we asked you at the top of the show what you were doing up at this hour. tower, what do you got? >> he writes, did you get dressed in the dark this morning? your shirt and tie with today's suit is by far the worst combination of clothes i've ever seen. >> first things first, i do get dressed in the dark. the clothes are laid out the night before in partial light but then i get dressed in the dark that leads to an event like one time i left the apartment in a tuxedo because i thought it was a blue suit. i standby my decision. >> i've got randy who writes i'm studying to be willie's stunt double. >> really? i'm afraid that's been taken by anthony michael hall. there he is. "morning joe" starts right now.

i ask you to give the republican party the best chance to win this election. not according to what the pundits say. the pundits always say nominate a moderate. that's our best chance of winning. always, nominate the moderate. folks like jerry ford, bob dole, and john mccain. not folks like george w. bush and ronald reagan. no, nominate the moderate. as we've seen, moderates do not have the best chance of winning. and almost certain not to win because they don't inspire with conviction. >> all right. >> what a -- look at that -- look how beautiful that is. >> it is kind of pretty for a monday. >> you know what's so pretty about it? it's actually getting light. have you noticed? >> lighter later. >> it's getting lighter earlier, staying lighter. last night it was 6:00 and --

>> we noticed it too. >> i didn't feel like i was in siberia. you know i've lived in washington, lived in new york. you never realize until you travel from new york down to washington this time of year, it's a huge difference temperature wise. >> southern city, washington. >> it is. >> it'll be 60 here. what are you doing, mika? >> good morning, everyone. >> i'm sorry, i talked. >> it's just a little inside joke between me and wilbert, nothing. with us onset we have senior political analyst mark haleprin. >> sort of an inside joke between you and everybody that i talk too much. >> no, you're fabulous. >> oh, you're fabulous. >> how was your weekend? >> it was lighter, it was warmer. i wasn't in brazil. >> richard haass just off a ten-hour flight. >> from brazil. he did the samba. >> was that fantastic? >> it was an amazing country. >> carnival. >> i'd like to hear more.

and willie, did you have a good weekend? >> i can't remember. i'm sure it was great. >> are you not -- this is a huge week for mark haleprin. >> it is. >> for all of us. >> you know what he's doing? he's preparing his -- checking his lists and making sure, willie, everybody's invited to the premiere of "game change" thursday night. his partner, though, is doing some different kind of checking. checking to make sure all the coke shipments have cleared the keys and are making it up the east coast. >> why would you say that? >> because he's heilemann. >> so he'll be ready for the post parties. >> i have no idea what you -- >> 90% of all joking is true. >> march 10th, hbo. >> that is great. and exciting. >> sarah palin and her super pac guns blazing trying to give preemptive strike. that's the film, we'll talk about that with politico later. >> you know what i love about

that is? they haven't seen it. i love that, number one, and number two, i love my friend succeeding. number two, i love the fact that she's just jumping up and down and screaming, everybody, the game change premiere's coming up! look at it, look at it. >> we call high awareness that this film will be on as willie said saturday night on hbo. >> amazing. >> and it's a great movie. and i think people who like sarah palin should like it and watch it. >> and julianne moore will be on the show stortomorrow. she's awesome. >> i was about to say something terribly inappropriate about 6:04 in the morning. maybe if mark's lucky a buddhist monk -- but i decided not to because i've got a filter. >> see that. you have no filter. none. none. just absolutely none. >> see that? >> what's that? >> oh, look at this. was this over the weekend?

>> that's today. >> this is today! look at that. oh, my gosh. why do they have a picture of john mccain and sarah palin on the front of the art section today? exactly. they're dead ringers. we're not going to get there. oh, look at this, court papers and spiderman suit could tarnish reputation. >> also important. >> she's going after them, isn't she? she gets fired, she's getting her revenge. huh. okay. it's one day before the big super tuesday primary contest. >> any sports this weekend, willie. >> there are new nbc news wall street journal poll results showing a tough match-up against president obama. the president's job approval in the new poll stands at 50% with 45% disapproving. here's how the poll has the republican presidential field. romney topping the field with 38% of the vote followed by santorum at 32%. newt gingrich and ron paul are both at 13%. when asked how the gop

nominating process has affected people's view of the party -- >> not good. >> 40% say it's made them look at the party less favorably, 12% said more favorably, and 47% said the process had no impact on their view of the party. the poll also shows how mitt romney's approval rating compares with past presidential candidates. romney gets 28% approval, lower than mccain, kerry, bush, and dole during the same point in the race. and looking at the general election, head to head match-ups against president obama, all four republican contenders fall short. mitt romney is the closest, six points behind the president. on the question of congressional preference, 41% say republicans are the preferred majority in congress. 46% would rather see democrats in charge. and when asked which party does a better job of appealing to people not among its hard core supporters, 55% said the democratic party does and 26% said the republican party.

we're going to look ahead to a few super tuesday races. anyone want to talk about the polls? >> let's go ahead and do the -- do we have the head-to-head match-ups from the president in ohio and virginia? guys? let's go ahead and do those really quickly. >> in virginia, only mitt romney and ron paul are on the ballot. romney is leading 69% to 26%. a much closer race in ohio where we have a statistical tie between santorum and romney. romney has 34%, romney has 32%, followed by newt gingrich at 15%, and ron paul at 13%. >> okay. so those were the polls. and we'll see what happens in ohio. but, you know, mark haleprin. these polls were taken at a time -- great news for the white house. fantastic news up and down the line. but you start looking at some of these state polls that show the president 17 points ahead of romney in virginia. i mean, look at these numbers. the president had 52% to 35% in

virginia, and then you move on to ohio and these polls have the president ahead of romney by ten points, actually by 12 points in ohio. mark, i would ask the question this way. does anybody inside the white house believe that they are doing this well? does anybody believe? >> not -- >> that they're up 17 points. >> i think the polls probably show a bigger lead than actually exist for the president. there's no doubt he's ahead in the battleground states and at or above 50%. and that the republicans have got their work cut out for them to try to get to 270 electoral votes. it's been a bad period for the republican party. and i don't know it's going to get better any time soon. it's up to mitt romney. he's almost certainly going to be the republican nominee and it's up to him to try to figure out how to turn this around for the party because they are behind right now. >> this is just absolutely, willie, this is absolutely

terrible news for a republican party that has been working overtime to tarnish their brand over the past month. >> i was going to say the last month, and we'll talk more about this later, but if whole rush limbaugh thing. the president jumped out clearly on the side of this georgetown law student. wanted to get on the right side of this issue. publicly defended her, called her, she went on television and said the president called me. this is low-hanging fruit, this is blood in the water for the president in the white house. if they're going to be attacking women talking about contraceptives and comes out to attack rush limbaugh, whether it's mitt romney or santorum or anybody else in such a feeble way to respond to it, that just adds to the problem for the republican party. and it's great for the white house. >> and we have some incredible must reads coming up about the republican party destroying its brand, something you've been talking about, and the olympia snowe departure, which i think is -- >> friday night, romney's responses to the limbaugh thing

friday night will be a watershed in this campaign. if he doesn't learn the lessons of how bad that response was, i don't think he has a chance to win the election. >> yeah. >> so timid. >> it was timid. there's no doubt it was timid. and i was glad the president -- i commend the president for not just calling people who were called terrible names by conservative pundits, but when liberal pundits have called names, like sarah palin, for instance, i appreciated the president after bill maher called sarah palin some terrible names in picking up, oh, wait, he didn't do that. >> he did refuse the $1 million contribution to his pac. >> and other women called horrible names. it makes my heart a little lighter knowing he picked up the phone and called those women who had been called similarly terrible names by people -- oh, wait, he didn't do that. he didn't do that. we just ignore it.

yeah, you know -- >> if someone does like that, not go there because it just exacerbates it. and it drags it out. i'm moving on. >> but he's using it as a political tool. >> why didn't he step in when it happened on the left? >> i don't have the answer to that. but he sees this as a good political moment. >> yeah. i mean, it's people on both sides say horrible, horrible things and you wonder why they do. but this comes, though, at the end of, richard haass, a month of republicans just going to war on contraception. an issue that was resolved in -- they had the advantage when all the catholics were on their side. but they couldn't leave it alone. and it just continues with one statement after another that makes them look like they're hostile not just to democratic women, but to women -- i heard it again from my wife yesterday.

yesterday she's like -- you know what? fix the economy and leave us alone, and then she started giving me a lecture about contraception and all of her friends that take it for reasons that have nothing to do with birth control. and i was like, you don't have to tell me this. i know this. she says, well, tell it to our party. this has been going on for a month. i swear. what is wrong with these people? >> this campaign will actually be an interesting case study about framing of issues and staying on message and then getting off message. and there's been a move away from economics, probably represents the fact that the economy's doing a little better and the republicans aren't sure how to go after the president on this issue in the same way they were two or three months ago. and the republicans lost control over this issue. it went from an issue of individuals' rights versus the size and role of government and morphed into a question of women's rights and contraception. and the republicans had the advantage in the first round clearly moved to the democrats

in the later rounds. >> you could see it coming, couldn't you? we knew it was coming. >> actually, i'm going to show you a month ago. do we have this, alex? because everybody is now saying what we were saying actually you said on february 13th. take a look. >> huh. >> they need to be very careful about how they push forward on this issue because if it stops being about freedom of religion -- >> right. >> and starts being about contraception, then republicans will get routed in swing areas. >> you know what my take away was from that? i've been wearing the same sweater since february 13th. >> increase the dry cleaning bill. >> it was so obvious what they were going to do! and you can go back -- that was my regis -- you can go back to february 13th, mark haleprin and republicans were in great shape because the president overreached. he listened -- he listened to

the wrong people, he took on the entire catholic church, hierarchy, even liberals. e.j. dionne, they had everything breaking their direction, and they just weren't smart enough to pull back when they should have pulled back. and now a month later, the president is killing them in polls. >> it is classic triangulation. the president's up here saying there's a balance between religious liberty and access to healthcare, and he's being helped by some democrats and some liberals just talking about it as a contraception issue. and then you've got republicans who are just talking about it as a religious liberty issue. it's killing them. and they've only made it worse by the fact that some people have been out there, again, just talking about religious liberty, an important principle. but totally disregarding the politics of the concerns and other concerns about the contraception issue. it is a great example of the fact the president knows what

