to sleep that's our core audience. >> i have a peggy. she writes i had toe surgery yesterday so i can dance at my daughter liz's wedding. >> this liz's wedding? the one on september 29th? peggy, do you september 29th? peggy, you have plenty of time to heal that toe before liz gets married on september 29th. thanks, peggy. "morning joe" starts right now. so ohio is the decisive state, whoever wins that one, that's it. and if i'm not mistaken -- >> mitt romney declared the winner in ohio. >> okay. all right, everybody, thanks for coming, that's a wrap. we're just going to sit back. show's over. good luck in the general election. i'm going to smoke my pipe and watch book notes as i always do to unwind from a hard day at the satire factory. unless -- >> romney eked out the win in

ohio. >> he barely won in the all important state of ohio. >> he won the math, but lost the momentum. >> he could not deliver a knockout punch. >> the republican race far from over, folks. >> every time. >> every time. good morning. it's thursday, march the 8th. and with us on the set, we've got executive editor of random house, pulitzer prize winning historian jon meacham. the list keeps -- >> do you have my tax returns? >> i heard at the "game change" premiere because i -- you know, all the kids were calling me because all the cool kids were there last night. >> i, of course, was home not like jon stewart.

>> did you have porage for the kids? >> it soothes my nerves at the end of the day, and after watching masterpiece theater. >> i saw it. i touched it. >> they weren't talking about the movie. please, willie geist, tell america what everybody was talking about at the game change premiere last night. >> so when you go into the theater at the "game change" prehepr premie premiere. by the way, the film is astonishingly good. but the real story last night -- >> because you want to see the fashion, right? >> yes. >> you go to the oscars, the academy awards, you want to see the dresses, right? you go to the golden globes. same thing. what's gweneth wearing? >> she's got the cape on, comes off for the rest of the night. suits and ties, the women looking lovely. >> this is like hollywood. >> tom hanks was there. >> that's exciting. >> you wear your best when tom hanks is there. >> so down the aisle in the

theater comes one donny deutsch. >> what's he wearing? is he -- >> a great dresser, obviously. >> i bet tom ford dressed him just for that. mr. ford, this is big. >> it's like tom ford if tom ford were baby gap. >> what? what? i don't understand. >> 4-t toddler black t-shirt. it was very snug. >> it was a long sleeve t-shirt. >> it was very snug, handsome. >> to me, it's a movie, you go casual. >> the base for this movie is dress by gerald ford. >> by the way, let's talk turkey here. >> no, we want to talk about your black spanx shirt you were wearing. >> donny, here's the thing, donny pulls it off. >> talk about rolling with the big dogs. on one side he's got his wife, and on the other side, he's sitting with gail king. >> got to keep your options open. >> yeah. >> there's a lot of chitchat, if

you know what aisle talking about. >> you never know, it's like the old alabama had the wish bone. >> read that line back. >> mika's not here. >> you ride that and you're looking to see which way they're breaking. >> you keep it. >> or you can pitch. >> just pitch. so that's exactly what you had. so anyway -- >> donny looked good -- >> people are getting sick and tired of hearing this, but we said it a couple of days ago because we saw it for the first time, it's a fantastic movie. >> i've got to plug our guys, mark and heilemann, and i don't like them particularly, but this movie is so brilliantly written, acted, directed, one minute into it, you think you're watching sarah palin and i was really proud of our boys. it's fantastic. >> it was a thriller. it moves too. >> listen, we have a lot to talk about. first of all, you've got the new apple ipad 3 out. we don't have any nerds on the set today so we won't talk about --

>> you're a pulitzer prize winner, you're a nerd. >> also the front page of the "new york times," a big story on corruption in afghanistan. we've known it all along. our young men and women are dying every day, and people are going to work every day to pay their taxes to pay $2 billion and continue paying for a war to prop up one of the most corrupt regimes on the planet. a regime that's willing to sell their soul to the taliban if that's what it takes to stay in power. this is despicable. "financial times" talks about what we're going to be talking about today. that's mitt romney, he's trying to get his rivals to pull out of the contest. he says really the republican race for president is now just a matter of math and that the numbers don't add up for the rivals. 1,144 delegates are needed to

actually win the nomination. and as of today, mitt romney leads the field with 341 delegates. he's followed by newt gingrich who has 112 delegates and rick santorum who is telling newt gingrich to get out of the race who has 108 delegates. romney's campaign is noting the four remaining contests are winner-take-all, meaning it's getting tougher for any one candidate to catch up with the former massachusetts governor. and, you know, they released a memo, jon meacham, yesterday, describing how they are inevitable despite the fact they don't even have one-third of the delegates needed. and said it's time for you guys to get out of the race. but gingrich, santorum, ron paul, they have no incentive for leaving. >> no, i don't -- you can't really see any of these guys as secretary of state. >> right. >> i think it's fairly safe to say. so what's the political calculation for them? and they can argue that they're

particularly, in newt's case, if newt's looking at santorum, santorum seems to be saying to gingrich, it's not plausible for you. but gingrich says i'm newt and i have more than you do. and the lack of enthusiasm as such for romney that obviously i think anybody that gets out will have the kind of pawlenty regret. >> exactly. look at the math. rick santorum needs to win 2 out of every 3 delegates from today forward to be the nominee. and the numbers are about the same for newt gingrich. but mitt romney -- and if i'm romney's people, i don't know if i'd put this number out. mitt romney needs to win 47%, almost half of the delegates remaining. what that tells me is if one other person decides to jump in the race to be a spoiler just to make sure that there's a contested convention and suddenly chris christie, jeb

bush, paul ryan, mike pence, all these other conservative republicans that can actually win an election will have a shot to get in there. i mean, if i'm romney, i don't know i'd put that out. because when i saw that number, i said you need 50% with four people in the race, nobody's excited about your campaign, you keep making mistakes. those numbers don't add up for you either, sir. >> great point. i want to put out that message for another reason. it's not the way the leader acts. the leader doesn't tell the populous and the competition, this game is over. the populous decides that. you almost look weak by saying that. please stop, please stop. and to your point, he's better off continuing with this show. and i also don't subscribe to the conventional wisdom that the longer this goes on, the more he gets beaten up. i think people are tuning out. and i think the further along he gets with the shorter the window him versus obama is actually better for him. so to your point and the point of i don't think you look like a leader pleading people to get out and telling people it's over.

people go, uh-uh. >> why should rick santorum get out? he's looking at the numbers, he's got money coming in, he's got a guy in foster friess willing to bankroll his campaign. >> by the way, people usually get out because they know they'll be on part of the team. rick santorum knows, he's in the wilderness. he's got sack cloth and ashes. as far as the republican establishment goes, like jon meacham said, nobody's going to call him up and say, you know if you get out, maybe you're going to get staked, maybe you'll be secretary -- no, he is an independent guy and it works for him on the campaign trail, but he will not be part of a mitt romney cabinet if mitt wins this thing. same thing with newt gingrich. >> newt gingrich you saw what he's going to end up -- you see him pumping gas? >> to use a foreign policy analogy, romney and gingrich and santorum are not rational

actors. there's not -- the conventional political calculus doesn't apply. >> right. they play by their own rules. there's no doubt about it. >> you guys get a sense that people have tuned this off at this point? we talk about it, and obviously, and we're going to keep this thing going. but that the average american is kind of like shut it down -- i just get a sense. >> i'm not so sure about that. you look at the numbers that have collapsed for the republican party nationwide over the past two weeks. i'll guarantee you people have talked about what santorum's saying, what others are saying. >> the reason i disagree is i think people want a choice. they want an alternative to the president even if they don't take it. and i don't think they're finding romney to be -- >> clearly. >> i'm talking about not just republicans but the 10,000 independents who are going to decide this. >> take me through the math. all along we keep saying, something's got to give.

go through the steps that a christie or a ryan or a general bush. what has to happen mathematically, logistically for that to happen. >> if he doesn't get 47% of the delegates between now and tampa, he doesn't clinch it. and of course, you're going to have an open battle. and that is an opportunity. in most cases -- >> what happens there? >> in most cases there. and jon meacham, we can go back to 1976. and most cases there, if somebody comes up a little short, you know you're going to get to the convention and arms will be broken and people will say let's all come together. i think in the case of mitt romney, though, jon, this isn't 1976. you don't have a seating republican president running against ronald reagan. you've got a guy that had everything going for him, ran against the weakest field i would say in over the past 100 years. in fact, i went back -- i can't think of a weaker field than this republican field. and i'm just talking organization, i'm talking ability on the campaign trail, i'm talking about resumes.

i think if the republican establishment is giving any opportunity as they get toward tampa to say well, you know, he's not going to be at 50%, he's not going to have the numbers needed to lock this down. let's call chris christie, let's call jeb bush, let's call paul ryan. let's go another way. >> yeah, you're right, historically controlling factors aren't there. in '76, you had a movement figure. reagan was the embodiment of something. everybody forgets, he tried to run in '68 briefly. it was a three-day campaign, but nixon was worried about him. so reagan was much more of a formidable figure even in '76 than either gingrich or santorum. and you're right, ford had the white house to use as he worked kansas city. and in the absence of those factors, sure, you could have,

you know, something could happen. i think that -- i think it's tricky because i think the establishment inso far as there is one wants romney to do well here and -- >> it doesn't seem that way, though. >> they want romney, though, to do well. they want romney to do well combine -- i mean compared to what? they want romney to win when the options are santorum. they want romney to win when the options are paul or gingrich. but suddenly if you're a member of the republican establishment, willie, and you've got an opportunity to put chris christie's name on the floor, i wonder how that ballot goes. romney, chris christie, you know, newt gingrich, rick santorum, ron paul. i wonder how that goes the first time? i wonder how jeb bush goes. i wonder how paul ryan does. >> the fact that we're in march and not just us but serious people in the republican establishment are still considering that possibility, not that you're not a serious person in the republican

establishment. but my question is if that does happen at a convention and it's still a long shot. let's say for argument's sake chris christie, can you light the fuse and get liftoff on a campaign in early september. you have 60 days. >> i think that plays -- you are the white knight. i think this script is more likely than unlikely. and i think there's no better place to be than the guy that's been carried in on everybody's shoulders, you've got a 60-day window and all of a sudden the president is almost old news at that point in a weird way. so i actually think this is more a probability than -- if you really just see -- once again, this guy outspends santorum 10 to 1 in ohio for a one-point victory. >> you have a lot of people that are saying it's a disadvantage. so why would jeb bush want to do it? why would chris christie? why would paul ryan? the fact is, though, and this is what we all forget four years later is everybody has cast their judgment on sarah palin. we forget that sarah palin came

out of nowhere, and when she exploded on the national stage, even with the press killing her and websites lying about her and -- even with all of that, sarah palin and pat buchanan would remind us of this all the time. sarah palin pushed john mccain into first place. and john mccain stayed in first place up until september 15th when the markets crashed. and i believe if the markets had not crashed and if john mccain had reacted in a different way to that, sarah palin could have carried him over the top because she was new. as you said, she was fresh. people liked this outsider. >> i also -- >> i'm going to say, and jeb bush and chris christie don't need crash courses on how to handle themselves the way sarah palin did. >> talk about media being co-conspirators. we will force that issue.

