on florida's stand your ground law. and switching gears to a campaign trail, in what was supposed to be a spectacular day for mitt romney. the question is, how long will romney's rivals play up the etch a sketch misstep? and a series of deadly shootings is dead after an intense 30 hour siege. we'll get you fully updated on that. i'm thomas roberts and topping the agenda tonight. the outrage and the calls for justice, tonight a rally in florida is going to be led by the reverend al sharpton that's expected to draw thousands, an unarmed teen gunned down in a gated community after walking to the store to buy skittles and an iced tea. over a,hand gathered on the streets of new york city for a million hoodie march.

>> i want to stand up for what's right. this is not about a black and white thing, this is not a right or wrong thing. >> just for trayvon. >> today marks 26 days since trayvon was shot and killed by george zimmerman who's actions that night have been under scrutiny ever since, he remains a free man and gun. today sanford's police chief received a vote of no confidence and even sanford's chief of police is apologizing for a lack of investigation. >> i want everybody to know that i take this personally. i can't right the ship in one day obviously, but i know

there's a lot of tension. >> ron allen is live in sanford, florida. let's start with this, trayvon's parents, they have started an online petition, it's now staggering how many people have now signed up on this, but it is calling for the prosecution of alleged shooter george zimmerman. how do you think this pressure is being interpreted in sanford and the possibility of an arrest for zimmerman? >> reporter: the city officials are certainly trying to do everything they can to listen to what the community is saying. the mayor who we heard from yesterday in that sound buy that you played, was very contrite in that hearing. there was a litany, a long line of community residents coming in, airing grievances about the police over years and years. the city manager is the person who can retain or fire the police chief. he was present during that vote of no confidence.

he said he's going to wait for the grand jury process to play out and the police investigation before he makes a decision. but he has not said whether he will suspend the police chief that will show that the city fathers are responding to this pressure. the pressure is enormous. but the police here are still digging in to use a phrase, they are firm in their resolve so far that zimmerman was exercising self-defense in a statement they have said, quite clearly, that it is their understanding that zimmerman was not confronting, was not pursuing trayvon martin when this incident happened. in that moment, martin was the attacker. zimmerman was returning to his car and were awaiting police to arrive at the scene in that townhouse. that interpretation of events that the police are sticking to just defies what so many think

happened according to the 911 tape of that night. but the police are sticking to their story. and tonight there may be hundreds if not thousands here tonight. that gathering might be so big that it might be moved to the civic center here and a local park outdoors. so again, unclear what's going to happen, but there's a lot of passion here, a lot of pain here, a lot of emotion. so it's going to be a very big night. >> msnbc's ron allen reporting live from sanford. i do want to pass along that the reverend learned this morning that his mom passed away during the night. he is still going to attend.

trayvon's parents said they will never stop fighting for their son. i won't stop until i receive justice for my son. >> joining me now the author and journalist goldie taylor. goldie appeared last night, you probably saw her last night after attending the million hoody rally. there you are showing one the hoodie on last night showing people how you appeared in new york city at that march. we showed you -- one of the sad aspects of this case that's really opening up the dialogue right now is the fear that exists in this country for young black men. you have spoken personally as to what it's like to be a mom and your worries for your own child. how does this put a spotlight, a white hot spotlight on that

conversation. and the fact that we need to be talking a lot more about that. >> i think for the first time a real and meaningful conversation has been opened up about this. i think that, you know, african-american families for generations have been having these conversations with their sons specifically about how to comport themselves, you know, out in the public, in the public square and especially when they are confronted by authorities. and so we have given our sons instructions, but this is the first time that we have begun to share that conversation with others. and it is, you know, has been surprising to some of my friends and colleagues that they have not had to have that kind of conversation, but knowing that i felt compelled to do it. >> for young black men it is a burden to carry, the reverent al sharpton went -- about the burden of growing one the suspicions of others. i just want to show everybody a quick piece of that. take a look. >> you want to be warned about how police might perceive you or