he's doing and the republican party is leaderless, and it has no idea what it's doing. >> while everyone was pounding the president on this, you were looking ahead to the damage that was going to be done to your own party. what was your instinct? >> it's just what mark said. the republican party is leaderless. they don't have a strong leader in the house. they don't have a strong national leader in the senate. i'm not talking about whether boehner and mcconnell can run their institution. >> they're great at that. >> they're great at that. but nationally they don't have. they've got a guy and mitt romney, we'll talk about this in a second, that can't even get a story straight on individual mandates nationwide. >> that's next. >> so you knew if haley barbour were in charge, he'd say, boys, here's what's going to happen. anybody talking about contraception, it's going to be the girls and y'all shut your mouth. if george w. bush were there. you remember when trent lott said what he said about strom thurmon? now, if there hadn't been a republican president, trent

would've survived that and it would have probably caused the republicans damage. but you had a republican president that said, you know what? we've got to protect the party brand. but they're leaderless now and that's why -- this has been a terrible month. >> i just thought it was interesting, you've gone from leadership in the catholic community criticizing the president to the president of georgetown university coming to the defense of this woman quoting, you know, classic literature saying this is about civil discourse. and i thought, again, this changed the public debate here and showed how this issue went advantage from one party to the other. >> it is hard to imagine, mika, how horrible the republican party has botched this over the past month. >> it really is. and you brought up the individual mandate. let's quickly get that in before we go to a break. facing attacks at his health care law in massachusetts is essentially the same as the president's when that happened. mitt romney has argued that he backed an individual mandate in

massachusetts. but not for the country as a whole. here's what romney said making that argument at a debate in june. >> ours was a state plan, a state solution, and if people don't like it in our state, they can change it. that's the nature of why states are the right place for this type of responsibility. >> but now conservatives are pointing to a 2009 op ed by romney where he called on president obama to adopt an individual health care mandate. in the usa today piece, romney suggested the president could learn from the plan he enacted as governor of massachusetts. writing in part, first we established incentives for those who were uninsured to buy insurance using tax penalties as we did, or tax credits as others have proposed. encourages free riders to take responsibility for themselves rather than pass their medical costs on to others. >> willie, can you believe this? i mean, seriously.

this is all the republican party's been talking about for two years. they're about to nominate a guy -- they can nominate a guy who wrote obama care -- >> he got tons of endorsements over the weekend. >> yeah. >> so republicans now have the choice -- >> ohio papers. >> and tom coburn. >> coburn. >> so now republicans have basically three choices. they can vote for a guy that basically drafted obama care, something that they have campaigned against for three years, a guy that wants to debate about contraceptives, or newt gingrich who is newt gingrich. and that's all i've got to say. and then there's ron paul who maybe should just run as an independent. >> and doesn't want to help hurricane victims. >> don't want to help hurricane victims. >> can we just turn the lights

off? it's over. >> you know what -- >> let's go to barbados for a year. >> the -- >> i can't believe that republicans are left with these choices. >> it's going to be okay. someone will emerge somehow. don't worry. >> the white knight scenario is over. do we agree on that? the white knight's not coming. >> i guess. >> it's over. didn't we decide that after michigan? >> i don't know. this individual mandate stuff is such a killer. >> so then it's a question we've talked about a lot. will republicans swallow the pill in saying mitt romney, i don't like mitt romney particularly but he's better than president obama? >> yes, they will. >> republicans will, the question is will women, independents, hispanic voters vote for him? and the rest of the year, as far as i'm concerned, can mitt romney do everything he needs to do to be in a position to have a chance? and that's a lot to do. >> george w. bush won in 2004 despite the fact his approval rating was under 50% because he could get conservatives that

were true believers to knock on doors, to get on the phone, to talk to their friends in church, to drive people to polls, to drag people out of their place of work and say at lunch, come on, come vote with me. i need you, you, you, you. come vote with me. who's going to do that for mitt romney? >> haley barbour and carl rove and cross roads. >> they have no choice. >> but that's from the top down. bush won in '04, and it's hard for people to believe in manhattan, because he had people from the bottom up who believed in him. who believed that it wasn't just about bush that it was about liberalism versus conservatism. it was about elites versus the working class. i mean -- >> grass roots. >> it was grass roots. personi personified, and we saw that with ken melman calling people all across america. they would have these -- and people got engaged!

that's how -- pretty unpopular president got reelected. mitt, is this going to happen? who's going to do this for mitt? mitt can't even keep straight whether he's for an individual mandate or not? >> supreme court may in the middle of this campaign judge it to be unconstitutional. there's also a chance for the economy to change for the worse which could change the entire context for republicans, the others with the chance to intervene which is iran. there could be game changers in this election campaign that fundamentally affects -- >> and a close look at mitt romney's view on iran as it differs from the president's. you should help us with that coming up. that's something to look at too. >> i've got a quick question, though. and richard, you've been around for a while. and mark, you have too. you have guys who remember. when's the last time the republican party's been this weak? >> well, i think january of 2009, they were pretty weak. >> what do you think, richard?

>> i think probably during the clinton years when, you know, he was such a dominant political force in america. he was filling the political space dramatically. >> i'll tell you what, i'd go back to 1974. i remember election night '74, democrats won everything. i don't think the republican party has been this bad off -- because even then, you could say, well, haley's running the party. even in '09, you could say they're going to be able to, you know -- i don't know. this is a pathetic state that the party's in. and it's been about as bad a month as the republican party's had since august of 1974. when nixon resigned. this is horrific. it keeps getting worse. coming up this morning, we're going to talk to house majority leader congressman eric cantor and ask him if he agrees with this. also, grover norquist will join us, robert f. kennedy jr., and

in a few minutes, ceo of the national urban league. and top stories of the morning, including sarah palin releasing her own version of "game change" the movie. but first, here's bill karins with a check on the forecast. of course, the big story over the weekend with the tornado outbreak on friday and saturday morning, a surreal scene this morning. i want to show you pictures out of henryville, indiana. this was hit by the ef-4. it snowed last night and now have about 2 inches of snow on the ground in this area. just incredible that now they have to deal with this. and that snow will be gone. but just surreal. i don't know if i remember seeing snow in areas just hit by a tornado. let's show you a recap from the big tornado outbreak. one of the biggest ever in march history. 79 tornadoes is how many estimated by dr. greg forbes. 43 of those are confirmed tornadoes, and we're going to get more confirmations over the next day or two. that area of snow is moving

through west virginia. it's going to move through areas of virginia. richmond is going to see snow this morning before turning the rain showers this afternoon. it's a cold day, very much like winter in areas of the northeast. the windchill's very bad up through new england and the great lakes. the warm weather's continuing to the middle of the country and that'll make it to the east coast. and i'm happy to report, no tornado outbreaks are likely this week. we get a break from that at least for now. you're watching "morning joe" on this monday. we're brewed by starbucks. losing weight clicked for me when i found a plan

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♪ time now to take a look at the morning papers.

shall we do that? >> yes, i'd love to. >> "new york times," mass demonstrations are expected today in moscow. >> be careful. >> putin claimed nearly -- >> be careful. >> the story's not the demonstrations. the story is how much putin is dominating russian politics. >> yeah. >> there's no second round. this is -- >> whatever job he wants, he seems to just -- >> richard haass, let me ask you a tough question, a devil's advocate question. do you think world order is better off having a guy like putin that dominates the russian -- let me ask you this way, would you rather have russia 1993 or russia 2012? what's more stable? >> brain twister. >> that's not the only choice, and having putin is not good for world order. it's not a question of disarray, it's that russia will remain a spoiler and a country that will not help the united states deal

with iran, deal with syria, and deal with others. >> you don't have to worry where nuclear weapons are going if you have putin. >> we're not talking about russia unraveling, we're talking about russia becoming more politically and economically open. >> so you think they've moved past where they were in the early '90s? you think there's a stable if not putin, you any they'll have a -- i've heard the mob runs rampant over there, it is extraordinarily corrupt. >> you've got depopulation given the demographic shifts, you've got a real problem. you've got a single crop economy with oil. but russia's not going to unravel. the problem is, again, putinism is in place for six more years, perhaps even longer than that and they are not going to be a partner. >> putinism. from putinism to palinism, she's mad. >> she is mad. >> at mark haleprin. >> well, not him specifically. but the film inspired by --

>> mostly heilemann. >> yeah, mostly heilemann. jim vandehei, good morning. >> good morning, how are you? >> i'm doing all right. sarah palin as we said, not pleased with game change which airs this saturday on hbo. her super pac has released its own interpretation of the film. here's a bit of that. >> this is sarah. >> well, i'm not a member of the permanent political establishment. >> a feisty, strong, tough, and straight-talking governor. >> tremendous record of accomplishment, 80% approval rating. >> i'm not going to washington to seek their good opinion, i'm going to washington to serve the people of this great country! >> that's about 30 seconds. it's a 2 1/2-minute sort of

trailer. what's at the core of the argument here, vandehei? >> well, she's trying -- the movie to be negative. haleprin would know better than any of us. the truth is, is anybody's impression of sarah palin going to be changed by a movie? you either love her or hate her, and i don't think any work on behalf of her super pac is going to change any minds. but i think what she wants to do is get out in front of this, make clear that a lot of people in this movie that portray her quite negatively at different times during the campaign spoke quite positively of her, which is what we call politics. >> i'll say two things. one is, every theme raised in her trailer, the video they did, you'll see in great detail in "game change" the hbo film this saturday. for her supporters worried those elements of how well she did, how popular she was, the kind of crowd she built. you'll see a lot of that in the film. the other thing, it's not going to change anybody's minds. i was at a screening of the film in seattle on friday night, 500

people or so, most of whom not sarah palin fans and i asked for a show of hands how many people after seeing the film feel more favorably toward sarah palin, almost everybody raised their hand. >> your super pac will run the movie. >> you even look at the trailer, you can see parts in some of the trailers that have been released where you guys, the film makers show sarah palin fighting back against a campaign that she feels like is trying to stop her personality out. it's just silly -- >> wait until you watch the film. i think they'll enjoy it and also see that it's a -- it is at large part a very sympathetic portrayal of the job she did under tough circumstances. >> and she says she hasn't seen the film. she's assuming it's a smear campaign against her. >> in fact, well, people can see, but there's a lot of overlap between her portrayal and what the film portrays. >> the super pac, jim, has gone

full research pointing out that the writer maxed out to obama, all told, people involved with the film gave $120,000 to the obama campaign last time around. >> a great message for her supporters. and again, she wants to continue to be relevant. i think she's happy to be part of the mix and we'll wait to see, hopefully i'm going to see the movie on thursday. and know everybody in washington is about as excited for this political movie as i've seen this town excited for a movie in some time. haleprin, it better deliver. >> i have no doubt. it's really good. so i'm not -- i have no anxiety about delivering -- >> do you think republicans will look upon it favorably? >> i do. rather than being a divisive thing, it's going to be more uniting than most things like this about sarah palin because it shows the entire story truthfully. the times when she struggled and times when she excelled. >> and done by the same director that did "recount," which james

baker was skeptical about and then saw it and said, man, that was fair. >> i can't wait to see it. saturday night on hbo. jim, thanks. >> take care. coming up, tiger woods gives everybody a glimpse of his old self shooting the best final round of his career yesterday chasing the leaders. highlights ahead in sports. plus, the raging cajon returns to snl. my goodness, this was funny. we'll show you when we come back. progresso. it fits! fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less.