>> how big would that be? >> wow. >> so talking about all of this. >> i was just going to say, rick santorum yesterday. so he heard this message from the romney camp that he ought to get out of the race, that it's mathematically impossible. and he made the point this is not your birthright, mitt romney, to be the nominee. this is santorum yesterday. >> what won't they resort to to try to bully their way through this race? you know, if the governor thinks he's now ordained by god to win, then let's just have it out and i feel very, very good that we're running a race energizing people. we're the man versus the machine. and they've got the machine and they've got the insiders and the big money and we've got the people. and i like my chances. >> you know, there's also an interview with cnbc where mitt romney was shooting down the speculation that another outside candidate could suddenly step

in. i'm not exactly sure who sent him that memo. i just don't think that's the case. i think it could happen. >> we've got the time and resources and a plan to get all the delegates, and we think that will get done before the convention. but one thing i can tell you for sure is, there's not going to be a brokered convention where some new person comes in and becomes the nominee. it's going to be one of the four people still running. >> the more he says it, he's daring. it's so foolish. i don't know who is in his ear, but to keep telling people it's over, this is not going to happen, the more you're setting it up. it's going to -- who is not seeing that? >> i don't know. you talked about how much money mitt romney had spent. alex, do we have those numbers? he spent a of money to win -- to win his delegates the other day. so he raised $11.5 million in february. that's the second highest number of the 2012 election and it's

good news for romney because the primary victories came at a huge cost. nbc crunched the numbers, of course, asked willie and me to go our to our super computers. and if you combine his pac money and fund-raising money, he spent more than $36,000 per delegate won on super tuesday. rick santorum and his super pac spent about $19,000 per delegate. so obviously president obama's people are very excited about this. david axelrod, i mean, i don't know when david's birthday is, well, the answer is every day this spring is -- >> david actually smiled. >> how happy was david axelrod? he cracked a smile. >> i spoke to him the other day and he goes, you know, i like where we are. and without being, because he's very cautious, very bright guy, but he's got his popcorn in his hand and he's loving watching this. >> everybody in the white house

is loving it. but david didn't say that all was -- the coast wasn't completely clear. he was on with our good friend chris matthews. by the way, chris matthews pulled an all-nighter the other night, willie. a lot of comments on twitter feed about his hair style. i didn't know people were as focused on -- >> he's using a new styling mousse yesterday on "morning joe." sort of a dishevelled look. >> like old-style journalist. came in from the convention, a boxing match. >> ink on his fingers. >> ink on his fingers. couple of rounds with jimmy breslin and comes in to "morning joe." anyway, this is what david axelrod said on "hardball" yesterday. >> the super pac issue is one that concerns us. there are hundreds of millions of dollars, allegedly, pledged for negative ads in the general election through these super pacs. >> can you imagine the koch brothers at all to that hatred? >> we can't match them.

i think we can offset them somewhat partly through the money we raise. we've endorsed one super pac's activities, and perhaps they can help close that gap. but there'll still be a gap. >> yeah, they don't raise money. they're kind of like the little engine that could. >> in fact, that was in david axelrod's office. they had so little money, they had to go with the -- >> that's what's sweet about the democrats, there's no super pac. >> they're underdogs. come on. >> that's why they're so near and dear to our hearts. >> jesus take the wheel. if we win, we win, if not, we go back to chicago. >> i love david axelrod, though, he's a great guy. politics aside. >> politics aside. david and susan, they're great people. coming up, the debate is heating up on capitol hill right now on whether the united states should take military action in syria.

we're going to be talking about that with the ambassador to the united nations susan rice. also, former white house budget director peter orzag will be here. also former dnc chairman howard dean. but up next, the politico playbook and bill karins. hey, bill, so -- >> yes, sir? >> i'm looking on my iphone over weather over the next week or so. we're in the 40s, we're in the 50s, we're in the 60s. it kind of feels like spring. is this unseasonably warm? are we done with the 20s and 30s in new york? >> winter's done. >> really? >> yeah. done. >> just like mitt romney. over. that's it. >> no, it's amazing, joe. it really is. temperatures not just this week but all through next week. we're heading right past st. paddy's day with temperatures about 20 degrees above average. unheard of stuff all through the country. >> so is this, bill, unseasonably warm? is this a record-breaking winter

in new york? we had two years ago, man, we had snow. it was crazy and it was cold, blizzards all over the place. >> joe, it's almost like we rehearsed this because yesterday our government released the winter data and it was the fourth warmest record winter. not the record warmest, but it was about half degree below that because the west coast was a little cooler. but the east coast, great lakes, your warmest winter of all time. >> one more question. because i am fascinated by this. so last year was one of the coldest and we had all of the snow. is it the jet streams that go a certain way throughout a winter? donny's laughing, i'm curious. >> this is like good morning, phoenix. >> because people love to say oh, this was the warmest winter ever, it's global warming and florida's going to be under water in four days. >> people want to know what's normal now. >> i think the only thing we've learned the last three winters is once you get locked into a pattern like the cold or snowy

or the warm it doesn't really change much. and that's what's kind of been a little different. usually you seesaw during the winters and that hasn't happened in the last three or four winters in north america. so we'll wait and see how next winter goes. but we haven't had an average normal winter in a couple of years. >> kind of like donny deutsch's fashion -- >> i'm going up to karins. hang on. i'm coming up. >> mika was up here at one point. >> coming up. don't go to break yet. i've never done the weather. >> you're not going to this time either. all right, bill. what's it look like? >> all right, donny. you push the button, that'll be your -- >> how do i do this? >> push the green button. >> throw the maps up. push the buttons. rainy oklahoma, texas, umbrella weather, dallas, memphis, next map, green button. >> green. >> this is a hard -- this is not easy what this man does. >> whatever. >> four buttons here. >> not if you're so coked up you

can't remember your name. >> guys, four buttons he's got to work up here. >> you're making me look good, donny. there's the forecast. here, turn over here and tell everyone what's going to happen. >> 43 degrees, 84, orlando, guys. in new york, 70 degrees, 70 degrees, good watch, people watching on the street. >> just remember we're brewed by starbucks. >> brewed by starbucks. go buy your starbucks, we'll be back in a little bit. keep in touch. >> boom. ♪[music plays] ♪[music plays]

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chocolate lemonade ? susie's lemonade... the movie. or... we make it pink ! with these 4g lte tablets, you can do business at lightning-fast speeds. we'll take all the strawberries, dave. you got it, kid. we have a winner. we're definitely gonna need another one. small businesses that want to grow use 4g lte technology from verizon. i wonder how she does it. that's why she's the boss. because the small business with the best technology rules. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 1-800-974-6006. ♪ hey, welcome back to "morning joe." let's take a look at the morning papers. the richmond times dispatch. bob mcdonnell has signed a bill into law that requires abortion

doctors to give an external ultrasound before the procedure can take place. the initial legislation called for a medically invasive ultrasound prior to abortions. yes, that is a great way to win a swing state in an election year, willie geist. you know, coming up next year, i'm sure, next election season, mandatory anal probes for all. i mean, seriously, you wonder what these virginia republicans are thinking. >> as a man who has been in the room for several ultra sounds, the idea that any woman would be forced to have one is outrageous. >> thank you for -- >> don't you think? >> thank you for taking that stand. a state sanctioned vaginal probe. >> you're talking the external? >> yeah, even that. >> i'm offended by this conversation. >> the cradle of individual liberty. >> virginia. >> yeah, jefferson, the great individualist. >> they brought this full circle now. >> what would thomas jefferson

say? >> "houston chronicle." new details reveal osama bin laden spent his final days living in a home with three of his angry wives. >> poor guy. by the way, which explains why -- i'd heard from some guys from behind the scenes, they kicked down the door and they're like -- and he's like, no, no, no -- right here, right eye. >> according to his young -- >> get me out of this. i'm ready for the virgins. >> during the interrogation, the household was uncomfortably cramped and divided. it's like the real housewives -- >> the comedy stylings -- >> we're told there was bad blood among the wives who believe the older one was plotting to betray that. is that a real story? >> it's -- and khloe will be playing the middle wife. >> he was alone playing video games in his room. >> no, seriously, don't cuff me.

if you could right here. because i may have to get -- i may get a good lawyer and have to live with these -- that's a nightmare. >> that's awful. >> three angry wives, willie. >> i miss mika, but we get to tell the truth when she's not here. >> it's like our show andy cohen would put together for bravo. >> that's a headline. >> a look at the politico playbook. >> he's been stuck, by the way, in a small apartment with 13 angry cats. >> oh, my gosh. >> you want to know what? you can use any segue you want, i'm just glad you didn't use the probe segue. we can do cats. i thank you for not somehow connecting that to me. >> what's your position on mandatory probes? >> i have no comment on that. i do have a position on this, though. i am fully onboard of a donny deutsch weather man fan club. >> yeah. this is a man who follows the media, follows trends, thank you.