misconstrue who you r. >> the key is don't give the police a reason to stop you. that's what sort of hit me so hard about trayvon martin, he was 17, i was 16 when i moved to this neighborhood. i could have been trayvon martin. and evening though this is 2012, the horror, the additional horror of the trayvon martin story is realizing that i still could be trayvon martin because of someone else's suspicion. >> is that the big point that's coming out of all this, more of where the conversation needs to go regarding the tragedy of trayvon martin, the post tragedy that no one's been arrested, but the fact that that does exist for grown men in this country as well. >> it actually does exist for grown men. i would go further to say not just give them a reason, but not give them an excuse to stop you. both of my brother and father were murdered. those cases go unsolved today, no one was arrested, no one was

brought to trial, certainly no one was ever sentenced in those murders. so this is very personal for me. this is stark when you look at the statistics around the intensive investigation or the severity of sentence, the difference is not on who the shooter is, or who the murder is, it's always on who the victim is, and what background they might come from. and so we have got to have a real conversation about profiling, whether it's among race or ethnicity or among, you know, religious differences, we have got to have a meaningful conversation with ourselves about the youth of this country. >> they may not know the name emmett till, but for a lot of us this is going to spark a lot of memories to that and strike a lot of correlations to emmett till who was lynched while visiting his family in mississippi. do you think this is a water

shed moment for a conversation for the youth to get involved, and to help enlighten all of us so we can ensure that something like this doesn't happen again. >> ever so often, all of the pieces come together in a case like this one. the very idea that tray svon martin did not have a record in school. he was a precarious wonderful kid who wanted a career in aviation mechanics, if he had been tested positive for drugs that nigh. if he had been carrying anything other than a bag of skittles, we wouldn't have known his name. but the killing of an innocent allows us to have a conversation about what's happening in the streets. we appreciate it also for your personal story and your insights. i want to talk more about something else right now, keystone and the strategy that president obama has right now as

he's going on an energy tour to calm national nerves about gas prices, also through a growth strategy. laying out his plan to expedite building on the southern leg, that's just the one portion t south portion of the keystone pipeline. a new executive order will speed up vital infrastructure projects. he's also reminding americans he's focused on today's fuel concerns. >> you have my word that we will keep drilling everywhere we can and we'll do it while protecting the health and safety of the american people over the last 36 years, there's been no connection between the amount of oil that we drill in this country and the price of gasoline. there's no connection. and the reason is, that we have got a worldwide oil market. >> nbc's correspondent mike v k

viq viquiera. does the president need to downplay the re -- >> the president and the white house are obviously very aggressively trying to get out in front of this issue of gas prices, i'm looking out to my left here as we expect the president momentarily here in cushing, oklahoma. not only damaging to the economy are those high gas prices of $3.86 on the nationwide average, but potentially damaging to him as well. you saw him yesterday there in new mexico in front of the oil fields, trying to tell what they consider to be good news, the increase in domestic oil production, before that he was in the nevada at an enormous solar farm out in the desert there, touting his support for alternative energies, in oklahoma, a deep red state where the president wouldn't

ordinarily come to talk about this keystone pipeline. now he's trying to expedite the permit process to push it from keystone, oklahoma, and try to get to it refineries, a 500-mile pipeline, the southern half of that keystone pipeline. a lot of controversy here and republicans on capitol hill saying this is not even needed. the president's office does not have to get involved in this, it would have been permitted anyway. but the white house and the president saying, look, the president ask in charge of the executive branch and it certainly will have an impact on expediting pipeline projects. even as the president said as you played in that sound bite that the price of gas is not even really affected by the -- >> mike, thanks so much.

