in here for a live report from jim cantore. that's just coming up. it's the first day back to school for students in ohio. how they are coping after the deadly shooting. plus gas prices are up for the 24th straight day. a sore spot in a recovering economy. how it could impact the election. i'm going to ask the former economic advisor. isss... the new spark card from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game. with spark, the boss earns double miles on every purchase, every day. that's setting the bar pretty high. owning my own business has never been more rewarding. coming through! [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles

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because i need your help, although i do. but i'm here because your

country needs your help. >> so that was president obama at one of four fundraisers in the big apple last night. president obama has been enjoying good economic numbers. a shrinking unemployment rate, wages are up, and the dow has been hovering around 13,000 for the first time in four years. when it comes to gas prices, a different picture is painted. some report the price at the pump has climbed 5% in the last seven months. speaking in new hampshire on thursday, the president put his congressional adversaries on notice. >> let's put every single member of congress on record. you can stand with oil companies or you can stand up for the american people. you can keep subsidizing afos sill fuel that's been getting taxpayer dollars for a century. >> jared bernstein is the former chief economist and an msnbc

contributor. it's nice to see you. as we talk about gas prices, this is the true reality. the one thing that the president's reelection campaign staff is certainly now keying to watch when it comes to the economy is what voters are going to see when they go to regularly fill up. is there something that the president can do to really get a grip on this? we're talking about it in march. normally we're waiting until may or june to have this conversation. >> i think he has to continue to try to explain to the american people that there's no policymaker, whether it's the president or somebody running for president or member of congress, who can do virtually anything about this in the short run. this is a commodity that is a global kmcommodity whose prices are very much a function of supply and demand. the u.s., by the way, produces less than 10% of the world's oil. so even if you wanted to try to

increase supply, you couldn't do that much in the short-term. and most of the oil just isn't here. >> we talk about the president's complicated relationship with wall street. you have one way to look at it that he comes to new york for these fundraisers. on the other hand, he's this advocate of taxing the rich. can he have it both ways? >> i think it's tough, particularly in terms of who some of those folks contribute to. but the idea that somehow financial regulation is bad for wall street, that's not really a view that everybody on wall street maintains. you hear a lot about that in the kind of hurly burly of the political debate, but i know for a fact that there are a lot of traders on wall street who kind of figure that this kind of implosion that we had was bad for them. so the idea of a more stable financial market, which by the way would be the result of better oversight, that's not

necessarily em pa thet call to the views of some insightful people down there. >> let's talk about the unemployment rate. right now at 8.3%. that's down from 10%. where unemployment was in february of 2009, a month after president obama took office. we see how we have had the changes. but the president, he locked himself in on where unemployment needed to be to have a second term. is he still locked into that and can he achieve it by november? >> look, i don't think he's locked into any particular level. i think if he's locked into anything, it has to do with the trend. if people feel -- if voters feel the unemployment rate is moving in the right direction, it doesn't have to be 6%. it definitely won't be. but if it's nudging down as it's been pretty consecutively, that kind of a trend will be his friend. >> former white house economist

jared bernstein, nice to see you this morning. massachusetts senate candidate elizabeth warren takes center stage doing so in hollywood. she's the new it girl and republicans are using it as an election issue. plus how a drunk driver ended up on the runway of a crowded international airport. this story has serious implications for airport security. we'll tell you about it.

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to 42% in the hypothetical head to head matchup. frank phillips is the bureau chief for the the boston globe and joins me now. you see the list of some of the power people that are backing elizabeth warren. we have barbara streisand, cher, their influence, will it really help her in massachusetts? or it mainly about the donations? >> it's about the donations. she needs every penny she can get. it's a tradeoff. she's going to get hit for this. it's going to hurt in some ways pliltically, but i think it's more important in her interest to get the money she gets out of these events on the west coast. she needs the money. he has a huge $12 million fund. that's quite a lot. she needs to be competitive. >> when we talk about the money that he has, most of that coming

from inside the state. however, senator brown has been raising money out of the state. how is that playing? >> well, she has tried to point out in her campaign that while she goes out to the west coast and get this is kind of money, he's going to wall street and picking up large donations there from bankers and financers and going to washington and casting votes favorable to him. it's going to go back and forth like that. how it washes will be difficult. but i think what they are trying to do particularly with the california is paint her as the elitist. cambridge, harvard law school professor. that's a major strategy of the brown campaign to separate her from the conservative democrats that can be the battleground here in massachusetts in this race. >> we'll see if that label

sticks. frank phillips, thank you. >> you're welcome. she was vilified by the top conservative talk show host in america. now sandra fluke is speaking out in defense of herself and all women. we are sounding off next. and we're tracking the dangerous storms expected with a large swath of the midwest and throughout the south today. we'll update you with the region just barely beginning to recover from the series of deadly twisterseek. back with more after this. . hey. this is challenger. i'll be waiting for you in stall 5. it confirms your reservation and the location your car is in, the moment you land. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