>> here's how it would go. it'd go like this. guys, guys, i'm the image guy here, i'm the image guy here, we see the sun up -- guys let me finish, let me finish, we see the sun up every single day, don't you think the american people are sick of seeing the sun. the sun has an image problem. >> this is good. he's got it. he's got it. >> if i only had the glasses i could move up and down the tip of my nose. >> and the baby gap t-shirt. >> how do you look in a baby t-shirt? >> here it is. >> oh, look at that! what is wrong with you? >> nothing's wrong with that. >> nothing he says as he looks at himself. wow. >> golly, how much does a man bra cost. holy cow. >> do you have spanx on under there? >> those are just the spanx. >> i'm sorry if i'm in good shape. >> you look fantastic.

>> your lead story this morning, patrick. let's talk some business. mitt romney trying to break his southern losing streak. he's got alabama ahead of him, he's got mississippi, then after that, louisiana comes around, how does he do it? >> just to follow up on what you're saying before about how even though the convention is fairly close, yet there isn't this consensus around mitt romney, one other thing to think about is he hasn't really had a victory in the south so far. he won virginia, people can argue virginia's not the south. but keep in mind also that newt gingrich and rick santorum did not qualify to be on that ballot. what's the demographic core of the republican party, mitt romney has not had this victory. and it doesn't look like the upcoming ones in alabama and mississippi will change that. he's pouring a ton of money into those states. he really wants to make this happen. but there are a lot of folks around the country that say already this guy is viewed as a northeasterner. time in massachusetts or northern because of michigan. and what has been the heart and soul of our party, this guy is not appealing. he ranks pretty low with people

who can themselves to be very conservative, very low we van jell ca with evangelicals. they would like to have a victory or two under their belt going into the convention so they can say we do play in the south. >> and joe, that's why it's hard for santorum and gingrich to take serious the romney request to drop out of the race. gingrich knows he's got alabama, mississippi, louisiana coming up, santorum knows he's got kansas coming up. he's done very well in the heartland. why would they get out now? >> why would you leave when you know you're about to win races? and mitt romney, when you look at the 13 states mitt romney did the poorest in in 2008, all in the deep south. mitt romney as i have said is going to lose alabama. newt gingrich knows that, rick santorum knows that, ron paul knows that. he's going to lose mississippi. he may do a little better in mississippi because they're a little more establishment republican, but then louisiana, how do you think louisiana -- i mean, they have no incentive to get out of this race. mitt romney could very well lose

5 out of the next 6 contests. >> jon, you're a southern man, any way romney turns around the southern vote? >> he hasn't gotten above 20% anywhere yet in the base of the republican party. it's not that these states will go for obama in the fall, it'll depress the popular vote and it'll put the parts of virginia and north carolina and the panhandle, that -- parts of the swing states that are, in fact, still traditionally southern is going to depress his vote and make obama more likely to win. >> patrick gavin, covered a lot of ground. >> certainly did. thank you, patrick. >> no doubt about it, it was very, very hot. let's make that clear. >> patrick, thanks so much. did a good donny. >> those political guys, man. >> there you go. >> let's drink this in for a second. and i'm a little disturbed, t.j. said in my ear it was really breathy, that's hot. >> exactly.

thank you. now the truth starts to come out. >> what is that? you look like one of those guys -- one of those 70-year-old guys that take -- what is that stuff they take that makes them all bulky. >> have you ever seen those ads? >> the infomercial about that image. >> as an image guy. >> i need help. >> hours after an emotional news conference announcing he was being cut, peyton manning takes a private jet to a new town sparking all kind of buzz about where he may play next. this is a great tease because i don't know where that jet went and willie's going to tell us all when we come back. wow. so where did he go? not in this economy.

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all right. let's do some sports, shall we? peyton manning and the colts made it official yesterday, cutting ties. it was an emotional day in indianapolis. the long time quarterback said good-bye to his town and his fans. the 11-time pro bowler spent his entire professional career in indianapolis when he was drafted in 1998.

boatmaning and jim irsa struggled to keep it together. >> this town and this team mean so much to me. it truly has been an honor to play in indianapolis. i do love it here. i love the fans, and i wills always enjoy having played for such a great team. i haven't thought yet about where i'll play, but i have thought a lot about where i've been. and i've truly been blessed. i've been blessed to play here, i've been blessed to be in the nfl, and as i go, i go with just a few words left to say. a few words i want to address to colts fans everywhere. thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. i truly have enjoyed being your quarterback.

>> over the last decade and a half, we've been so blessed to have him. and, you know, the good times we've had together, the laughs we've shared together -- you know, growing up together in the organization. and when i look down the road and see the many decades going forward that we'll share together and how -- how he's always part of the horseshoe. >> he went on to say that manning's number 18 jersey will be retired by the indianapolis colts. where is manning going to go? just hours after his release -- florida. not far from the miami dolphins complex. we will point out in hush tones that he has a house in miami.

so he's probably just going home. but it's more fun to talk about. he says, though, south florida might not be his final destination. he's considering his options of which he'll probably have many. that didn't stop dwyane wade of the miami heat from courting him on twitter yesterday. tweeted, i'm just going to put it out there, peyton, that number 18 would look great in a dolphins uniform. >> donny deutsch, do you want a 36-year-old thrice injured peyton manning as your quarterback? >> i hope if there's a 1% chance of him getting hurt he realizes he's got an amazing life ahead of him as a politician, major broadcaster, i wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't move on at this point. >> doctors have cleared him. up next, howard dean joins us for the must-read opinion pages. keep it here on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] for the saver, and a big first step.

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♪ santorum can win in ohio, he will survive. >> in mitt romney wins ohio, he takes a giant step forward. >> if santorum can -- >> if romney wins in ohio -- >> santorum can't afford to lose ohio. >> if romney wins ohio. >> if santorum wins, the whole omelet is up in the air and it may land on the floor. >> you have run out of metaphors. the omelet -- what are you staying in a hotel with an omelet bar? >> wow. okay. here we are. i thought i'd just pop in to say hello. there's howard dean, thank god he makes sense. the former governor of vermont and former chairman of the democratic national committee. >> even though jon stewart didn't like my cooking. >> no, he didn't. >> stop that metaphor.

>> it's nice to be skewered by jon stewart, it puts me back in the mix. >> yeah, you could look at it as a compliment. >> so glad you're here. >> the housewives of -- >> did you see that story? >> yeah, i was in make-up. >> did you take offense to the sexist remarks that the gentlemen at this table were -- >> just shoot me. >> about bin laden wanting to be killed because he had three wives -- >> i didn't say it. >> joe said it. >> yeah, joe's going to be on the "today" show. we're going to simulcast that. that's why i'm here. >> that's the only reason. otherwise she wouldn't be out of bed. >> yes, howard, please. >> speaking of sexist remarks, how did you like bob mcdonnell writing himself out of the vice presidential consideration. holy cow. >> what's the deal -- >> what is the matter with these republicans? i think they've lost their brains. >> that's a good question.

erick erickson writes this about the nominee. the big difference between 2008 and 2012 is that in 2008 david be beat goliath. no one thought could be taken out in 2012, goliath is beating david and no one really ever cheers for goliath. romney will go into the general election deeply distrusted by his own base. while having to woo independent voters. this is not a dazzling position to be in to beat an incumbent president. were i mitt romney, i'd be wondering how i spent 5.5 times as much money as rick santorum and barely won ohio. i'd be wondering who on my campaign staff gets fired first. a win is a win is a win. but with each romney win, he comes away even more badly bruised. the rest of march will be just as brutal. what a mess. so howard, i'll start with you. throw it out to the panel, though. has he been badly served by a staff that has now been at this

for, you know, more than one campaign? >> i actually don't think he's been badly served by his staff. he's got the best machine, the most money, the problem is the candidate. i think mitt -- i know mitt romney a little bit. i think he's a decent guy, but he has pandered to the right and now he can't get back to the middle because santorum and gingrich are making him stop. for romney to come out in favor of getting rid of the birth control and all this stuff, this is a disaster -- i've never seen a campaign look anything like this since 1964. >> jon meacham. >> i think to blame the staff is, you know, like blaming the moon for the titanic. >> okay. >> it's sort of -- he is, you know, he is who he is. and actually stewart and stephens have done a good job of keeping the forward momentum going. the good line in that piece is that if you go into a general election without your base, it's not a good thing. and you look back again and again. and when you crack the base or don't have it, it's not a fun

fall. >> here's mitt romney's problem. if i said, hey, would you like to have a beer with newt gingrich? not a problem. do you want to have a beer with mitt romney? and that's the problem. >> he doesn't drink. >> well, coffee or gatorade. >> i understand that in terms of a marketing and -- and i think that's a legitimate issue. having said that, right now, do you think people really are worrying about whether they like him? >> well, it's just you don't connect. it's not oh, i like him. it's just i just -- and chris matthews says it best, you invite this guy into all the rooms of your home a few times a day for the next few years. he comes on screen and you back off. >> donny's right, the problem is trust. and the key question is, does this person, this candidate care about people like me? and with mitt romney, 70% of the people in this country polled believe he only cares about rich people. that's an enormous problem. in difficult economic times.

>> yeah, howard, stay with us. we want to show you news you can't use. >> he looks lean and mean, doesn't he? >> he does. he takes very good care of himself. >> i'm going to send him one of my shirts. >> i'm taking the donny deutsch course on pumping iron. >> here's the problem with donny, he does it three or four times a day, sometimes for several hours at a time and then he can't help himself to wear tight shirts to show off to people exactly how much he works out. what it is is just -- it's just over the top. it's forced, it's needy. >> it's needy. >> it's needy, right, willie? >> the hgh doesn't hurt either. >> i mean, really? you're putting it in people's face. >> isn't that a network? my friends say that it's like i'm driving a spaceship. the body style and the interior design... everything is really cool, but more than anything i love the gas mileage. i don't even know what it's like to really stop and get gas. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month.

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okay. please -- >> time for news you can't use. >> seriously, don't talk to donny. look at the camera and ignore him. >> do your work. >> president obama yesterday visited a truck plant in mt. holly, north carolina. one of the employees there, juan smith, it turns out, introduced the president -- wasn't he great? turns out mr. smith is the associate pastor of his church in gastonia, north carolina. he stole the show. >> oh. >> it is with much humility and a great honor that i stand here before you today to introduce our speaker for the hour. he is a man that really needs no introduction because of the great work he is doing here in

our country and abroad. there's no better place to talk about our energy future than right here on this factory floor. so without further hesitation, i would like for all of us to stand to welcome our president of the united states of america barack obama. >> thank you, juan, for that introduction. i did not know he was a preacher. he must be at least a deacon. he was starting to get the spirit up here. i am going to take juan on the road to introduce me everywhere. can i hear an amen? >> amen.