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pause for some sports at 6:38 in the morning. three of the best basketball players on the face of the earth on the same court last night, lebron james, dwyane wade and kobe bryant. heat and lakers, kobe still sporting that face mask. dwyane wade busted up his nose for him in the all-star game. miami down nine, lebron can't get the shot to go. little frustration here. mixing it up in there, looks like troy murphy got in, metta world peace, in there, as well. after dwyane wade fouled out,

kobe takes over, kobe's 33 points, lakers beat the heat 93-83. the other match-up, jeremy lin and the knicks playing the celtics. not jeremy's best day. knicks down six, loses the ball, made up for it with a steal of his own. takes it himself. had 14 points, didn't shoot terribly well, six turnovers. lin again -- ten seconds on the clock, the knicks up by three, the celtics put the ball in the hands of paul pierce, the veteran all star and he knocks it down with four seconds to go. >> oh, my goodness. >> sends the game into overtime. >> oh, my goodness. >> the story, rondo picks up a loose ball, dishes to ray allen, rondo, 18 points, 20 assists, and 17 rebounds. >> holy cow. >> jeremy lin and the knicks can't keep up, celtics win

115-111. tiger woods entering sunday, nine shots behind the leader rory mcelroy. and then on 17, a long putt going down toward the water again for birdie, here's the second shot in the par 5, ridiculous. sets himself up for the eagle putt and nails that too. this is old tiger. moving him to ten under, finishes the day with a 62, that's the best final round of his career on the pga tour. tiger was done for the day so mcelroy with pressure. nice recovery, sets up a par putt and goes to 18 with a two-stroke lead. the 22-year-old from northern ireland holds on to win the honda classic. this is important because, makes him the number one golfer in the world. tiger finished two strokes back,

finished tied for second place. still ahead, we'll talk to house majority leader eric cantor about his endorsement yesterday of mitt romney. we'll ask him about mitt romney. and we'll talk about the growing tension in iran with richard haass and mika's must-read opinion pages. we'll be right back.

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necessary to defend the united states and its interests. moving forward, i would ask that we all remember the weightiness of these issues. the stakes involved for israel, for america, and for the world. already there is too much loose talk of war. >> it's unacceptable to america for iran to have a nuclear weapon. i will have those military options. i will take those crippling sanctions and put them in place. and i will speak out to the iranian people about the peril of them becoming nuclear. it's pretty straightforward in my view. if barack obama gets reelected, iran will have a nuclear weapon and the world will change, if that's the case. >> time now for the must-read opinion pages at 45 past the hour as you take a live look at the white house. richard, we've got two on iran. because obviously a lot going on there and the question i have for you is who's playing who in

this game between israel and the united states? here's the "wall street journal." obama's hawkish iran turn. the question is whether mr. obama now means what he says. the president has built up an immense trust deficit with israel. all the more so, and israelis know this is an election year when mr. obama needs to appear more pro-israel than he would if he is reelected. it's good to hear mr. obama finally sounding serious about stopping a nuclear iran, but if he now finds himself pleading with israel not to take matters in its own hands, he should note his administration's vacillation and mixed signals have done much to force jerusalem's hand. more fundamentally, a president who says he doesn't bluff had better be prepared to act. >> first of all, you've got to discount what the president says if you judge what he said at apac four years ago.

it was a great celebration from what he said at apac and how he's acted as president. but secondly, you were commenting more about how the "new york times" and others missed the lead. this was quite a significant speech if he means what he says. >> well, two things i thought were really significant. one was the quote you played at the beginning, that the united states is not of a policy of containment. i.e., we don't have a policy of living with a nuclear weapon, instead united states has a policy of prevention. that's the clearest statement because prevention is in the military jargon. >> he's moved from containment to prevention. >> it's a clear signal. the other thing was, he acknowledged israel's sovereign right to make its own decisions about what it believes that security requires. that was a signal saying that if you, israel decide this is an intolerable position, so be it. that's a very different signal, say, than the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff was sending just a week ago. i thought yesterday's speech was actually -- >> explain what the chairman of

the joint chiefs said a week ago and how disturbing that was for some people in the foreign policy. >> well, general dempsey, the new chairman of the joint chiefs of staff talked about iran being a rational decisionmaker. in the nuclear world, it means it's okay if you have nuclear weapons, you will be a responsible custodian -- >> why did the chairman of the joint chiefs say that about a country that's been the epicenter of world terrorism? and if he believes that, why is he the chairman of the joint chiefs? >> my hunch is that a lot of people in the military and pentagon, the thilast thing the want to see is a military strike. we've gotten out of iraq, we're pivoting toward asia pacific, we want to cut defense spending, they do not want another crisis on their hands. >> fair enough. but to say we can't be drawn into another war is one thing that a lot of people in the pentagon believe. to call iran a rational actor, i

would say is almost disqualifying. of a chairman of the joint chiefs, especially because as you said before, the most disturbing part is, it seems like this is calculated. how can this guy run our armed forces if he believes the epicenter of international terrorism since 1979 -- and i can say that as a guy that wants our troops home. i can say that as a guy who doesn't want to be drawn into another war. but iran is not a national actor. they've been the epicenter of international terrorism since 1979, and we've got the guy running our armed forces saying they're rational. >> what the president was saying yesterday is he doesn't set policy, i the commander in chief set policy. the president was very tough, but it's coming in the context of iran's elections. the people supportive of the supreme leader, not the people around ahmadinejad. so iran has moved if possible even further to the right based on yesterday. the interesting question is,

whether that possibly -- and i think that's a long shot, but i wouldn't rule it out, means we could see some sort of an iranian move to put diplomacy on the table. if not, we are moving towards either an israel little strike or an american strike or some combination of the two. i think iran has a short window to stop its nuclear program and to move toward negotiations. if not, this will become the foreign policy crisis of this year or next. >> richard, how does the united states after a decade of war go into yet another country? >> well, we would not be going in with ground forces and the rest would largely be going in with air and naval forces and then the question is, could we contain to use that word, could we limit what the iranians would do in retaliation? >> we don't have bunker busting bombs capable of that deep. >> the united states has a generation of conventional bombs that israel does not possess that could do greater damage to the iranian nuclear program. >> you believe right now we have the bombs that could go deep enough to cause significant damage?

>> we could cause more damage than the israelis could cause. again, the real question is that how would the iranians react? and what sort of dynamic would be set in motion? and i think part of the signaling that will go from the united states is, iran, if you start to retaliate in certain ways, you have raised the stakes dramatically. and if you put more on the table, you'd better be careful what you set in motion. >> there are a lot of people that don't believe we have the technology to really go and denigrate their weapon systems, but we'll see. big question mark. >> thank you. up next, news you can't use. we'll be right back. your finances can't manage themselves. but that doesn't mean they won't try. bring all your finances together with the help of the one person who can.

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oh, is it time? oh, my gosh, i can't believe it. already? >> big night saturday night. >> good show. >> we started off on saturday night, jason sudekis playing mitt romney and kristin wiig. >> how did you feel about the michigan win? >> well, we feel great. michigan was just another case of voters taking a look at mitt romney and saying, eh, i guess. i'm focusing on the victories and as we say in the romney house, i'm happier than a poor man eating a can of beans from a dumpster. yum, yum, yum, yum. >> shoes must be made out of chocolate because you keep

putting your foot in your mouth. >> no, my shoes aren't made of chocolate, shepherd, they're made of a fine italian leather and they were $1,200 apiece, they cost more than most americans make in a month. uh-oh, i'm doing it again. >> and romney, many are saying you're the irrepressible spark plug of this campaign. >> i am. >> you keep the energy up. >> i do. >> any funny stories about mitt on the campaign trail? >> no. >> so mitt romney's five adult sons. why should people get excited and not terrified by your presence on the campaign trail? >> well, we connect with the younger voter. our average age is 36 while our median age is 35. and we like the same things as young people such as sport, cinema, and duop. see, we're just like you, america. >> our thanks to stephen king for creating those boys.

>> oh, my. >> the sport thing, while not completely accurate, there's something about it. >> it's funny. we love shep, though. he's a great guy and as good as it gets. he's great at what he does. >> he is the best. that was bill hader doing shep smith. and he later brought out his james carville impersonation. >> do you think limbaugh will be canceled because of these comments? >> no, no, no, seth. rush will always be around sort of like that tv show "cops," you don't realize they're on the air and one saturday evening you're getting dressed and you hear bad boys, bad boys, what you gonna do, and you're like, they're still doing that thing? >> now, james, while we have you here. what do you think of the republican candidates? >> oh. i think plenty about them. and i laugh. i laugh. i mean, look at the front runner, mitt romney. i know romney looks like a president, but we don't always get the job we look right for.

if we did, i'd be the king of the snakes! >> you and i both agreed the best line was -- >> it came in the middle of the story that we couldn't show. it doesn't matter why, i'm friends with a couple of all gators. >> doesn't matter why. let's not go there. lindsay lohan, though, i thought she did pretty well. >> yeah. she did pretty well. >> you don't think so? >> she was good. she's actually always good on snl, but i thought she'd been better in the past than she was saturday. >> jon hamm was good. >> good show. >> no doubt. still ahead, we'll talk to eric cantor, steve rattner, and also our friend marc morial. not in this economy. we also have zero free time, and my dad moving in. so we went to fidelity.

