a bear cub falling asleep or newt gingrich falling asleep. thanks for watching, what's more adorable? >> that's pretty funny. good morning. tuesday, march 13th. with us on site to do, mike barnicle. former governor of pennsylvania, ed rendell. governor, how are you? >> good. >> i've got this. >> no. you don't know how to use a new phone. >> you couldn't introduce yourself. >> one finger to type. >> thanks, buddy. the host of now with alex wagner every i did at noon.

>> every day. >> great to have all of you with us here this morning. >> i think so. >> i seized up there for a moment. >> why don't you get a phone? >> i can't type. >> it was a rocky start for mike. but in a baseball analogy it's still the first inning. >> that's exactly right. we don't even have one out out. >> this is a three were-hour ball game. we have a long way to go. >> pretty stunning numbers just came out yesterday from the "new york times". president obama, 41% job approval right now. down a full nine points from just one month ago. it represents an all-time low for the president in the "new york times" poll. only 40% approve of the job he's doing. his lowest number in that category since before owesome ma approximate bin laden was killed

in may. down five points from february. 54% say they disapprove of the president's handling of economic issues. gas prices rising. 54% say the president could do more to control that number. let's just stop right there. governor rendell, what's going on? down nine points in a month. >> i think polls make no rhyme or reason. if you think about it, what's happened in the last month that would change people's opinion, other than gas prices, of the way the president has handled foreign policy? what's happened in the last month? nothing that would have a significant or germane effect. >> the koran burning. >> does anybody hold the president responsible for that? look, the bottom line is we love polls because they give us something to talk about. >> we pay attention to them when the president is doing well. so we're going to pay attention

to them when he's not doing well. >> we have said all along with mitt romney, listen, it's a long time between now and the end of october. same thing for president obama. the polls are in essence temporary snapshots. my first poll out of the box i won by 21 points. so i think you can't get too excited about polls. >> you were within the margin of error every day. nine points, though, alex. >> nine points is significant. as the governor points out, two things that obama can't really control, gas policy and foreign policy. i think the koran burning, nobody necessarily blames him for that. but he apologized and that became a talking point. gas prices are the bulk of the satisfaction. a vast majority feel personal pocketbook pain because of gas prices. beyond that, the repercussions as far as what they do to the gdp is significant.

it's not to be ignored. >> what are you seeing in the numbers? >> kudos to the 36% who know the president can't do anything about gas prices. it really isn't down to the federal government s. supply and demand that, simple. the politics is so juicy and attempting neither side can resist. gop candidates will certainly use the narrative of rising gas prices to talk about the president's failed energy policy. and the president knows how significant that story line is, which is why he released his energy report yesterday and will be touting his successes the next month. it's a significant issue in georgia 80% of voters said gas prices was their one one issue when they went to the polls and voted for our gal pal newt gingrich who promised $2.50 gas. it's a big issue. >> the president went on a media interview yesterday and tried to

blunt this movie in the poll numbers particularly on the question of gas prices. here's what he said. >> i think the american people understand that, you know, we don't have a silver bullet when it comes to gas prices. but they're hurting right now. it's like a tax on our paycheck every time you fill were. and so what i've instructed my team to do, we're looking at every single thing we can do from relieving bottlenecks to trying to see if we can impact internationally how the oil phargts are operating. ultimately, though, the single most important thing we can do is reduce our dependence on foreign oil. the fact we have reduced by a million barrels a day that, over time, is going to have a big impact. >> mike, you've been talking about this for a long time. you go to the pump in the state of massachusetts, costing you almost 4 bucks a gallon. this is on people's minds not only now but throughout the summer. >> who cares as far as i'm concerned. >> you can rally now.

>> here's the deal on the polls. first of all, pay little attention to them at this point in time. this is a three-point election no matter what happens. this country is in the middle. you don't especially counter anyone in the supermarket who says i love the guy! or, i hate the guy! extremely uneasy about the future. that's reflected in the polls. the other thing, everybody notices gas prices. food gets to the stores by truck. trucks pay more. you're paying more for milk, bread, and start thinking you're oh, man. >> how much of this about the republican campaign where you have three people eating up all the airspace, media, talking about what a terrible job the president is doing. >> that sinks in like the reverse sinks in, candidates eating themselves alive. this issue, like any other

issue, they can have an answer. what will you do differently? he can't say more domestic drilling because under president obama domestic drilling has gone up significantly. where i think we have four times as many oil rigs than when he started. so they've got to have a different answer. it's okay in a vacuum to say, oh, he's the president and gas prices have gone up, what would you do differently? >> first of all, keystone is going to be the answer to everything this summer. bobby jindal outlining exactly -- keystone, keystone, keystone. and the permitting issue they're going to hammer him hard on. >> there are four times as many oil rigs in the u.s. >> the fact are but the a detail. >> the facts are on their side. oil production is up on north dakota, texas and alaska but it's down 40% in the last 10 years on federal lands.

the permit process, as you pointed out, alex, is cumbersome and clunky. there's a lot they can offer in the way of practical solutions. >> it's definitely a narrative. >> definitely. >> it holds radical environmental agenda. >> well, and it can be used to talk about a failed economic policy as well. >> right. >> we had sherrod brown on yesterday and he was talking about gas prices. he said 56 cents out of each gallon is ripped off by gouging. 56 cents. we are too limited, willie, and i, to have pursued that line of thought. so i don't know where that 56 cents is coming from. >> speak for yourself, man. listen, i'm not going down alone. >> grab whatever is close to you. >> that's also an issue. if that's anywhere near accurate, 56 cents out of $4 a gallon for gasoline is being

gouged, that's also an issue that would be used for the democrats. >> all this talk about the republican field being a clown show, look at these had he had to head numbers in the same "new york times" poll, statistical tie between the president and mitt romney and essentially a tie. santorum is only one point back of the president. ron paul and tphaoupt gingrich fall behind. this is a sobering moment. 41% is astonishing. look at all the beating up of each other. >> yeah. this sort of thing happens. you sift out the weaker candidates and then the strongest survive and remain. i don't know. i think some of these guys's days are numbered. >> which guys are you talking about? >> your gal pal. >> newt gingrich has got some issues. >> rick santorum, though? >> i think rick santorum is okay for a while. looking ahead at the calendar, i think he looks good.

i talked to the santorum camp last night and they say time is on our side. romney cannot get to the delegates. we'll see about that. newt gingrich really has to win tomorrow somewhere. has to claim victory outside his home state. >> today. >> i'm sorry. today. >> it is early. feels like yesterday. >> you're even with mike now. >> he's got to. i've got to take i issue with this idea of a southern strategy if you will. i think that gives the gingrich campaign a little too much credit. this is a strategy by default not design, right? it's not like he looked at the electoral map and said, well, i would like to take this state, and this state. these are the only states he can win and if he doesn't i think that spells the end for his campaign. >> romney lost south carolina, georgia, and tennessee. if he loses today, alabama and mississippi what does it tell us about him as potential

republican nominee. >> cheesy grits strategy is not working. i don't think it's going to surprise anybody. of course it gives credence to the theory that he does not garner a divorce coalition of voters. he does well with affluent educated voters and that's about it. but that's not bad for the general election. >> because romney is going to carry those states. it doesn't matter. any republican is going to carry those states. romney's strength is in the suburbs of florida, detroit, chicago, where the elections are won or lost? >> what's the republican in pennsylvania? >> totally stunned. totally stunned. i mean, you know, rick, over the course of time, i hate to say this, rick, he was a great senator. as governor when i called and said we need this, he got it. he was a great pork senator. but above and beyond that,

people are amazed that he can be considered a serious presidential candidate. >> so you never got from him on the telephone when you would call about an appropriations project, you never got we've got to watch out for the deficit? >> no. and i picked my spots, mike. i made sure the projects were good ones. he went to work and he got them done. in defense of rick, that's the system. and he did his job. and he did his job well for pennsylvanians. people used to yell at me. i endorse mccain at the same time i raised $42 million. and, you know, i'm sorry. i played by the rules. and so did rick san tr up. >> i've got to say let's give it to rick santorum in that same poll 44% trust him to take care of the nation. 30% trust romney. this is a guy who is being

outspent 10-1. it's an impressive feat. we talk a lot about american politics corrupted by money. but it's a testament to the weakness of the field and santorum's message. >> you look inside that poll, 4 4 4 42-27, santorum in women. >> i bet he's doing well among married women and romney is locking upped unmarried and working women. that's how it tends to split in terms of the female voting bloc. >> i've been out with santorum on the stump a lot at various events. i come across a lot of young, single women whoa watch him talk about his wife and literally and literally swoon. they gasp. and really love the touching stories that you can

authentically tell in ways that some of the other candidates have not been able to. i don't know if that's selling him to women or not. but there is a certain demographic that really buys his message. >> that's not listening to what he's saying about contraception. >> right. and over time, over time he doesn't wear well because this sort of craziness this sort of out theredness of his position starts to sink in. he had electoral success early. remember, he lost his last election by 18 points, a state that is essentially a purple state. >> romney campaign is using your last two minutes to cut an ad. park senator and crazy guy who lost by 18 points in pennsylvania. more somber news to get through. new protests break out overnight in afghanistan as the u.s. army sniper leaned to have killed 16 afghans early sunday in a tkaor to door shooting spree a mile from his base.

