quick correction for you before we get to the emails. i said dwyane wade tweeted out that picture of the miami heat in their hoodies paying tribute to the memory of trayvon martin. it was actually lebron james who tweeted that out. we asked you at the top of the show what you're doing up. john tower has an answer. >> aaron on twitter. i'm sitting in my office in seoul, south korea, waiting for traffic to calm. nuclear summit has created traffic issues. thanks for way too early. >> my pleasure. didn't even know we were on in seoul. 13 hours ahead. that's about 7:00 p.m. right now. we are nightly news in seoul, korea. that's scary. "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ because it's a bittersweet symphony that's life ♪ >> agreed with barack obama on every single thing that he did.

because he put it in place in massachusetts. it's the blueprint for obama care. don't believe me, ask obama. why would we put someone up who is uniquely -- pick any other republican in the country, he is the worst republican in the country to put up against barack obama. on the issue of health care. that's what i was talking about, and i was very clear about that. come on, guys. don't -- don't do this. you guys are incredible. i was talking about obama care, and he is the worst because he was the author of romney care. at the top of the hour, good morning, everyone. welcome to "morning joe." >> did we edit that? did we take the bs part out? >> he actually said the word. i'm glad you didn't. it's monday, march 26. with us on set, we have msnbc and time magazine senior political analyst mark halpern,

and msnbc contributor mark barnicle. hi. >> hi. >> you're here. >> contributor? >> how do you contribute? >> i want to know what you bring to the table. >> man, a lot of good stuff. first of all, we have to talk about the final four. can anybody beat kentucky, guys? >> no. >> kansas. >> you think kansas can? >> kansas is really confident. kentucky is better. it will be a really good final. >> yeah. i mean, a couple of great games. boy, florida blew it. can you believe they just completely collapsed? >> actually i tuned that game out when i thought it was over. came back, and louisville was up. >> i was like, it's over. rick pitino now 11-0. can i just say i love pitino? >> you just did. >> great coaches left in the tournament. >> coach cal. >> he is a great guy. >> that will be a good game too. kentucky only beat louisville by seven points on new year's eve.

>> any "mad men" fans yet other than me? >> i didn't watch it. >> not yet. >> really quick, spoiler alert. he walks in to the surprise party, boom, he gets shot, right in the gut. he's dead. >> all right. great. >> peggy kills herself. >> what? >> i don't know what -- what is he doing? what do you? you have killed off peggy. you've killed off don. roger has been drafted to vietnam. what is going on here? >> you know what? too many commercials, though. >> oh, my god. >> i never watched it live before. it was crazy. like one scene, go to break. >> you know what? i actually gave up at 10:00 and recorded it the second hour. you know why? because of the commercials. i'm like, i've got to go to bed and i'm not going to watch buick commercials for the next hour. >> it is a show about advertising. >> yeah. >> but they used to do it with limited interruption. >> amc needs to be careful or

people are going to skip it or just dvr it. nobody has time for that many commercials anymore. and mika, you were telling me that "60 minutes" did it again. what a story last night. >> the story about the tennis player. how do you say his name? >> djokovic. >> quintessential "60 minutes." beautiful story telling. a beautiful story. it was one of those things that brought me back. brought me back. >> and he survived, i mean, war. >> yes. >> and talked about this old lady that taught him how to play tennis. >> going back to his coach, his initial coach, and bringing her his trophy. it's online. beautiful story. >> she taught him four languages. taught him to be a well-rounded person. and no spoiler alert at the end, but the end of that piece, a real tear jerker. >> it gives you chills. >> ok. >> we do have a lot of news to get to. >> and then he gets shot at the end. >> do not engage.

>> "60 minutes." it's relevant. our friend steve rattner had an appearance. did you see the piece about chrysler? >> rattner was on that? i'll have to pull that up. >> yeah, rattner figured prominently. >> he didn't tell me. >> the guy who owned fiat, they brought chrysler, terrific piece. rattner is in a terrific piece. fiat make -- >> but you have to look at "60 minutes," and, you know, it's one thing to create something new. and that's very hard to do. >> almost impossible. >> almost impossible. you know what else is very hard to do? to replace bear bryant. and that isn't a fact. that's a football analogy, university of alabama, but that is in effect what jeff faither did when he had to step in and take over "60 minutes." and somehow he's done it. you've known jeff for a long time. >> long time. >> you know what? and mika knows this better than anybody else because she has been screamed at by jeff fager.

>> that's okay i'm back to life. >> that's an absolute commitment to excellence. >> yes. >> and anything short of that, gets you kicked out of the building. >> and if it happens, you deserve it in some way, shape, or form. >> ok, suckup. >> what did you just say? >> you know what else is hard to do? the news. >> she's getting angry now. we have breaking news out of afghanistan. the supreme court taking up president obama's landmark health care legislation today. but we start with louisiana, and rick santorum coming off a big win there on saturday night. his campaign now off a string of southern victories will hope that it undercuts romney's apparent lock on the nomination. santorum took 49% of the vote in louisiana. romney came in second with 27%. >> look at that. look at that. look at those numbers. almost a 2-1 victory over the guy that has got all the money, he's got all the organization, he's got all of the endorsements.