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♪ we're going to do very, very well there. i believe that. it's a tough state for us only because of the fact that with the money disadvantage. but we're -- we've got a great grass roots campaign. we're hanging in there, and we feel very confident that we're going to do well. as you know, it's always harder when you've got two conservative candidates out there running in the race as we've seen in washington and we've seen in some of the other states. we have the, you know, the antiromney vote, if you will. both gingrich and i are out there slugging away. eventually, hopefully this race

settles out and we'll get a chance to go one-on-one, and we feel comfortable we're going to win this thing. >> welcome back to "morning joe," top of the hour. mark haleprin is with us. and joining the table we have financier "morning joe" economic analyst steve rattner. along with president and ceo of the national urban league, marc morial, good to have you both. >> great to see you guys. how y'all doing? >> it's a beautiful monday. >> it is a beautiful, beautiful monday. >> beautiful monday for the democrats. >> it is! and that is quite a segue. a beautiful morning for the democrats. hey, and i was saying, steve rattner, i have to go back to 1974. i remember watching the returns come in, irm sure you do too, election night '74, couple months after nixon resigned. i think this is about as low a point the republicans have been in since maybe 82 midterms, 74 midterms. this is just -- you talk to haley and other people in the

national party, i'm sure they'll say the same thing. this is a terrible time to be a republican. the past month has been brutal. >> it's unbelievable. and when you go back and look at the polls from a couple of months ago and you saw obama struggling, some of the republicans beating him, saw the republicans on their game. and now the wheels have come off the bus. it's extraordinary to see how quickly they've collapsed. >> and we're going to show the polls, but you go state by state, not a lot of good news for republicans. this is evidence that when you have people that continually shoot themselves in the foot for your party, it has an impact on your national brand. >> well, there's lots of examples we've talked about. some on the contraception, iran, and the auto bailout. that was something was seen as neutral or maybe even a negative for the white house. the white house isn't sitting back and letting the republicans self-destruct. they were so aggressive around the michigan primary and i think

that is now as the president has long thought it should be a winning issue for the democrats. >> and mr. mayor, you also, though, have republicans whether they are or not. and rick santorum will say, well, i'm talking about the economy, but you people in the press want to talk about social issues. you have republicans that are not able to frame the debate around the economy. >> well, when you have a primary and you have multiple republican candidates competing for votes, there's difficult for there to be a single message. it's different kind of republican primary than you've seen. you sort of have a republican primary that's a lot like historic democratic primaries. so i think that it's hard to frame the debate when they're fighting for turf within the party. and when you've got to division yourself, you're not going to have a single message. that's why you see it appeal to social conservatives, appealing to more mainstream, and i think it also reflects a republican party which has always been a coalition between economic and social conservatives, but this time there's just a harder line

between two camps with two different sets of ideas about what their candidate ought to be. >> you know, there are editorials after editorials over the weekend about what's happening here and exactly what we're talk about. we're going to bring some of those up in this block. but first, the new nbc news "wall street journal" polls. the president's job approval rating in this poll stand at 50% with 45% disapproving. we've got also a national look at the republican presidential field. romney leads with 38% of the vote followed by santorum at 32%. newt gingrich and ron paul are both at 13%. when asked how the gop nominating process has affected people's view of the party, 40% say it has made them look at the party less favorably. 12% said more favorable and 47% said the process has had no impact on their view. the poll also shows how mitt romney's approval rating compares with past presidential candidates. romney gets 28% approval that is

lower than mccain, kerry, bush, and dole in their races. >> and a minus 11 net. >> yeah. >> which is devastating for a guy who has not gotten to the general election yet that hasn't even had -- i mean tons of negative ads thrown on top of him like mccain did. look at this. john mccain at this stage in 2008 was plus 20 before the millions and millions of dollars of negative ads. >> let's look ahead to the general election head-to-head match-ups nationally against president obama. all four republican contenders fall short. mitt romney is the closest six points behind the president. on the question of congressional preference, 41% say republicans are the preferred majority in congress, 46% would rather see democrats in charge. when asked which party does a better job of appealing to people not among its hard core supporters, 55% said the

democratic party does and 26% said the republican party. >> let's keep that up right there. steve rattner, therein lies the big problem for the republican party right now. three, four months ago when we were talking about the economy, you had independents breaking republicans way for the generic republican. now independents are looking at the republican party going, really? contraception? that's what we're talking about? and, again, i mean the base can -- the republican base can get angry, but that's just the reality. it's in the polls! >> right, but i think also it started earlier. it started in congress going back to last summer when you had these republicans, you know, the ones, the 87 freshmen who just refuse to do business, refuse to follow their leader. the american people thought the republicans were doing a better job -- and you see this gathering steam and increasing. i was struck yesterday on "meet the press" when david gregory

asked eric cantor about his endorsement of romney. and eric cantor said, well, i think he has an economic plan for growth. well, i don't know what his economic plan for growth is. i don't know if you know, but i don't think he's articulated one that has captivated the american people. it gets into the negativism and all the stuff about contraception and the side shows because they haven't been able to articulate a plan. >> i think the president's also been helped by an improvement in the economy. unemployment ticking down somewhat. and i think it begins to demonstrate a narrative and an argument that the president can make that his policies have had a positive effect. the shift away from an economic focus in the republican primary may have something to do with objective conditions. the country is not where we want it to be economically, but you see a thawing, you see 22 months now of job growth. you see an improvement in the economy, and i think that's so important to recognize that

these elections don't happen in isolation what people are thinking about. >> yeah, it's a great point. and mark haleprin, while the economy seemed to be improving, maybe that is causing some -- there are many that believe the economy's going to get worse. i personally don't. i think the numbers are stacking up in such a way that we're going to have the gathering momentum and maybe, maybe unemployment won't be in the sevens, but i don't think it's going to be in the nines. people talking about a double dip, personally i think they're wrong. i think the momentum is moving towards a slow, slow, steady improvement. but i want to talk about the other side of things, and that's mitt romney. it's not just that the president's doing better or that the republicans are doing worse, it's that their front runner is somebody that the republican party that conservatives have never been able to be excited about. and this past weekend, something came out that would have been absolutely devastating to romney had it come out a month earlier, and i don't think it'd be where

it is today. and that is the op ed piece he wrote -- >> usa today. >> for usa today where he basically said, you know, barack obama should look at what we did in massachusetts to push an individual mandate nationwide. now, that's exactly opposite of what mitt's been saying on the campaign trail. he's been claiming, oh, he's talking about it for my state. but you look at erick erickson, and the national view and other conservatives saying over the weekend. and this is devastating. this is what hot air blogger wrote. it's shocking that as late as the summer of 2009, romney misread the mood of the base badly enough to think he could sell them on the right wing merits of compulsory health care purchases. but then that's what makes him romney. and the subsequent flip to the position that, of course, the

mandate is unconstitutional. that's what really makes him mitt romney. you know, for somebody like me, and for millions and millions of conservatives that don't think the federal government has a constitutional right to mandate health care coverage nationwide, well, they don't. i hope the supreme court overturns it, says it's unconstitutional. but we can have that debate. my question is, how does a guy that wants to run my party wants to be my presidential candidate, how does he ever think that's the right thing to do nationwide? >> well, the heritage foundation -- >> i don't get it. >> not that long ago. it was a conservative republican idea. >> it's not a conservative republican idea. >> not that long ago. >> it is not. no, no, no -- not for people like tom coburn, not for people like paul ryan. >> just endorsed -- >> not for people like myself who anybody that is out there

saying that they think the federal government should be able to compel people to buy health care insurance are simply trying to play to the crowds. there's nothing conservative about it. >> well, if super tuesday shapes up for mitt romney as well as it might. if he wins the states he's going to win and maybe steals tennessee and comes out with a lot of delegates with the coburn endorsement yesterday, cantor endorsement, i don't think the base is going to be his problem. the republican base will come together. it's can he use the next few months to get back independents? and the health care thing, i think, could be solved as mentioned earlier. whenever the supreme court decides whether they strike down obama care or not. i think romney if he's the nominee can use that to his political advantage. it's about independents, women, and hispanics. not about the base. >> it's not just mitt romney who is a flawed reputation for the party, it's the party overall and we can talk to eric cantor about this. but i'll take one of the editorials from over the weekend.

it's frank bruni talking about olympia snowe which is one of the far bigger story than pundits calling people names. just because you choose a team shouldn't mean you're suddenly and miraculously on board with everything in its play book down the line, but that's what's expected. there's less and less room in american politics for a hodgepodge of positions that don't adhere to one of the sanctioned scripts. unsettled caricatures outnumber complicated characters. that will only be truer with olympia snowe's retirement at year's end. i sympathize with the pleading in the voice of a reporter who asked snowe on friday, are you sure? nothing good can be read into her exit. nothing good at all. >> and there will be, mr. mayor, republicans who are cheering her exit. despite the fact that she voted with the party 75% of the time and despite the fact that she voted against the president's health care plan. if you're republican, these are

things you should cheer for a senator from the state of maine. >> but they may cheer her departure in the short run, but will they cheer departure in january if her seat is taken by a democrat. >> oh, it's going to be taken by a democrat. >> in our legislative system at the federal level, it's a winner take all system. if you get 50% of the votes, you control the body. and i think it is a reflection of the fact that we have an increasingly ideological partisan electorate. and ideological partisan congress that we certainly see. and i wanted to just make sure i added the fact that one issue i think is going to be a continuing issue in this campaign is something we're going to raise this week with our release of the state of black america. and that is the 34 states that are now passing highly restrictive, i call it voter suppression laws.