hundreds of students gathered to call for the soldier's afghanistan. he is reframing a debate inside the white house where they are now urging them to speed up the withdrawal of american forces from the war zones. "new york times" reports one option under consideration would reduce the number of troops by an additional 20,000 or more by 2013, just next year. talks have been under way for weeks now. given the new setback, some members of the administration feel the mission has, quote, reached the point of diminishing returns. no decisions on troop levels have been made. both president obama and u.s. ambassador ryan crocker are stressing the importance of not giving up the fight there. >> what happened this weekend is absolutely heartbreaking and tragic. i expressed directly to president karzai any time innocent civilians, especially children, are killed. and for it to happen in this kind of terrible way i think we all are concerned about.

but what we don't want to do is to do it in a way that is just a rush fort exit. it makes me more determined to make sure we're getting our troops home. it's time. it's been a decade. frankly, now that we have gotten bin laden, weakened al qaeda we're in a stronger position to transition than we would have been. >> these are the stakes. if we decide to -- that we're tired of it, that we don't want to do it anymore, well, the taliban isn't that tired and al qaeda badly damaged would be able to generate if they took the country over againment and we would then have another pre-9/11 situation. >> meanwhile, we're phraerpbg new detail about that soldier accused of killing the civilians. the 38-year-old staff sergeant just arrived in december after three tours of duty in iraq. married father of two. he suffered a traumatic brain injury during one of the tours

in iraq but he was evaluated and declared fit tore duty. they have not released a motive in the shooting. they expect the suspect to be brought back to the united states where secretary of defense leon panetta said he could be given the death penalty if convicted. they're saying we can't leave now. the taliban is still there. they're not going anywhere. al qaeda could come back. couldn't you make that argument 20 years from now or 50 years in now that the bad guys will come back if we leave? >> that's one of the elements, willie. we have been there 10 years. we have spent countless lives, billions of dollars in that effort and we still have not been able to come up with a definition of success, win, victory that we can live with because a all three are largely depend tent on our military involvement. we have an ally that is less than trust worthy. a president that is far less

than trustworthy. and now this incident threatens -- that's the wrong word. but could well do to the war in afghanistan what the success of the sraoet congress did to the united states after the tet offensive. this is a horrendous incident. if we take a snapshot of its culture, 18 years old is the median age in afghanistan. take a snapshot of that country today. will it look any different five years from now with our continuing involvement. >> that's the question nobody can answer. i would love to have a chance to cross-examine him and say, okay, your point is okay. if we leave three years from now what's going to prevent them from coming back in then. we train then to beat back the taliban. ten years is enough to train them look. we shouldn't lose

another life. not right now. we should plan to move ahead our departure because it's not making a difference. the only one it's making a difference to is the brave men and women out there on the firing line. good god, we've got to bring them home. >> these murders, it's a real indictment of the chain of command on that post on that night when one single staff sergeant in the united states army is able to walk away from the post, walk a half mile down a road and nobody notices he's gone or very few people in the chain of command knew he was gone or nobody noticed perhaps this is a troubled individual? >> in addition, washington times reported last night that this staff sergeant was deployed from a mental base in qaa coma, wa, for misdiagnosising ptsd. there has to be a system of

checks and balances, right? panetta called for review of this particular base for 1,500 different cases, potential diagnosis. these guys deployed four and five times in a row. in addition to the political ramifications and the policy questions we need to talk about the psychological support that is is and is not being ordinary. >> we're making no excuse for what happened. >> none. >> but something has to be done before the colonel goes back in the field. we'll talk to the author of the critically acclaimed book on afghanistan, "war." and eugene washington. and carl bernstein will be here. up next, michael lessen has a "first look". pweufrt, bill karins with a check of the forecast. >> beautiful weather continues

many areas of the country. yesterday was one of those days you wanted to put in your pocket and have it handy whenever you needed it. we had record-high temperatures across northern new england. we were 71 yesterday in boston, along with new york city. look at that. mid-70s in hartford, connecticut the middle of march. this morning, wet roadways. wet rain along i-95. give it another hour or two and this rain will be gone. plenty of sunshine. it may be warm enough to pop up afternoon showers or thunderstorms like you would in june. huge storms coming on shore in california. a lot of heavy rain for you. that will work its way to san francisco a little later today. as far as the country goes, you're going to enjoy one of the best days around. 81 from kansas city down to dallas. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

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newt gingrich, we all know newt. we spoke about the gas prices at an alabama gas station. talked about gas prices at an alabama gas station. did you see this? this is crazy. >> what i wanted to suggest, the reason i wanted to come to a gas station is i don't care the president quite gets it. wow. that's awful. you hate to see that. >> how did we miss that in mainstream media? let's take a look at some of the morning papers.

dallas "morning news". texas officials will press ahead with an effort for residents to show a government issued i.d. when voting. they blocked the state from enforcing that new law saying it could harm hispanics and suppress votes. whitey bulger expected to plead charges that she helped him evade authorities for years. he was an fbi informant. they arrested him in santa monica last summer with $800,000 cash in their apartment. >> when is the whitey movie coming out? >> there's too many. ridiculous. >> isn't affleck doing one? >> they're talking about one. >> talking to you about one. >> they're talking about one. >> mr. boston over here. chief white house correspondent

michael lessen with a look at the playbook. good morning. >> good morning. >> you said on an earlier too edition of way too early 45 minutes ago today was a huge day for the president. mitt romney could seal the deal in dixie. how is he going to do it? >> that's right, willie. southern tuesday could be the most decisive day. if mitt romney, who is tied in polls in both of these states, if he can win in both of these states he will have won in the deepest of the deep south in florida, ohio, michigan. those are the piece office a general election victory. he can see he's ready to take on barack obama. if newt gingrich loses both of these and believe it or not he is romney's competition tonight it's newt gingrich most likely to see from mitt romney f. rick santorum is right there in the top two, he's going to have an

argument to go on. the math suspect there for him. but he's not looking like somebody who will drop out. willie, how conservative are these states and the phreug policy poll shows them tied. they asked, do you believe in evolution something half the people said no. do you believe president obama is a muslim or christian. 45% to 50% say muslim. and the joe scarborough question are you an alabama fan or auburn fan? alabama, 58%, auburn 28%. >> that sounds about right. how does mitt romney make the case, mike, if santorum does win one or both states that santorum should get out. how can reut momry say i'm the nominee and everybody should get out of my way if santorum wins

tonight? >> he's poeg to say he is trying to help barack obama. it's a dead-ender. you're right it's harder to get traction with that message. they're going to say as long as we keep fighting ourselves, barack obama will build ahead of steam. this could go longer than we saw yesterday. rick santorum saying his mojo will come late may, early june. he's unlikely to have the money he needs until then without a strong night tonight. >> there's an he way to force people out of the race. weupbt states. they'll get out. >> joe at politco goes like this. imagine if the yankee thinks cheesy grits are the thing. how stkpaoeusive would just one

of those states be for romney going forward in sealing this anywhere dave. >> it helps him with ace math and momentum, which he needs both of at the moment. the fact that he had strong competition helps him. the walkaway states is good. we have drama going into tonight. mitt romney will get ahead here. we might not even talking about tonight. >> michael lessen breaking it down for us. thanks so much, mike. >> happy primary take. >> he's he's not a big nascar fan but he knows the owners. same goes for the nfl leave it to ozzie guillen to spice up spring training, gets tossed and has words for red sox manager bobby valentine who weighs good-bye to ozzy. sports is next. this is delicious okay...

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the difference i would say between boston and philadelphia

is that, you know, i think that, you know, the boston fans are a little bit more hysterical when it comes to the game of baseball. i would say the phillies fans, i think they tend to know the game a little bit better being in the national league and the way the game is played. you know, the boston fans -- i've had a guy take off his prosthetic leg in boston and throw it in the bull pen. >> has jonathan papelbon ever been to philadelphia? >> they boo santa claus in philadelphia. by the way, ed rendell told me about that famous story, that he was leading the boos. >> he's right that fans are civilized except when they're throwing d batteries at you from the stpbd. that's an old story and i apologize for that. let's settle this. mr. philly, dr. boston.