it is a comment that mitt romney's camp might want to shake like an etch a sketch and try and do over again. >> i think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign, everything changes, it's almost like an etch a stketch, you shae it up and we start all over again. >> it didn't take long for romney rivals to- >> here's romney's staff, they don't even have the decency to wait until the nomination to tell us how he would sell us out. >> organizationally, a general election campaign takes on a different profile. the issuings i'm running on will be exactly the same. >> joining me this morning's political power panel, usa

today, politico reporter jackie kucinich, deputy white house communications direct for president obama jen sackie. and john keating. the president is going to be talking live in oklahoma. meanwhile rim sck santorum is talking about the etch a sketch moment. this gaffe came on the same morning as the former governor of florida jeb bush giving his endorsement for romney's campaign. >> jeb bush is a quintessential leader, a quintessential conservative and it certainly did blanket that very, very important endorsement, but i think newt and i think rick trivialized themselves by

bringing up this issue. because we all know when a general election campaign begins you do have to focus on the issues. but mitt romney started with a $3 billion deficit in massachusetts, ended up with a $2 billion surplus. he was endorsed by the pro life movement and he's been married over 40 years. that's a pretty big deal. so i think it's a one-day story but it's certainly not helpful. >> he was married over 40 years, yesterday, jackie, there should have been this big day of celebrating, and romney had to be out there fielding comments about the etch a sketch. >> this is exactly what happens in a campaign where you get these distractions and obviously he was talking about how we're going to change focus, we're going to change what we're going to do in an organizational sense of changing. not changing positions.

>> so what can they do to recapture their momentum. it seems like once they do get that forward motion, something pops up. >> romney tried to smooth this over yesterday, he actually came out to address this. which is pretty unusual. i think they just got to keep moving on, talking about what they have been talking about. but this just reiterated a lot of things that conservatives think of mitt romney and aren't sure about them. this might come back up in the general, we saw democrats come after him pretty hard immediately. >> santorum took it one step furred, he had his campaign press secretary hand out etch a sketches at a campaign event. can santorum really contain the distraction off of santorum's unemployment remark? >> the reason we're talking about this is that mitt romney's problem has always been mitt

romney from the beginning, because people can't get comfortable with where he stands on the issues, he's running as a conservative, and one of his chief campaign advisors sort of dated that he was ready to flip-flop back around and revert to his own positions. people aren't sure what they're getting when they lift the hood and check out mitt romney. that's why we're talking about it. it's about that nobody really knows who romney is and what he stands for. >> we aren't surprised that our opponents are hysterical over it. they're just grasping at straws. are they just grasping at straws? >> whoever was at the top of the polls was drawing a lot of fire, so there is a little bit of that. but, again, i think because this offhanded comment really

reiterated a narrative that i had been going on about romney for quite a while. in louisiana this weekend, at of conservatives there, so i think, you know, for santorum, he's hoping he can help them with that base. >> let's go out to sang for rum on the campaign trail talking exactly this. >> i can tell you that somebody who doesn't have my policy positions written on an etch a sketch. [ applause ] >> all right, so jen, normally they're harping on a teleprompter, now it's the etch a sketch. it's going to steal the teleprompter's glory. >> we have seen rick san for inserting a little humor. i don't know how much more life the etch can sketch has. >> i want to remind everybody

president obama making his first presidential official visit to oklahoma, to cushing to talk about the keystone pipeline that they want to expaidate and get going. what is your reaction to knowing that the president is going to be talking about moving ahead with that construction of the lower half of that pipeline? >> i think all of us are honored when we're governors of states when the president visits your state, but in this case it's certainly a campaign event. but on the environmental side, are texas and oklahomans people who love in a sludge pit. why does the pipeline matter to texas and oklahoma more than it matters to other states. the construction of the pipeline is smart, it will bring a lot of jobs, it will bring more economic security, but he also ought to move forward on the northern part of the pipeline as

well. we drilled over 5,000 wells, and our rivers and lakes are pristine. i'm a rancher in oklahoma and we don't pollute our land. he's here, we're happy he's here, but we want to help develop all types of energy so we can be secure and independent for the middle east. >> we're waiting to see the president arrive there in oklahoma, we're going to have his remarks live. thanks for making time for us. the standoff with the suspect in the french school shooting, that is finally over. the suspect is dead. the amazing details of how all this went down. plus, take a look at this, a chopper crashes in afghanistan while attempts a maneuver, what might have gone wrong? we'll take you there. lo to "who" use campbell's cream of chicken soup to make easy enchiladas, cheesy chicken & rice, and other chicken dishes that are oh...so...whoa. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