there's been an explosion in the last 18 months of new laws which are designed to require highly restrictive voter i.d.s to vote, cutting back on early voting, making it more difficult for people to run voter registration drives. and we're going to raise this issue throughout this year as part of what we call our occupy the vote effort. because i think americans need to understand this is an assault on democracy. it's an attack on our democratic principles. and there's nothing but a smoke screen behind the argument that you need these new voter suppression laws to somehow protect the integrity of the ballot. and it's going to be, i think, a very important issue, and i hope we can have a very broad discussion about it because it's important to a lot of people. >> i would like to have a broad discussion about it right now. you believe it's an assault on democracy to have somebody show -- and you believe it's highly restrictive to have a

voter show an i.d.? >> especially when one in ten -- you're talking about not any i.d. in texas, a student i.d. is no good. but a concealed and carried gun permit is good. this is not just any photo i.d. this is a photo i.d. that meets a certain set of very specific requirements. so 1 in 10 americans do not have this kind of voter i.d. >> you are talking about, though, the return of jim crow laws. as you know, the difference between african-americans that don't have these specific i.d.s and white americans who don't have these specific i.d.s is the difference between say 9% of white americans and 10.5% of african-americans. >> it's about 25% people of color who we don't think have thp kind of i.d. but what's the reason? >> where do you get that number? >> that comes from a number of

reports at the naacp -- >> you're saying that 1 in 4 people of color who are capable of voting do not have a photo i.d.? >> no, do not have the kind of photo i.d.s that this contemplat contemplates. it's important to recognize that this is not just any photo i.d. in some states they're saying that a student i.d. -- >> right. >> issued by state university is no good because it doesn't contain an address. >> let me ask you this, mr. mayor, would you be willing to accept requirements of any government, any government-issued photo i.d. would be sufficient. would that be okay with you? >> my view is we shouldn't place a fence in front of a constitutional right to vote unless there's some kind of compelling necessity that says that there's a need to have the i.d. and that the i.d.'s going to prevent some sort of problem for which there's evidence.

remember, we've had in this democracy throughout the years of voting prior to -- prior to 18 months ago, only two states that have had these kind of voter i.d. requirements. all of a sudden now, an explosion of 34 states that have embarked on some journey to make it more difficult for people to vote. >> so -- >> why all of a sudden -- >> well, i think it's about time. this is something like -- i remember, again, it's always very instructive when you get into politics and you haven't been into politics. and you start looking and you start figuring out who can vote and how they vote and the i.d. they show. and in some states, it's just frightening. you look at this and talk about voter suppression. it seems to me with the fact that i think most experts talk about how you're going to have a percentage of votes in every election that are fraudulent. i think -- >> but joe -- >> making sure that people who

are qualified to vote and who are actually. because right now, i know certainly in florida, i don't know how it is in every state. you know better than i do. anybody can go up with my voter i.d., give it to a person, give my address, and they can vote for me. >> it's worse than that in new york. in new york, you don't have to show i.d. you simply walk in, sign your name, there's some poll person there half asleep. they never look at your signature. you could walk in and vote for me and nobody would ever know. >> and i think -- and this has nothing to do with race for me, i've always looked at this and said this is preposterous. you mean, we don't have a higher safeguard -- we've got a higher safeguard for buying sudofed -- >> why all of a sudden? >> no, i've been saying this for 15 years. >> why all of a sudden are there 13 states embarking on a journey -- >> i don't know if that's the case or not. let me go back to my question for you, again, would you be okay with a -- let's say a

national plan where you set a requirement that all states must, must accept any government-issued state i.d.? so if it's a college. let's say from texas tech then people in texas have to accept that. >> i don't support voter i.d. as a requirement of voting as a matter of principle. but if you're going to create a better national system of voting with mandatory early voting with a limitation on early poll closings, with a whole range of things to improve democracy, we can have a discussion. but i don't support the fundamental principle of saying all of a sudden now we need to have voter i.d. laws in states. i think it's not necessary, and i think the argument about fraud. you see, it's interesting, most cases of fraud, joe, happen when election officials commit fraud,

like the secretary of state in indiana. it's usually not voters. it's elections officials. the voter i.d. is not going to eliminate integrity problems by elections officials. and so it is a solution in search of a problem. >> and now that's -- i respectfully disagree with you. fraud has been a problem in american politics for hundreds and hundreds of years. >> but not fraud by voters. >> yeah. i mean fraud by politicians or by precinct people that want to ship people in and figure out a way to get them voting. mark, is it -- is your understanding the same as far as if you decided to have somebody else vote for you or like in new york or in other states, is it the same way that you go up and you hand a piece of paper to

somebody, you sign a name and that's the only antifraud measure they have? >> i'm coming down in the middle of this one. disenfranchisement is a huge issue. it's never going to be a federal system because we give deference to the states on voting. every state should have a nonpartisan process and pass something comprehensive so there's integrity and confidence in the system so nobody ease disenfranchised. it's not that hard to do. >> do you see this because the mayor's been talking about 34 states, is it? >> it's 34 states. >> 34 states -- >> 12 states that have proof of citizenship. >> do you see this -- i'm sorry, i'll stop you there. what's wrong with making someone prove -- >> the question is, what's the motivation? what's the motivation for these -- >> but you do understand most americans look at this and say you're saying that it's an assault on democracy to make somebody prove they're an american before they can vote

for who's president of the united states? >> well, what this would say is when you go to register to vote for the first time, don't come with your driver's license, you better bring a birth certificate, some other form -- in those states that are -- >> voting is a right, but it doesn't come automatic, you might have to do something to demonstrate there's integrity of the process. >> i think the key is, what's the motivation all of a sudden in advance of the 2012 elections you've got an onslaught of new bills that may disenfranchise 5 million voters if we're going to have a discussion about a more comprehensive system, let's have it. we're fighting wars to defend democracy. to stand up to democracy. let's not erect fences and barriers to democracy. >> let's also make sure, though, that that process that elects the commander in chief has integrity. and just so you know, i mean obviously, your job is to go out and make sure that people of

color are protected -- >> and all people. >> and their rights are protected. i have great respect for you. i have to say from my perspective. i'm coming to this as a guy for 15 years has been scratching my head and saying, that's really all you have to do to vote? and then i hear you talking about the next thing we're going to have to do is prove we're citizens of the united states. i just want you to know, i do understand your motivations and i think they're good motivations, i think they're important to research. but for most americans, most americans see this as mark said, a right that requires responsibility, as well. >> look at what happened in maine. the maine legislature passed the elimination of same-day voter registration. when it went to the voters of maine, they overturned it almost 60% to 40%. that's a test on what americans think about suppression efforts. >> mr. mayor, we love having you on. let's continue this conversation because i know this is very, very important to a lot of

people. we'll continue it. thank you so much. >> thanks. >> the national urban league's annual report, the state of black america is released this wednesday. please go online and take a look at it. coming up, we'll be talking to eric cantor about his endorsement of a man who supports the individual mandate nationally. and up next, we have chuck todd talking about these nbc news polls. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. named a 2012 iihs top safety pick. not that we'd ever brag about it. [ chuckles ] turn right. come on -- nine. turn left. hit the brakes. huh. how'd that get there? [ male announcer ] we can't hide how proud we are to have nine 2012 iihs top safety picks, so we're celebrating with our safety in numbers event. that's the power of german engineering. right now, lease the 2012 passat for $219 a month.

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♪ hey, welcome back to "morning joe." a beautiful shot of the statue of liberty. it almost felt like spring, guys, around new york. we had a nice weekend. >> beautiful. >> and, of course, how pathetic that a florida guy is defining a beautiful weekend as sunny and in the 40s. but it beats the alternative. >> we had no winter. and by the end of this week we're going to have spring if not summer. >> we're not going to have summer here for a long time. but it is pretty nice. let's bring in right now

republican house majority leader eric cantor. eric, it's always great to talk to you. you endorsed mitt romney this weekend. unfortunately also this weekend an op ed was released that showed mitt supported a national mandate. how will republicans -- the republican base, how are we going to get our arms around mitt romney? >> well, as far as the issue of obama care, mitt romney's been very clear. he said he will sign a repeal of obama care. he is not for it taking effect in this country. and, you know, joe, i carried the bill in the house to repeal obama care. so i look forward to serving in the role along with mitt romney to make sure that we in congress join him once he's elected president to repeal obama care. we've got to. >> so moving forward, you obviously -- you have the

confidence that mitt romney will obviously take a republican stand on that. but what about what he said in the "usa today." because, of course, when he was facing a tax on his health care plan as being the same as barack obama's, he said that he backed -- he said he backed the individual mandate in massachusetts, but not for the country as a whole. but obviously, that changed. the 2009 on ed, romney said just the opposite. how do you square that? >> well, look, there is no question that he has been unequivocal saying he wants to repeal obama care. and it's not just a republican position. this is a common sense position for america. i mean, you and i both know that health care will never be the same in this country if that bill goes into effect not to mention the fact that we will potentially bankrupt the states along with the federal government assuming that kind of liability. one or the other.

your health care cannot stay the same given the cost, trajectory, and inability for people to afford it much less the federal government as the biggest payer in health care. i think mitt romney understands that. he has said he's going to sign a repeal of the bill, and certainly in the house we've demonstrated our commitment to repeal that bill. >> it's clear that he has flipped on the issue, though. and it's maybe perhaps hard for some to understand exactly where he stands on this issue and some others. fair enough? >> well, i mean, listen, if the process that he has gone through and he has arrived a the the conclusion that what he felt was appropriate in massachusetts is not now appropriate for the federal level, i'd take him at his word on that. and i will continue to work hard to do everything we can to repeal obama care knowing full well the consequences if that bill really does go into effect. >> mark haleprin.