mitt romney, i don't want to overspeak, but the guy is -- his showings in the deep south, pathetic. >> they are not so great. but, look, barack obama was losing primaries to hillary clinton four years ago. it doesn't necessarily mean anything for the outcome. santorum still has to beat him somewhere besides in the deep south. to have anybody have a second thought. but the establishment is rallying around romney. they don't care about that. and the game right now is for most people in the party is to force santorum out of the race. >> mika, this does have an impact possibly in the fall. the fact that our geographic base, the gop's geographic base, is so repelled by the possible nomination of mitt romney. >> yeah. it's interesting the different factions that are sectioning off here. looking at the 2012 primaries to date, mitt romney has only won two southern contests in florida, and virginia, where only he and ron paul were on the

ballot. in alabama and mississippi, romney not only lost but came in third. and on your blog, you say this, joe. there was a time when the south was solidly republican but those days are gone. and to back up the point you were just making, barack obama won virginia and north carolina four years ago, and came close to beating john mccain in georgia. bill clinton beat george bush in georgia, louisiana, arkansas, missouri, tennessee, kentucky, and west virginia. >> look at that map. you know, people that think republicans just naturally win the deep south, they are going to be surprised this fall if mitt romney is the nominee. mike barnicle, the south is nota a lock. virginia and north carolina still breaking barack obama's way. and you've got mitt romney third place in mississippi. third place in alabama. newt beat him by over 20 points in georgia. beat him by almost 20 points in south carolina. romney's lowest 13 results in 2008 were all in the deep south.

you know, republicans are going to be wasting money in the deep south as mitt romney is just not liked by the gop there. >> one of the interesting items about those maps in the south itself is six or seven months ago, mark, if you had put on the table president obama is going to be the prohibitive favorite to win again in virginia and north carolina, i think a lot of people would have said, oh, i don't know about that. >> i would have said no way. >> yeah. but given what's gone on in the republican primary, the dialogue over the past six or seven months, i think you can again say he would be the prohibitive favorite to win in virginia and north carolina. >> i'm not sure about north carolina. definitely virginia. we don't know what happens if romney is a general election candidate up against barack obama, someone to his left other rather than against rick santorum or gingrich, people mostly to his right, whether he does well or not. maybe north carolina is in play. but right now, they have not expanded the map. georgia, kentucky, tennessee. these states are not in play currently for the general

election. so while it is cautionary for republicans, romney has to hold all of those southern states to have a chance to win, it's not some revolutionized map where obama can suddenly start talking about getting well over 300 electoral votes. >> but the die appears to be cast at least in the mainstream media and among the republicans because here you have romney losing by a 2-1 margin. everybody has a collective yawn on sunday. that doesn't matter. i wonder if they say that if he loses wisconsin. >> that's exactly the question. >> which the rasmussen poll has romney up by 143 points in wisconsin, but he had him up by 143 points in every primary in 2008 as well and ended up losing it. >> that's right. i think over the last week or so, you've seen all of these establishment republicans, lindsey graham said it yesterday, a bunch of them, haley barbour all but said it yesterday, time to rally around mitt romney. it's time now. let's move forward here. but mark halpern, you said it

doesn't -- none of these southern states mean that mitt romney won't get the nomination. i wonder if he'll feel differently a week from wednesday if he's just lost wisconsin. >> if santorum wins wisconsin, you can't force him out of the race. battleground state. bellwether in past contests in both parties. >> at this point, the spending mitt romney has is 55 to one. >> i think romney will do what he needs to do. >> romney is outspending santorum 55 to 1. >> it's going to be virtually impossible if you look at the past states where romney has spent like that for santorum to win. it's a decent state but there's plenty of romney voters in that state as well. >> did you see david pluf yesterday? >> i saw haley barbour mispronounce his name on purpose. and i don't fall for that. it's just stupidity. >> that's like when george bush called him saddam. >> i have seen someone do that

all the time. >> let's not talk about that here. but david pluf yesterday was talking about mitt romney. >> alex is trying to find the bite. we don't have it. >> he was dragging mitt romney in and said he was -- what did he say? he was the godfather of health care reform. >> david pluf yesterday showed a lot of cards on a lot of issues, and shows why the romney people have to be worried about a general election. not just on health care but on simpson bowls and on medicare, the ryan plan. david pluf is one of about 100 people working for the president's campaign who has the research down, who knows how to run against mitt romney. there will be tons of very skilled surrogates out there. the romney people have to be worried about that. when the contrast is there and they have all the research, romney will have a much harder time than he has had against the weak republicans. >> they are trying to do the opposite of contrasting on

health care. >> romney is the godfather of our health care plan, ok? if he is president, remarkably he is running away from that past and will say he is going to try and throw all of this away. we'll have a big fight about health care again. >> romney is the godfather of the health care plan. will he get the credit if it all goes well down the line? >> maybe in 2016 when he is a profess orror somewhere or whatever he is doing, he can remark on that. but there's no question that our health care plan, his experts were involved. it's a model that was utilized. >> the supreme court starts a day. they are doing six hours a day of debate. >> six total, i think. >> six total? and if the decision comes down this summer, the timing of that could be really interesting. they are not supposed to be political. >> it could. >> but the heat of the election. >> it could be fascinating. you know, so from that comment, though, it does give you -- it reveals how they are going to go after mitt romney. but it also reveals despite what the left says about the health