>> they are intense, equally knowledgeable. ther they are under prone to praou anything at any time what toupg? i think papelbon is right. they tend to be hysterical. they panic early. >> first of all, let's not rely on january thopb papelbon for anything. but i think he's right, mike. if we opened the season four or five games, we know it's a long season. boston is ready to jump of a bridge. i think that's a fact. >> that's not true. >> they played eight or nine games. >> last year the red sox were the worst team in baseball in eight or nine games. >> worked out well for everybody. >> they were not. >> one of them. >> pap el gone pwaeuf it up in the eight.

three weeks to opening day. ozzy gee yon in mid season form. decides he wants to get rolled out of this one. argues a call. gets himself run. hit the shower. a rare preseason ejection, his first with the marlins. he gets a little good-bye wave from bobby have been. valentine, of course, no stranger to an kperl exit himself. he dawned a groucho marx disguise. he sneaks back into the dugout in disguise. he said he did not see valentine's wave but i would have told him to go blank himself. i don't mind getting ejected, that's my job. if i get ejected protecting my players, so be it.

it's going to be a great season. >> do you remember a month or so admitted he didn't know a lot. but he is friends with team owners. >> of course. >> yesterday he added down in the state of alabama calling it to finebaum's talk radio show. he was asked where peyton manager should be and up came the owners. >> i'm surprised that denver is thinking about him. i don't want him in our neck of the wodz. i don't want him to go to miami or the jets. but i have a lot of good friends. the army of the dolphins and jets are friends of mine. let's keep away from new england so tom brady has a better chaps of picking up a championship for us. >> can't himself on the owners. >> he was lying on a bed of

unmarked $100 bills when he gave that interview. >> i know the owners. it's like that guy you go out with. we'll go to the club. i know the owners. it's so slimy. >> it's actually tphoup an advantage. people are so used to this it doesn't hurry him i didn't. >> the comrie commercial. i love it. >> i think that's the truth. >> baked in. ? >> both aoerpbs contributed to this. woody johnson. new issue of jc the force the -- more "morning joe" in a minute. [ male announcer ] this is the network --

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6:42 in the morning in new york city. beautiful picture of the united states capitol. correspond ept robert draper. robert writes about the influence of former michigan governor george romney on his son mitt and his discussion to run the presidency. it was cleared he loved campaigning alongside of his of his dad. the young e., willard, was not unlike the first, never still mentally or physically. why did he instead become the single most single tphoeft driven applicant. hi wife appe gave it a few year before it really appreciated

what it's means. mitt would say i have approximately my tower' sops. >> thabs for sag me. >> what kind of relationship did he have not just pell tobgs but in the reallying of possibility. >> it of a with ulle patient referencing, he first gave a speak on behalf of his dan when his dad ran for governor. he was young 15 at the time. later years, george fp george romney followed his son in 1994 when mitt romney ran his unsuccessful campaign for senate against ted kennedy. a year later he came with his father to william welds office. he told me by how refer el challenge mitt was as de.

as anne hatch any wepbz said, politics was his vine. >> hey, account, referen challenge action is a charming thing about his dad. one packet of his fore sears korea krao or that he had been brainwashed after a trip to vote ma'am chemical current tkraeps as well as his campaign seemed to have a hrrpbging effect on the stphupb terms of whenever he makes a statement about almost anybody it is in such passion. stpeupg i think oar do you think it stems from miss ear families tpoerpbs. >> he has said as such and friend around had as the skts.

this is between george and mitt romney. while george himself was a life long motive the one puzzling his delay through taught. whereas his son is one to wrb his words. that's for better and worse. when you look at the wage mitt henged his kpaeubs, he look hike a trying try to find the right answer, spins difference. george romney was carried arrogant, aloof but tphobl called him a flip-flopper. >> alex wagner. >> robert, do you think mitt romney has an office for the passion of office or just service phreul kael speak? it talks about his term at

massachusetts sper spefrd with the state ledge stators. he doesn't receive to have much tphaoe fire in the belly. >> i don't think eat a medication or comfort. it puts a discomfort around people. dispover d he was better at pressing the flesh. you see the unforced errors romney is committing. they're not career-ending gaffes such as rick santorum said which cabinet to get off to but his lack of experience around rell people. i had aeutsdz he's nephew had a business of sitting at a bar and relating to ball.

so i felt he has had a beautiful call to phrbg service. of course that involves taoelg with regular opinion and that breaks my heart. >> father and sob, whrbg was was "dreams" from my father. did you notice anything particularly unique about this relationship between father and son as it influenced his politics and his future? different from a hole ht of tfts sons and daughters we have all looked some mitt are viewed some as unclaimed support. we hear mitt same another not really a poll teugsz. he sees them through the prism of a life long opinions man.

i found it somethingment poll eubgs have clearly been on his heels for years. when he ran for senate in 1994 and lost by double digits among the conclusions he drew was he surrounded himself with political hats. so i think that one difference between, say,ed bushes, who came to embrace politics, is that mitt romney has never fully done so. has always seen business as the preferred pwoldz. >> you talk about him abuse using the bain paper. robert, thanks. we appreciate you for being with us this morning. >> caller: yeah. my pleasure. >> up next, a little news you can't lose we'll be right back. i think the volt is an awesome car.

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thoughts going through will farrell's mind just before he comes out on the show. >> oh, the vicodin is kick anything. >> do i look too handsome? >> almost. >> pretty sure jambalaya is a good one.

three, two, one, fake laugh. tphoed lady, i'm not your shining arm our and i love you ♪ >> yeah. >> god, look at dave. so sexy. i just want to run my hands along his body. will, focus. i remember to wear pants. >> oh, yes! good times. >> truly the best. >> time for use you can't use. mitt romney continued his skweupbg through mississippi and alabama. yesterday we talked about grits. today, jeff fox tker pore. romney and fact woerty yesterday in louisiana. >> i never mentioned i would be out here like hraeurl the cable

guy. lime. fun. that night i was in mississippi and it catfish for the second time. it was delicious. it's good to be back. we're going to get this thing won. jeff foxworthy will make all the difference in the world. you guys by voting multiple times, could make a big difference. just kidding! >> a little seven deposit indicating. >> guns and hunting. >> hunting. >> he's kidding. >> i liked it better to say show me which end of the rifle to use. >> they made fun of it. make your weak pbts your strength. >> mine was milk a cow. >> you said no, right? >> i believe that photograph assists somewhere and we're go

find it. and trouble with mitt romney's struggle last night. >> we're going to check approximate with romney southern strategy. >> morning, y'all. you didn't have to do this. i got it right this morning with a biscuit and cheesy grits, i'll tell you. delicious. >> everything about the south he learned from a jeff foxworthy routine. seriously, where is he getting this stuff? >> mitt is the right job for the club. if you have a car on your front law because your garage only holds tpaoeufpl cars.

if you order eggs tpaerb diagnosis ge. if you thought "cloverfield" was a move whereabout your butler, you might be a romney? he has to get on out of the south stkpwhrug no home, mitt. when we come back, colonel job jakes on and as bass kphepb younger. today i'm talking to people about walmart's low price guarantee.

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skpwhrao it was heartbreaking and tragic. i expressed to president scar caye when inspect civilians, especially children, are killed. and for it to happen in this kind of terrible way i think we all are concerned about it. but what we don't want to the is to do it in a way that is just a rush for the exit. it makes me more determined to make sure we're getting our troops home. it's time. it's been a decade. now they have gotten bin laden, we're in a stronger trogz to tpropbs tprbl hand we were. >> joining the table now, vanity fair, seft aulg author of the critical a hraeupld book on was.

♪ the war." and colonel jack contain objects. colonel jock son, good to see you. >> good morning incident to both beth your tkaeubgs takes on it. u.s. army sniper alleged to have killed 16 in a door to door shooting spree a mile from his base. they called for the soldier's assassination. the placenta -- they are urging him to speed up the waugh. today's "new york times" reports one option is to reduce the number of troops by an additional 20,000 or more about 2013. talks have been under way two weeks. members on the administration feel the mission has reached the point of initialing returns.

no decisions on troop levels to be made. and they are stressing up on not giving up the fight. these are the stakes. if we need we're tired of it, don't pwapbt to do anymore, the taliban isn't that tired. al qaeda, badly damaged, would be able to republican raeugz if they took the country tpepb. and we would then have another pret pre-9/11 situation. >> the 38-year-old staff sergeant just arrived in afghanistan in december after three tours of duties in iraq. mary, fathered of 2, suffered a traumatic praeupb during during of those those and declared fit for duty. they have not released a motive. they expect the suspect to be brought back to the united states for trial. leon panetta suggesting the

death penalty could be considered in this case. what was your reaction to the story? >> in an odd way it makes me think this happens almost every week in the united states. almost every week you read a headline, someone commits a mass shoot anything a mall or office. it made me more think about our relationship with guns in this country than it made me think than a problem with soldiers overseas. and i think most of the mass shooters in this country are not soldiered or best. for the most part they're not people who served. >> i think they should be able about figuring out, okay, almost everyone who ser receivers is not a murderer. so what is going on when someone

decides to kill a lot of people they don't know? what is that? >> were you someone with ptsd a guy who had been three tours through iraq, humvee rollover in which he sustained a brain injury was admitted back in the field? >> i think you would have to look at the numbers and all the tbis, traumatic brain injuries, thousands unfortunately, and see if there's violence among those conditions. most people who do three deplay ployments are not murderers. >> chain of command. how was one guy able to walk off his base a mile into a village essentially unnoticed. >> it demonstrates one thing. there probably aren't a lot of taliban in the area in a guy can wander off his camp 800, 900 meters down the road 1k3 then

come back alone and unmolested. not a lot of taliban hanging around there. second, there's supposed to be security around the camp. you have at least two people on each post. as sergeant of the guard, there's a sergeant of the relief, officer of the guard, field sister of the day, and the camp commander. the commander she supposed to keep security there. number 2, this guy himself was living with a bunch of other soldiers 23 hours. i remain to be convinced that somebody there didn't know something was wrong and just ignored it completely. you're talking about a phi three months, and not know something is wrong. so something's up. the investigation will be conducted, they're going to talk to his comrades, his family, his chain of command.

there was one than one person with something wrong. nobody did anything about it. it happened before. it's happened this time. >> colonel jacobs raise at least me one on the critical points. there's a whole lot more than we don't know than what we do know. but we know he was part of the unit. you live with the unit on that firebase for months on end. talk about the coherence, the closeness that comes about under the threat of being called any instinct serving in the military, foreign theater of war, how that bond was established. >> well, i don't know how big this base was. but where i was there was a 20-man position. i can't imagine others noticing and being concerned. it's also inconceivable that a

lone person who is not on skphaoeupbd of mission could walk out of the wire and on duty. i just literally don't understand what was that conversation like? i'm going to take a while. i'll be back in a little while? that just doesn't happen. i wonder what the the exchange at the gate. it's inconceivable. you just want taeubl to leave without being part of the group. >> there are initial reports coming in the last few hours one of the afghan soldiers saw him leave and reported that he had left the base. again,ing to his point, how does that happen? you walk a half mile down the road with, you know, five or six clips with you and fully loaded assault weapon by yourself.