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energy strategy. >> it's wonderful to be here. yesterday i visited nevada and new mexico to talk about what we're calling an all of the above energy strategy. it's a strategy that will keep us on track to further reduce our dependence on foreign oil, put more people back to work, and ultimately help to curb this spike in gas prices that we're seeing year after year after year. so today, i have come to cushing. an oil town. [ cheers and applause ] >> because producing more oil and gas at home has been and will continue to be a critical part of an all of the above energy strategy. now under my administration, america is produticing more oil today than any time in the last eight years. that's important to know.

over the last three years, i have directed my administration to open up millions of acres for gas and oil exploration across 23 different states. we're opening up more than 75% of our potential oil resources offsho offshore. we have added enough new oil pipeline to encircle the earth and then some. so we are drilling off over the place, right now. that's not the challenge, that's not the problem, in fact the problem in a place like cushing that -- that we don't have enough pipeline capacity to

where it needs to go there's a bottle next right here because we can't get enough of the oil to our refineries fast enough. and if we could, we would be able to increase our oil supplies at a time when they're needed as much as possible. right now a company called transcanada, has applied to build a new pipeline to speed more-i'm urging my administration to cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles and make this project a priority, to go ahead and get it done. now, you wouldn't know all of this from listening to the television set. this whole issue of the keystone pipeline has generated a lot of

politics. that's because the original route from canada into the united states was planned through an area in nebraska that supplies drinking water for millions of americans. and nebraskans of all political stripes, including the republican governor there raised some concerns about the safety and wisdom of that route. so to be extra careful that the construction of the pipeline in an area like that wouldn't put the health and the safety of the american people at risk. our exports said that we needed a certain amount of time to review the project. unfortunately, congress decided they wanted their own timeline. not the company, not the experts, but members of congress who decided this might be a fun political issue, decided to try to intervene and make it impossible for us to make an informed decision. so, what we have said to the

company is we're happy to review future permits. and today we're making this new pipeline from cushing to the gulf a priority. so the southern leg of it, we're making it a priority and we're going to go ahead and get that done. the northern portion of it, we're going to have to review properly to make sure that the health and safety of the american people are protected. that's common sense. but the fact is that my administration has approved dozens of new oil and gas pipelines over the last three years including one from canada. and as long as i'm president we're going to keep encouraging oil development and infrastructure and ensures the health and safety of the american people. we don't have to choose, we can do both. so i just if you guys are talking to your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers, your aunts, your uncles, and they're

wondering what's going on in terms of oil production, you just tell them that anybody who suggests that somehow we're suppressing domestic oil production isn't paying attention. they are not paying attention. what you also need to tell them is just drilling more gas and more oil by itself will bring down oil prices the next day or the next year, they're also not paying attention, they're not playing it straight. we are drilling more, we are producing more. but the fact is we're not producing enough oil at home to bring oil prices down. i have been saying for the last few weeks and i want everybody to understand this, we use 20% of the world's oil.

we only produce 2% of the world's oil. if i put an oil rig on the south lawn, if we had one near the washington monument, even if we drilled every little bit of this great country of ours, we still would have to buy the rest of our needs from someplace else if we keep on using the same amount of energy, the same amount of oil. the price of oil will still be set by the global market. and that means every time there's tensions that rise in the middle east, which is what is happening right now, so will the price of gas. the main reason the price of gas are high right now is the main reason people are worried about what's happening in iran. it has nothing to do with the oil production. it has to do with the oil markets saying if something

happens, we're going to be able to chargemore and the price will go meyer. that's not the future i want for america, that's not the future i want for our kids. i want us to control our own energy destiny, i want us to determine our own course. so, yes, we're going to keep on drilling, yes we're going to keep on emphasizing production, yes, we're going to make sure oil gets to where it's needed, but as part of an all of the above strategy is looking at how we can continually improve the utilization of renewable energy sources, new clean energy sources and how do we become more efficient in our use of emergency.

