chairman, a lot of people are speculating about how this has been -- is that dependent upon the outcome tonight? >> i really don't. i think we'll go forward and have a nominee in the next four to six weeks. any one of the three can break out and win here in alabama. i think as i said earlier, speaker gingrich, if he didn't

doesn't win one of the other states, i think he'll be out of it and you'll see a one-on-one with governor romney and santorum. >> let's talk about what people are heading out to the polls for in the south. are voters choosing between the candidates thinking more about the economy or think religion and social issues dictate the outcome of their vote? >> i think the people in mississippi are concerned about the same thing as the people in other states, and that's the economy. we have the unemployment rate over 10%. we have some of the areas in our state not only the poorest in the region but some of them are the poorest in the country. and i think we are concerned about jobs and which of these candidates will be able to fix the economy, but really which of the candidates will defeat president obama is first and foremost on the minds of mississippi republicans. >> you mentioned alabama's governor and the subject of religion in politics. that recently came up with the conversation with the governor.

take a listen to this. >> do you think mitt romney's religion will be an issue in your state, governor? >> well, i think that's a very subtle issue that probably, maybe a problem in many states, not just in alabama. i do believe that republicans are looking to see who can win the presidency, and they're going to look at that more than anything else. >> chairman, the governor is saying it's a subtle issue. you think this could be wrapped up by june, do you think the prolonged process has been this subtle issue of mitt rom northeast' romney's religion and that's why conservatives can't get behind him? >> no, i think they are wanting the most strong candidate and they want the candidate to replace barack obama. every society has a tendency for or against certain groups, but i do not see that as a major issue. i don't think his religion will

be a deciding factor in alabama. we are wanting somebody to run the country, a good, moral strong guy, i think governor romney will be satisfied with that. if it's another candidate, we'll get behind them. the target is barack obama. he has failed our country in so many different ways. we have to pick the best person we can and unite and get behind that person and be victorious in november. >> gentlemen, thank you for your time. alabama chairman bill armistad, party chairman, joe nassman, thank you for your time. this is a tight three-way race and each of the candidates have something important to prove today. one being can romney and his grits win over dixie? can stan or santorum be the conservative? and can gingrich build on his base to stay in the race overall? we have keith boinkin here with

us, susan, i want to start with you. what's at stake in the contest for each of the guys? >> gingrich has to do well or he's basically going to be out. there's no way his main focus will to stay in the process when he becomes hurtful to the ticket. santorum shows he's a credible candidate and has to do well in the south. ironically for mitt romney, if he comes in second, it would be one of his biggest wins since everyone wrote him off in these chief states to begin with. if he pulls out a first-place win, it will submit him going forward, no question. >> john, you just listened to chairman armistad saying they need to unite behind one person and defeat barack obama. as the gop fight drags on one would think the president's approval rating would be soaring, be awe new poll out today puts him at 41%.

the all-time low for a poll like this. and 9% drop in a month. why do you think the president is tanking at this current time, john? >> you know, that's a good question. i'm not sure i would use the word tanking, that seems strong, but we have a couple different polls out this week that show the same general trend of the washington post from the other day that said the same thing, which is even though there's a perception, because of the republicans refining and the economy getting better, that obama was in a commander position. the polls indicate that the president also has some serious structural weaknesses in his political foundation. that there's uneasy with him and his performance. it indicates something i thought all along, which is the general election, i assume it will be romney, but the general election will be a very closely fought contest that's going to be a jumpball, probably well into the fall. >> so closely fought contest.

the president against the develop hopefuls in head of the head-to-head match-ups. a lot of people are wondering how the president is not mopping up the floor with these device and having a stronger showing right now. >> i think this is somewhat of an outline. there are two polls saying the same thing, but the gap gallop poll conducted over the weekend show the president with a 49% approval rating, he's doing better in that poll. the reality is his opponents are weak. mitt romney is struggling to get traction here throughout the nation. and he's going against people who are not just weak candidates but the failure to discover the usa today poll, that's political malpractice on the part of the rick santorum and newt gingrich parties, i think. >> is the president recapturing groups that may have stopped