care reform plan, mike barnicle, it's very revealing that the white house is going to run away from health care reform in the election year. because the number one rule in a campaign is you want contrast. and you better believe if the white house was responsible for driving gas prices down to $2, they wouldn't say, mitt romney is the godfather of our plan that drove it down. no. you know, this is an unpopular health care plan. so unpopular that they are trying to lasso the republican opponent and say, well, he did it too. he can't attack us for this. >> am i the only one who finds it amusing that it is a deeply unpopular health care plan that won't take effect until 2014? why is it so deeply unpopular? >> there's some parts of it that are actually -- people will want. >> some parts of it. but the bulk of it doesn't take effect until 2014. >> the idea is unpopular, being forced to pay for -- >> i understand. i understand. >> i don't think we should overstate its unpopularity.

it divides the country. it's slightly less popular than popular. but above 40% of the people like it. >> they don't even know what they like or dislike. i'm hoping that the supreme court arguments might be educational for a lot of us, including me, find out more about the component parts of this health care. >> well, you strip it down, and the supreme court will strip it down in their arguments tomorrow, it's going to center around the individual mandate. and that is the question of the hour. you know, lawrence o'donnell was fascinating that -- it was fascinating talking to him saying, you know, when we were drafting the clinton health care plan, and when we were going through committee, we got about halfway through it when we were trying to figure out who the committee members were. and we were like, oh, my god, this is the federal government forcing people to buy health care insurance. we better get a constitutional scholar because this just may not be constitutional. and you go back a year. nancy pelosi and others being shockeda anybody would even suggest that the federal

government compelling people to engage in commerce -- >> interstate commerce. >> yes, but this is far different. this is somebody that doesn't want to engage in interstate commerce. you are now forcing them to. interstate commerce clause has expanded over the years. if i want to set up a barbecue stand in birmingham, alabama, i have to serve african-americans as well because the interstate is there. i get my meat from over the border. i mean, that's where i decide to engage in interstate commerce. so the supreme court can say, if you engage in interstate commerce, we can compel you to do certain things. in this case, you have the supreme court deciding whether the federal government can compel somebody to engage in interstate commerce. and buy and -- and force them to buy health care insurance. it is a fascinating, fascinating constitutional question, whether you're a liberal or a conservative. >> one of the interesting parts about the health care bill, and as it's spelled out, it will become more interesting i think to a lot of people, in

massachusetts they have basically the same bill that barack obama has. ok? >> don't tell mitt romney. >> it negates the presidential competition. >> it is. >> but what happens, if you live on the border of massachusetts and have no health insurance, if you live in northern rhode island, if you live in rhode island or southern new hampshire, you can come across to emergency rooms in massachusetts and be treated if you have no health insurance. so it adds to the cost of health care in massachusetts. massachusetts still doing pretty well in terms of overall costs. but that's interstate commerce. what happens now? >> it just regulates it. >> if the supreme court strikes down the mandate, say in june, what does that do to the presidential race? because mitt romney kind of owns a piece of it himself. >> if it's mitt romney, not a lot. because the thing is, it's hard politically to figure this out. but you would think if the supreme court strikes it down,

it's bad for barack obama. he basically wasted a year and a half of his first term. but it's good politically because they would much rather run against a supreme court decision, like fdr could point at the supreme court and talk about how the right wing and this is exactly why we don't want mitt romney to be elected. i think most democrats understand that the individual mandate being struck down is actually good for democrats. and then it puts republicans as the bizarre thing but it's the truth, puts republicans on the defensive. >> i mean, i i would much rather rail against nine lawyers in black robes that are subverting the will of 350 million people than go, huh, we won. >> is zeke going to be on the show again today, alex? tomorrow. great. >> i heard zeke engaged in like some pretty -- >> he was great. i get him all set up. >> i heard zeke just said very -- oh, yeah, there's no question on whether this is

constitutional or not. really? thank you, zeke. why don't you keep your doctor's hat on and we'll let the supreme court worry about that. >> he's coming back. i can't wait. >> it's going to be -- >> he's acerbic. >> this is really going to be a fascinating debate because it does go to the heart of the issue of what can the federal government do, what can it not do. >> like the new deal. >> yeah, like the new deal. but it's -- and you ask, do people understand the nuances of this massive -- no, they don't. but they do understand one simple basic concept. i don't want the federal government telling me what i'm going to do. i don't want them going to my refrigerator. republicans, i don't want them going into my bedrooms. democrats, i don't want them going into my wallets. this is where americans are going. >> they also understand, i think, the second basic concept, the class of health care is bankrupting this country. >> and they want when they want when they go to the doctor. >> do you know what else they understand? they also understand and it's becoming more and more clear with the cbo reports what one

ceo of one of the three largest companies in america -- don't say who -- who was a barack obama supporter, told me the middle of the health care bill, he said, you know what? if this thing passes, all of my people are in government-run health care insurance 10 years from now because it's going to be cheaper for us just to write a check, and they are going to spin off. and you know the obama administration realiseded that when they began. that corporations would make the decision over the next decade to quit providing health insurance to their people, and then it would be all government run. they knew that, and i think some americans are starting to pick up on that. before we get to a break, we want to report a developing story out of afghanistan where two nato soldiers from britain were shot and killed by a man wearing an afghan army uniform. it happened in a nato base in the southern part of the country. information is still coming in. but coalition reports returned fire, killing the gunman. it marks the latest, of course,