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welcome back. democrats are targeting the gop with a new ad accusing republicans with a war on women. take a look. >> it's an assault on women's health and freedom. it's time to end the culture wars and get to work for the middle class. >> that ad comes on the heels of the defeat of the blunt amendment, which would have overridden the president's

mandate for insurance coverage for birth control. joining me is melissa harris perry. she's a professor of political science at tulane university and the columnist for "the nation." let's talk about this. the one woman who has been a central figure is sandra fluke. she's a georgetown law student. she testified before the house members about the medical issues of birth control. rush limbaugh really took her to task. not just her, but took her virtue to task. here's what he had to say, or what she had to say about rush limbaugh's statements. >> i think it's a very important thing for us to think about that in our society in certain sectors, this is evidently still acceptable. that's just very problematic. >> here's a person that comes out to testify. now her virtue is being questioned. a real target has been painted on her back basically for coming out and speaking up about what

this means for her. the medical issues of birth control. is this really taking the focus off what the issues are really about and getting everybody hung up on sex talk? >> i think there's always a little bit of both of those things going on when you talk about the war on women. we have to be careful about that phrase. what we see here is both the name calling and degrading of the idea of women's voices in the public. you don't even have a right to speak on this topic. and if you do, i will degrade who you are as a person. then there's the policy issues around women's actual health issues. and of course, birth control is in part about reproduction but also about other health issues. >> is there a branding issue when it comes to that? as a guy, men think of birth control being just that. they don't understand women's health ramifications that are discussed between a woman and her doctor. >> i think that's part of it. but we like the extent to which

they think of this. we need voices saying the birth control issue is a family planning issue. all families and couples have a right to talk about it. but women's health is still a little mysterious to many men. the reasons you would be using hormonal birth control. >> so this morning, again, from "the today show," matt lauer talking to her. this was her answer. >> there are still bills being discussed in the house and senate as well as in the legislatures of many states to restrict women's access to this important health care need. so unfortunately, it doesn't seem like this is an argument that is over. >> just to update everybody, john boehner released a statement saying the words were inappropriate. so is this fight far from over as these discussions -- the blunt amendment is not moving forward from yesterday. but where does the discussion go

from here? does it kind of rip the curtain back about -- >> didn't you think this conversation was over in 1972? for me i think it was odd we were having it at all in 2012. i look at miss fluke. here's a young woman testifying before congress, the strength of her voice, to be a law student and a woman, to see the idea that not only she would be attacked, but the whole class of women whose ability to become professionals and to make their own choices about family is being attacked through policy. i hope the conversation begins to wind down. it's one thing to have a conversation about termination of pregnancies. it's another thing to open up birth control and family planning. >> from a political standpoint, what is the role of the woman moving forward to put her foot down as we label this war on women, maybe we do so

improperly, but what can women do to ban together? maybe you need to say you need to back off and we'll come to you about what's best in making these medical decision in what are so personal. >> i think watching olympia snow exiting is also part of the story. in 2010 it was the first time we saw a decrease of the number of women being elected to congress. whether they are republicans or democrats, the idea that so few women voices are a part of this conversation. it's difficult to even figure out where women are because we are not a single voice. we ought to be equally represented in the conversations. >> men will continue to suffer from the disease of insert foot in mouth. melissa harris perry, we'll see you tomorrow morning. thank you. you can watch her saturday and sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m. eastern time here on msnbc.