paying attention for a little while and now are starting to pick back up as they hear the rhetoric coming out on all the airwaves from the right and the debate going back and forth? is it starting to pick up their ears and worrying republicans? >> i think it is important to focus on the snapshots in time, for republicans and democrats. but what's very interesting about this poll is it does show women and independents are moving away from republicans and it's because of that contraception conversation. it is absurd that if you want to win the presidency or if you want to win the house or you want to win the senate, that you're going to turn off women independent voters. it makes no sense. >> mitt romney was asked about peyton manning, he does well when he's talking about sports, but he was asked about peyton manning this week. take a listen to what he said and we'll talk about it on the other side. >> i don't want to see him go to miami or to the jets, but i've got a lot of good friends -- the owners of the miami dolphins and the new york jets, both owners are friends of mine. >> so romney was ridiculed a few

weeks ago for saying he was friends with a new nascar team owners. i think we have all decided if we see romney on the campaign trail we say, listen, if you can score me good tickets you can have the vote. give me seats at nascar and a football game, you got it, buddy, but why does romney continue to make these remarks after he's been land-fasted about them in the past, but he continues to open up and is still considered out of touch, especially when trying to win over the hearts in the south today? >> it almost seems like a nervous tick that he knows the owners. what's interesting here is when a candidate loses control of his or her public image, what happens is things the candidate thought were strengths all of a sudden turn into weaknesses. we are seeing something like that happen with mitt romney. the most compelling thing about him was supposed to be his success as a business executive. and over the course of this campaign, that's actually one of the things that's turned against him. he's rich. he's out of touch.

he doesn't understand the concerns and the values of ordinary americans. i think one thing romney wants to do if he does wrap up the nomination is somehow get his narrative back. so that his success is seen as an achievement rather than to make fun of. >> this happened to john kerry in 2004. his success as a war veteran was used against him. you have to remember one thing, only one democratic president has been defeated for re-election in the past 120 years, and that was jimmy carter defeated by ronald reagan. barack obama is no jimmy carter and mitt romney is no ronald reagan. >> we heard susan's thoughts on newt, if he has a bad showing today, time for him to go? >> i think he'll stay in as long as he wants to, but he should leave if he doesn't do well today in the south. >> thank you to all of you. we appreciate your time this morning. and stay tuned throughout the day all day for special coverage of today's primaries in alabama

and mississippi. we'll have it covered for you right here on msnbc, the place for politics. all right. let's give you a live peek at the rose garden right now. as i told you at the top of the hour, president obama is expected there in a couple minutes to announce a new trade initiative with china seeking to crack down on what the white house sees as unfair trade practices, things like the strangle hold china has on 17 rare earth minerals essential for making hybrid cars, smartphones, weapons and flat-screen tvs. the president is sharpening the focus on china's economic policies, how it impacts the u.s. economy, and as soon as the president comes out we'll bring it to you live on msnbc. we are back after this. thanks for babysitting the kids, brittany. so how much do we owe you? that'll be $973.42. ya know, your rates and fees aren't exactly competitive. who do you think i am, quicken loans? [ spokesman ] when you refinance your mortgage with quicken loans, you'll find that our rates and fees are extremely competitive.

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i'm wondering how much pressure you're getting from people to pull out if you don't win either one. >> it sounds like someone has been listening to math class, the delegate math class, as opposed to looking at the reality of the situation. >> all right. rick santorum making the argument that a setback in alabama and mississippi does not spell the end for his campaign, but wins by mitt romney or newt gingrich could deal a significant blow to a candidate running on momentum and low on cash compared to his opponents. here's one of his supporters after voting this morning. >> it's tempting to go with who is most electable, but i feel like even if santorum is not electable, people voting for him makes a stand that his values are important. i hate to say it's a lost cause, i don't want to say that, i feel like he can win. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell is live in louisiana. as we talk about this evening and the results coming in, this has been a long, bumpy primary

road for rick santorum, but is the story going to be tonight how close of a second he can make it to mitt romney? >> reporter: well, we'll have to see how it unfolds. what has been a surprise is the sort of unexpected strength of mitt romney and in talking to voters in the state of alabama, especially yesterday, they talked to us about liking really all three dominant candidates here. romney, santorum and gingrich. and as that one voter whose comments you just played talked about the whole electability issue, many voters factor that in because they want a strong candidate to challenge the president for republican voters. santorum is calling the romney argument math class talking about delegates and the way things are done this time as compared to past cycles where it would have been a winner-take-all scenario. this picking up of delegate by delegate has made it more complicated for everyone's math. winning states would normally get you there quickly and