in a series of attacks where afghan soldiers or imposters turned their weapons on the coalition. today's shooting comes as u.s. officials hope financial compensation will help ease tensions in afghanistan amid charges that an american soldier killed 17 civilians earlier this month. military officials tell nbc news they have paid the victims' families about $50,000 for each death and $11,000 to the wounded. the families are being told that the order for the payments came directly from president obama. the payouts are significantly higher than $2,500 in compensation traditionally paid by the u.s. for civilian deaths in afghanistan. meanwhile, officials now say the accused gunman, staff sergeant robert bales, carried out the shootings in two separate waves. they say he returned to the base between the attacks. and bales' wife, carolyn, spoke exclusively with nbc's matt lauer about her husband. >> i want to ask what kind of

dad he was. you said he was so involved with his children. he loves children. >> he loves children. he's like a big kid himself. >> and he is accused of killing nine children. >> right. >> innocent children. >> it's unbelievable to me. i have no idea what happened. but he would not -- he loves children. and he would not do that. coming up, retired general stanley mcchrystal will be here on set. also, tom brokaw, rick scott, and al sharpton. up next, mike allen with a look at politico's top stories of the morning. but first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. good morning. hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. things have changed in new england. you aren't going to get a little dose of winter for today, tonight, and tomorrow. and then we'll be back to warmer conditions. let me first explain what's happened. wind-chill. hoping not to talk about this anymore, but wind-chill is only 24 in buffalo.

chilly all through new england and the mid-atlantic as the colder air filters in. even with sunshine, temperatures today only in the 40s in new england. buffalo, struggling to get to the upper 30s. we will be better in philly and d.c. but later tonight, it's going to be a cold night. you have to remember all the flowers and buds are out on the trees. this will be a hard freeze in many areas. so if anything on why your property you want to protect, cover it up. middle of the country today, you're still enjoying the beautiful warm weather from denver, all the way down into florida and texas. wet weather in northern california, and thunderstorms up in montana. but again, the big story, one little dose of winter left for new england and the great lakes. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. ♪

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26 past the hour. time now to take a look at the morning papers. "the new york times," two democratic senators, charles schumer and richard blumenthal, are asking eric hold tore investigate whether employers asking for facebook passwords during job interviews is a violation of federal law. the senators also said they are drafting a bill to fill in any gaps that current laws don't cover. >> what law? what law would that be a violation of? the protection of stupid people act? >> exactly. i totally agree with you. "usa today," vice president dick cheney is recouperating ina virginia hospital after undergoing a heart transplant saturday. the 71-year-old was on a wait list for 21 months. of course, mika and my thoughts and prayers are with the cheneys as i'm sure everybody around this table is thinking about them this morning.

and from our parade of papers, "the miami herald," pope benedict held a huge outdoor mass yesterday in mexico and today makes his first appearance in cuba. he wore a jeweled sombrero he was given as a gift. and "the new york daily new news", movie director james cameron travelled to the deepest point on earth, seven miles down to the ocean floor. moments after surfacing, he tweeted, quote, hitting bottom never felt so good. and the "wall street journal," the movie "hunger games" based on a young adult novel enjoyed the third largest opening weekend of all time, grossing $155 million in north america. i have a teenager who was there. >> did she see it? >> yes, she did. >> you saw it? >> you saw it? >> yeah. >> it was a teenaged thing, right? teenagers go hunting each other and stuff like that. >> chris halpern went to it. >> why would you go see that? >> i like to be where the kids

are. where america is. >> that scares me. >> it was the largest opening for any nonsequel ever. >> ever. >> but the kids go around hunting each other, stuff like that. >> yeah. it glorifies killing kids. >> great. >> i think i'll skip that. >> my wife who is a very enlightened, intelligent woman, read the book and really liked the book. but i don't know she's rushing out to see the movie. >> if you've got kids, you can't see that stuff. >> she'll be alone if she does. >> i've been watching, you know what i've been watching, joey scarborough has been bugging me to watch "the wire." i finally have been the best couple of weekends. >> maybe the best tv series ever. >> i saw the first season, and i'm on the fourth season now. it's great stuff. >> i got the boxed set for christmas. it's a big hole in my pop culture. i have to watch it. >> whether it's joey scarborough or bill simmons calls it the greatest ever. all the people you respect say this is the -- "the wire" was the greatest ever. another hbo series. >> phenomenal series.