>> amen. >> how about that? >> that's connecting. that's number one. but the guy was great. >> juan smith. >> he's got -- >> a combination of the pastor and rick santorum's performance has given obama a good week. >> but for those who say obama has trouble connecting, donny? >> he's not in trouble lately. you see it in his eyes and his posture, he's feeling it. >> please, he's always been good at it. >> not like this. >> still ahead, we're going to bring in dr. susan rice. a lot of questions about syria and what the united states is going to do there. also peter orszag. [ female announcer ] you have plans, moments you're looking forward to. what if they were stolen from you? by alzheimer's. this cruel disease is the nation's sixth leading cause of death,

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♪ on november 6th, we're going to stand united. not only having won an election, but having saved a future. >> save the future. what are you a t-1000 coming back to warn us? oh, my gosh, he's a t-1000 sent back to warn us of the upcoming apocalypse. >> willie and i are here along with jon meacham and donny deutsch. donny's in fine form, joe's going to be on the "today" show, which we are simulcasting. we're going to get to politics

in a second. are you reading about the ipad? look at this these boys. the ipad 3. i'm wondering how it differs from this one which i still struggle with. >> news -- >> the new screen they call retina display. >> will this be a letdown? >> essentially as clear as the iphone. so the screen's better, you can look at video more clearly, play games, there's some stabilization. you can dictate notes into it. >> like suri. >> not a huge overhaul. >> i find suri doesn't serve me well and changed it to a man to see if it would listen better, that got worse. that was a big mistake. >> we could've told you that. >> is it going to be better? >> it's out on march 16th, it's going to cost you $499. >> so the price stays -- >> it's the same, right? the price? >> same as a new one, they're going to drop the price of the other one. >> at some point, that's going to hit them. they've got a future. at some point, people are going to stop coughing up the next

$400 unless it makes a bump up. you know what i mean? >> that's what i'm wondering. >> what you described to me does not say to me, okay, i really need a new one. >> great anecdotal evidence of that. i'm on a board and the board is considering getting ipads for everybody on the board so they don't have to put several hundred pages of paperwork in front of us at every meeting. this is an invention that's unbelievable and i think there's a big upside in this. >> no, the ipad -- >> i'd buy apple if i could. >> the ipad itself is a device, but when you have an ipad now trading up, i don't know if the incremental bump is worth the price. >> i've been critical of the iphone because of the cracks in the screen, but i have to say that accessibility and pricing if they can get this so -- because it can be a personal computer. you can work educationally. if we could get it out to everybody in some, way, shape, or form. >> chicks dig guys with ipads.

>> i was just trying to help. the medical community, they're trying to transition. but let's go to politics, shall we? mitt romney says the republican race for president is now a matter of math. and the numbers simply don't add up for his rivals. 1,144 delegates are needed to clench the nomination and as of this moment, romney leads the republican field with 341 delegates. he's followed by newt gingrich with 112 delegates and rick santorum with 108. romney's campaign notes only four of the remaining contests are winner-take-all, meaning it's increasingly difficult for any one candidate to catch up to the former massachusetts governor. in a memo released by the romney campaign, highlights the road ahead for the other republican candidates saying the longer they "ignore the basic principles of math, the only person's odds of winning they are increasing are president obama's." so they're helping president obama. howard? >> big, big problem with this. they left out a crucial piece.

>> tell us. >> romney has to get to 50%. it doesn't matter that one candidate needs 65% to beat romney. the question is what do all three of them together have to get in order to deny romney the nomination? and that is a consideration that nobody has talked about except the insiders on the republican party thinking seriously about a brokered convention. >> howard, what would you do if you were in charge of the party? would there be a discussion at this state of the race to try and figure out how not to self-destruct? >> being in charge of this party's a disaster. they screwed it up a long time ago and allowed to have televised debate. they completely alienated the independents in this country. >> right. >> i don't know how you could rescue this situation. i do think romney will eventually be the nominee. i think he's going to have to plod his way, primary by primary in order to amass the total. but he's so angered the conservative end of the base, especially gingrich and santorum, i don't know how you put this all back together.

somebody the other day, i think it was george will wrote that mitt romney was about to become the most damaged nominee that we've seen in 25 years. i'd make it 40. i think he's so badly damaged by this process already. how do you convince women that they should vote for a republican after all this? >> i don't know. >> it is unbelievable. it is unbelievable. i do think romney will have a rough road. he'll win, but he'll have to go all the way past the last primary in california to get his total. >> people were so critical of the white house when this hhs ruling came out and i'm sure it wasn't planned. brilliant in the long run in terms of politics. jon meacham? >> romney has managed to pull off a significant trick here, which is the conservative base doesn't like him and independents think he's too conservative. so it's kind of right now it's the romney family who are really behind him. and that seems to be the extent of the passion. >> the passion, that's one of the problems, and donny, you

talk about it and i'm not going to make fun of you, but there is a lack of passion for this candidate. on top of the fact you have newt gingrich and rick santorum who seem like, i don't know what could be said to them to convince them to -- >> nothing. and why would they? and why should they? and the interesting thing is, the governor was talking about this earlier, if we were in charge of romney's campaign, what would we do? and you know me, i always like to give my opinion. i don't know what i would do with this guy because it's just not there. it's just not there. and, you know, you could maybe have faked it 20, 30, 40 years ago, but with the youtube 24/7 cycle we live in now, you can't recreate that being. and it's texturally not there. >> romney needs 50% of the remaining delegates to wrap up the nomination compared to rick santorum who needs to win nearly 2 out of every 3 del gaegates t become the nominee. one romney aide said it would take an act of god to prevent romney from winning the

nomination. rick santorum, however, is refusing to accept the idea that romney's coronation is inevitable. >> what won't they resort to to try to bully their way through this race? you know, if the governor thinks he's now ordained by god to win, then let's just have it out. and i feel very, very good that we're running a race, energizing people. we're the man versus the machine. and they've got the machine and they've got the insiders and the big money, and we've got the people. and i like my chances. >> you know what's interesting? this network has a slogan, lean forward. what's interesting is when santorum comes on, forget i can't stand everything he says, you kind of lean forward. when romney comes on, you lean back. and gingrich, can't stand him, you lean forward, and there's an expression in the media world. it's the lean back candidate.

>> this is fascinating. people have asked me, well, do you fear romney? i've always feared romney the most of any candidate since 2008. i almost fear santorum more because he actually can connect people. i think he would be tough for us, much tougher than i would have thought given his positions. >> jon, remember 2008 then senator barack obama kind of found himself in the position of saying politely or not so politely hillary clinton, let's start looking at the numbers, i'm going to win, it's time for you to step aside. she took it into june. this is a little different, though. senator obama could offer hillary clinton the secretary of state position, which he did eventually. rick santorum isn't going to take that job. what will he be offered? >> no, the difference here is you really can't have a team of rivals with gingrich and santorum. when you think of team player, those are not the first two folks that are going to come to mind. and so there isn't a carrot. and romney hasn't got a strong

enough stick at this point. so it's a really tricky moment. and, you know, the 63% of the delegates is probably unlikely. but people keep saying, oh, well, you know, once it's over, everything's going to be fine. maybe it won't. because people -- the republican body is just rejecting this organ. it will not take it. >> that's a good way of putting it. >> it just won't take it. it won't do it. and we're sitting here march 8th, and i thought it would be over by now. and we keep saying, well, he's going to win, comma, but, there'll be three more races where he's going to lose. the ground game by rick santorum has been great. but listening to that sound bite, you realize everyone's an underdog. i saw you guys play david axelrod last hour, everyone's the underdog because that sells. but in this case, he kind of is. so we're going to go now to joe

scarborough who is also going to be on "morning joe" as well as the "today" show at the same time. he's about to sit down with ann curry and talk about everything that we've discussed when it comes to super pacs and also the math in terms of the delegates. here is joe on "today." >> great to have you here. >> great to be here. >> if you were head of the republican party trying to -- >> i'd quit. >> would you also be asking any one of these candidates to get out? >> no, actually, and i'm dead serious, i would be asking others to get into the race. i'd be asking -- still be asking jeb bush, chris christie, paul ryan, or somebody else. because the romney people did something fascinating yesterday. they said basically it would take an act of god for us not to win. but then went on and got into the math where they said they'd basically have to take 50% of the delegates from here to tampa to go over the top. with four people in the race and chances big that romney's going

to lose mississippi, kansas, a lot of states over the next week or two, i wouldn't be going around showing that math. >> but nevertheless, you talk about these people coming in, people trying to seek. but how much longer can this party go without a nominee and still beat barack obama? >> we may be able to go all the way into tampa. i speak as a republican that, again, talks to other republicans who just don't believe that this party is in a position to beat barack obama right now. three months ago, things were different. but you look at the latest nbc news "wall street journal" poll. you look at the divide between men and women, the gender gap now is over 20%, that's a landslide waiting to happen. only 14% of hispanics say they would vote for any of these republican candidates. george w. bush in 2004 barely won by getting 44% of the hispanic vote. this is a party that's on its way to a historic defeat in the fall unless they're able to drag in some other candidates. >> sounds like you're almost throwing in the towel.