>> yeah. i don't think how -- and i don't see how out comes as a surprise to anybody. you know, reminder, unfortunately of the incident with edal hassan. he killed, 30 or 40 people. there was a long history of this guy being recognized by his -- both his peers and his superiors saying he's a problem. the next was foot ft. hood where he killed all those people. >> i can't do something in the military without somebody knowing about it. whether it's small or large there's at least a small amount of people who know you exactly well. i can't see somebody wondering off in dan dehaar.

when the chain of command and no action is taken, that's a sad business. but the way to stop it of course is before the fact. let me throw one more thing out and that has to do with traumatic brain injury. we've got an -- and the fact this guy was on his first deployment and so far. there are a lot of troops that have had four demy pltds and who are not murders. and plenty of performance that did not mud. we should have been able to tkweupbg between a reason for something and an excuse. there's nothing that uses either that pwe or i will submit the chain of command and making sure he does not get away. >> it's not a fact but you can make a claim. >> we can make a claim that in this culture, in this country,

even though we've been at war 10 1/2 years, the national hockey league and the national football league pay more attention to tbi than doesed united states military. >> and i would also say to veterans returning home in general. >> you look at vet employment rate. i don't think there's a causal relationship but i think it highlights the reality. the third or fourth performance, i know guys in the marines. they don't feel like there's a place for them. but there's something about the battle field that obviously stays with you. i don't know what the case was with this particular u.s. soldier. insofar as it sheds lot. and the dynamics at play. >> well, we have to do a better

job. no doubt about it. he was a decorated and wounded american. very serious about taking care of troops. they're doing a much better job. there's always a lot more to do. we have to be careful -- having a traumatic brain injury, the worst things that happens is i make bad jokes. >> and there was one as we sat here. >> a lot of people with brain injuries in and out of the territory. >> that's your point. one of your points. >> do you feel like this last month will be looked back on it? any typicalest. will this be so sort of pivot for the united states role there? >> frankly, i don't know afghan opinion is going to show our

exit strategy. it helps to have the local populus on board. to some point they're foggy to be bored. so they're caught, right? they don't like having us there but they know what happens when we leave. so i think what's going to shape our exit is what people think in this country. it's very interesting. i just read in the "new york times" they are starting to diminish their rhetoric without the war. it's because of these incidents. >> let me does. you were tag about this earlier when you were in that country on a daily basis, do you think it's improved? will it be improved five years ago from where it is today? >> i started going in the mid an

'90s, joined the civil war. numbers are very hard to come by. the one i read was something like 400,000 afghan civilians died died in the '90s. in the decade since nato has been in afghanistan it is something like 10,000. so just on the scale of human suffering. >> this is so much better than it used to be. people have cell phones. kabul is completely different. in 90s it looked ache infact at barmes. >> education. all those numbers are improving dramatically. what's going to happen five years now depends how much they get because of the problems. if we walk away, the taliban will walk in. that's a civil war.

>> i think we have already committed ourselves to leaving. >> not only the president said of 2014. but there have been plans developed reviewed and approved by the joints chief ofst 2013 i can't have, 013, next thursday at varying speeds. and my guess, and the same -- it soundslike being going to be doing it as soon as the president, whoever he is, can get it done right away the election. >> i want to ask you. your friend died in libya covering that. anthony shadid died as well. it's been a tough year for journalistings covering wars. >> it has been.

they are opening up this new dynamic. they have color clear access. my friend tim was one of them. i'm making a move about them and started a medical program for free lens, called r.i.s.k. so that thoepb how to traoet combat injuries there in the field. a lot end up being fatal but they to the floor to be. and the press core knows what "today" with a bleeding wound. so i'm trying to figure that. >> that will be at sundance next january. >> thanks for having me on the program. >> as the republican voters face kapbdz dates today, president obama gets tough any poll next that give reason to call.

bernstein and robinson next. >> i'm talking about smiles from the deep coast to the midwest to the south, enjoying this may-like temperature kwrut break in the middle of the march. how warm they are from, up into new york stay. here's the map. average temperatures, aopbl supposed to be 44 is babe 45 in check. might is today's be high expect and boston and new york 22 degrees warmer and in chicago, 25 degrees warmer. even dallas, 14 degrees warmer than you should be today. after some morning shouse now exiting. we will see a warm afternoon fromc. and a few afternoon and storms. we have voting together on in doing doing and mississippi. really shouldn't hurt then's chances of getting out there and

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this happened during a press conference at the white house. in the spring, chicago, which is president obama's hometown, is hosting a nato summit. a reporter asked if he thought the city could effectively provide security for a major event. that's when the cool quotient went down exactly 38 points. >> i always have confidence in chicago being able to handle security issues. you know, whether it's taste of chicago or la palooza. >> that's where he saw the red hot chimichangas or whatever

they're called now. >> carl bernstein, great to have you back on the set. and washington pulitzer prize winner and our good friend eugene robinson. good morning. >> gene, i want to show you some polls. polls show president obama's approval rating at 41%, down nine points for just last month. all time low for president obama. on foreign policy, 40% say they approve of president obama, 10-point drop from last month. and the lowest number for the president since before osama bin laid especially was killed last year. that's down 5 points for february. they ace approve his handling of price. gas price continue to rise. 54% say he could do more to

control gas prices. eugene robinson, these are big numbers. 9-point drop here. 10 on a different question. in the white house, as this look at those numbers, if they want to take any sole as at all they will look at head to head matchups with romney and other potential candidates showing romney questioning them. might look at the gallup poll which yesterday had owe mama at 49%. nonetheless, these numbers are good at all for the white house. and i think it's gas prices myself. it's postally what has khepged the last month or so. you know, you get blamed for that if orpresident. you mention

head mashup statistical tie, between president app bam that. >> i always thought this was going to be a close election. and the real issue is the obama presidency. when there gets to be a republican nominee that is really going to be the issue more than now. one of the reasons the numbers have moved -- remember, a poll is only air snapshot. but this snapshot is taken during the republican primaries. the republicans have very successful and amplified the debate. and we're all covering it. so their points are getting across. in the press, in the meanwhile. look, this is not a popular president and there is a lot of veer hrpbt dislike for him. and that virulent dislike moves over into people who are perhaps mr. sinterest and affected by that virulence. and we're going to see an awful

lot of it. this i think finally puts us into where this game is going to be played out. >> ed rendell you were shaking your head when gene robinson was talking. >> gene was wrong in this head to head. it's what i said in the 6:00 hour. anybody who thinks this means something for october is mistaken. there are so many things that can go differently. but i don't think we should take anything carl said seriously because he's wearing a santorum vest. >> there's buttons. it's not a bullover. >> it is pretty close. >> can i say one thing? >> that's between him and jim carter cardigan. >> so far i'm in some company here but go right ahead. >> can i something about the poll numbers that's a silver

lining? he's doing far better above men than women. you talk about strategy for 2012. he has to win independent women, working women in general. the recei it's a repeat of 2008 where he did even with mccain. like certain other policy prescriptions, this stuff about contraception, this stuff about the rush limbaugh rhetoric, women don't forget that. it stays with you. there's a great contention that the nominee will pivot in the summer when he's the romney. but eye not quite sure you can put the jeannie back in the back. >> president's approval rating dropped 10 points.