great to see you. developing news out of alabama. a tornado levelled several houses just a short time ago. that tornado is part of a new rash of twisters expected to hit already-devastated parts of the midwest and south later today and survivors from wednesday's deadly twisters are scrambling, as you can imagine, to clean up debris and now find safety as a new round of storms comes their way. jim cantore joins me live. he's on his way to louisville, kentucky. we have interrupted this trip. fill us in on what you're seeing and where you're going. >> we just got here before we came to you. you can see downtown louisville. we are on top of a parking garage to bring you this broadcast. but we certainly have got something that's going to be bigger in scope than april 27th. we have tornadoes on the ground with structural damage in alabama. at a time when you typically

have a tornado minimum in the morning in the mid-morning, it's very rare to get tornadoes this time of day. the atmosphere is ripe for tornadoes. so the main event hasn't even started yet. if you live in eastern missouri, illinois, southern indiana, kentucky, west tennessee, all the way into arkansas and mississippi, you haven't even gotten into this event yet. like april 27th of last year when we had the big outbreak of tornadoes, we had these preliminary events. wind squall lines early in the morning. a few tornadoes before the main event came in. so this is going to be a long afternoon. it's going to erupt very quickly really because it's really almost game time for the main event we think as we go through the next hour. we'll start to see some of these cells pop up in a hurry across parts of illinois. this is going to be a dangerous day. what we learn from april 27th is

we may have tornadoes here that people need to be underground for. they need to be below ground level. my biggest concern are all these schools in tennessee and kentucky and alabama that are letting students out early. it's a tricky situation because, a, you don't want them out there in a bus going home with tornadoes on the ground. b, are they actually going to a safer structure. anyone in a mobile home today needs to have a plan to go to a solid structure. one that has a basement. these are all things that people really need to be scrambling to decide on. bring some cash. bring your cell phone. make sure everything is charged up. bring important papers. unfortunately by the end of the day, some of these folks may not have a house. back to you. >> you make a great point about having a plan. jim cantore, we'll let you get back to work. he's a look at other top stories.

students at chardon high school are back at class just five days after their fellow students were shot. t.j. lane admitted to firing ten shots at the group of students on monday. he was charged with six counts on thursday including three counts of aggravated murder. the high school boy's basketball team scored an emotional victory on thursday night. it was the first event since monday's tragic shootings. before the game, players from the rival teams supported black chardon t-shirts and linked arms with players all in prayer. this is a critical moment in the standoff in iran's nuclear program. president obama is meeting with their president at the white house for face to face meetings on monday. they have had tough relations before. and president obama is addressing the policy conference on sunday. when it comes to iran, president obama says he's not bluffing when he says it's unacceptable for the country to have a nuclear weapon. the commander in chief made

those comments saying he's not going to take any options off the table. while talking about americans moral example at a fundraiser last night, the president had to stop the address to mention a heck ler. take a look. >> none of this change -- nobody has announced a war, young lady. but we appreciate your sentiment. you're jumping the gun a bit there. >> if you didn't hear her, she told the president no more war. the president completed his thought and then turned towards the economy. there are a lot of questions after a very serious security breach at an airport in philadelphia. a man believed to be drunk crashes his jeep through a fence and on to an active runway just as a jet was preparing to land. air traffic controllers ordered

the pilot to abort the landing and all of the planes on the ramp to stay put. >> we've got a rogue vehicle driving around on the airport. we're not moving anybody until we find this guy. >> 24-year-old kenneth masic is charged with driving under the influence. don't ask don't tell has been repealed. but out members of the military are facing major obstacles. a look at what's ahead with our special panel. plus the diva and her dark side. some of the demons that might have contributed to whitney houston's death. we should see o. in fact, i'm already seeing your best friend, justin. ♪ i would've appreciated a proactive update on the status of our relationship. who do you think i am, tim? quicken loans? at quicken loans, we provide you with proactive updates on the status of your home loan. and our innovative online tools

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trade, vocational training, that has to be the aspiration for every single young person. >> three quarters of all jobs require post high school education. >> if you care about egg, you have to care about the quality of the teacher. >> you can see more of taking a city wide approach to education reform later today on "andrea mitchell reports" here on msnbc. did you know today is read across america day? it marks the anniversary of dr. seuss who died in 1991. "the lorax" took center stage today. it was published in 1971. the actors provided voices for the much anticipated movie. it opens nationwide today on what would have been dr. seuss's 108th birthday. can you believe that? the community is celebrating

another victory in the fight for marriage equality. >> the bill is signed. >> there you have it. with that maryland becomes the latest state to make same sex marriage legal. it's the eighth state to do so. on capitol hill, though, an advocate is stepping down. olympia snow of maine voted for the repeal of don't ask don't tell, which right now sits with nothing being done. janet mock and robert trainer joins us to talk about this. it's great to have you both here. i wanted to start talking about something on the positive end of things. this weekend i'm hosting the service members legal defense network dinner. the first since the full repeal of don't ask don't tell. there's one who can't be there. >> unfortunately, i cannot attend the 20th annual national