it means more solar power, it means for-we want every source of american made energy. i don't want the energy jobs of tomorrow going to other countries, i want them here in the united states of america. and that's what an all of the above energy strategy is all about, that's how we break our dependence on foreign oil. the good news is we're already seeing progress. yesterday i went to nevada to see the largest oil plant anywhere in the country. hundreds of workers built it, it's powering thousands of homes and they're expanding to tens of thousands of homes. and we have increased the fuel efficiency standards on cars and

trucks. and that's going to save the average family $8,000 over the life of a car. and it's going to save a lot of companies a lot of money, because they're hurt by rising fuel costs as well. all of these steps have helped put america on the path to greater oil independence. last year we imported one million fewer barrels per day than the year before. think about that. america, at a time when we're growing is actually importing less oil from overseas because we're using it smarter and more efficiently. america is now importding more than half. we have got to make sure that we

don't go backwards, that we keep going forwards, if we're going to end our dependence on foreign oil, if we're going to bring gas prices down once and for all, as opposed to just playing politics with it every single year, then what we're going to have to do is develop every single source of energy that we have got, every new technology that can help us become more efficient, we have got to use our innovation, we have got to use our brain power, we have got to use our creativity. we have got to have a vision for the future, not just constantly looking backwards at the past. that's where we need to go. that's the future we can build. and that's what america's always been about is building the future. we have always been at the cutting edge. we're always ahead of the curve, whether it's thomas edison or the wright brothers or steve jobs, we're always thinking about the next thing, and that's how we have to think about energy. and if we do, not only are we

going to see jobs and growth and success here in cushing oklahoma, we're going to see it all over the country. god bless you and god bless america. >> president obama wrapping up his first official visit to oklahoma, he's talking specifically today of the energy strategy for the white house, the all of the above energy strategy. specifically talking about the keystone oil pipeline built down to the gulf. they're not supplying oil to americas, but how worried is

this re-election team in light of gas prices and the surging that people see at the pump? >> i remember talking with him four years ago and look what we have gotten done. we have reduced our dependence on foreign oil by a substantial amount. we have had oil production up over the last eight years, and so with the corporate average fuel economy which means we're going to save money with more fuel efficient cars. the president is ensuring that we do the best we can to conserve and using energy more efficiently. natural gas prices are coming down because we have record

production of natural gas under this presidency. so it's basically, generally speaking good news, moving in the right direction, but these exogenous forces, instability in the middle east, increasing demand in china and in brazil which is causing world markets which is causing world oil prices to be higher than they normally have been. >> it's not an overnight problem that's going to get an overnight solution. but the president says if someone thinks we're suppressing domestic oil production, they're not paying attention. a and. >> speaker gaboehner is going t criticize anything that he does. this is basically the no congress. but the facts are really clear

and the american people realize what the facts are. oil production is up, up in the last eight years, and natural gas production is up at record levels, we have reduced our dependence on foreign oil down to 45%. when i was secretary of energy and secretary of transportation, we were importing 60% of our oil from foreign sources, so from a national security perspective, we're becoming less dependent on foreign oil. and speaker boehner obviously doesn't want to give him credit for that, so what does he do? he focusing on the pipeline which is not going to produce oil for years and years and years and won't have an impact on our economy for a long, long time. the president's doing the right thing, i applaud him, his speech today was a good one on how oil is produced in our country and around the world. and we're going to reduce our dependence on foreign oil to below 40%.

i think we simply need to continue doing more of what we're doing now. >> sir, thanks for your time this morning. appreciate it. so here's a look at some other stories topping the news for you right now, a 30-hour standoff in france comes to a bloody end in the we hours of the morning among. gunned down in a dramatic raid on his apartment. gun fire and explosions were heard as police stormed the building where 24-year-old muhammed hrah was -- he told police he had been trained by al qaeda in pakistan and said he wanted to die, quote, with weapons in his hands. he is suspected of killing four people at a jewish school including a rabbi and four

children. he also killed three paratroopers in separate incidents. charges are expected by the end of the week in sgtd b -- ied attack on american forces days early. the pentagon says there's no evidence of an ied attack that ever occurred in that area. meanwhile the top u.s. command never afghanistan, told congress this morning that he expects american troops to still have a significant presence in that country in 2013. the president has been under increased pressure to accelerate that pullout. a frightening military helicopter crash has been posted on -- no one on the ground was killed and both of those pilots survived. a victory for supporters of marriage equality in new