santorum has the position that it is likely none of the top candidates will have the 1144 needed right away. so he's going to try to put his best spin to chip away. he puts out the argument he's spending time in state after state, not just on the air with money from big groups, although his pac is putting money in louisiana that votes in a couple of weeks. that's a new ad today. he also had the governor of alabama cast a vote for him this morning and making that vote public with an endorsement. santorum is trying to remain optimistic. obviously, gingrich has been a big part of the story because of the expectation if he doesn't do well here, where would he go? and romney having the unexpected strength according to polling, so it has given rick santorum a harder place to find a spot in the conversation today. >> when we talk about the surprises in mississippi and alabama, romney, i understand, is campaigning in missouri. santorum is moving on to louisiana? >> reporter: yes, he's going to have his event tonight here in

louisiana, and part of that is it puts the coverage of whatever happens in the other states in louisiana media market, local papers and television here. it puts him here looking to the next contest. his daughter elizabeth is in hawaii today, they are also voting. so he's saying that he's trying to put as much time on the ground. he does have a very packed schedule most days. doesn't have public events during the day today, but just following him on the campaign trail, he's had a lot of time in smaller venues trying to communicate the idea he's doing it the old fashioned way with less money than romney has in terms of television advertising and that sort of thing. it's a style approach, a reality of the money, and it is just the way he's trying to sort of set himself apart from his point of view on how he's reaching voters. he says he's talking about a vision, not about delegate math. so that's how the santorum folks are trying to frame this today. >> does it mean that the campaign rhetoric has turned

from grits to crawfish? >> it is kind of funny to watch all the candidates try to connect. we talked to a couple voters yesterday, one said, boy, people can sense if you're not genuine, if you're trying to talk about the local flavor and you really have never had it before, or one southerner told us that if i eight a chili cheesesteak, that wouldn't make me a northerner. so it's sort of classic politics to try to relate to your voters and to do something kind of fun. some of it has backfired this time around. rick santorum uses the word "kin" saying he has relatives from mississippi. you don't often hear him say that phrase, but he has in the south. >> we are hearing all kind of words coming from these guys. kelly o'donnell, thank you so much. we are watching the live pictures from the rose garden as we wait for president obama any minute now coming out to talk about a new trade case against china. hoping to get that rising economic power to end export

restrictions on key materials that help manufacturers in the u.s. build high-tech goods. let me bring in president of the river twice research and columnist for "newsweek." he also wrote the book "superfusion." zachary, good to have you here this morning as the president is about to give out. just to give you the background of the politics, this is marking the administration's efforts to turn up the heat on china amid competition from the president's republican rivals and their strong words on how to teal with china. what do you think the president needs to do to explain their point of view on leveling the playing field? >> there's a danger of a bit of distressing me to. mitt romney wraps up the anti-china rhetoric. he said if he's president he won't allow china to get away with infractions he claims they have. to some degree the white house wants to be perceived as not giving away the shop to the chinese when it comes to the

american economy. and there are certainly legitimate areas of conflict intention with china over trade, and that's why the world trade exists. the president says we'll bring a series of cases to the world trade organization because of china's unfair practices around things like rare earths and other goods. but i think it's a very delicate line. this is an easy play for populism. our economy is ailing because someone else is at fault. personally i think that's a mistake, meaning if we're the kind of strong nation we claim to be, we should be invigorating our own economy and making sure other people play fair, but the focus really needs to be on the domestic economy, not on external and bonus adversaries. >> this is going to talk about what needs to help american business. we need to level the playing field to give american businesses better opportunity, but also call out china on the currency manipulation. >> that's a real delegate -- china announced a massive trade

deficit with the world yesterday. so to argue that china's currency is inflated because of the bilateral trade with the united states, china like the united states has a global system in which its currency exists, not just the dollar reference point. so the chinese currency depreciated 5% last year. while you can make the argument, it's an argument that is much less substance to it than four years ago because the china currency has risen. >> we make the argument today, where's the teeth to get anything done? >> the teeth is if you're the largest market for someone else, you matter greatly. the united states is still the largest export market for china. china has to be mindful of the united states. if i'm selling you a million dollars worth of goods and you say, hey, wait a minute, i'm not going to keep doing that because i don't like what wrour doing and that's a major portion of my business, i need to respect that. so we do have leverage. it is not like this is -- we are supine in the rise of the face