>> president gave a pretty strong speech to apac yesterday talking about israel and iran. is the white house, the administration failing to do anything you'd like them to do right now on the issue of israel's security and making it clear where the united states stands versus iran? >> well, mark, i was at the speech yesterday and i appreciated the president's statement that he doesn't support a containment policy and doesn't support a nuclear iran. but what i think is going on right now, not only some of us here in this country are questioning where the resolve is. i've spoken with many allies in the region, and that includes many arab governments. and it is they that are also questioning where the resolve is. and if you look at what's going on in the region, the question of american influence and leadership is a real one. >> do you still question the resolve after his speech yesterday? >> well, i mean, again, words

are one thing, but backing it up with actions is what we need to see. because if you look to see what iran is doing beyond its quest -- look at what's going on in syria, we have an incredible opportunity to issue a severe blow to iran -- we have an incredible opportunity to issue a severe blow to iran in terms of its support of assad. and there's a lot asking where is america? where is the white house on this issue? so all of these questions, i think, really leave one to ask is there adequate resolve? and i'm hopeful that we can see a proper response to that so that we can continue to try and do the good that we as a country have always done in these kind of matters. >> eric, are you as concerned as i am that the chairman of the joint chiefs has labeled the iranian regime, which has been the epicenter of international

terrorism since 1979 -- that the chairman of the joint chiefs labeled iran a "rational actor?" >> i would certainly not use those words to describe the regime and iran. that regime is a maniacal terrorist regime with no regard for everything we stand for and the respect of human rights and progress. i disagree with that adjective to describe that regime. it is one of the most destabilizing regimes we've seen. and frankly, that's where we need to be very bold in terms of our response. yes, and the question of iran's quest for nuclear capability, but also beyond that. in terms of iran's behavior throughout the region continuing to try to destabilize the region against our interest. >> eric, i'm curious, i'm going to read part of the piece from saturday. you don't need to put it up,

alex, i'm only going to read a sentence. he says the republican party will no longer be able to delude itself about where the ideological rigidity has taken it if santorum wins. an alcoholic doesn't stop drinking until it hits bottom. the republican party won't change until it hits bottom. only santorum offers that possibility. has the republican party lost its way? especially within all of the debate? all of these social issues? >> no, absolutely not, mika. what is going on and the reason i endorsed mitt romney yesterday is because he is the leader for us that we can coalesce around a vision and a plan for pro-growth, free-market economics. the central issue in this election is going to be the economy and it's going to be the country responding to the question of whether the policies of barack obama and his administration have failed us. and i think the answer to that question is yes. and the response is to get behind mitt romney, he is the only one in the race who has had the experience of creating jobs

and running a business and trying to get our economy back on track so our small businesses can grow again. and it's a lot like what we're doing in the house this week where actually seeing republicans and democrats come together around the jobs act. this is a bill that lent itself to reducing red tape and helping small businesses. something that all americans can agree on. >> all right. let me ask you this question, do you have enough -- this past weekend, i think we got some bad information on the christian that was -- they were threatening with execution in iran. is he still alive or not? >> you know, again, i don't have the up to date information on that. i know as far as last week was concerned, we in the house passed a resolution denouncing iran's potential persecution or potential killing of that cleric. but you're right, joe, this was

an instance where iran's sort of moral compass or lack thereof was on display. this was an individual who refuses to denounce his christianity and threatened to be killed for it. i don't have the response for you to let you know -- >> i saw some news this weekend that this christian pastor was sentenced to death in iran with a wife and two young children have been executed this weekend, but that does not appear to be the case based on the latest news. but yet, is this what a rational actor does? does the chairman of the joint chiefs believe that a rational actor of the international stage executes people because they're christians? >> there's nothing rational about that. >> eric, thank you so much for being with us. greatly appreciate it. let's bring in right now nbc news chief white house correspondent and political director and host of the "daily rundown" chuck todd.

new polls out, what's your take away? >> well, look, the good news and the nbc "wall street journal" poll for romney is you see that republicans, just like eric cantor's coalescing around mitt romney, so are some conservative republicans. maybe not winning conservatives yet, but he's getting enough support from evangelicals that he now leads overall. and that's how he sort of got the lead. that 38% among republicans. highest he's had yet. so there's an acceptance coalescing that you're beginning to see and it's starting to match, actually, the way that republican officials are lookingment when you look at the general right now. oh, my. if this were a cocktail right now you would say it was one part obama, one part economy, three parts republican presidential politics. meaning that the conversation that's being head is turning off independents in a way that is benefitting the president, joe. >> well, and steve rattner, just listening to congressman

cantor's comments about mitt romney being great for the economy. you pointed out earlier, you don't know his plan. paul krugman had a piece this weekend saying all four are phonies. it does seem that the president has the wind at his back when it comes to the economy because there are some indicators showing that things are moving forward. it doesn't seem like there's an alternative, at least. >> well, the economy is getting stronger. and as joe said earlier, it does seem unlikely at this point there'll be a double dip. unemployment will probably be above 8%, but trending the right way. the point i was trying to make is the republican plan is not a plan for growth by any traditional economist measure. it's a plan to shrink government, a plan to do a lot of things, but it's not a plan that i don't think the american people are going to be convinced are going to create jobs. i think that's going to be a big challenge for romney presuming he's the nominee. >> let's start with a lot of these numbers. nbc news, "wall street journal"

poll puts the president's rating at 50%. this is pretty darn good news for the president. >> it is. and in fact, he's above 40% among white voters for the first time in nearly 2 1/2 years. where his improvements have come from are white working class voters, blue collar voters and a little bit among southern working class voters. but mostly among women, if you will. and that's what i tell you, you see that all over here. you want to see the effects of this conversation over the last few weeks about contraception and all of these issues, you're seeing it among women over 50, suburban women, the congressional ballot. there's been a swing from the summer of last year to now and the generic congressional ballot, republicans were winning suburban women by about three or four points, they're now losing them by 11. it was an 18-point swing, i think when you look at the combined data. we did combined data so you can

get good information. you see that all over this poll. this little upticks of improvements. and it is all, really, this rejection of what's going on this conversation inside the republican party. you have -- here was an amazing question. we asked which party is more likely to reach out to its nonhard core supporters. and it was a 30-point advantage for democrats. more importantly, even 35% of republicans said the democratic party does a better job of reaching out. you know, and that, again, and i would -- the only thing i would caution to say, think about the period of time we conducted this poll. you couldn't have picked a worse four-day period in the conversation with rush limbaugh attacking that georgetown law student. all of that conversation just adding to, you know, sort of making this snapshot in time show that this is a pretty low moment for the republican brand. >> obviously, though, you talk

about rush. obviously, though, i was talking three weeks ago about even well before that controversy about how my wife and her republican friends were sitting around breakfast tables yelling at the republican party saying what's wrong with these people? i mean, women -- again, you're talking about suburban women that have never voted for a democratic presidential candidate in their life attacking the republican party candidates for being so out of touch and for getting in their grill. and chuck, how remarkable you're seeing that throughout your entire poll. >> it is. you know, put it this way. and i thought about this a couple of weeks ago, we could be in a schiavo moment. remember that moment in time in the spring of 2005 when republicans got very aggressive, and even at the time, bill clinton and some democrats thought republicans were playing good politics here in trying to intervene in the terry schiavo thing. and what did it do?

turned off independent voters and led to two straight election -- began that conversation where republicans were tushing the middle off. turning the middle off. the republican party's got to be very careful. >> chuck todd, thank you. >> thank you, chuck. >> and more "morning joe" in just a moment. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ that should do it. enjoy your new shower. [ door opens, closes ] but one is so clever that your skin looks better even after you take it off. neutrogena® healthy skin liquid makeup.

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with us now is host of the soccer show chlt. >> a miserable miserable week d weekend. >> arsenal had watched the locals game and the best way to defend is give them a penalty. this week the dutchman doing the honors. it only took six minutes for

arsenal to give a clinical. this is a goal and he got it into his own net. >> the penalty kick this is year. >> they don't have a striker who can score. the dutch guy robin van persie, but his second in the 92nd minute. this is a thunderous wonder. >> and they're letting him get past them. >> they barely touch the ball and took all three points. manchester united and tottenham controls the game. manchester united took the points of the first goal by your favorite. his synthetic hair transplant acting like chalk. then he won and scored twice.

less football, more poetry. manchester united is two points and in the title race. >> it's unbelievable. you are exactly right. liverpool dominated arsenal and tottenham did a great job. chelsea yet another shake-up. the russian is not there. >> he lost 1-0. he is $1.6 billion into the team since he took it. he may as well have put the money in a garbage can and set it on fire. the camel's back for his experiment. 34-year-old doingy houser and the coach who got fired. >> got fired yesterday. >> he left with a $40 million settlement package. you dream your child will one day be president. the english dream is that your child will be fired by chelsea.

>> the eternal chelsea fan that has been spotted looking for housing in london. he believes that he was moving to chelsea. pa. >> losing him, it could be him. >> he would win. >> still ahead, robert f. kennedy jr. man, i'm glad aflac pays cash. aflac! ha! isn't major medical enough? huh! no!

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the passat is one of nine volkswagen models named a 2012 iihs top safety pick. not that we'd ever brag about it. [ chuckles ] turn right. come on -- nine. turn left. hit the brakes. huh. how'd that get there?

[ male announcer ] we can't hide how proud we are to have nine 2012 iihs top safety picks, so we're celebrating with our safety in numbers event. that's the power of german engineering. right now, lease the 2012 passat for $219 a month. >> good morning, it's 8:00 on the east coast as you look live at new york city. welcome back to "morning joe".

it's day before the big super tuesday primary and there new poll results showing the republican field in a tough matchup against president obama. shall we get to the poll results and the president's job approval stands at 50% with 45% disapproving. here's how the poll has the field. romney topping with 38% with santorum with 32%. newt gingrich and ron paul with 13%. when asked how the nominating process affected people's view of the party, 40% said it made them look at the party less favorably and 12% said more favorable and 47% said no impact. it shows how mitt romney compares with past candidates. she lower than mccain, kerry,

bush, and dole at the same point in the race. head to head matchups nationally against president obama, all four fall short. mitt romney is the closest, six points behind the president. on the congressional preference, 41% said republicans are the preferred majority in congress. 46% would rather see democrats in charge. 55% said the democratic party appeals to nonsupporters and 26% said the republican party. we will look ahead to a few races. we will talk about the polls. >> let's go through the -- do we have the head to head matchups to the president with ohio and virginia? >> in virginia, only mitt romney and ron paul. romney is leading 69% to 26%.

a closer race in ohio where we have a statistical tie between romney and santorum. followed by newt gingrich at 15% and ron paul at 13%. >> those were the polls. we will see what happens. mark halpern, these polls were taken at a time that is great news for the white house. fantastic news up and down the line. you look at the state polls that show the president with 17 points ahead of romney in virginia. look at these numbers. the president had 52 to 35% in virginia. then you move on to ohio and these polls have the president ahead of romney by 12 points in ohio. mark, i will ask the question this way. does anybody in the white house believe they are doing this well? >> not that well.