>> no, if i were throwing in the towel i'd say, let's go to barbados for the next six months. if i were the head of the republican national committee i'd be on the phone with jeb bush and chris christie every day and say i know you're uncomfortab uncomfortable, i know the timing's not right, but you have a responsibility to your party and your nation to get engaged. >> what you're saying sounds very familiar to something that george will wrote about over the weekend for the "washington post." maybe republicans need to realize they're not going to win the white house and really concentrate on the house and the senate. he says "that neither romney nor santorum has an at attitude for energizing a national coalition that translates into 270 electoral votes if nominated." sounds like, are you part of an increasing number of republicans who are feeling like, look, look, just change the -- just change the list here because this is not going to win? >> well, that's how i feel. i think george will's argument and a lot of conservatives are saying we're going to lose the

white house. let's focus on the house and the senate. i don't think i'm there yet. i don't think a lot of republicans are there yet. there are a lot of people concerned not only with how barack obama's been spending money over the past four years, but how george w. bush and the republicans spent money the eight years before that. listen, we had a $5 trillion national debt when i left office in 2001, we're at $16 trillion right now. if barack obama has another term, we'll be over $20 trillion. we're not that far from having the dollar getting beaten around like greece and spain and italy and other parts of europe are having their currency beaten up right now. these are dangerous times and i don't think the republican party wants to throw in the towel yet. >> all right. we'll see what happens next. >> okay. >> joe, great to have you here. >> it's great to be here. >> thank you for joining us. and you can watch "morning joe" weekdays at 6:00 eastern on msnbc. it is now 7:13 -- >> yes, you can do that. and those of you who already do, thank you very much. so mitt romney -- let's extend

the conversation as joe makes his way back here. because i wonder if i've missed it. people putting out for rick santorum giving the fact that we are dealing with an economy that some are likening to what's happening in europe. i hear all the time, mitt romney, he's run a business. what else? what's his plan? what else do they say? am i missing it? what's the sell in terms of the economy? does anyone get it? >> no, there's no clear message. the blanket message should be i'm a turn around guy and i'm going to turn it around. >> exactly. he has three or four stages of his career that are very marketable. >> the only time he got a little mojo was when he was getting attacks about bain capital and he said, hey, don't shoot me because i'm successful. if i was him, the message i would have sent out yesterday was not telling the others to get out of the race to say this

is a great dialogue. let's continue it. a leader doesn't dictate, he lets it happen. and he would show strength by saying you know what? rick santorum and i we disagree on a lot, but this is the dialogue the american public needs and at the end of this dialogue, we'll continue the ultimate dialogue with the president. >> and joe brought this up yesterday, howard, he is a turn around guy and couldn't he be listing moment after moment of his career where he's been able to do that? shouldn't he take it to the next part? are we missing? are we editing the sound bites? >> this goes back to debates with people far out of the american mainstream. herman cain and donald trump and gingrich and santorum are very interesting, but they have -- i should take gingrich out of this. but the others have very far right social agendas. and that's what the core base and the republican party wants. romney hasn't had a chance to talk about his turn-around record and now he's not going to

have that chance because these guys have elevated social issues so high in a time they should never have been talking about them. they should have been talking about jobs like romney wanted to. the problem here is, and this is where romney falls apart. people want somebody to stand up to extremes. romney hasn't done that. he didn't stand up for the woman that was the law student, didn't stand up against the right wing of his own party. very hard to do in a primary. he's now got pinned with the 20 debates. >> that was -- >> that was a missed opportunity. >> he could have redefined himself with that one thing. >> that's right. >> to be fair, he does mention in almost every speech, the salt lake olympics. it was interesting to listen to mike murphy yesterday on this show who helped run governor romney's campaign in massachusetts said just be who you are. don't get cute. >> like kathleen parker.

>> you are a confident guy in a suit who can help the economy and make people's lives better. be that guy. >> if he makes a significant run really close to obama, if he's the nominee, it's going to be because of his mr. fix-it. >> right. >> it's going to be that he is, in fact, a data-driven guy who can try to change. >> a little caveat. he wasn't the guy fixing staples. they buy it, put money into it in a distressed way. let's get records straight. he's not going -- they're investors. they're not the guys fixing it. >> that could be the problem. >> they are not the operation -- >> you could argue without bain capital, those companies would've gone under. >> without the capital. keyword is capital. but they were not the turn around guys. >> barack obama never worked in the private sector. >> exactly. exactly. former governor howard dean, thank you so much.

so good to see you. >> i'll see you at the gym, okay? >> he doesn't use the gym. >> he does. >> you have like five trainers, don't you? >> a personal trainer, right? >> at least one. donny needs people to tell him how great he is. >> that's why i come here. you guys really pump me up. still ahead, what to do about syria. susan rice will join us here on the set. up next, former white house budget director peter orszag on the rising gas prices and what tomorrow's unemployment report could mean for the economic recovery. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. today i'm talking to people about walmart's low price guarantee. every week they lower thousands of prices and check over 30,000 competitor prices. check out that low price. you want to grab one? grab two.

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i think there are really three fumbles. the first was the stimulus initially was too small, couple hundred billion too small.

and the second one was they spent the period of the end of summer 2009 and spring of 2010 deadlocked in the administration. they had a window of opportunity to get a bit more stimulus there, but larry summers and christy romer were in this internal -- bitter internal stalemate with peter orszag and tim geithner who wanted to focus on deficit reduction. that was the second thing. the third thing was going down the long dead end in 2011 where they tried to get the grand bargain with republicans on the deficit and it didn't happen. >> welcome back at 23 past the hour. that was new -- >> i knew i liked this orszag. >> uh-huh. >> talking about hiss new book "the escape artist," and joining us now former director of the office of management and budget peter orszag. a columnist for bloomberg view at the council on foreign relations and soon to be a daddy

again. >> peter -- >> which is really cool. >> i get a sense, peter, that people will be debating which camp is right. just like some are debating the new deal. there's going to be a continual battle of those that believe you should have spent more in the stimulus and those believe you should have spent less. where do you -- >> how bitter was it? >> well, look, two things first. i think actually rather than the whole debate is about the size of the initial stimulus. i think a bigger issue is whether it should have been tied more to the economy so that support remained in effect as long as the unemployment rate was high. and the second thing is, i've always been in favor of coupling the support for the economy upfront with a lot of deficit reduction that's enacted now that takes effect over time. which is to say there doesn't have to be a conflict. you can do both. >> you can do two things at once. what happened with the stimulus plan? why wasn't it as connected to the economy as it should have been? >> look, you're in -- i think

that's just fire fighting. you're trying to get something done very quickly. there are constraints and it's easy to look back now and say it should have been this or that. but in a moment, it -- actually i think what was remarkable was how quickly it was put in place, which people forget. normally these things take months and months and months, and it was important to get something going very quickly. it might not have been perfect, but it did help. >> i hate the yearly deficits being over $1 trillion, but what concerns me and most economists is what happens 10 years from now, 20 years from now, 30 years from now. talk about a proposal you made in the "new york times" very early on after you left office. and talk about what the long-term impact would be of getting rid of all bush tax cuts. you had proposed two years from now, not only for the wealthy, but also for the middle class. >> well, that would basically address or solve our medium term deficit problem, that is over the next ten years. there's still an issue, you

know, you go out 30, 40 years. >> what's the price tag over the next ten years? >> about $4 trillion. it's a hefty chunk of money. and it -- basically, look, both parties are trying to lock into revenue bases out in 2020 that are inadequate for what we're asking the government to do. and that's why you wind up with a lot of vague -- the way people do deficit reduction packages these days, you'll promise a big reduction in 2020 without giving any of the specifics. you'll just say cap spending. and that's actually precisely because you're locking into a revenue base that doesn't work. >> can i ask a question? >> no, you can't. have you seen the shirt? have you seen donny's shirt? >> they were talking about the shirt. >> full disclosure before we go. >> look at that shirt. >> so, by the way -- >> you cannot ask a question. jon meacham, do you have a question for peter? >> wait. full disclosure before i ask in case it gets heated.

this is a better man than i'll ever be. his gorgeous wife due in several weeks, i took on a date -- she couldn't get out of that date fast enough. >> i'm a lucky man. >> we have -- >> that's not really a high bar. >> seriously. >> i'm sure there are other things she's done in her life -- >> you just took the beer truck and ran it off the road. jon meacham. >> all right. you came in. you had krugman saying more, more, more. then we get through the first six months or so, then you have simpson/bowles. and a lot of people say -- and i'm one of them, when you look back, you wonder, did the administration ask them to do this. got a plan that a lot of people liked intellectually and never pushed it. what happened? >> well, look, i think that the key question there is regardless

of what the white house did or didn't do. was it ever going to pass the house? and i think the answer to that is no. so once you're in the level of just it's optics. in other words, to the administration embraced it to look good, that's a different calculus. i would have preferred embracing it. but i think where the narrative is assuming that embracing it would've led it to be enacted. and i think that's wrong. >> right. >> it had hundreds of billions of dollars of revenue increases built into it. and the house republican caucus has made it very clear that's not acceptable. >> right. donny? >> seriously, in that movie "dave," remember the great movie "dave" where kevin klein takes over the white house and calls in his personal accountant and says let's go over this. in 30 seconds, in very simplistic methods, they call you and go, you could change everything. what's the game plan.

very, very simple. $5 trillion deficit, we can't push the economy backwards, got to get our arms around that, peter orszag, 30 seconds -- >> do we still have congress? >> that's the thing. the whole point is you're called in. that's my point. a pure economical visor accountant -- >> that is not the problem. >> how do you do it? >> we can do a lot more on health care -- >> specifically. you've got a ledger. we're doing accounting -- >> we get the idea. we get it. >> i would move much more aggressively toward value based payment in health care. i would reform social security along the lines that peter diamond and i put forward in a book a couple years ago. and then on defense and nondefense discretionary spending, which is the bulk of it, the rest of it, it's not 30 seconds, but you can go through. the problem there is getting it enacted. the issue on any of this is not whether a bunch of sort of think tank guys can come up with a proposal. that's not the hard part. the hard part is actually getting it enacted in an

increasingly hyper polarized congress. >> when you look at the last 30 years, what's the most significant moment that a white house and congress did something that you think was a positive piece of economic policy making? and are there lessons from that moment that can be applied in this coming cycle? >> well, look, i think the 1993 budget deal was a good piece of legislation as an example. and the lesson there is even at that point it was becoming harder and harder to actually do bipartisan legislation. >> that's, by the way, when tip and ronald reagan along with don came together. they did a budget deal. >> that's '86, this is '93. '86 was good too. we have examples of actual -- >> and '90. >> 1990. my big concern is the congress -- if you look at the voting patterns the data of what's happened in the house of representatives, it is going like this. there is no middle. it's a lot harder to do something like the 1986 reform