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[ male announcer ] with kohler's powerful, high-efficiency toilets. flush. and done. [ all ] ♪ hey, hey, hey ♪ good-bye welcome back. new outrage and violence in afghanistan to talk about this morning. we'll talk about it in a second, but we are watching the live images from the president about to come out and speak from the rose garden and talk about what's taking place. how they want to bite down on business practices coming out of china that they feel are unfair and what the president is doing to make sure that as we move forward he can command the conversation away from mitt romney and what he says can be done to deal with china fairly. but i want to get you updated on this horrific story out of afghanistan. two days now after this horrifying massacre, in which a u.s. soldier alledgedly went rogue killing 16 civilians.

militants fired on an afghan group after trying to visit the village today. many are calling for the american suspect to be executed. some of the protesters are burning president obama in effigy. all this as the white house has no plans for more troop withdrawals beyond next summer's deadline. atia balawi is there on the ground for us. let's talk about the sergeant who is 38 years old, accused of the how rep douse crimes, having served three tours of duty in iraq, what do we know next for him and how they can safely transport him out of the country to face charges for the crimes? >> reporter: hi, thomas. nato is being tight-lipped as to what is next for the staff sergeant in the army. as you mentioned, a 38-year-old who apparently suffered a traumatic brain injury during one of his tours in iraq, but he was given a clean bill of health and came here in december.

so this tour hasn't been very long here. what we do know is he's be able to make it safely out of the country and likely go on a military plane to the first city and then on his way back to the u.s. where we do expect that he'll be tried by the military court system. and what we do understand is that he could face the death penalty. >> atia, when we talk about what's taking place on the ground there and seeing the protesters, what they are doing in the streets now, hearing taliban soldiers are trying to capture, threatening to behead u.s. troops in retaliation for what the soldier did there, how dangerous are things on the ground and what is the afghan government doing the try to put a calm on the situation on the streets? >> reporter: well, thomas, the toll ban thrive on situations like this. this is their number one way of recruiting afghans to come to their side. if there were any afghans on the fence, do we go with the international community, can they help our country or go to

the taliban to give us the security that we need, right now the taliban are using that to their advantage. they want those afghans on the fence to come to their side. they will bring the threats out. they have been making the threats for the past 10 years about killing u.s. and nato forces within afghanistan. so i'm not surprised those threats have come. as for the situation on the ground, i think we can be happily surprised that we haven't seen more violent protests out on the streets, but it could be because the afghans have seen civilian casualties in the past, so this is a little different when it comes to comparing it to the koran burnings. >> atia in kabul for us. joining me is jackie spear, a member of the armed house services committee. congresswoman, glad to have you here to talk about the details of this horrendous behavior committed by the u.s. soldier that has everyone up in arms here and abroad, but people speculate now what it means for u.s. troops being in afghanistan and the potential for early

withdrawal. what are you hearing back in washington, d.c.? >> well, it's been on the table for some time, i think, in the white house, to accelerate the withdrawal. and i think this particular horrific blow has probably escalated the interest in wanting to do that. i know vice president buy den for some time has encouraged a more accelerated withdrawal. >> does it mean since it is escalating the conversation that we'll actually see that happen, that something substantial will happen and concrete to see u.s. troops come out of afghanistan? >> well, we have about 90,000 troops there right now. by the middle of 2013 it was estimated we would withdrawal about 30,000. now another 10,000 to 20,000 more. we could probably reduce our footprint by 1/2 next year. i'm one that believes we should

have been out of there years ago. the irony on the surge and how successful it has been, i don't think we feel it was nearly that successful anymore. >> congresswoman, i want to turn your attention in this conversation now to the national debate over women's rights in this country and the group moveon.org is out with a new ad concerning it. listen to part of it and we'll get your thoughts on the other side. >> if we're going to pay for your contraceptives, thus pay for you to have sex, we want you to post the videos online so we can all watch. >> a woman impregnated through rape should accept that horribly created gift. the gift of human life. >> these aren't our words. >> they are all real things that both prominent members of the republican party. >> congresswoman, women out there don't vote as one unified voting bloc, so there are different voices around the spectrum on the issues. but we talk about what's been leveled from the right and the

mail-dominated gop group, is this going to be a polar issue moving into 2012? >> i'm astonished on how the republican party has latched on to this issue. there's an 18-point gap attributed directly to this issue. the gop is going out of its way to alienate women and it is suicidal on their part. those of us democrats who feel passionately about the rights of women to have access to contraceptives, we are gleeful, but they are realizing this has been a wrong turn on their pathway to try to regain the presidency. >> i want you to talk about this event you have tomorrow that involves women's groups. planned parenthood also the subject of an opinion piece this week in politico where a former governor wrote that a republican