dinner this weekend. i say this with prize in my voice because my military obligations are keeping me from coming. >> work is going to keep him home that night. on capitol hill, is doma the next biggest obstacle? >> there's no question about it that the marriage act was passed in 1996 by bipartisan support and signed by president clinton. it's outdated. that's the next hurdle for president obama. republicans have come out and said this marriage act that we voted for in the 1990s is probably impe tent and obsolete and not relevant today. >> when we talk about job security, we have seen our military. the average american does not have that same job security that's offered. take a look at this. 29 states where you can be fired

simply for being gay. totally legal. there are 34 states where you can be fired for being transgender. so i don't want to pointing in out that none of us are thinking, but all three of us sitting on this panel could legally be fired right now if our employer chose to. is this the next biggest obstacle so people realize this exists in the country. >> i definitely agree with you. it's so important that we realize that lgbt people want to be able to make a living for their families and themselves and have the right to do whatever they love to do. for me when i stepped forward as a transwoman to share my story, i was apprehensive because i was afraid that a job that i love as an editor and writer, i would lose that job by stepping forward. legally, i'm not protected. >> when we talk about needs to be done though, especially with the nondiscrimination act, how

do you think as a country we can get together as a community, as a people, to move something like that forward? >> the fight for equality for all is an ever evolving thing. we have to realize that, you know, you may not agree with our lifestyles or who we are, but who we are as americans is an embracing place and time. we need to extend those discrimination protections to people who are lgbt. >> let's talk finally about marriage equality. the neighbors to the north in new jersey, the governor vetoing legislation allowing the same thing. in your estimation politically, is it the people pulling politicians along? or politicians helping to pull people along? >> i actually would go a third way and say it's a powerful interest lobby. particularly black pastors, specifically in maryland, that could be the hindrance of this.

when you look at the polling data, a lot of straight americans say my neighbor is gay. or my brother is gay. i know someone in the transagen transgender or gay and lesbian community. that does not offend me. however, when you ask a pastor that's nongay that's traditionally conservative, they would say, you know what, this offends me to a certain degree. so they have the power and the resources to go to the elected officials and say we cannot stand for something like this. it's a vocal minority that's hindering the right of many. >> janet mock, and robert, thank you for being here. it's important. i want to pass along to all of you. we're going to be writing more about this issue. you can check it out there. bill clinton gets revved up over the 2012 presidential race. the former president went after mitt romney yesterday for opposing the auto bailout saying

his late father would not be pleased. >> every time i hear mitt romney talk about this, his daddy must be turning over in his grave. >> he said it was one of the most important moves he made. you know when i grow up,

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>> welcome back, everyone, new word that whitney houston's movie "sparkle" will hit the films in may. joining me now is contributing editor, david brown. it's good to have you with me, as i see this article as describes her as diligent and professional and a wild child in other moments. obviously, "sparkle" had her full attention up to the end of her life. what is this picture that is being painted? >> it's all there in the last week of her life. a couple days before she died, she was in the studio working on a duet with jordan sparks, she

was baring down on it. she was 48 and had been through a lot and her voice was not where she wanted it. but a couple of days later, she is in the club late at night, and looking out of it and all the stories that have since come out. so it's become clear that she had this duality, and what we have fried do in the article is focus on her whole life. look back at her whole life and career. you can see it going back to the '80s. >> the one thing is her talent will live on and on, but there's talk and reports about the fact that there were financial troubles behind the scenes. what is going there in terms of what is left behind for her daughter, her relatives? >> it looks like right now not much. because you have to understand, she signed a $100 million record contract in 2001. that number could be inflated but sources say it was not that far off.

but the two albums she released after this, if you do not earn the money back for the record company, you have problems. her career and problems with her drug problems and so forth, impacted on her career in music, which impacted on her record sales. >> the movie "sparkle" coming out this summer, we will see big sale fwrs that. thank you. have a great weekend, i'll see you back here on monday, 11:00 a.m. eastern, don't go anywhere, "now" comes your way next.y fo u. u. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities.

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the republican accusations are flying. political thuggary, cheating, hijacking, back room dealing and they are not even talking about president obama. it's friday, march 2nd and this is "now." joining me today, josh, the editor of