or the 1990 or '93 budget deals when you don't have the centrists. >> '93 was completely democratic operation. >> yeah. >> but you go back to '83 where you had tip o'neill, they sat down and did something that nobody believed they could do. and other republicans got involved. and that may have been the last time where you really had bipartisanship to do something in washington that most people thought was impossible. >> and the reason that happened, the trust fund was about to be exhausted. they had to act. checks were about to not go out the door. early next year, there's an opportunity driven by necessity to have a deal come back into focus. because we're going to face the debt limit again. about this time next year, the debt limit will be hitting us again. we have the tax cut expiration, and we've got massive spending cuts that are scheduled to come

online. much bigger than what anyone believes is feasible. those forcing events. if we have the congress of 30 years ago, that confluence would virtually guarantee a big deal. now given the hyperpolarization -- >> three huge events. leverage over members of congress that don't want to move. and the expiration of the bush ta tax cuts. this is a historical -- >> the trifecta, a historic opportunity for people in washington to go back to their district and say i hated doing what i had to do. but -- >> had to do it. >> it had to be done. >> but can in this climate, can they do that? even in march of '13 when you're the farthest out, you know, there are two windows for presidents, right? you get about nine months on the front end and 12 months on the

second. >> listen, if barack obama's reelected, and if we have the gap we have right now and the hispanic gap we have right now, barack obama's going to get reelected. i suspect republicans are going to do very well in the house and senate races, that's my gut. if that happens, you have a republican congress that understands this president is not going anywhere, it's not going to be like 2009 and i think it's much more possible that they do a deal in the second term than the first. peter, when you guys first got in there, everybody immediately was trying to delegitimatize this president. it happened with bush when he first got in, happened with bill clinton when he first got in. you get reelected and everybody sits back and goes, okay, we're going to have to deal with this guy, right? >> yeah, and so, i think again the prospects for this coming together in february and march next year are better than during normal conditions. but it's also the case that if you look at taxes, which is where a lot of this is going to,

you know, the friction's going to be, i don't know i would bet that the house republican caucus just caves. so i think we're going so have a lot of drama -- i think what's going to happen is you'll have to go over the cliff, let the tax cuts expire and come back with some other structure that gets you out of the box we're currently in where the lines have been so clearly drawn. and it's going to be great for the -- >> also the president reelected realizes he's not going to change the world and he comes to the table. >> it'll be different from the president who came in 2009 saying i won. you're going to have to deal with me, tough luck. both sides basically were in a standoff and the extremists on the right and left argue whose fault that was. that's not our interest here. but because it was a fight forever. let me ask you this, peter, before you leave. other than the tax cuts you've

already talked about, what is the biggest long-term driver of national debt? >> not even close, health care costs. >> medicare and medicaid? >> between now and 2050, social security goes from 36%. that's where the growth is. >> it's all medicare, medicaid. >> and other health care costs. >> that the government's writing checks for? like v.a.? >> one of the little stories that hasn't gotten much attention, that cost growth has decelerated a lot over the past couple of years. >> we've already got the music in our ear. it's fascinating and i'd love for you to come back and explain why. but a lot of people don't know this, it's down to about 2%. if medicare were at 2% growth over the next decade, it'd be great. >> problem solved. the question is how long it'll proceed slowly. >> same with gm, it's the same formula. >> yep. >> peter orszag, thank you so much. great to have you on the show.

>> good luck. that was very heart felt. >> and we're sorry about that. iran is facing new pressure after newly revealed images from spy satellites. that is straight ahead on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] lately, there's been a seismic shift in what passes for common sense.

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40 past the hour. a live look at capitol hill in washington. diplomats suggest new satellite images of an iranian military facility suggest officials there may be trying to cover up evidence of a possible test of a nuclear weapon trigger. the images provided by a nonprofit against the spread of nuclear weapons appear to show trucks and heavy equipment moving soil from the site. the diplomats say it could be an attempted cleanup of radioactive material left over from the testing of so-called neutron initiator used in the development of an atomic bomb. the a.p. reports the images are recent adding the area is being closely monitored. officials say it wouldn't be the first time iran has attempted to clean up suspicious sites. >> and jon meacham, this is yet another unfortunate after effect

of the colossal mistake our government made in 2003. just because george w. bush got it wrong in 2003 -- >> that's right. >> and the cia got it wrong in 2003 and just about every other intel agency on the planet got it wrong in 2003 does not mean that iran is not developing nuclear weapons. you always hear that the generals are always fighting the last war. this may be a case of where the public and the media and the generals are fighting the next war because you immediately see those images and you go, oh, here we go again. somebody's trying to get us to go to war. >> more google earth warmongering. you're right, just because something was wrong before doesn't mean it's not right now. >> or vice versa. >> and this was the great -- we've been talking about the horse race all morning.

this was people talk about what happened if israel struck iran. my question is what's iran going to do if israel strikes iran? and, you know, where -- this is something that we're going to talk about syria in a second. this is something that could spiral out of control in ways that could change the world for generations. >> a question that george w. bush is going to have to be dealing with in his legacy for years to come has to do with the axis of evil. he picked out the axis of evil, north korea, iran, and iraq. he picked the wrong one to go after. >> just one letter. >> just one letter. the "n" instead of the "q." that's yet another bad result out of some very bad intel and bad decisions made a decade ago. >> you think the tie made him more intelligent? >> i do. i like the tie.

>> it's choking. rick stengel is here to reveal the latest issue of "time" magazine. "morning joe" is back in a moment. americans believe they should be in charge of their own future. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms.

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♪ welcome back to "morning joe" at 46 past the hour. joining us now "time" magazine managing editor rick stengel here to reveal the latest issue of "time" magazine. rick. >> thanks, mika. >> it's a good one. >> it's called "escape from syria." what people didn't know is that williams daniels the photographer was our photographer. he was in that house in homs where they were killed. and it's a first-person reported

account from him what that was like and their escape into lebanon. they were held for nine days. it's a grim and beautiful story and -- and i hesitate sometimes to do stories about journalists. but the thing about the syrian story that has been amazing is that journalists have been the people bearing witness to what's happening there and been attacked by assad. it's a compelling story. >> we have a lot to talk about in this. we were just talking about iran, obviously, there's been a split between the president and the prime minister of israel. but you have a story on how bibi learned to trust barack. >> it might be better titled how barack learned to trust bibi. but for curious reasons, which we can talk about there, their interests are aligned. >> why is that? >> because president obama doesn't particularly want an attack of iran during this presidential campaign and

netanyahu needs the united states as an ally to do anything that he needs to do. you know, the conventional wisdom -- and i don't know it's true, is that the window is closing on how soon israel can act. and if that window closes, then the only people who can act are the united states. >> and you have another story, the question is, showing a picture of mitt and ann romney. the question is, why is this man smiling? why is he smiling? >> we went a little ahead. the question is really how damaged is governor romney? and what does it mean for the general election campaign? is he so damaged with women? is he so damaged with independents that he's squandered some advantages that he has? >> and then you have a picture -- a very fascinating picture we're going to zoom in on. >> you say okay. >> this is rick santorum. but the story is called -- >> did you see the little one, joe, of him in college with the beard? >> that's really interesting. those two photos. that says a lot. >> that is fascinating. him with the beard and also a

great picture of rick talking about rick santorum's crusade and why he is a crusader. this is a guy who was pro-choice before he first ran for congress in 1990, was a -- not a back-sliding catholic, but didn't have a lot of zeal. what happened in his life that turned him into a more driven man both politically and religiously? >> that's exactly the story, joe. it's by mike crowley whom you all know. and it's a kind of intellectual history of rick santorum. and a key figure that hasn't really been written about is his father-in-law. his father-in-law was a geneticist at the university of pittsburgh. he was pro-life. he himself turned against abortion early on. and he kind of tutored rick about it. there was also the story of how when santorum was first in washington he started going to bible study groups. he and karen became more religious roman catholics.

>> and, in fact, they both had a transformation on this issue. >> they did together. it's a kind of a lovely story. they sort of went into this matter of being -- of having greater conviction as catholics together. >> you have a story in here about -- from joe kline from what mitt romney has to do and talking about mitt's makeover. >> his advice is that -- governor romney should be -- this rich old guy who hates anybody wasting money and thinks that the debt is crippling america and should make a virtue out of the fact that he is rich. >> they talk about why we are closer in the mideast than ever. >> what you guys were talking about, i don't want to speak to him too much, but he considers iran a rational actor and part

of what we need to do is treat iran as a rational actor and the fact that even if they develop nuclear weapons which we have no sense they are doing and how many years they are away from it. once they develop nuclear weapons it wasn't like saudi arabia. it doesn't necessarily like they are nuclear powers. >> the separation of church and state is fantastic. you can tell it was written and my good friend from law school told me that being an episcopalian is a gateway to eighth yichl. >> there a lot more. my mom would take us to southern baptist churches and my dad would take me to another church.

it was pure hell. we would sit there and be like wait. why do they always fill up the wine so much and he knows it will not always be gone. to get through it. >> that is true. john is a fantastic employee. he is the ideal employee. >> why is that? >> he does the work and doesn't complain and he's not a diva. he's a professional. >> give this guy a pulitzer prize. >> have you seen it? i have never seen it. >> we will give you the paperwork.

>> do we know for a fact? we have got the picture. you all are packing on pictures. >> not a story. >> for gene robinson, a pulitzer prize winner. >> i appreciate my boss's kind. >> you got the work and he doesn't complain. >> thank you very much. he continues to rub it in. the new cover of time magazine, escape from syria, a harrowing story you will want to read. you are watching "morning joe." hi, i just switched jobs, and i want

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still ahead, susan de vries will join us along with the rest of the field to submit to delicately. >> you will parish! >> nonstop mitt. rick santorum's response to that. >> i have to get this tie off. you okay? >> no, i have hives.

the oxygen is being cutoff to the brain. even more than usual. there is a study that shows ties are bad for your health. that kerr chief that he was wearing. >> you have to be careful. can you sell a picture of the guy who was criticizing what somebody else wears on this show? this is a movie premier when tom hanks is there and everybody was there and donny deutsch, have you seen this picture? >> he was holding in his stomach. >> with the black. >> he has to show somebody. >> not by a long shot. >> why are you on this show? ry r thousands of prices and check over 30,000 competitor prices.