>> it's a president bush and i am saying it is a problem. it's reflective of this is race is going to get closer and closer. the one thing, though, that we have to ask is assuming he is the nominee, he is a difficult cancelled date. we don't know how that is going to play off head to head. if the white housest looking forward to anything that's romney's stiffness, it's his inability to connect. it's miss tact that he's got an awful lot to explain about his record because he's been unsuccessful in explaining because he doesn't explain the truth about where he has been over the years. that will be a huge issue they will going away. >> do you agree the permanent connections will matter given

aut economic, financial tate. is that sort of a primary aside here or is it about quart. >> it's going to be more about issues than personalities. yeah. i think that affects things on the margin. no, the white house, look, has to be concerned about these numbers. it was always, as carl said, going to be a close election. this is an evenly divided country. and a time when people are polarized and anxious about a variety of things. i do think what's been happening with bass price amplifies. and what's in the offing for possible change in november? it's the president. and that's something they're going to have to overcome. the white house is trying to do

that. but they're going to have to chip away and chip away and chip away at this over time if they are going to, you know, get the groups they need to win in november. not just women but independents in general. they've got to do very well. >> when you were mayor of philadelphia, governor of philadelphia, when you were in office or running for reelection to either of those posts, did you get a kick of how much the media obsesses about polls? >> sure. i thought it was funny because, you know, we know the nature of the polls because we live them. but i thought one of the points that carl made was very good. campaigns matter. they matter. especially for a president when most persons pay a lot of attention. remember, mccain and obama coming out were basically tied. mctaeupb was up a point. it wasn't economic conditions, although the recession hurt obviously. it's the the way obama campaigned versus mccain that

turned it into a route. son the only thing i would say to be optimistic for the republicans is all the things you said about romney are correct. but the one thing he does well is debate. despite all his gaffes he's been a good disciplined, focused debater. and i think he is the best republican to go head to head with a good debater, about many become. >> sopbgs he gets his time and doesn't keep saying anderson, anderson, anderson. >> no withstanding that he did well in all details. >> romney does have difficulty correcting with your average voter except it could well be by the time we get to the fall that his connection to the average voter will be a gas pump, will be increased food price, will be the existing and growing unease within this country i think about where are we headed as a country? that could be the connection that's made for him.

>> well, it could be that president obama has to make the case to voters not to think like that, to look further ahead. he has to convince him this would be having no matter who was president. and look at those white working class voters with whom both of these candidates, obama candidate, romney a potential candidate, have difficulty connecting. so who is going to connect. >> eugene robinson, very strong column today. check it out on washingtonpost.com. afghans are telling us to leave. we should listen and owe phraoeupblg. do yourself and favor and online and read. what old school love letters tell us about the man who would

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hey, we're getting some new pictures here. look at this. good news, nobody injured. we should say that up top. a plane rolled off a taxiway in atlanta, the world's busiest airport, hartsfield jackson. no passengers on board. nobody injured. they were test rg the engines of a boeing 737 when the braking system failed. the jet sustained significant damage. faa says recovery of the aircraft may impact the airport's operations. later today. nobody hurt. that's your headline. watch for delays in atlanta. i want to bring you a story here. former first lady pat nixon's 100th birthday would have been this friday. they are releasing permanent letters from her husband. revealing side of the 37th president many of us have never seen. >> reporter: to describe richard nixon, who would use the words playful, corny, romantic? after all his boldness and

brilliance were matched and overwhelmed by his political and personal raoulgtnessless that led to watergate and these unprecedented words. >> i shall resign the presidency effective noon tomorrow. >> reporter: now the letters. between the ambitious young lawyer who just moved to washington, d.c. and pretty thelma catherine ryan, known to all as pat, whom he asked to marry him on their first day. he writes to his irish gypsy all that is happy and beautiful. pines to be with her every day and every night. weekends in the mountains, or just reading together in front of fires. and about love? he said like his quaker mother he never spoke or wrote the word in his public life. >> she considered that to be very private and very sacred. and i feel the same way. >> reporter: but in his letters to pat. >> yes. he signed some of them.

he called her his dearest heart. >> reporter: president sandy quinn, a friend of nixons throughout, has his first. >> nothing so fine ever happened to him or anyone else as falling in love with thee, my tkaefrt heart. ♪ >> reporter: when his beloved pat died in 1993, his grief was seering. >> you said remember the sunshine of her smile. >>reporter: the smile so captivated him for more than half a century. >> carl, do those letters surprise you at all? is that a side of president nixon you knew? >> absolutely. and eisenhower wrote a wonderful book. >> yes. >> it became a difficult marriage at one point because she wanted him to leave political life after he had lost the race for governor of california.

but she was a wonderfully affectionate woman to both her husband and her children. nixon had demons. and those eventually overwhelmed him. pat nixon didn't have those demons and helped him struggle against the demons. perhaps not as successfully as some would have liked. but she was, first of all, she was -- hillary clinton was one of the first to recognize what a wonderful first lady she was in many regards and wrote about it, hillary did. she was a very ordered person. she wanted to be -- or was a school teacher. and she also had a great sense of decorum and was really loved by the staff and helped him through a very difficult life.

there's no question she was a rock in his life. and you saw it there. we were just -- bob woodward and i were just out at the nixon library. part of the thing you forget in the nixon saga it is more than anything else a human story. when you're at the nixon library you get a sense of this struggle that he had, the overstriving, the demons i've referred to which constantly appear in his career. but yet you get a sense that the library of nixon, the almost tragic figure in many ways. and of course pat nixon was aware of the tragic aspects of his life. >> it's great to have you here on this story and perspective on it, carl. thanks for being with us. we appreciate it. coming you, island of vice. a revealing new book shows the

seedy side 19th century new york city and teddy roosevelt's crusade to clean it up. that's next on "morning joe".

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welcome back to "morning joe". the sun is up in washington, d.c. it will be warm all over the country today. joining us the author of the new book kwroet island of vice". theodore roosevelt's doomed quest to clean up sin loving new york. richard, good to have you with us. >> thanks for having me. >> convention yam wisdom. teddy roosevelt comes in, cleans up new york city. you blew that up a little bit. >> yeah. conventionalism is completely wrong in this case. new york is just a town that was full of prostitution, gambling, after-hours clubs. and roosevelt came in and said

i'm going to enforce all the laws, make the police do everything they're supposed to do, and he could not defeat the irish. he couldn't change the spirit of the city. there was a clubbing spirit even in the 1890s. >> paint a picture of new york. what does it look like? where do people live? what's going on. >> you have 30,000 prostitutes working the streets. >> wow. >> i got a quote from one guy who had a studio overlooking 13th street. and he could see into a sleazy hotel and the prosecutor asked him what could you see. >> fornication, three windows at a time. >> wow. >> new york was gambling joints. cans field was the most elegant casino in the town. i was the first to give ious. >> how much of teddy roosevelt's inability as police commissioner to clean up new york and his confrontations with irish politics, how much was it was cultural in that he didn't

understand or couldn't go negotiate with the irish? >> i think that's a great question. they called him almost a boston man. he came down and he was so self-righteous. he spoke with so many syllables the cops didn't know what he was talking about. it was like king arthur talking to the knights. they had been told by their own captain, never say nothing. here's this boston game pontiff indicating. it was a cultural clash, totally. >> were you ever into that when you were mayor? >> the police commissioner could communicate. the interesting thing you told me in the greenroom, teddy roosevelt, never carried the city of new york in any of his elections. >> yeah. he won for governor, barely won for governor, lost new york terribly. lost vice president, lost president. he tried to shut down the saloons on sundays.

he was enforcing every law on the books. there was a sabbath law that hadn't been around since the civil war. they worked six days a week. roosevelt said go picnic with your families. that didn't go over well in new york. >> when you paint a picture backs in the day, fornication, drinking. doesn't sound all that different than today. what was rudy giuliani able to do that roosevelt wasn't? >> rudy's command was much smaller. he shut down sex shops around times square. teddy roosevelt was the most combative, aggressive. he thought he could purify america by starting with the most corrupt city in the country. his scope and aggressiveness is astounding. he failed but he built a national reputation that led toe great things for him. >> where did this drive come from within him?

what prompted it? ego? >> i think he did have a bit -- we hate to use that word with him because we're so proud of his conservation and trust busting. but he was a big of a moralist, prude. when his brother was caught fathering a child out of wedlock, his only brother, he said, you know, the shame is just unbearable. maybe it would be better if he were dead. >> oh, wow! >> yeah. >> it's something to me it wasn't just casino owners and prostitutes who thought this was a bad idea. most of the people in new york wanted him to lay off. >> not surprising. >> absolutely. and this was a city that had more irish than dublin. more germans than almost any city. they were a hard drinking town. someone did the math and figured out -- and i still can't belive this. new yorkers drank on average 20 pints a beer a week. >> again, i say this doesn't --

>> alex is in a different city than the rest of us. >> she knows where to go. >> what got you interested in this? >> i came through this through vice not roosevelt. i wrote my first book history laid bare. i love the dark side of things. and i find depositions that you can't belive of authentic. they called them french circuses, which were sex shows in the 1890s. we had depositions. there's bill clinton's cigar is involved. in a deposition. very serious stuff. three main brothel districts. there was a french town, the tenderloin and the lower east side, that was the cheapest and largest brothel district in new york city. >> so when did it end? who stopped all of this, if not roosevelt. >> it wasn't roosevelt.

people say what stoptd prostitution? it's unbelievable. it was the changing of morals that women would no longer have to be virgin competition put the end to the major brothel districts of new york. >> lots of sex in new york. >> and according to alex it never did stop. new york is just like it was in 1890. >> french circuses go on. >> well, you've just made this a must-read book. the book is "island of vice." richard, thanks. >> thanks a lot. >> we'll be right back. today i'm talking to people about walmart's low price guarantee.