>> awesome. >> oh, wow. you did something on hbo. >> i have the same "wire" holes you do, though. >> did we ever like -- speaking of the most watched, i guess you had the most watched hbo movie in like seven, eight years. >> eight years. did very well, and still getting repeated airings. >> congratulations. >> thanks. >> let's give mike allen some time, shall we? here is a look at the playbook. mike, good morning. >> good morning, guys. >> you guys are reporting, "politico," house republicans getting ready to unveil a new plan to rewrite the american tax code. you have some specifics for us this morning? >> yeah. this could be the most lobbied issue of the next two years. people thought that the debate about the tax code would be pushed off, maybe start in the lame duck session after the election, maybe start next year. house republicans wanting something to run on, wanting

something positive to talk about this week, are going to put out their plans for corporate and individual tax reduction, and now there's an even argument that they should push the debate about extending the bush tax cuts before the election. those expire december 31. republicans have thought that they would do it right after the election. now there's a push to do it sooner. so house republicans think that taxes can be a good issue for them. and they are going to put their foot on the accelerator this week. >> paul allen drew some criticism for saying he wants to close a lot of the loopholes to make up some revenue, but he hasn't said which one. do we have any idea what tax exemptions he might want to get rid of or to change the code? >> no, and that's a real problem. over the weekend, the white house made it clear they are going to make house republican budget a campaign issue. they are not talking about linking paul ryan and mitt romney. they'll hear them in coming days talking about the romney ryan

plan. talking about how to -- republicans too would need to raise taxes, something they are not talking about. >> that's the one that throws children and grandmas into the street and lets them fend for themselves. >> harvest their organs and the money goes to tax cuts for the rich if you listen to democrats talking about it. hey, by the way, mike allen, thank you. speaking of tv, and we're going to talk about this in a little bit, but you have a starring role tonight on a pbs documentary that national geographic did. i'm sorry, tomorrow night on pbs. and it's about fenway at 100. >> 100 years old, the ballpark. nearly as old as i feel today. >> yeah. >> i could go further with that, but i won't. >> thank you. >> but it's going to be pretty good. >> great. >> i've been told it's good. >> i heard it's amazing. >> we'll talk to you about that later. coming up, two weeks ahead of the masters, tiger woods makes a statement claiming his first pga tour win since september of 2009.

before the one-vehicle accident heard round the world. we'll show you how he did it yesterday. plus, rick santorum shows off his skills at a wisconsin bowling alley, and then talks a little trash about president obama's bowling. keep it on "morning joe." we'll be right back. this is $100,000. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense.

i bathed it in miracles. director: [ sighs ] cut! sorry to interrupt. when's the show? well, if we don't find an audience, all we'll ever do is rehearse. maybe you should try every door direct mail. just select the zip codes where you want your message to be seen, print it yourself, or we'll help you find a local partner and you find the customers that matter most. yesterday.

yesterday.

welcome back to "morning joe." time for some sports. >> terrific. >> headliner, for the first time in a long time, tiger woods. 923 days, 26 pga tour events, tiger woods has not won. he finally won an official tour event for the first time since that thanksgiving night one-vehicle car accident. tiger loves the arnold palmer invitational at bay hill. he has won six times there in his career. entered the final round sunday with a one-streak lead. on the 8th, sends it over the water, nicely onto the green. he would birdie that, go 14 under. on 15, four-stroke lead. sinks the long par putt here. he was 13 under through 15. then on 18, walking up with a big smile on his face. smile of relief, tipping his cap to the crowd. a little swagger in his step. tapped in the short par putt, finished the day with the two under 70. he has now won 72 pga tour events.

that's his seventh at the arnold palmer. he did downplay the significance of the victory saying he also won in december, but that was at an unofficial event. joe, are you reading the paper? >> i am. looking on the back page. oh, what's on the front page? oh, look out, ladies, tiger is back. >> he's back. and the masters starts about a week and a half, and everybody is talking about tiger coming back to augusta. did you see this story about the jets? sanchez is a marked man. but it's nice to know that at least his coach and his owners are supporting him. like, hey, kid, relax. it's your job. so rex ryan says he doesn't want to just see tim holding a clip board and our good friend woody johnsons, we've all seen sanchez in the fourth quarter. we wish he'd get better in the first. he has to make some improvements. there are different ways to inspire your players.

>> two weeks ago, they give the guy an extension and a week later hire tim tebow. >> but seriously, if i'm woody johnson, i'd tell sanchez. it's not like he is a rookie. get playing. we're paying you a lot of money. and we are not paying you to throw interceptions in playoff games. if i were writing somebody a $50 million check, i got the right to say, we expect to you do better. right? >> yeah. you know, what's interesting, they are both great, great young men. >> i love sanchez and i love tebow. >> it will be interesting to see how they handle this. you know, game one, first three and out series, the boo birds are coming out and chanting for tebow. >> yeah. >> it's going to be interesting to watch. the ncaa tournament. final two spots in the final four up for grabs. saturday, louisville and ohio state punched their tickets to new orleans. yesterday, top seed north carolina still without kendall marshall as they took on two-seed kansas. second half, three-point game. john hinson of usc can't hold

onit. taylor picks it up, and he just is faster than anybody else. he had 22 points. great game. the end of a 6-0 run to put the jayhawks up by five. carolina trying to make something happen. there was a lid on the basket, though, for the last five minutes or so of this game. stillman white, who was the backup for marshall, rejected. they are outrunning again as travis rutherford puts the nail in the coffin. kansas wins 80-67. >> does that surprise you, unc losing? >> not without kendall marshall. they came awfully close to ohio. should have lost to ohio two days ago. kansas is a really, really good team. kentucky beat baylor 82-70 yesterday. not really close. here is the final four played saturday in new orleans. calapari and the wildcats, second straight trip to the time four, taking on in-state rival louisville. should be wild inside that building. they met on new year's eve. kentucky won that one.