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you have the new apple ipad 3. we don't have nerds on the set today so we won't talk about it. you get a pulitzer prize for that. also the front page of the "new york times." a big story on corruption in afghanistan. we have known it all along. our young men and women are

dying every day. people are going to work every day to pay their taxes to pay $2 billion to prop up one of the most corrupt regimes on the planet. they sell their soul to the taliban if that's what it takes to stay in power. the financial times talks about what we are going to be talking about today. that's mitt romney. he is trying to pull out of the contest and said the republican ras and the numbers don't add up. 1,144 delegates are needed to win the nomination and as of today, mitt romney leads with 341 delegates. he followed newt gingrich and has 112 delegates and rick santorum is telling them to get

out of the race. romney's campaign is denoting the four remaining contests are winner take all. it's getting tougher for any one candidate to catch up with the former massachusetts governor. they released a memo yesterday describing now they don't have even one third of the delegates needed and it's time for you guys to get out of the race. gingrich, santorum, ron paul have no incentive for leaving. >> you can't see any of these guys secretary of state. it's safe to say. what's the political capitalization for them? is it that they are particularly with newt and santorum getting out, gingrich said i'm newt and i have more than you do.

for lack of enthusiasm for romney, i think anybody who gets out will have the paw lendy threa threat. >> and the numbers are about the same for newt gingrich. mitt romney and if we play with the numbers, mitt romney is enjoying 47%, almost half of the delegates remaining to be the nominee. that tells me that if one other person decides to be in the race to be a spoiler to make sure it is a contested convention and chris christie, jeb bush, paul ryan, all these other conservative republicans are going to win an election and have a shot to get in there. i don't really put that out. when i saw that number.

nobody is excited about the campaign and you keep makes mistakes. >> i wouldn't put that out. it's not the leader act. a leader doesn't tell the populous this game is over. the populous decides that. they almost look weak. please stop. he is better off with the show. i always don't subscribe to the conventional wisdom that the longer this goes on, the more he gets beaten up. i think the further along he gets with the shorter window is actually better for him. to your point, i don't think he looked like a leader to get out and tell people when it's over. he has a guy in foster freeze who is willing to bank roll his campaign. >> people usually get out because he knows he will be on

part of the team. rick santorum has cloth and ashes. jesus thinking he is john the baptist. he is cloth and ashes. as far as a republican establishment goes, john said nobody is going to call him and say get out. maybe you are going to get the state. maybe you will be set? he is an independent guy and it works for him on the campaign trail and he will not be part of a mitt romney cabinet. the same with newt gingrich. >> they are not rational actors. the conventional political capitalist doesn't apply. >> they play by their own rules. no doubt about it. >> do you get the sense that -- we talk about it and we will keep this thing going. the average american is kind of like shut it down. >> i'm not so sure about that.

you look at the numbers that have collapsed for the republican party nationwide over the past two weeks, i guarantee that people have talked about what santorum is saying and what others are saying. >> the reason i disagree is people want a choice. they want alternative to the president even if they don't take it. i don't think we are finding romney to be -- not just republicans, but 10,000 independents. >> take me through this. all romney keeps saying is something's gotta give. go through the steps -- what has to happen mathematically for that to happen. >> if he doesn't get 47% between now and tampa, he doesn't clinch it and you will have an open battle and that is an opportunity. >> what happens there. >> in most cases we can go back

to 1976 and in most cases if somebody comes up short, you know you will get the convention and people will say let's all come together. i think there is a case of mitt romney, this is not 1976. we don't have the president running against ronald reagan and a guy who will have everything going for him. he ran against the weakest and over the past 100 years, i can't think of a weaker field than this republican field. i'm talking the organization and the ability on the campaign trail and resumes. i think if the republican establishment has given opportunity as they get in, he is not going to be at 50% and he's not going to have the numbers to wash this down. let's call chris christie and let's call jeb bush or paul ryan. let's go another way. >> you are right with the

controlling factors. in 76 you had a movement figure. he tried to run in 68. reagan was more of a reformable figure even in 76 than gingrich and santorum and ford had the white house to use as he worked kansas city. in the absence of those factors, something could happen. i think that it's tricky because of the establishment that wants romney to do well here. >> they want romney to win when

the options are paul or gingrich. if you are a republican establishment and you have an opportunity to put chris christie's name on the floor, i wonder how that does. >> i wonder how jeb bush goes. ed fagsd that wu be in maunl d my question is if that does happen in a convention and it's a long shot. let's say for argument's sake, chris christie, can you light the fuse and get lift off in september. 60 days. >> that's the white night. this strip is more likely than unlikely. it's no better place to be than

a guy that has been carried in on everybody's shoulders and you got a 60-day window and all of a sudden the president is old news at that point. it's 10-1. this is what we often get four years later since everybody taft their judgment on sarah palin. you forget that sarah palin came out of nowhere and when she exploded on the national stage, even with the press killing her and websites lying about her, it was dealing with all of that.

john mccain stayed in first place up until september 15th when the markets crashed. i believe if the markets had not crash and john mccain reacted. sarah palin could have carried him over the top because she was new. she said she was fresh. people like this. and they do not handle themselves like that. >> talk about media being coconspirators. we will force that issue. rick santorum yesterday. this is a birth right to be the nominee. >> to try to bully your way

through this race. if the governor thinks he is ordained by god to win, then let's have it out. i feel very, very good that we are running the race and energizing people. we are the man versus the machine. they got the machine and they got "the insider"s and the big money and we got the people. i like my chances. >> there is an interview where mitt romney was shooting down the speculation that another outside candidate could suddenly step in. i'm not sure who sent him that memo. i don't think that's the case. >> we got the time and the resources and a plan to get all the delegates and we think that will get done before the convention, but one thing i can tell you for sure, there is not a brokered convention where a new person becomes a nominee. it will be one of the people who

are running. >> it's so foolish. but to keep telling people it's over, this is not going to -- the more you are setting it up, who is not seeing that? >> you talked about how much money mitt romney spent. see the numbers? he spent a great deal of money to win and to win his delegates. he raised $11.5 million in february and this is pretty darn good. this is the second highest number of the 2012 election and good news for romney and the victories came at a huge cost. nbc crunched the numbers and we need to get the super computers. if you combine his pac money and fund-raising money, he spent $36,000 per delegate won on super tuesday.

rick santorum spent about $19,000 per delegate. obviously president obama's people are excited about this. david axelrod, i don't know when his birthday is, but the answer is every day this spring. how happy was david axelrod? >> i spoke to him the other day and he said i like where we are. without being -- he's a cautious and bright guy, but he has his popcorn in his hans. >> everybody in the white house is loving it. david didn't say the coast was not completely clear. by the way, chris matthews pulled an all nighter. a lot of comments about his hairstyle. i didn't know that people were focused on this. >> using a new styling mousse on

"morning joe." fashionably. >> like old style journalist. just came from the convention and a boxing match with ink on his finger. a couple rounds and comes in to joe. here's what he said on "hardball" yesterday. >> with the super pac issue is 1 that concerns us. there hundreds of millions of dollars pledged for negative ads from the super pacs. i don't think we can match them. i think we can help offset that somewhat, partly through the money we raised. we endorsed one super pac's activities and perhaps they can help close that gap, but there will be a gap. >> they raised money and they are like the little engine that could. >> in fact, the office had so

little money they began with that. they are no super pac. >> when we come back, should the u.s. intervene with military action in syria. we will bring in the ambassador of the united nations. first here's a check on the forecast without the help of donny deutsch. >> we're don't need to repeat that again from two hours ago. good morning. waking up to heavy rain in the heartland and the deep south will get soaked. getting hit by the tornados and heavy rain this morning. the rain and thunderstorms in the highlighted area because oklahoma and little rock and the ozar ozarks. we will watch for flash flooding and as far as the rainfall will go, the heaviest totals will be in areas of louisiana and east texas.

a rainy morning in the ohio valley after a beautiful day yesterday that came to a halt. we will only watch temperatures in the 30s and 40s from kansas to minneapolis. storm fre dallas to new orleans and memphis. the silver lining is the east and west coast. beautiful from atlanta to the carolinas. windy and breezy, but near 70 from baltimore to new york city. look at the west coast. looking good. seattle near 60 and l.a. near 81 beautiful degrees. doesn't get more beautiful than this. boy your lunch outdoors. you are watching "morning joe" approved by starbucks. [ male announcer ] if you believe the mayan calendar, on december 21st, polar shifts will reverse the earth's gravitational pull and hurtle us all into space, which would render retirement planning unnecessary.

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you can tell us how much longer the killing would have to continue? how many more have to die. 10,000 more? 20,000 more? how many more? >> before i recommend we put our sons and daughters in uniform and in harm's way, i have to make very sure that we know what the mission is. >> i will tell you what's wrong with your statement. we don't mention american leadership. americans can lead in this. >> we will talk more about that. usa is back with susan de vries. joe was trying to figure out what to call it. i will call you susan. >> she said susan. >> she said it to me. >> madam ambassador, a lot going on. the front pages are talking

about concerns regarding iran. how are we dealing in getting russia and china and others on board. >> we are able as a result to pass the toughest sanctions ever through the security council. those had been comprehensive and they had been inviting and they have provided a platform on which we layered on additional sanctions. unilateral sanction that is the congress has passed and the president sanctioned. they imposed the ban on the import. and many in asia. the sanctions now that iran is

facing are tougher than ever. even their leadership has acknowledged they are crippling. the pressure on iran that is mounting and they said they are back to the table unconditionally. we need to test the proposition and that the mounting pressure could indeed lead potentially to a negotiated diplomatic solution, the only way to end the program. all the talk about the action at this stage that is very much premature. a strike is not going to end the program. it may set it back. the only way to end it permanently is if they decide as south africa did to give up the nuclear weapons program. that's what we are trying to accomplish through intensified pressure. >> how do we get them on board

with syria? obviously russia and china stood in the way of meaningful out come as they ton slaughter people. >> that remains incredibly difficult. they are taking a very short sided judgment of what's happening from syria and their own interest in the region. what we have now in the case of syria is an international community that minus china and russia is unified and outraged at what is happening, a willingness to back what has been a plan for negotiated settlement that had to step down and hand over to a democratic russia and china. they remain blocking that for their own interest. >> what would it take for the united states to get involved. and he will be along for the