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tomorrow are the big gop primaries in alabama and mississippi. that is not just the deep south, that is dipped in batter and deep fat fried south. and everybody knows i'm a loyal son of the south. you can tell by my thick southern accent and of course the pair saul i carry to protect me from the noon day sun, or else i do declare i would get a brain fever. now, any republican who wants to

be president has to woo us and i am glad to say we have three handsome gentlemen callers along with that nice man who keeps promising us gold. >> welcome back to "morning joe." you know, jeremy lin was the biggest thing on the island. no more. the knicks and chicago trying to end their five-game losing streak. they would have to do it against the chicago bulls. derrick rose looking to put an end to the linsanity once and for all. ties the game at 42. knicks kept it close but in the fourth the bulls pull away, up five. rose takes the give-and-go from joakim noah, throws down a mean-spirited slam. the bulls win 104-99. the knicks have lost six consecutive games. the bulls improve to 35-9 with a home record of 17-3.

boy, they're good. i hate to say it, i bought the linsanity shirt. do you have one too? >> oh, yeah. how could i not? >> he didn't have a bad game. >> i'm not giving up on the dream. >> you're staying with it? >> yeah. >> based on? >> just based on belief in jeremy lin. >> yes. >> interesting it was when anthony came back that linsanity started to tank. >> carmelo has to go. >> exactly. >> tomorrow we'll bring in aur yaup -- arianna huffington and dick vitale. also tomorrow, we'll break down the results of the today's primaries in the south. coming up here some tough new poll numbers for the president. we'll go through those when we come back.

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finding you the perfect place is all we do. welcome to hotels.com good morning. it's 8:00 here on the east coast. a warm day in new york city. back with us on set, msnbc contributor mike barnacle. the former governor of pennsylvania, ed rendell and the host of "now" every day at noon alex wagner and political

columnist for the "new york daily news" miss s.e. cupp. yesterday president obama is at 41% job approval rating. that's down a full nine points from one month ago. that represents an all-time low for the president in this "the new york times" poll. on the question of foreign policy, only 40% approve of the job president obama is doing. that's down ten points and his lowest number in that category since before osama bin laden was killed in may. on the economy the president's approval drops to 39%, down five points from february. 54% disapprove of the president's handling of economic issues. gas prices continue to rise. 54% polled say the president could do more to control that number. 36% say gas prices are beyond the control of any president. let's just stop right there. governor rendell, what's going on, down nine points in a month?

>> i think the first thing this teaches is us basically to ignore polls. polls make no rhyme or reason. what's happened in the last month to change people's opinion other than gas prices, what would change people's opinion? what's happened in the last month? nothing that would have a significant or germane effect. >> afghanistan. >> afghanistan, koran burning, but does anybody hold the president responsible for that? look, the bottom line is we love polls because they give us something to talk about. >> we pay attention to them when the president is doing well. so we're going to pay attention when he's not doing well here. >> sure. but the bottom line is we've said all along in this show, with mitt romney, listen, it's a long time between now and end of october. the same thing for president obama. so i think the polls are in essence temporary snapshots. my first poll out of the baukts wh -- box when i ran for re-election, i was within the margin of error but won by 22 points.

>> you're within the margin of error every day. >> nine points, though, alex. >> it's also, as the governor points out, it's two things obama can't really control, gas prices and foreign policy. i think nobody necessarily blames the president for the koran burning but i think he apologized and that was a talking point. actual americans feel personal pocketbook pain because of gas prices and what gas prices do to the gdp is significant so it's not to be ignored. >> well, kudos to the 36% of the folks that the president can't really do anything about gas prices. i relish an opportunity to bring this guy down a peg but it isn't down the federal government, supply and demand, pure and simple. that said the politics here is so juicy and tempting, neither side can resist. so the gop candidates are

certainly going to use the narrative of rising gas prices to talk about the president's failed energy policy and the president knows how significant that story line is, which is why he released his energy report yesterday and is going to be touting his energy successes over the next month. it's a significant issue. in georgia, 80% of voters said that gas prices was their number one issue when they went to the polls and voted for our gal pal newt gingrich. >> our gal pal? >> it's a big issue. >> well, the president went on a media tour yesterday, did a bunch of interviews trying to blunt this movement on the poll numbers particularly on the moou movement of gas prices. here's what he said. >> i think the american pipe eo understand that we don't have a silver bullet when it comes to gas prices. but they're hurting right now. so what i've instructed my team to do, we're looking at every

single thing we can do from relieving bottlenecks to see if we can impact internationally how the oil markets are operating. ultimately, though, the single most important thing we can do is reduce our foreign dependence on foreign oil. the fact that we've reduced our dependence by a million barrels a day, that over time will have a big impact. >> mike, you've been talking about this for a long time. you go to the pump and it's costing you almost $4 a gallon. this is going to be on people's minds not just now but throughout the summer. >> here's the deal on the polls, as far as i'm concerned. here's the deal on the polls. pay little attention to them at this point in time. this is a three-point election no matter what happens. this country is in the middle. you don't encounter anyone in the supermarket who says i love the guy or i hate the guy. it's -- the country is very uneasy about the future, extremely uneasy about the future. that's reflected in the polls. the other aspect of it, the gas

prices. gas prices trigger food prices. you're paying more for milk and bread and you're thinking what's going on and so you say you're uneasy about president obama. >> governor, how much of this is about the republican campaign where you have three people eating up all the airspace, all the media talking about what a terrible job the president is doing. >> a little bit. eventually the reverse sinks in, the candidates eating themselves alive. but this issue like any other issue, eventual republican winner will have to have an answer. he can't say more domestic drilling because under president obama domestic drilling has gone up significantly. we have four times as many oil rigs now as we did when he started. it's okay in a vacuum to say he's the president and gas prices have gone up.

what would you do differently. >> but i think you see -- first of all, keystone is going to be the answer to everything i think this summer. bobby jindal yesterday outlining keystone, keystone, keystone. and the permitting issue i think they'll hammer him hard on. >> how do you get around the fact that there are four times as many oil rigs in the u.s.? >> the facts are but a detail. >> oil production is up on private places like north dakota, texas and alaska but it's down 40% in the past ten years on federal lands. we've had a lot fewer permits issue. the permit issue is comebersome and clunky. there's a lot that a gop candidate could offer. >> but it's also the narrative. the keystone thing paints presidents be holden to a radical environmental agenda. >> and the solyndra thing can be used to talk about a failed economic policy as well.

>> go ahead. >> we had sherrod brown on yesterday and he was talking about gas prices. he said 56 cents out of each gallon is ripped off by gouging. 56 cents. we are too limited, willie and i, to have pursued that line of thought so i don't know where the 56 cents is coming from. >> take care of yourself, my man. >> listen, i'm not going down alone. >> grab whatever is close to you. >> that's also an issue. if that's anywhere near accurate, 56 cents out of each $4 a gallon for gasoline is being gouged, that's also an issue that would be ysd used by democrats. >> for all the talk about this being a clown show, look at the same head-to-head numbers in the "new york times" poll. standar statistically romney and san

tore are tied. look how close it is after all the beating up of each other these guys have done. >> yeah, this sort of thing happens, right? you sift out the weaker -- the weaker candidates and then the strongest, you know, survive and remain. i don't know, i think some of these guys' days are numbered. >> which guys are you talking about? >> your gal pal. >> my gal pal newt gingrich has some issued. >> rick santorum, though? >> i think rick santorum is okay for a while. looking ahead on the calendar, i think he looks good. i talked to the camp last night, the santorum camp last night and basically they said time is on our side. they said romney cannot get to the majority of delegates. we'll see about that but i think they're in it for a little while. newt gingrich really has to win tomorrow somewhere, has to claim victory outside of his home state. >> today. >> sorry, today. >> it's early. it feels like yesterday. >> it is so early.

he's got to. i've got to take issue with this idea of a southern strategy, if you will. i think that gives the gingrich campaign a little too much credit. this is a strategy by default, not design. it's not like he looked at the map and said i'd like to take this state and this state. these are the only states he can end. if he doesn't, i think that spells the end for his campaign. >> romney has lost south carolina, georgia and tennessee. if he loses today alabama and mississippi, what does it tell us about him as a potential republican nominee? >> cheesy grit strategy is not working? i don't think it's going to surprise anybody but it gives credence to the theory that he does not garner a diverse coalition of voters. he does well with after lunt, educated urban voters and that's about it. >> but romney is going to carry

those states. any republican will carry those states. romney's strength is in areas like the suburbs of philadelphia, the suburbs of detroit, the suburbs of chicago where elections are won and lost. >> what's the reaction among pennsylvania among people who know him best to rick santorum's success? >> totally stunned. you know, rick over the course of time, some things he did very well. he was a great -- i hate to say this, he was a great pork senator. i would call him and say we need this, we got it. he was a great pork senator. above and beyond that, people are amazed that he could be considered a serious presidential candidate. >> so you never got from him when you'd call him with an appropriations project, you never got we've got to watch out for the deficit. >> no, and i picked my shots. i made sure the projects were good ones. but when they were, he went to work and got them done. but in defense of rick, that's