later, pair of two seeds, kansas and ohio state played in early december with kansas bwinning b 11. no cinderella here. >> it's going to be great. rick pitino, 11-0 in the elite eight. 11-0. >> he is amazing. >> what's your prediction? >> i think kentucky and kansas, with kentucky winning. >> that's what i think. >> coach cal. >> coach cal. >> kansas has impressed me so much. kansas. >> you're going to go with kansas? all right. >> those are two really good teams. >> and of course, mika is going with the atlanta hawks. >> the hawks. >> what color jacket do they wear at the masters? >> oh, come on. she knows that. don't insult her. coming up next, what do we have? >> mika's must-read opinion pages. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ male announcer ] for the saver, and a big first step.

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it's one thick to thing to take a guy's job. but now tebow is kate upton is dating. no, we don't know that. they are just in the same frame in a picture. but stay away from his girl. >> no one stirs the you know what like "the new york post." that was one photograph at a party like a month ago. >> but seriously, though, you'd think that tebow, you know, come on. i love tim. stay away from kate upton. that's sanchez's girl. >> all right. >> sanchez has not had a good few days. >> no.

it's kind of rough. it's kind of rough. he's going to wrap his suv around a fire hydrant if this continues. >> no. tiger took care of that. >> the formal tebow announcement is today. >> oh, terrific. >> can we get to the must-read opinion pages? >> like "the new york post," we are just trying to whip up controversy. from "the new york times," the outsourced party by kevin baker, about the republican party that's been moving to the right for half a century now. and generally, carrying the country with it. but in the past, republican candidates and office holders had to accommodate themselves to real world situations, and the qualms of their constituents. participating in a democracy means more than simply insisting in as loud and arrogant a voice as possible what it is that you want. it means listening. it means convincing. it means compromising. all those things that political parties and their leaders used to be fairly good at. at long last, republicans seem to be finally coalescing around mitt romney's candidacy.

are they? but the longer term problem will remain. how to maintain a coherent mass political party when so many individuals are empowered as never before to redirect it to their own personal ends. and then he brings up some of the candidates along the way who have used the race and the party for their own financial means. >> i just don't get this argument. and i know everybody in the echo chamber loves to repeat this, that the republican party has gone to the right. they doubled the national debt over the past decade. that's not going to the right. that's left. the tea party guys that are supposed to be such right-wing freaks, they basically have meekly fallen in line. the deficit went up $1 trillion last year with the house of representatives writing the check. this is not conservative. ok. so they have a couple of idiots say really stupid things. by and large the republican party has darted far left over the past decade. they doubled the national debt. they added $1 trillion in their first year that supposedly -- no, no, no, no.

you know what you do if you're conservative and radical? what you do is what we did back in '95, you shut down the federal government and stare at the president and say, we can stay here all day. we don't care what the national press says. they can call us what they want to call us. you're going to balance the budget. if you don't like it, too bad. the republican party over the last decade has gone the opposite direction. you tell me, how does doubling the national debt, how does piling another $1 trillion on the debt after this, quote, tea party congress is put in power, how does meekly falling in line behind your leadership amount to this? this is the garbage i hear in the mainstream press, and i hear they are so radical. the republican party has gone to the right. no. you have a couple of idiots trying to sell books say stupid things, and the press hang onto it. we're going to have a big spending, big government nominee in the republican party, and we're going to go even further left than we've been in the past. >> that's adding to the problem that's being laid out in this month -- >> no, it's not.

this is part of a trend line with the republican party keeps going left. and i get sick and tired of people telling me how right wing the party is. no. they haven't become right wing. have you people with megaphones like this guy says, people with megaphones that say really stupid things that the mainstream media seize on. but the bottom line is the republican party has darted left and they have spend as much money as democrats over the past decade. >> some of them have megaphones and shows. >> some people have shows on the left too. did you know that? >> the point of the piece is that the shrill voices are louder than ever and the party doesn't seem to have a soul anymore. >> there are some shrill voices on the left. really shrill voices on the left. just go on -- what do they call it? the google, willie, and just google some of it. it's a nonsensical argument that the left has been saying to make themselves feel better about themselves and to whip themselves into a frenzy in an election year. >> i'm not in a frenzy.

>> no. i'm saying, though, if the republican party has gone so far left, mike barnicle, or so far right, why is it the national debt doubles? >> that's one of the problems with the coverage of politics in the country today, with the exception of people like mark. we have had more coverage of rick santorum talking about contraception than the mechanics of paul ryan's budget proposal. >> right. >> now, whether you agree with where ryan is coming from or not, the mechanics of that proposal, what's in that proposal and how it would affect all of us, is covered far less than people like rick santorum. >> here is the bottom line. rick santorum goes out and says some stupid things on youtube about contraception. is he going to ban contraception? no. no. he's not going to ban -- what did faulkner call it? the sound and the fury, signifying nothing. herman cain, sound and fury,

signifying nothing. you can go through the list of the candidates. the bottom line is, do you allow the centralized state to grow or individual rights to grow? and the republican party, including rick santorum, who supported a $7 trillion medicare drug benefit plan that we didn't pay for a dime, have all voted to allow the centralized state to grow over the past decade. that's not -- i'm sorry. somebody help me. >> are you eating candy? >> no. it's a cough drop. >> mark halpern, is that the republican party going to the right? there's reception and there's reality. >> well, the ryan budget goes to the right. >> yeah. so let's talk about the ryan budget. let him talk about the ryan budget in there. we'll have that debate and win it. >> point taken. understood. >> i'm sorry. >> that's okay i understand your confrontation. >> my frustration not only comes from the left in the media but also from people in the right, who say you're not a conservative for attacking people that will give a blow torch and say the stupidest things and vote for bigger