obsession with planned parenthood has been a form of sexual mccarthyism. it's targeted for eradication, regardless of collateral damage to poor women. is this going to actually do that? is it going to bring women out to the polls to vote? >> when 98% of the women in the country have at one time or another used contraceptives, i think so. i think that it's time to get out of my bedroom, get out of my uterus and that's what we're hearing from the women of this country. i mean, to have a individualal ultrasound now is becoming so invasive that i think women are just saying, enough, this was an issue we dealt with half a century ago. and here we are again having to refight that same battle when it's already been decided.

so i really think the republicans made a huge tactical error. >> congresswoman, why the distraction? this has been a long dead issue, something that was resolved decades ago. why is it modern-day relevant? >> well, it's not. and that's why i think it's actually, in some respects, almost humorous they continue to move down this road. in the battleground states -- >> congresswoman, i have to interrupt you as we watch the president come out to the rose garden to talk about the trade organization with china. listen. >> i would like to say a few words about the situation in afghanistan. over the weekend, as many of you know, there was a tragic incident in which a number of afghan civilians were killed. what i've said to president karzai, when i spoke to him, the united states takes this as seriously as if it was our own citizens and our own children who were murdered. we are heart broken over the los

of innocent life. over the killing of innocent civilians, it's outrageous and unacceptable. it is not who we are as a country, and it does not represent our military. for that reason i directed the pentagon to make sure that we spare no effort in conducting a full investigation. i can assure the american people and the afghan people that we will follow the facts wherever they lead us. and we will make sure that anybody who was involved is held fully accountable with the full force of the law. yesterday i met with general allen and ambassador crocker who were here in washington, and i extraordinarily have confidence in them and the many americans serving in afghanistan and who have made extraordinary sacrifices to be there. today i'll be meeting with prime

minister cameron whose part of our broad coalition serving in afghanistan. and we'll have an opportunity to consult about the way forward about preparing for the nato summit in chicago later this spring. make no mistake, we have a strategy that will allow us to responsibly wind down this war. we are steadily transitioning to the afghans who are moving into the lead. and that's going to allow us to bring our troops home. already we're scheduled to remove 23,000 troops by the end of this summer followed by -- following the 10,000 that we withdrew last year. meanwhile, we will continue the work of devastating al qaeda's leadership and denying them a safehaven. there's no question we face a difficult question in afghanistan, but i'm confident we can continue to work of meeting our objectives, protecting our country and responsiblebly bringing this war

to a close. now, one of the things i talked about during the state of the union address was making america more competitive in the global economy. the good news is that we have the best workers and the best businesses in the world. they turn out the best products and when the playing field is level they'll always be able to compete and succeed against every other country on earth. but the key is to make sure that the playing field is level. and frankly sometimes it's not. i will always try to work our differences through with other countries. we prefer dialogue. that's especially true when it comes to key trading partners like china. we've got a constructive economic relationship with china and whenever possible we are committed to working with them to addressing our concerns. but when it is necessary, i will take action if our workers and our businesses are being subjected to unfair practices.

since i took office, we brought trade cases against china at nearly twice the rate as the last administration. and these actions are making a difference. for example, we halted an unfair surge in chinese tires, which has helped put over 1,000 american workers back on the job. but we haven't stopped there. two weeks ago i created trade enforcement union to aggressively investigate any unfair trade practices taking place anywhere in the world. as they wrap up their efforts, our competitors should be on notice. you will not get away with skirting the rules. when we can, we will rally support from our allies. and when it makes sense to act on our own, we will. i just signed a bill to help american company that is are facing unfair foreign competition. these companies employ tens of thousands of americans in nearly 40 states.