ride and what is it about standing by and watching this. >> we are all outraged and horrified by what's happening. you have to ask yourself, what is feasible. there is note a clear cut opposition that controls a piece from which they can push out. the arab league is not as unified as it was in seeking international intervention and action that we just discussed. the security council remains quite divided and we think the solution ought to be and still potentially can be political. we don't need if we can avoid it to over militaryize and intensify the military engagement. that will cost more and more lives. what we are doing instead is

trying to ramp up to the max um extent possible the economic pressure on the side. we imposed the united states and the europeans with tough sanctions. the arabs we need to implement with much more precision, enabling states. we are trying to support and unify the opposition and provide humanitarian assistance, but the best answer is not more arms and it's not air strikes against a very complex and capable air defense system. in fact this is not an air war anyway. certainly you don't think it is appropriate to put american boots on the ground unilaterally. >> take us inside to the extent you can with the conversations huh with russia and china. what's your argument to them and what's their argument back to not going along with the program? can you emphasize? >> it's different. russia and china have different interests and make different arguments. let's focus on russia because

it's the with the greatest stake. the russians will tell you they are not in agreement with externally orchestrated or externally prompted regime change. they fear that this is a pattern that they have seen and they go back as far as the difference in circumstance because the people elected differently. the un stepped in and said that election had been manipulated and the proper leader had to be put back in place and accomplish that protection and military force. in libya, they say they wouldn't sign up for an out come that resulted in gadhafi leaving. in syria we have a long standing ally and military intelligence and a relationship we are not going to allow the same to happen. that's because nobody is talking

about militarily orchestrated regime change. we are talking about the resolutions they vetoed have been simple. they haven't contained the sanctions. >> what's going on there? >> they are determined to stand by their last best ally in the region. the world changed and the league stood up in a dramatic turn around for democracy and human rights and regime after regime is changing their character and the russians are still trying to find and what they sudden that syria is their partner. they are not prepared to read the writing on the wall that the departure is inevitable and each day they spend protecting him they are losing their juice. >> what position remains the president's position? >> our position remains the president's position. he will go and will go.

the question is how long will it take and under what circumstances? we are trying to mount as much pressure dip lot mattically and politically and economically as possible. peacefully if possible. >> let's go back to iran. is iran a rational actor when it comes to a potential weaponization of nuclear materials? >> we have all seen crazy behavior out of iran including calling for destruction of its neighbors. many other steps that give us great concern as well as iran's neighbors. the other side of this coin is that we have seen iran make decisions based on their calculation of their interest. when the pressure mounts when they feel particularly threatened and particularly when the regime sees the viability as threatened, it changes course to

run the iraq war or as we believe earlier in the previous decade to suspend the nuclearization program. we do think that there is still a real possibility that they are mounting economic pressure that iran may change course and come to the table. >> iran's supreme leader, welcome to us president obama's words. the window of opportunity according to iran. >> yeah. >> is there hope? we have been trying. >> hope is a strong word. don't trust them. you don't trust them. we test the proposition that is very much in our interest. with this mounting and crippling economic pressure, sanctions that we have put in place internationally and on a national basis, that iran is really starting to feel it. the kurpsy is in the kind.

they are prepared to come back to the negotiating table. the p 5 plus 1 is coming back. we are ready too. let's see what they come with. they better come serious, ready to deal. the window is final. >> boy, john, remember 1986 in the reagan years that was so tough. he said it was a cake shaped like a key and they were looking for the moderates in iran. >> it's 30 years or so. 33 years since the revolution. is there an analogous relationship that the united states has with a nation that you point to that tried to

figure out what the future may hold with iran? is there a country -- it's a long -- >> i'm not sure where you are going with this. >> i'm curious, if we come out of the other end of this diplomacy, is this going to be a wary standoff? is it going to be -- are we exchanging ping pong players and what do you think we will be ideally? >> with the nuclear program? >> or if you are confident that the security of our allies and the american security is secure from. >> the president said this. we have a clear cut policy of preventing iran from firing the nuclear weapon. not contaping a nuclear iran. the best and most prominent way is the combined policy of intensified sanctions and pressure that are mounting with

the opportunity for iran to resolve these issues diplomatically. if they take up the opportunity to give up the program, that's the best case scenario. in that context, i think much may be possible potentially. we have other issues with iran's behavior. it's a proestrocious human righ record and that will resolve to the satisfaction of the united states and neighbors and israel in the international community. that will be a step forward. if they don't accomplish that through a negotiating process in short order, then of course as the president said, all options remain on the table and what the happy would look like, i wouldn't want to know. >> john, you are losing and i think it's appropriate in this case, you have a country that

communists killed 30 to 50 million of their own people in the next 30 years and we struck in the early 70s. that's been touch and go. it's been a difficult relationship for years. . >> it's a lot of difference between iran. >> obviously. there a lot of differences. yes, they killed between 30 and 60 million of their own people. they have terrorism for a long time. it's a difficult situation. >> very good to have you on the show. thank you very much. >> thanks for having me. >> coming up, a jobless report. much more on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] for the saver, and a big first step. for the spender who needs

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>> per time now for business before the bell. >> i love brian. brian's got an attitude. >> i know. >> he is sort of the mick of cnbc. >> you know what else i have is a tie. i wonder why the "morning joe" team doesn't sharpen up.

>> i'm sorry, what is really a potted plant. he's a potted plant. >> that means cake in french. i'm sorry. i'm hungry. >> i love very sophisticated. let me get to the jobless claims numbers. they were up slightly. a little higher, but the good news is you look at the four-week moving average, the week to week. that is near a four-year low. the job market continues to get better. tomorrow we have in our business the oscars. it's the monthly payroll number and the expectation is for another better number. it's a good sign for the job market. i know you guys talk about politics and the job market might factor into the presidential race i'm guessing. >> so let me ask you, why did you make this motion when you said politics? >> he was making fun of you. >> i'm a business guy.

for me politics is like airplane food. it's there and you have to have it. you always go away feeling like you wish you didn't. >> he's kind of right. >> he did. he really did. i guess he hates thomas jefferson and george washington and aristotle. >> do i hate thomas jefferson and he got a natural thing. virginia where my family lives, the birth place of presidents, i maybe wish we could bring the guys back. >> so brian, let me ask you quickly. this ipad 3 -- >> impress us. >> you know what, it's called the new ipad. they dropped the number. the market was a yawn. it has a high def display. it was kind of a snoozer.

>> okay, brian, thank you so much. we greatly appreciate it. >> see you tomorrow. morning "morning joe" in a minute. hey, did you ever finish last month's invoices? sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi place around the corner. well, in that case, i better get back to these invoices... which i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes. you know what? i'm going to tidy up your side of the office. i can't hear you because i'm also making you a smoothie. [ male announcer ] marriott hotels & resorts knows it's better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business. the passat is one of nine volkswagen models named a 2012 iihs top safety pick. not...that... we'd ever brag about it... turn right. come on, nine. turn left. hit the brakes. huh? how did that get there?

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welcome back to "morning joe." joining us now the spokesperson for the coalition of the silent killer, deep vain thrombosis. widow of the late correspondent who died during his assignment in iraq after 2 thousand 3 deep vain thrombosis. we talk about it every year and try to follow-through as you have ever since david died. i can't believe how many years it's been. your daughters are now 17?

it flies by. >> it flies by. now the twins are graduating high school this year. >> amazing. you have been also pushing this issue forward. tell us where we stand in terms of raising awareness and raising money and trying to add to our society for things that don't happen as many times. >> it's possible. it's preventable and i campaign and focus on raising awareness. two million americans will develop a blood clot every year. 300,000 people lose their lives. >> that is a stunning number here. more people die of this than aids and breast cancer. >> that's right. there is a need for the patients and the health care providers

and to reach people who fall into a higher risk. people who have respiratory diseases and that tributes to the formation of blood clots and cancer patients is the way i focus this year in the campaign. we released a survey that shows out of cancer patients, almost 75% have not been informed. >> david seemed to be in such great shape. he didn't fit the categories. he was young and very healthy. >> not overweight. >> what's the warning signs for people like him who are not? >> i am only a little bit younger than david was when he passed away. the hindsight was the warning sign, had you known about this before then. >> that's the power.

david played tennis and he was with the troops in iraq. we were shocked to find out the bomb that lies within his heart. it was the clock that took his life. he didn't know it was there. the warning signs were leg cramps two nights before he passed away, but he was sleeping in a tank and he was in miserable conditions soy he mentioned the leg was cramping up and he was sleeping on top of the tank and when we get back in the tank, we will be safe. it was the restricted mobility and anything causes the blood to notful flow through the lower extremities. he died two days after mentioning that leg pain. if the clot breaks through and travels to the lungs as in dave's case, that can feel like shortness of breath and also feel like you are having a heart

attack or i met with people who were misdiagnosed and checked for stress tests and heard issues. it's a clot in the lungs. >> something everyone needs to think about. it's always good to see you. thank you so much for coming in. . >> so you girls graduated from high school and are headed to college? >> they are and think i told you i remarried to a wonderful man and i have two more kids. four teenagers. a little busy. they are all real supportive of the efforts. we want to save lives and have people not learn about it the way we did. >> that kind of bizzy is good and what you continue to do is great. >> thank you so much for having me. >> more "morning joe" in a minute. the capital one cash rewards card

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>> ohio is the decisive state, whoever wins that one, that's it. if i'm not mistaken. >> mitt romney declared the winner in ohio. >> that's a wrap. we are just going to kick back and show's over. mr. romney, good luck in the general election.

i will smoke my pipe and watch book notes as i always do after a hard day at the sat ire factory. unless -- >> romney eeked out the win. >> he barely won in the state of ohio. >> mitt romney won the math and lost the momentum. >> the republican race far from over, folks. >> every time. here's the business travel forecast. rainy weather over the next couple of days.

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what we learned today. william? >> when asked on the red carpet last night if there was a game change, who are you wearing, donny deutsch replied, baby gap. >> it's spanx. he has the thing that is the kids carry around. they put on with the fake. super man costume. it's terrible. >> we are talking about this. we both are voting for gerald ford. >> who are you