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rick santorum trying to win votes in wisconsin. how do you do that? show off the bowling skills and show them off he did, on saturday in sheboygan. walks in cold and then produces. bowls a turkey. >> no way! >> if you don't bowl very often, that is three strikes in a row. >> nice form. the leg kick. >> bang. get yourself back on balance. nice performance by santorum. he didn't bowl a full game. got the turkey. >> he goes in cold. >> stop it. >> and he does a turkey. >> stop it. >> that's great. >> stop what? >> it's too easy. stop it right now. i don't want to hear that sound. >> what sound? what is that? >> senator santorum talking about his performance yesterday. >> you know what? yesterday, i don't know if you saw this, but i was bowling in sheboygan yesterday, and with a bunch of folks at a tournament, and threw three strikes in a row. that's a turkey. that tells you that you've got

someone here who can relate to the voters in wisconsin, just like those of us in western pennsylvania who grew up in the bowling lanes. >> let's talk about contrasts in the race. >> why? >> whee! >> you think that's not attractive? >> that's ugly. >> you should see the vision i have of you making that sound, ok? >> march 29, 2008, in an incident dubbed on this program dubbed the altoona massacre, almost four years to the day. >> whee! >> stop it. i'm going to punch you. >> president obama bowled a 37. he too did not bowl a full game, but just the form alone. >> whee! >> you hate to see that. no turk three for the president. >> mark halperin, why were you making that sound? i think that's disrespectful of the united states of america. >> it's like romper room. >> to walk up and do a turkey just like that, that ain't

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we are going to be very glad they called it obama care because the reality of what is happening here is so different than what the opponents claimed. you're going to see more people covered. you'll see savings in health care system. you'll see free preventive care for people. women treated equally in the health care system. i think that the important thing right now is to implement this law well, make sure we continue to try and educate people when what's in the law, and obviously, you know, the supreme court process will play out. >> top of the hour, welcome back to "morning joe." mike barnicle and mark halperin still with us. and joining the table, former u.s. comptroller and ceo of the come back america initiative david walker. good to have you back onboard this morning. you have a piece in "usa today" as well. >> the people's paper. >> and also on the front page of the people's paper, three days that may reshape america, talking about the historic hearings in the supreme court. and mika, this is the -- i think the most -- the longest oral

arguments that the supreme court has taken since 1965-1966. what's your bottom line on the fiscal sanity of the president's health care plan? >> my bottom line is that no matter what the supreme court decides, we're going to have to go back to the drawing board and rationalize our promises and start focusing on cost. as an example, the office -- >> does this not focus on cost? >> not adequately. it does do some things designed to try and control costs but let me give you an example. it's estimated that the cost of this program to medicare alone is $1.2 trillion higher than advertised by the politicians. $1.2 trillion. >> but i thought this was going to save money. >> it's not going to save money because they were unrealistic and unsustainable assumptions with regard to cost savings as

well as premium support. that's the basis of the chief actuary's opinion. listen, we need universal health care in this country. but the question is, how much is appropriate, affordable, and sustainable? we need to focus on preventative wellness and catastrophic. give people options for more if they want. but we've historically overpromised and underdelivered, and this is just another example of that. >> are you against the concept? >> i'm not against the concept. but we have to be reasonable about what we can afford and sustain. i mean, for example, take our current system under medicare. we have two voluntary programs under medicare which provide universal opportunity. and for the two voluntary ones, part b and d, 95% of eligible participants get a 75% taxpayer subsidy irrespective of their income and wealth. that's middle and upper income welfare. no wonder that system is going bankrupt. >> it's going bankrupt and everybody knows it. you look all around, look at the

money we're spending, $1.2 trillion additional dollars with medicare, because of this plan. bush adds $7 trillion with the medicare drug benefit plan that's not paid for it. rick santorum supports that. i'm sure mitt romney supported it. romney has his romney care in massachusetts. it doesn't seem like there's a dime's worth of difference, to quote george wallace, between republicans and democrats when it comes to spending money. they all, mike, want to spend our money. and i understand about the paul ryan plan, and i salute him. i really do. but that ain't going to be the law of the land because congress loves spending other people's money as much as the president. >> look, theoretically, there's a way to cut costs. if you want to, you know, risk yourself politically, you can cut costs. but what do we do about the cultural aspects of cost when it comes to health care in this country? everybody always wants the latest mri machine. they want to have, you know, the latest thing done to them. and then nobody knows how much

these things cost. nobody knows how much a vaccination costs. we just want more, and we don't even care what it costs. >> mike, human nature is you want as much as you can get, especially if somebody else will pay for it. in order for any system to work, you have to have three things. incentives to encourage people to do the right thing and discourage them from doing the wrong thing. adequate transparency as to cost and quality. and appropriate accountability if things don't go right. in the area of health care, we are zero for three. that's a strike out. >> it's unbelievable. and also, whether you're talking about health care or education, the united states of america spends more money per patient and per student than any other country on the planet. but what politicians reflexively do is they go, our schools are falling apart. let's spend more money. our health care plan has collapsed. we have a moral imper ittive to spend more money.