hampshire, an effort to repeal that state, same-sex law was killed yesterday in new hampshire's house of representatives. the gop backed bill endorsed backing the civil bill. the wife of the director of kony 2012 says he suffered a brief psychosis just before his hospitalization last week. witnesses with reported an unclothed man acts bizarrely running into traffic. his wife says it was all the result of exhaustion, stress and dehydration. some are calling it timsanity. the quarterback will head to denver next season. some are excited for tebow mania, others like joe namath calling a publicity stunt. we'll be right back.

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just hours from now thousands will attend a rally calling for justice in the death of trayvon martin. that rally being led by reverend al sharpton, calling on sanford police bill lee jr. to step aside. reverend al who spoke to trayvon's parents yesterday, who said they will fight for his son. >> trayvon pulled me out of the burning kitchen, went back in the house, retrieved the phone, came back out and called 911. i will not stop fighting for justice for trayvon. he almost gave his life for me, i won't stop until i get justice for him. >> over 1,000 people attended a million hoodie rally in new york city last night in honor of trayvon who was wearing a hoodie

on the night that he was shot to death. many are calling for the arrest of george zimmerman who cited a stand your ground defense. arthur, as we talk about the stand your ground law, give all of us some background and we talked specifically about florida. they're now in 22 states in florida. the good intent was to prevent gung gun violence. in cases like this, for things to completely fall through loopholes. >> well, look, i have fought the nra in florida since 1985. we call for an investigation of the nra in florida, not the police chief of sanford or prosecutors, they're not the problem, they're victims of this law just like trayvon martin

was. >> george zimmerman, the alleged shooter in this case, he remains not only free, but he remains armed with that gun he used in the death of trayvon martin. licensed or not, he is not a cop, his license should be revoked. what is it going to take for that to happen in this case in your opinion? >> we have to overall those rules on concealed carry. they're a disaster. and, you know, if we don't weed out all these things in this legislation that's causing all these problems, as i said, if we can't stop the nra from pushing up gun rights and public safety down, we're going to continue to have these problems. >> arthur, the lawmaker who was the one that drafted this legislation says there's nothing in it that allows pursuing and confronting people as zimmerman

did to trayvon martin. when you look at all the statistics more people have been killed and wounded than actually armed assail yants. >> this law needs to be repealed you cannot amend it, if you amend it it will collapse. we have to throw this entire stand your ground law out and reengineer a new florida self-defense law. the one that we have now is engineer bid the nra and we're paying a price for it. nobody was asked what they wanted, police or prosecutors or anyone, we're not asking for input on this stand your ground law, it was just shoved down their throat. and as a result. we have a disaster on our hands in florida. >> certainly a disaster after the trayvon martin situation, certainly there are a lot of people who aren't familiar with

these stand your grande laws are going to get more familiar with them now. i just want to remind everybody that the reverend al sharpton is among those who are demanding that police chief lee step down. a question in washington, d.c., will hillary clinton run for the presidency again in 2016? the rumor mill is up and running, she's got at least one cheerleader on her side. [ male announcer ] strip away the styling. strip away the rearview monitors, tv screens, bluetooth, and even the cup holders. you know what's left? the only s.u.v.s with american-built f-alpha truck frames. the ruggedly capable pathfinder, xterra, armada. nissan. innovation for all. ♪