and because of subsidies from foreign governments, some of their foreign competitors are selling products at an artificially low price. that needs to stop. this morning we're taking an additional step forward. we're bringing a new trade case against china and we're bring joined by japan and some european allies. this case involves something called rare earth materials, which are used by american manufacturers to make high-tech products, like advanced batteries that power everything from hybrid cars to cell phones. we want our companies building those products right here in america, but to do that american manufacturers need to are have access to rare earth materials, which china supplies. now if china would simply let the market work on its own we would have no objections, but their policies currently are preventing that from happening and go against the very rule that is china agreed to follow. being able to manufacture advanced batteries and hybrid cars in america is too important

for us to stand by and do nothing. we've got to take control of our energy future and we can't let that energy industry take roots in some other country bought they are allowed to break the rules. so our administration will bring this case against china today and we will keep working every single day to give american workers and american businesses a fair shot in the global economy. we're going to make sure this isn't a country that's just known for what we consume. america needs to get back to doing what it's always done best, a country that builds and sells products all over the world that are stamped with the proud words, made in america. that's how we create good middle-class jobs at home and that's how we'll create an economy that's built to last. thank you very much, everybody. >> we were listening to the president there in the rose garden starting off the address that he'll talk about trying to crack down on unfair trade practices he believes coming out of china, but starting off with

the condolences to express for what happened in afghanistan where a soldier allegedly opened fire in the afghan village killing 16. the president expressing the fact they are heartbroken and the full force of the law will obviously be leveled against the person who allegedly committed that crime. but then the president going on to talk about what they are doing to try to bring china and its practices more into a level playing field for the global economy. zachary stayed with me to talk about this. we were talking about looking for the teeth in talking about this, the president talking about two weeks ago announcing the trade enforcement unit with this global crackdown, where are the teeth from today? >> this speech has no particular teeth. just a quick arkana of earth, this is the stuff going into cell phones as the president mentioned. the president has been withholding supply or china has been with holding because they need it for their supply chain.

the rhetoric behind this today, standing up for american jobs and manufacturing, is all to the better. this particular action has absolutely huge implications for american manufacturing and for jobs. >> zachary, author and columnist for "newsweek." thank you for sticking around with us. the nation's largest labor group is expected to formally endorse president obama. this comes in the midst of the major push by 400,000 members going door to door to drum up support for the democratic ticket. that's meant to serve as a counter-balance to the millions of super pac dollars pudging into republican campaigns. i'm joined by larry hanley, good to have you here this morning. labor unions are not just cutting checks, more and more they are financing their own efforts. are the unions in a battle for their ultimate survival right now? >> no question, american workers

are in a battle for our survival. 99% of the american population is in a battle for survival. unions recognize that. and we're out there organizing, i can speak for transient workers, our plan in 2012 is to get out and organize bus stops and get transient riders to stand up with us and fight back against the incredible barrage of anti-worker activity that's occurred in our country. >> larry, you've been quoted in "the l.a. times" saying the culture of your union on shifted from political activity to broader coalition building. is that the most effective way to use your political cloud in this climate? >> well, absolutely. we have 10 million people that ride our transit systems all over the united states. and every one of those riders had the same interest that the people that ride the systems do. we're being victimized by a total abandonment of mass transit in this country and have been attacked most recently, collectively by the republican party. when i say, we, all the people

involved in mass transit. when they introduced the bill to gus mass transit funding, there's no question that people all over the country have to get together to organize everywhere they can and where the atu is organizing is in the bus stops and train stations and with our people. >> larry hanley, nice to see you this morning. thank you. >> thank you, thomas. all right. so on a lighter note, the president has march madness. it's time now for the polly side bar. president obama heads dayton, ohio n a few hours from now along with prime minister david cameron. the two sports fans will catch one of the first ncaa basketball game this is evening. mississippi valley state versus western kentucky. the president has his own tournament poll, if you log on to the campaign's website, fill out your bracket there to beat the president's pick. he's not yet announced them, though. tough question for the first lady about her let's move campaign and the tough question comes from an 11-year-old scholastic news reporter,

topanga, from orlando, florida. >> how do you respond to critics who say the government shouldn't be telling people how to eat or stay active? >> you know, that's absolutely right. and let's move doesn't do that. let's move is not about telling, having government tell people what to do, because government doesn't have all the answers. >> you can watch the rest of topanga's interview at so last tick.com/kidspress or read it in the magazine. marco rubio is trying to dig up dirt on himself. the possible contender wants to clean up his image that took a hit recently. the republican from florida hired a private investigator to look into his own background and his political action committee shelled out $40,000 for opposition research. notice your friend list shrinking on facebook? maybe it's because you're talking politics. according to a new pew research center poll, 9% of social networking users have blocked, un-friended or hidden someone because they disagreed or over a

political post. another 8% have argued and then got dumped. so how about we share a laugh today instead? >> with the primaries tomorrow in alabama and mississippi, we'll 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 some cheesy grits, i'll tell you, delicious. >> everything we know is about the south he learned from the jeff foxworthy routine. seriously, where is romney getting this stuff. >> mitt is the right guy for the job. as boomers age it becomes more important to exercise, it improves longevity, energy