the system and he did is job. he did his job well for pennsylvanians. that's the system. i endorsed mccain-feingold. they said having that was like having ali babba and they'vary. >> in that same poll 34% of american voters trust him to take care of the nation. 30% trust romney. this is a guy who's being outspent ten to one. i mean it's an impressive feat. we talk a lot about american politics being corrupted by money and i think to a large extent they are. but it's a testament to the weakness of the field and santorum's message. >> some more somber news. more protests in afghanistan as anger builds over the u.s. army sniper alleged to have killed 16 afghan civilians early sunday in

a door-to-door shooting spree about a mile from hi base. hundreds of students gathered today to call for the soldier's assassination. it is reframing a debate inside the white house where the president's advisers are urging him to speed up the withdrawal of american soldiers from the war zone. one option under consideration would reduce the number of troops by an additional 20,000 or more by 2013, next year. those talks were underway for weeks but given the new setback, some members of the administration feel the mission has, quote, reached the point of diminishing returns. no decisions on troop levels have been made. both president obama and ryan crocker are expressing not to give up the fight. >> what happened this weekend is depressing. i expressed to president karzai how peopeople feel any type peo

are killed, especially children. i think we are all concerned about it. but what we don't want to do is do it in a way that is just a rush for the exits. it makes me more determined to make sure we're getting our troops home. it's time. its been a decade. frankly now that we've gotten bin laden, now that we've weakened al qaeda, we're in a stronger position to transition than we would have been. >> these are the stakes. if we decide that we're tired of it, we don't want to do it anymore, well, the taliban isn't that tired and al qaeda badly damaged would be able to regenerate if the taliban took the country over again. and we would then have another pre-9/11 situation. >> meanwhile we're learning new detail about that soldier accused of killing the civilians. the 38-year-old staff sergeant had just arrived in afghanistan in december after three tours of duty in iraq.

he's a married father of two. he suffered a traumatic brain injury during one of those tours in iraq but was evaluated and declared fit for duty. officials expect the suspect to be brought back to the united states where secretary of defense leon panetta says he could be given the death penalty if convicted. mike, you listen to ryan crocker saying we can't leave now, al qaeda could come back. couldn't you make that argument 20 years from now or 50 years from now that the bad guys will come back when we leave? >> that's one of the elements in this, willie. if you look at where we are in afghanistan. we have been there ten years and spent countless lives and billions of dollars in that effort and we still have not been able to come up with a definition of success, win, victory that we can live with because all three of those are largely dependent on our military involvement. we have an ally that is less

than trustworthy. we have a president of that country who is far less than trustworthy and now we have this incident which threatens -- that's the wrong word, but could well do to the war in afghanistan what the success of the north vietnamese and viet cong did to the united states, public opinion after the ted offensive. you have to ask yourself if we take a picture of afghanistan today, its culture, it's people, a country with a median age of 18 years, take a snapshot today, will it look any different five years from now with our continuing involvement. >> that's a question nobody can answer. i'd love to cross examine the ambassador and say your point is okay but if we leave three years from now what's to prevent the taliban from coming back in then. we're supposedly training the afghan to have their own security forces and beat back the taliban. ten years is enough to train

them. look, we shouldn't lose another life. we should get out now. not precipitously but we should plan to move ahead our departure because it isn't making a difference. the only one it's making a difference to is those brave men and women out there on the firing line. coming up john f. kennedy once described his visit to ireland as the best four days of his life. we'll look pack on his visit to the land of his ancestors. and the story of king peggy. an american secretary whose life changed overnight after she was called on to lead an african village. first, let's get a check of the weather with bill karins. >> well, we are watching gorgeous weather in 90% of the country. i'd love to talk about the whole time but there's 10% not dealing with nice weather. it's raining, it's snowing, it's windy and we're talking about the west coast. from the pacific northwest down south into oregon, we had a big

windstorm. today it is very cold, snow at the lower levels. if you're wondering where winter is in the country, this is it. some of that rain is beginning to move down to northern california and we're going to get snow in the northern mountains. this is pretty rare. san francisco, that rain is heading your way eventually during the day today. have your umbrella around san jose, sacramento. those scattered storms in the southeast, i know we have the voting today in mississippi and alabama. just a slight chance of an afternoon shower or storm shouldn't ruin anybody's plans. look at tomorrow, the warm weather continues. if anything, tomorrow may be one of the warmest days of the week. look at chicago, near 80 degrees in the middle of march. that is pretty incredible stuff. you're watching "morning joe." we're brewed by starbucks. ♪

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when my great grandfather left here to become a cooper in east boston, he carried nothing with him except two things, a strong religious faith and a strong desire for liberty. and i'm glad to say -- [ applause ] and i'm glad to say that all of

his great grandchildren have valued that inheritance [ applause ] >> that was president john f. kennedy, june of 1963, talking about his ancestral roots during a visit that year to ireland. with us now one of ireland's best known television hosts. here's the author of "jkf in ireland." before we get into the book, you're like this huge tabloid star. you have a tabloid named tubbs. >> that's the nickname. it's because of my weight problem they had just had to go with tubs, my lack of it. the show is called the late late show, it's 50 years old in may. i wasn't there from the beginning, somebody else did it first. we have our own johnny carson and somebody else did it for 10 years and i'm doing it the last

two or three years. it's great fun. it's an institution in ireland. >> it must be difficult in ireland to find people willing to talk, though. >> fish in a barrel. fish in a barrel. lock and load. >> we're seeing video, you've got tony blair one moment, the next sinead o'conner. >> and whoever else is in town. >> gordon brown? >> we had martin sheen last week, jerry springer the week before. >> good get. >> yeah. the story of his background in germany in world war ii is fascinating. look at me doing my job. that's how we roll. if i can get a job in television, anyone can do it. >> so we've established you're the biggest star in ireland, perhaps in the nation's history. >> could you understate it anymore. >> let's talk about the book. for our viewers who aren't familiar with that period, talk

about that. >> in essence, 1848, the first kennedy left ireland and in the heartland of the famine, got to boston and within four generations worked their way up to become the most famous and powerful family on the planet earth. when he got elected, he went over there and had the murfia, the irish mafia that he surrounded himself by. but also he was under pressure to say do you want to come home to ireland. he was thinking, you know, i'd really like to but i don't have much of an excuse. anyway, he got a european trip, got to berlin, gave a speech, hopped on a plane and flew to dublin that night. landed in dublin in the mist and fog, because we had that specially arranged for him. it was june. and then he arrived and kid four days. the first day or two he was a little straight about it and his first few speeches were very i'm

delighted to be here and all that sort of thing and then he just got more excited and started really enjoying himself and he was roaring laughing and chuck ling. by the time he got to day 4, he said this is not the land of my birth but it is the land for which i hold the most affection. i thought that's pretty extraordinary for an american president to say. but i think he got irishified. >> dave powers, who was one of the president's closest assistants, once told me that the trip to ireland had a hugely emotional impact. >> i believe that. >> on john f. kennedy. that it truly made him irish. >> that's a great point. the name patrick in the kennedy family was pretty much erased. they had a lot of problems when they come over within a couple of generations. it wasn't cool to be irish and the kennedys always married up a little bit classwise. so much so when jfk's father was

born, his mother said i don't want any patricks around so i'm going to call them joseph p. so no patricks. so when jfk had caroline and he had john john and then he came to ireland and did this is four days, mrs. kennedy wasn't with him. why? she was pregnant with child. she gives birth and they christen the baby patrick. sadly the baby died after a couple of days but from an emotional point of view, this was the completion of the kennedys. >> and of course one of teddy's sons is patrick. >> right. and the name is strong now within the family again. so it's a good thing because it was very important for ireland which at that time was a bit of a basket case and as i describe it in the book, it was like a splash of oz coming to kansas.

everyone talks about my god, his teeth, his hair, his eyes, his brown skin and so forth. he was like a rainbow coming off a plane saying look what i can do. >> as you know, you can go to many places in the west of ireland and it's as if john f. kennedy had been there last week. >> still. there was a time in ireland -- ireland is very catholic and above the fireplace you'd have a picture of the holy ghost or jesus and beside it was a picture of president kennedy. people think that's a myth. that was the truth. look at the footage there. everywhere he went, the place was -- it was rock star politics. probably reminiscent of what president obama did running the office first time. but that lady he's talking to, that's his nearest cousin and that's a tea party they had. there was a big cake there with his face in icing.

but she said -- he was wandering around there, pouring tea and she said cut the face and he said you want me to cut my face? yeah, cut your face. he was having a ball. then getting on the helicopter, she kissed him on the cheek and protocol went out the window. we encourage everyone with a bit of irish to come back home to ireland like the president did in 1963. we need you now. >> what about that other american president whose apostrophe is missing, but obama. >> he was over recently. >> and he was making the point he was just making the apostrophe. what are the attitudes toward our current president? >> we love when the president comes to visit because you know the excitement it encourages. we're a small country, a very proud country.