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it's time for the sidebar. the candidate was allegedly named as a client in new york city's so called soccer mom madame prostitution scheme but his attorney says it's not true. in fact, states this. these allegations are false and he puts those that would pub leisure them on notice that they

are acting with actual malice. he has demanded a complete retraction from the only source being quoted. >> hillary clinton in 2016? new york senator says that she will be pushing for the secretary of state to run for president in four years. she went on to tell buzz feed magazine about her aspirations for the secretary saying i think she would be well poised to be our next democratic president. her experience as secretary of state has not only elevated her stature and experience but proven she is someone who can get things done. i think she'll be an outstanding candidate. the president's re-election campaign responded to rick santorum's criticism to malia's trip to mexico. take a listen. >> the administration is saying it's not safe to have people down there, then just because you can send 25 secret service agents doesn't mean you should do it. you should set an example. i think that's what presidents do. >> obama's deputy campaign

manager told my colleague she is surprised that santorum even went there. >> i think that children for candidate purposes have always been off limits in presidential campaigns, really any campaign. you know, i'm surprised that rick santorum wouldn't agree with that. >> so, speaking of rick santorum, he might not be wearing his sweater vest on the campaign much but he is keeping at least one wool company in business. according to campaign finance reports he spent nearly $100,000 last month to buy sweater vests -- is that -- bemidji. the campaign gives them to donors who give at least 100 bucks. take a peek. they are taking up residence and they arrived yesterday. the mother duck jumped up and snuck through the fence. the ducklings couldn't so take a peek who helped out.

secret service and police helping the ducklings get in. former governor rod blagojevich is known for his thick dark hair. but that is dyed. and dye is not allowed in prison. his long time barber says that his hair will turn gray like jay leno's. look at that picture. >> mitt romney is meeting with jim demint in the capital right now, nbc campaign embed is on the phone to talk more about this. explain the meeting and what mitt romney hopes to gain on the other side. >> good morning. the demint meeting is interesting for two reasonings. demint was one of romney's earliest backers, sort of a founder of the tea party, one of the guys, and he sat on the sideline in the 2012 contest, didn't back anybody in south carolina, when romney probably could have used his help. you look at this in addition to the jeb bush endorsement as potentially romney trying to the

folks who haven't rallied to his side. learning that romney also met with representatives from the congressional delegations of wisconsin, pennsylvania, and texas, paul ryan was supposedly on the list of folks from wisconsin who are going to be in the meetings. three big primary states coming up, perhaps the next three contests in that race. >> explain to us how romney and the campaign are tryingshake off the etch-a-sketch stuff. >> look, there are two parts. they think it's a complete distraction. you had ann romney on cnn laughing it off. then this morning the campaign spin on this has been look, you know our opponents are desperate when they are waving children's toys in the air. this is a distraction, it's an unwelcome one when they would rather talk about the big win in illinois. but it doesn't change the fun da men to narrative of the numbers in their favor. >> garrett, thank you.

appreciate it. >> that's going to wrap things up for me. i'll see you back here tomorrow 11:00 a.m. eastern. until then, you can follow me on twitter. now with alex wagner comes your way next. oh! [ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ amen, omen only hertz gives you a carfirmation. hey, this is challenger. i'll be waiting for you in stall 5. it confirms your reservation and the location your car is in, the moment you land. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

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to well-earned muddy boots and a lot more spring per dollar. more saving. more doing. that the power of the home depot. break out the gardening gloves. miracle-gro garden soil is now 3 bags for 10 bucks. >> president obama is putting the kind of maybe sort of yeah stamp of approval on the keystone pipeline. the gop is crying foul. it's thursday, march 22nd. and this is now. joining me ari melberg of the nation, curt anderson, host of studio 360 radio. time magazine assistant managing editor whose cover story is the wimpy recovery. also joining us staten island's own ben white of morning money report. president obama is wrapping up a visit to oklahoma and is about to head off to ohio for the last stop on his four-state energy tour. just a short time ago the

president announced plans to fast track the construction of the southern portion of the keystone oil pipeline. the president is still not ready to sign off on the rest of it. >> the fact is that my administration has approved dozens of new oil and gas pipelines over three years including one from canada. and as long as i'm president we're going to keep on encouraging oil development and infrastructure and we're going to do it in a way that protects the health and safety of the american people. >> speaker of the house john boehner responded to the president's proposal a few moments later. >> the president can take credit for having nothing to do with the bottom half of this pipeline. there is a big gap between what the president promises and what he talks about and the actions he's taking. >> john boehner versus president obama. let's go to you first on this. bloomberg news reports that the president, the southern half of this pipeline doesn't need the president's approval and it was on track to b