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he is the man known as joe the plummer now in the running. many wonder if he can install a win come november. joining me is joe the plumber himself. sam, can i call you joe? >> that sounds fine, brother, thank you. >> you had a big super tuesday. a big super tuesday. now you are one step closer to this congressional seat for the ohio ninth. what is it about your message that resonates there? >> ultimately that i want to work for everybody. you know, it is not about the parties. it's been about the parties for too long. not one person can actually represent union, non-union,

republican, democrat, gay, straight, but that is me. tax reform and the regulations, that's what brings prosperity back to this country and that helps your union members and non-union members, that brings back manufacturing jobs to the economy without involving government. and i don't have to pander to the people, i'm temperaturing them straight up this is what i want to do and how i want to do it. that's called leadership. unfortunately the politicians we have in place right now pander and worry about re-election without getting anything done. and so i'm not about band-aids but getting good results. >> let's talk about tax reform because that's something you feel strongly about. herman cain endorsed you, you endorsed his 999 plan. do you understand with this plan and that type of tax reform, are you worried about the burden that the plan would place on families in the district of the people you would represent? >> you know, i have backed

herman kans's 999 plan, but herman is also well aware that the whole idea behind the bold new plan is to get the american people charged up about actual tax reform. the reason why the health care bill is being questioned, i mean, we had 67% of the people here in ohio vote against it. that's because the american people stood up. we need to get the american people excited about tax reform. once we get the people excited, we can have the debate, if it will be the 999 plan, the fair tax or the flat tax or something in between. so it is really just getting the people excited about moving forward on getting the tax plan reform because we need the business to stay in the country and need to reform the tax. unfortunately, barack obama and the politicians at hand want to put band-aids and do incentives, making the tax code more uncomprehensive. the irs themselves don't understand it, so we need to

bring it down to encourage business growth instead of discourage business growth. >> when we talk about marcy captor, someone well-known in the area, it's a very blue area. how do you think you can pull this off? >> well, just pointing out obvious factors. the democratic party, and don't get me wrong, the republican party is not without blame here, but the democratic party is really big on regulations. ultimately the auto bill industry was regulated out of business, and that's the democrats putting a lot of regulations in play. for the blue-collar workers to sit and vote for the same party that is regulating them out of business makes no sense whatsoever. >> isn't that the same party that saved the auto industry, though, joe in the auto industry was saved and a lot of people that live in that district got to keep their jobs. gm is back to being number one because of the bailout, correct? >> well, hold on, you want to give credit where credit is due. bush did the initial bailout, correct? then obama. give both of them credit for

bailing out the automobile industry, but that doesn't take away from the very fact that the federal government's involvement in the private market -- >> you have to give them both blame, too. if you are going to blame the democrats, doesn't bush also get some of the blame for that as well? >> oh, absolutely. i was just going off your remark, thomas. listen, the federal government's involvement in the private market is the problem. now barack obama recently just talked about prior to me coming on here talked about letting china markets work without the government involvement, but why doesn't he say the same thing here. let the private market work. we are the consumers that drive the market. i don't know anybody who wants to drive a volt, but yet the federal government is pushing that green initiative down our throat. and we, the paxpayer are paying for it. >> we have to stop being consumers and build things in this country like our auto industry get that american stamp on there and get that out to the global marketplace.

don't you agree with that? >> absolutely. i'm for that, but we have to do it through tax reform and getting rid of the regulations that are killing the jobs. >> joe, i have to run, we are out of time. good to talk to you. thank you for joining me this morning. best of luck to you in the race coming up. that's going to do it for me today. thank you for your time. stick with msnbc all day and all night for super tuesday coverage, including now with alex wagner coming up next for us. hey, alex. hey, thomas. happy super-ish tuesday. voters in alabama and mississippi are getting their votes in, but is this primary race ever, ever going to end? president obama might not care if it does. he continues to speak as the republicans duke it out. coincidence? and with the situation in afghanistan deteriorating by the day, how will it affect u.s. stratty in the region? all that and more when now starts in a mere 180 seconds. [ male announcer ] for the saver, and a big first step. for the spender who needs

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