>> that they are up by 17%. >> those polls show a bigger lead than exists for the president, but no doubt he is ahead in the battle ground states and at or above 50% and the republicans have their work cut out for them to get the electoral votes. it has been a bad period for the republican party and i don't know that it will get better. it's up to mitt romney. he will almost certainly be the nominee and it's up to him to turn this around for the party. they are behind right now. >> this is absolutely terrible news for a republican party that has been working hard over the past month. >> we will talk more about this later and the whole rush limbaugh thing, the president jumped out on the side of the law student. he came out and publicly defended her and called her.

this is blood in the water for the president and the white house. if they will be attacking women and they talk about contraceptives and if they attack rush limbaugh whether it's mitt romney or santorum or anyone else, such a feeble way to respond to it, that adds to the problem. >> romney's response on friday night is either going to be a water shed. if he doesn't learn the lessons of how bad that response was, i don't think he has a chance to win. >> i comment the president for not just calling people who were called terrible names by conservatives, but when rib lals call them terrible names.

paper picking up -- wait. he didn't do that. >> he refused the million dollar contribution to his pac. >> it makes my heart a little lighter knowing he picked up the phone and called her similarly terrible names by people. >> i will stick to that here in the show. >> he didn't do that. >> someone does something like that, not go there. it just exacerbates it. >> the president of the united states stepped in. >> why didn't he step in when it happened before? >> i don't have the answer to that. he thinks this is a good moment. >> people on both sides say horrible things and you wonder why they do. but this comes at the end of a

month of republicans going to war on contraception. they had the advantage when all the catholics were on their side, but they couldn't leave it alone. it continues with one statement after another that makes them look like they are hostile, not just to democratic women, but i heard it again from my wife yesterday, yesterday she is like you know what, fix the economy and leave us alone and then she gave me a lecture on contraception and all of her friends take it for reasons that have nothing to do with birth control. you don't have to tell me this. i know this. tell it to our party. this has been going on for a month. i swear. what is wrong with these people? >> this is an interesting case study. getting off message. there has been a movement away from economics.

some represent the fact that the economy is doing better and they are not sure how to go after the president in the same way they were two or three months ago and the republicans lost control over the issue. it went from individual rights versus the size and the role of government and morphed into women's rights and contra exception and the republicans had the advantage in the first round. clearly it moved to the democrats in the later rounds. >> we could see it coming. we knew it was coming. >> i want to show you a month ago. everybody is now saying what you said on february 13th. take a look. >> they need to be very careful about how they push forward on this issue because if it stops being about freedom of religion and starts being about contraception, republicans will get routed in swing areas.

>> you know what my take away was? i have been wearing the same sweater. >> it was so obvious what they were going to do. that was my regis. you can go back to february 13th and republicans were in great shape. they were overreached. he listened to the wrong people and took on the entire catholic church and hierarchy and even liberals. they had everything breaking in their direction and just weren't smart enough to pull back when they should have pulled back. a month later the president is killing them in polls. >> it is classic triangulation. the president is saying there is a balance between liberty and access to health care. they are helped by democrats and liberals who were talking about it as a contraception issue. you have republicans who are just talking about the religious

libertiy issue. it's killing them. they only made it worse by the fact that some people have been out there again just talking about religious liberty in principal, but disregarding the politics of the -- >> we fell for it. >> the concerns about the contraception issue. it is a great example that the republican party is leaderless. >> while everyone is pounding the president, you are looking at the damage that was going to be done to your party. >> it's just what mark said. the republican party is leaderless. they don't have a strong leader in the house and the strong national leader in the senate. i'm not talking about whether boehner and connell can run their institution. they are great at that, but they have a guy in mitt romney. he can't given get his story

straight on individual mandates. you knew if haley barber were in charge, he would say boys, here's what's going to happen. anybody talking about contraception, it will be the girls. y'all shut your mouth. if george w. bush were there, in trent lott saying what he said about strom thurman, if there hadn't been a republican president, it would have probably caused the republicans damage. you had a republican president that said you know what, we have to protect the party brand. they are leaderless now, but it has been a terrible month. >> you are going from leadership and criticizing the president to the president at georgetown yrchlt quoting classic literature saying this is about civil discourse. they really changed the public debate here and showing how the issue has gone from one party to the other.

>> absolutely. >> hard to imagine how horrible the republican party botched this over the past month. >> it really is. you brought the individual mandate and let's quickly get that in before we go to a break. facing attacks with this health caroline is the same as the president's. mitt romney was arguing he backed the individual mandate in massachusetts, but not for the country as a whole. here's what romney said at a debate in june. >> ours was a state plan and solution and if people don't like it, they can change it. states are the right place for this responsibility. >> now conservatives are posting to a 2009 quote by romney where he called on president obama to adopt an individual health care mandate. in the "usa today" piece, he suggest the president can learn from the plan he enacted as

governor of massachusetts. first we established incentives for those who are uninsured to buy insurance using tax penalties as we did and others have proposed. it encourages people to take responsibility rather than pass medical costs on to others. >> can you believe this? seriously. this is all the republican party has been talking about for two years. they are about to nominate a guy. they can nominate a guy who wrote obama care. >> he got tons of endorsements over the weekend. >> republicans now have the choice and tom coburn. so now the republicans have basically three choices. they have vote for a guy that basically drafted obama care, something they have campaigned against for three years or a guy

who wants to debate about contraceptives, or newt gingrich who is newt gingrich. that's all i have to say. ron paul who maybe should just run as an independent. >> he doesn't want to help hurricane victims. >> can you turn the lights off? it's over. >> can you believe the republicans are left with these choices? >> it's going to be okay. something will emerge somehow. >> the white night scenario is over. >> i guess. >> it's over. didn't we decide that after michigan? >> i don't know. this liberal mandate stuff is a killer. >> it's a gee we talked about a lot. will republicans swallow the pill in saying mitt romney, i

don't like him, but he is better than -- republicans will, but will women and independents and hispanic voters vote for him? the rest of the year as far as i'm concerned is can mitt romney do everything to be in a position to have a chance? that's a lot to do. >> presidents of tax reform, grover norquist. his book looks at policies that were born out of financial crisis and why they are hurting our economy. robert f. kennedy jr. will be on set and we have a check on the forecast. >> the clean up and the devastation into the deep south. the largest march tornado outbreaks ever reported in this country. somewhere between near 80 tornados reported and that's not likely. a lot of them have been confirmed and they will get the numbers adding up. it won't be the deadliest, but the number of tornados are very,

very high. theyaed insult. it snowed last night where a lot of the tornados hit in indiana, ohio and west virginia. that snow is moving through areas of west virginia south of d.c. not far you will see snow to the southside. spring returns in the middle of this week. two more days of winter and then it's going to be a beautiful middle to the end of the week. wet weather, but no tornado outbreaks. a little chill fre boston to chicago and detroit and cleveland. warm weather in denver and dallas. look what happens in chicago. 36 today and tomorrow is 52. if you are joining us from the west coast, you will get a cool down. your weather arrives tomorrow. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550

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it's been a scenario in which you would be comfortable raising taxes. >> no. >> war? >> the federal government spends 4% of gdp on defense. >> natural disasters? >> your house gets knocked down and you get a tax raise? >> what about the rise of the apes? >> if they are legitimate? >> if they took over.

would you be comfortable? >> i would prefer for that not to happen, but raising taxes would not stop that. >> 21 past the hour. >> i have no idea what the rise of the apes? >> the daily show. >> he is so good. here with us is the president of americans for tax reform, grover for kwift and author of debacle. what we can do now to regain our future. >> debacle. i thought we were talking about the last month for the republican party. the republicans have been shooting it tough. you always when you have your meetings, you say let's focus on the issues that matter. the taxes and balanced budgets and getting americans back to work. they are shooting themselves in the foot right now. >> this conversation is happening before the republicans have to nominate and before the presidential election in november.

november is going to be two months away from the largest tax increase in history set up by obama and all the tax increases. >> you are talking about the exbragz of the bush tax cuts. >> the tax increases that he wants to put in. over $5 trillion hits them. he wants to take the death tax which right now there is a $10 million exemption and he takes that to $1 million and 55% of everything after the $1 million, the government will steal. >> i am listening and there people saying you got it all wrong, but as a political analyst, most people on both sides and you would even agree with me. it's republicans always win the tax debate. they always do. if republicans were focusing on this tax break and the expiration of the bush tax cuts and the tax increases, that would -- >> obama and the democrat when

is they passed obama care, they set up an entitlement that had existing entitlements. it created new and on top. they have massive increases on all sections. >> i'm glad you brought up the president's health care plan referred to as obama care. >> yep. >> "usa today" sort of floated back up to the surface like one of the bodies in the sopranos a couple of seasons later. let's go to the quote. this is what romney said. first we establish incentives for those who are uninsured to buy insurance using tax penalties as we did or tax credits as others proposed. encourages free writers to take responsibility rather than pass the medical cost on to others. this is mitt romney. the ruptive republican nominee.

i would say before super tuesday, bragging about how president obama should copy his plan to force all americans to be on health insurance. that is disturbing. is it not for conservatives? >> what he should have done is vote on everything and he didn't have a record. >> here's a bad record to run off. >> he said i changed my mind and that was wrong. what obama did and should have learned from the failure of government mandates in the area and made it significant. >> you are disturbed about him saying that? >> it was a mistake to have said it then some. >> this is what i can't get. help me out. i would have never said. i don't care if the heritage foundation said this is the conservative way forward on the individual mandate. i can't think of a small government conservative who would say it was a good idea to

have the u.s. forcing individuals to get health care insurance. how can mitt romney believe that in 2009? >> she hadn't have, but he shifted on that and running against a guy who passed it into law. >> grover norquist, do you have -- >> against liberty. some conversions are okay. >> let's try and -- norquist's 12-step plan to rescue america. which republican candidates budget and plan to move forward matches yours? >> the good news is all the candidates going back to the ten that started and four that are left are moving in the same direction. one towards lower taxes and one towards what reagan did. they want to roll back the successo successors. >> they want to do really realistic cuts. some of them think that.