when an american president comes along and says i'll i think pop into ireland and have a pint of guinness with my wife. i had the pleasure of meeting president obama just before he addressed the irish people in the square and gave a found speech about yes, we can. but that line he uses. he translated it into irish which was a nice touch. so we like -- president reagan came to ireland back in '85. >> another irishman. >> we've discussed our own irishness here. >> i'm a quarter irish. >> you were giving out grumbling irishman there? >> 100%. >> willie? >> i'm a mutt. a little france, a little ireland, norway. >> you're like the united nations in a suit. >> that's what he's known as off air. >> the interesting thing, you go into older americans' homes and

you still see pictures of president kennedy. >> the impact is quite shocking. >> for someone who was around for such a short period of time and really didn't get a chance to do very much as president except maybe in foreign affairs he had an impact, i think. but it's unbelievable the reverence. >> his story is replete with what ifs. and of course when he was tragically cut down so far before his time, the reaction -- i mean there was a pall, i know there was here in the united states but in ireland the dark clouds lasted for quite some time. it's a good story. here i am, wasn't born when the president was around but still the story lingers in hearts and minds of irish people and i suspect in the united states. that's what it is, one of those good old yarns. >> ryan, it's great to meet you. >> what a pleasure. >> happy st. patrick's day in advance. >> ryan is the biggest tv star

on the face of the earth. >> planet earth. >> we are going to keep it right there. more "morning joe" in a moment. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550

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welcome back to "morning joe." we're going to get to business before the bell in just a moment. we've got a red sox fan standing

by to do that so we want to show them this, new marlins skipper, ozzie guillen, already in midseason form. getting run out of a preseason game yesterday. just went out and argued for no good reason. maybe it was getting warm out there in the sun. >> he wants to practice. >> he gets run out of the game. bobby valentine in the other dugout waves goodbye. ozzie, have a good day. bobby v., the new man in boston. remember in 1999 he got thrown out of a game himself. returned to the game wearing a grouchy marxx disguise. let's go to brian shactman now. are you pumped about bobby v.? >> i don't know. i don't like him waving him off. i think i might take guillen in a cage match. i want to win some games first. i'm ready for the season but not

optimistic. in the business world, obama is going to talk just after 11:00 a.m. this morning. there's a big tussle going on. rare earth minerals, like 17 very little talked about rare earth, they go into anything from defense to clean technology to your iphone. china has 97% of the global market here and have been messing around with export levels. they have had huge price spikes in these minerals and now the u.s. is going to go to the wto to try to do something about it and it might open himself up to the republican side in terms of sparking a trade war. so it will be very interesting to see how this is received on both sides of the aisle. >> explain why that's so important. >> that's important because the chinese rare earth minerals are crucial. they said you can have them but you have to come here and set up

your plants to use them. that's a wto violation. >> it's so difficult to mine these and process them. it takes years to ramp up a company to be able to do knit a competitive level with china. one company that's been doing it for two years, they're still almost eight months away from bringing anything to market, so they dominate this market and have been messing around with global prices. they even used it against japan when they stopped sending it to japan entirely. so this could be an issue even for something very few people know about. >> it looks like the president is about to get tough on china. press conference again today, 11:00 in the morning. a little after 11:00. brian, we'll be watching that. thanks so much. coming up next, the remarkable story of king peggie, the office secretary who was called upon to lead an african village. she accepted the challenge. we'll tell you more about it when we come back.

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welcome back to "morning joe." this is an incredible story. with us peggielene bartels, co-author of the book "king peggy." the inspiring story of how she changed an african village. very good to have you. she said call her peggy, so i can call her peggy or nana you said, yes. >> but you are king peggy and let's let this story breathe and start at the beginning. bring us back to when you were working as a secretary and living in a one-bedroom apartment and driving a honda. >> well, in 1997 i had a call that changed my life. you know, it was about 4:00 in the morning and i had a call, you know, from ghana. at first i was a little confused, i thought it was my

brother. then i realized it was from my cousin. he said nana. and i said nana? that is someone that is a king or a queen or has children and i don't have any of them. i'm childless. i don't have any child so i was surprised at first. i thought it was a prank. i told him, i said, if you don't hang up, i'm going to hang up. >> so what did he tell you? >> he said, nana, your uncle is going to a village and he's not coming back any time soon. when a king passes on, they don't say the king is dead, they say he's gone and is not coming back any time soon. so when he told me that, i was shocked. at first i didn't want to -- i said the fact that he was telling me the truth. i said i'm going to hang up. he said don't hang up, it's true. so i waited and then he said your uncle has gone to the village. he is not coming back any time soon and you have been chosen the king. i was very, very shocked because my family had never taken any

woman as a king. and in ghana, we only have three women who are king and i'm the third one. it's very, very rare. i just told him, i said let me think about it because it comes with a lot of responsibilities. i'm going to take care of 7,000 people. i'm a secretary and i have to make that i lives better. so i said give me time to think about it. i'll call you back. so that's when i just left it alone for about three days. and then after the three days, i was pondering, pondering and thinking if i should accept it or not because with my low pay being a secretary, i don't know how i'm going to really make their lives better for the 7,000 people. but i just kept on hearing voices that tells me, nana, go for it, it's your destiny. it's not everyday that a woman is going to be a king or someone is born to be a king. in the beginning i thought i was hearing voices and was getting sick but i wasn't.

>> a lot of people may think why not queen peggy, why is it king peggy? >> well, in africa the kings are the people that hold the executive decisions, make all the decisions. knowing me with my strong personality and my people knows that and i would have been a very lousy queen. because going and really -- the queen mother takes care of the children and discuss it with the king and the king makes the decision. so for instance, if i get information and give it to the king and the king is not going to act on it, i would fight with the king so it's better that they give me this big pie. >> did you have any sense that you were in line to become the king or was this a complete shock to you? >> it was a shock to me. it was really a shock to me for the fact that in my family we have never taken a woman as a king before. even though i'm from the royal family, i never, ever thought one day that i would become a king. and then it was really shocking

to me. and then the most shocking part was when i got to the village, the village was really in a mess. my palace was in a horrible state that you can't even live there. i have to renovate the palace with my little money and also try to bring about water because the children, they used to wake at 5:00 in the morning to go and fetch water, which is very difficult for a child to wake up early in the morning like this. then they go to school and can't study because they'll be sleeping. so being an american secretary and i know what it's all about, i vowed that this woman is on a mission and i'm really going to help them to get water. and with the help from the united states, which the united states people are very generous on this planet, they really helped me and i have three clean water for them and the children don't have to wake up early in the morning. i have renovated my palace and buried my uncle who was in the morgue for two and a half years. so i think a woman can do well

more than their male counterparts. >> mark halperin. >> how long did you live in washington, d.c.? >> well, i've been here for 30 years. >> what did your friends in washington say? >> how did you break the news? >> you were becoming a king. probably not a lot of their friends had been made kings. >> some of them thought i'm kidding when i told them this woman is going to be a king because most of them from ghana, they knew very well in ghana a woman can be a king but now it's just something that is coming. i lost some of my friends when they realize i'm now a king because there are certain things i can do with them. i can eat in the public and the things we used to do together i can't do anymore. but some of them that that are strong like me are still with me. >> why did you come to america in the first place? >> well, when i was growing up, i was in england and then i got

here on a holiday and then when i came, i saw the fast pace in america. everything is go, go, and you have to do it. and i said this is the place for me. my father used to have a friend that was an ambassador. i went to visit him and he said, you know what, we are looking for a receptionist, would you like to stay and do it? i said why not. i stayed there and i thought i would stay for two years but i've been here since then. >> with your personality, i have a question to ask. if you're a republican, can you come back and run for president. >> i would like to. i would love it. i would really love it. i would, i would. >> it's an incredible story. the book is "king peggy:" peggielene bartels, it's nice to meet you. >> thank you for having me here and i thank you gentlemen for having me here today. >> more "morning joe" in just a moment. hey, did you ever finish last month's invoices?

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with the primaries tomorrow in alabama and mississippi, we're going to check in with mitt romney's southern strategy and how it's developing.

>> morning, y'all. >> you didn't have to do this. >> i got started right this morning with a biscuit and cheesy grits, i tell you. delicious. >> everything romney knows about the south he learned from a jeff f foxworthy routine. >> mitt is the right guy for the job. >> holy [ bleep ]. if you have a car on your front lawn because your garage only holds five cars, if you go to the diner and order your eggs faberge, if you think clover field was a movie about your butler, you might be a romney.

>> a bear cub falling asleep or newt gingrich falling asleep. thanks for watching "what's more adorable." >> top ten thoughts going through will ferrell's mind just before he comes out on the show. >> ah, the vicodin is kicking in. >> there you go. >> do i look too handsome? >> almost. >> that pre-show jambalaya was a bad idea. okay, 3, 2, 1, fake laugh. ♪ ladies, i'm your knight in shining armor and i love you ♪ god, look at dave. so sexy. i'd like to run my hand along

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>> well, i learned that there are parts of the old new york, new york city that we would have greatly admired and participated in, the island of vice, we would have enjoyed that. but i also learned, governor, that willie has felt so threatened by my presence next to him that he had me move over to this remote corner of the set. >> that's because of mike's brilliant opening. >> he got his moment and i think he really nailed it. right at the top of the show, it was very well done. i learned that from king peggy if i'm called upon by my ancestors to go take over a village in some part of the world, i too shall accept. you get that garb and the crown, the whole thing. i'm doing it. she governs by conference call. fellas, thanks.