>> look at the ryan budget. obama and the democrats have not been put out flushed out budgets. they haven't even written them. what the republicans did and will do again is pass a budget. that was a $6 trillion redemption and obama's overspending. very, very good start to undoing the damage that obama has done in spending. >> with the candidates? >> the question is can you cut taxes or hold taxes where they are and still gee the budget down where the american people will accept this? the ryan budget includes medicare plan and changing the percent that americans have to pay from 25% at the moment to 68%. the question is, is that what americans want? 70% oppose change here and let alone going with the ryan plan. is this politically feasible to go down this road? >> yeah bah the alternative is

medicare and the higher taxes obama is imposing and the 500 bill whereon in cuts that obama had to pay for obama care. the left wing democrat who cowrote the plan and now they want to pretend it's not a bipartisan plan. i think it's exactly where we go. >> there is a middle ground this not to cut taxes further and to repeal. some of them we can't afford and reform medicare, but not all the way to 60%. >> with the $5 trillion in tax increases that obama wants to put in over the next decade and all the tax cuts on rich people, he has a trillion dollar deficits far into the future. he has to be coming taxing middle class people to go after it. remember obama's first tax increase. the guy who would never tax

anybody who made less than $250,000 a year. 16 days into his presidency the tax on cigarette smokers. that was the first tax he did on lower and little income people. the democrats do trickle down taxation. they promise you the minimum tax only hit 115 people and now it will hit about 30 million people as the patch disappeared courtesy of obama not allowing it to be permanent. now half the country pays it and the spanish american war tax that was only on rich people who had phones. everybody has a phone. for 100 years we are paying for that temporary tax on rich people. this idea is what people say to get taxes raised. >> in today's world, people want a different level of services than they got in the spanish-american war. can you say you want to go back to that level of services in the

economy? i don't think that's where the country is. tax rates today with cigarette taxes, tax rates today are substantially lower than they were at the end of the clinton years because of the bush tax cuts. the question is whether we can afford those low tax rates. can we afford a 15% capital gains for rich people and half of the country doesn't pay federal taxesa the all or do we need to cut back the expenditures and the services have having a reasonable level to pay for them? >> the book debacle that i put out, it's two things. what obama did to make the recession longer or worse. this is the loudiest recovery we had from a recession. we had people leaving the job market and leaving the job market during the recovery. during the reagan years, he create 6.3 million jobs with the recession in the middle.

this president we have fewer people than when we took office. >> why is that obama's fault? >> why is the recovery so bad? because of the regulatory taxes on energy creation and killing tens of thousands of jobs and killing hundreds of thousands of jobs by not allowing energy to be created. the more regulations are coming down and the tax increases and the democrats keep. during 2000, people forget. the american economy is dynamic. every year from 2000 on until the recession, we created 5.3 million jobs every month. many jobs disappear at 5.3 million were created. it's not net. that's what democrats forget. when you don't create the jobs and jobs keep disappearing, what happened? that went to 4.3 in the recession to 3.9 under the recovery. the job creation is worse than during the recession and that's

what all your spending and taxes and regulations are. you guys are thinking about job creation. you kill it. the numbers are there. >> no. >> so what's the steve response? >> the problems we have go far beyond the question of barack obama's cigarette taxes. they have to -- i don't think it had has to do with that. income taxes have not gone up. it has to do with global competitiveness and the ability to earn an income and the housing sector being on its back and that is the single biggest reason why and neither republicans or the democrats proposed a plan that makes sense. your team said that will work itself out and let the market play out. that's fine, but housing has done nothing. no jobs have been added in the recovery. there have been two million net jobs added, but things like housing when we have no policies

are flat. i think it's much more complex than saying it's president obama's fault. >> slow economic growth and reagan in their third year, four million jobs created. this was a weak recovery and one wonders about how much. last month we had 243,000 jobs created. they lost 2.7 million jobs, but usually you lose some after december. when the numbers are coming up because you are working on them based on past models of job creation which have shifted, we are not creating the jobs we used to and republicans say if you tax job creators and tax investors and beat them senseless with regulation, this is not something that might happen in the past. investors don't wait and businesses don't wait until obama's tax increase. they are going now. they are laying off people now

because of that. there a series of these. solyndra. >> so linda was in that and you would be hard pressed to point to a set of policies that have been enacted. i would like to point to a set that has been enacted that make a difference in the job creation for the negative. >> this is why in november we will be talking about the spending policy and not the relationship that they have. we will be focused on the tax increases that he intends to impose and told people he will impose and those passed on health care. there huge amounts of taxes baked into the cake. everybody hiring knows those taxes. >> you have to talk about the massive spending cuts and what the effect would be on americans. >> it would be helpful to know what obama did. stimulus and jobs were lost. >> i can't help myself.

>> you wanted to get in there. thank you. you guys need to take it on the road. >> all right. >> the book is debacle. you can get an excerpt at m oj o.msnbc.com. up next -- >> we will continue this debate. >> robert f kennedy jr. with more "morning joe" in a moment. ♪ under blue moon i saw you [ young man ] whoo-hoo! ♪ so soon you'll take me there he is! the party's arrived. ♪ [ both hiss ] [ screaming, explosions ] oh, he-- [ crickets chirping ] [ owl hooting ] [ gasps ] ♪ fate ♪ up against your will ♪ through the thick and thin

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>>. >> robert kennedy jr. to protect 1.6 million skwir feet of waterways. we have a lot to talk about. obviously the bp settlement which you and -- the former firm i was associated with. >> i'm associated with and it was one of the firms. that settled the bp lawsuit this last week. $8 billion is kind of the minimum that goes to the businesses for the loss.

>> and also you just got back from the mideast and you were talking about a fascinating story about why you were over there and how the mideast is actually aggressively -- some governments investing in al termative energy sources. >> it's extraordinary because we are moving to a new energy economy. it's like we told you before. we are building here in the united states. one of the companies i'm involved in is a power plant three times the size of a nuclear power plant. we are building it at 1/5 the cost you can build a nuke plant and the same cost as oil or gas. it's free energy forever. now you have to spill it all over the gulf and over valdez. the real cost after you build

the plant, the interesting thing is we can't get money to do these things in the united states. the u.s. government has been say we will get plenty of money to the nuke industry. you give hundreds of billions a year in subsidies to coal and oil. if you are trying to produce these new more efficient forms of energy that are patriotic and local and wholesome fuel from heaven, rather than the filthy poisonous addictive fuels from hell, you can't get them to do it for the u.s. government. a lot of that is coming from the arab governments and places like dubai and from qatar that are very, very progressive governments. it's a monarchy, but a monarchy that started out launching the arabs from abu dhabi and dubai

and these are oil nations. they acknowledge the future is going to be solar energy and going to be in led lights and electric power and you want to be part of that future. >> the fuels from heaven. wonder how the obama >> you brought it up and i administration has done in terms of turning this country during the shift towards clean energy. there were a lot of promises made in the campaign. have we moved forward? >> there were a lot of promises made in the last year in the state of the union address. president obama talked about the energy and it used to say i'm for newt. if they can make it if they can make it economical. they used to say when i was a kid. it's the expensive way to boil a

pot of water. it's never conceived. then you have to dispose of the base. why would you? you can make much, much cheaper energy from replacing these lights with led lights. and from electric cars. i have an electric car and call it six cents a mile over the life of the car. call it 60 cents a mile. the market will drive us there. the question is, who will be in the driver's seat. will it be the chinese because they are making it. >> they are making the investments? >> this is the arms race of the 21st century. they are spending 750 billion over the next five years in solar. people talk about the republicans are focused on the collapse of solyndra. it collapsed because the chinese

flooded the market with chinese solar power. >> and the light rail and spending billions on moving people around their country in a greenway. >> i can hear the music saying we have to go, but i want to talk about the art auction tonight. we have jeff koontz and the greatest artist and what's here in new york is the tickets just to come and see these. >> right. there is a couple million for the reliance and it will be an extraordinary art. >> art for water is an auction that will be -- >> debra harry will be sing. >> that's big. >> thank you. >> for the water keeper alliance celebrating the clean water act

in new york. i'm excited about it. say it again. >> art for water action benefiting water keeper alliance. go to waterkeeper.org. >> bobby, thanks for being with us. keep my friends in pensacola in line. . >> i will. i wouldn't do that. pay the check?

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the one in my house. now they're managing my investments for me. and with fidelity, getting back on track was easier than i thought. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy. get one-on-one help from america's retirement leader. time to get a check on business. brian shackman is live at cnbc headquarters of. >> let's do that. i have the red sox cuff links on ready to go. >> yeah, baby. how are we looking? >> i don't expect very much.

very low expectations. i'm excited for opening day and who cares? >> of course on april 20th, the 100 anniversary of fenway. that will be exciting. we talked about the spring and let's talk about china. the chinese need to keep their economy humming quickly so they can maintain the established order there. might have some bad news for the leader. >> they pror jecting 7.5% gdp and the long-term targets are 8%. i was always taught anything below 10% could lead to civil unrest. they are less concerned and a lot of people think they are being less conservative so they can exceed them getting into our way of doing things. they will have a turn over in leadership in the next year and the two biggest leaders are 69 years old and they are about to be done and get a new set of leaderships. not too bad. they are dragging the markets down a little bit.

they are two things. you are a big traveler and unite and continental are becoming the biggest airline in the world. a lot of long lines and trouble over the weekend as they merged and i'm glad i didn't travel. apple is 25 billion ap downloads. 25 billion. it's incredible. >> unbelievable. every time you see the numbers flying, can you believe this company is really, really doing pretty well. six months after steve jobs. >> they say they create 50000 jobs in the u.s. is what they said. >> look at this. she has her unhappy face on. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, brian. we'll be right back with more "morning joe."

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>> for more on "morning joe," she stars as sarah pail up. julian moore joins us here on the set. what if anything?

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. welcome back to "morning joe." what did you learn today? >> that james carville is friends with -- >> doesn't matter what. >> what did you learn some. >> i learned that "saturday night live's" knowledge is profound. >> there is nothing better than the team at "morning joe." >> what are are you talking about? >> nothing more than our team.

>> we have a great team. >> nothing better. i have been cooking all weekend. i made cookies for everyone. >> quickly, i learned in ohio, romney now ahead by three points. just a week ago he was down by seven. taking off there. let's go over to chuck todd. what time is it? >> "morning joe." here's chuck. >> mitt romney adds washington state to the win column. rick santorum keeps it neck and neck, can romney put it all away. he picked up key endorse ams and what do you people think? the result of the "wall street journal" poll are out this morning. eyebrow raising data on the corrosive toll the primaries have taken on the gop brand. don't miss the changing results on marriage.