no, we don't. we have a moral imperative to spend the money more wisely. we are spending more money on health care per patient, on education per student, on war fighting per person, than any country on the planet, and we do it inefficiently. and you look at afghanistan. here is another example. there's not a connection between the cause and effect of health care, the cause and effect of education, and the cause and effect of this war in afghanistan where we waste over $2 billion a week. propping up karzai's corrupt regime. >> we've been there 10 years. we've spent how much? do we know overall? it's probably hard to quantify. >> the other thing, the big costs of disability and health care. >> after all that time and all that money, you'd think the situation would be stabilized, it would be different. no way. there's a developing story out of garbage evafghanistan even tg

where two nato soldiers from britain were shot and killed by a man wearing an afghan army uniform. coalition forces returned fire, killing the gunman. it marks the latest in a series of attacks where afghan soldiers or imposters turned their weapons on the coalition. today's shooting comes as u.s. officials hope financial compensation will help ease tensions in afghanistan amid charges that an american soldier killed 17 civilians earlier this month. military officials tell nbc news they have paid the victims' families about $50,000 for each death, and $11,000 to the wounded. the families are being told that the order for the payments came directly from president obama. the payouts are significantly higher than $2,500 in compensation traditionally paid by the u.s. for a civilian death in afghanistan. >> dave walker, when i served in congress, i was on the armed services committee. i had five military districts in my office. i was the hawk's hawk. when it came to making sure we had a strong robust defense.

i wasn't a big believer in military adventurism that we saw in the '90s and we're seeing now, but i was the hawk's hawk. but there's no justification in 2012 that the united states of america spends more money on their defense budget than the next 15 countries combined. when are the politicians going to get the message that we can't keep spending money not only on entitlement programs but also on our national defense? >> absolutely. the fact of the matter is, we must cut defense spending. not reduce. cut defense spending, and then constrain it, while not compromising national security. that is clearly possible if we focus on current and future threats. if we recognize that the defense department is a bloated bureaucracy, that needs to be taken on. in addition, you touched on the two areas that we spend double per person and get below average results. health care and k through 12 education. >> can i stop you there for one second? because i want americans this

fall when they hear politicians coming to their districts and to their hometowns and to their -- to their town hall meetings, and they start saying, oh, you know what, our education system is in shambles. it's a disgrace. we don't spend enough on education. or it's a disgrace we don't spend enough on health care reform. let's underline the fact again that we spend double per student and per patient of most countries in the west. it's not about money. it's about efficiency. it's about spending money smart. >> well, and it's come back to what i said to mike. if you look at those two systems, health care and k through 12 education, we're a strike out on incentives, transparency, and accountability. we are a strike out. so we have to go back. >> no market forces in health care unless you're the cleveland clinic or an institution like that, you are not rewarded by

results. you are rewarded for getting more money for the hospital that you work for. and it's unfortunately the same for education. you try to get performance standards in schools and classrooms, all hell breaks loose. >> believe it or not, the united states has been a republic since 179. . we still don't have metrics to measure success, what's working and not working. and therefore, what happens when government wants to show that it cares, it spends more money, it issues another tax preference, it issues another regulation, without having any idea whether they work or not. it's time to fundamentally -- >> did you see this weekend about this tax system? i thought it was fascinating where he said, mark halperin, if you want to get corruption out of washington, d.c., pass tax

reform where the tax code is two pages long, because as dave just suggested, the lobbyists in washington, they are not there to get money. they're there to get preferences in the tax code. and the more complex it is, the more corrupt the process is around it. we're starting to hear some people talk about tax reform. could that be an issue this year? >> probably in december it will be. it has to be because there's a train wreck coming at the end of the year with a whole bunch of stuff that's expiring. you know, dave talked about two things, defense cuts and if you'll pardon my shorthand rationing of health care. those things are impossible now under the current alignment in washington. i think they may be less likely with the new president and the new congress, whoever wins. how do you get politicians of either party to say, we can't afford everything in health care. there has to be a limit on what the government will pay for. >> my view is, for us to make the transformational reforms we need to make in the area of health care, in the area of taxes, et cetera, it takes two

things. you have to go to the american people with the truth, the tough choices. reasonable ways forward. help them understand that we don't have a choice but to make tough choices because if we don't, then our economy is going to be in the tank. that's going to have an adverse effect on opportunity, on our position in the world, our sfar standard of livinga the home, and the domestic tranquility in the streets. and you have to have a president that uses the bully pulpit to show the way forward. then the people will put pressure on the congress to act. so that they can act in the interest of the country rather than their party. >> the bottom line is, moving forward, soft power, i see general mcchrystal over here. and i'm sure he would agree, if not, he's not miked up now so i can say it and we'll pretend at least for the next five minutes that he'd agree. obviously, the united states over the past 235 years have exerted power globally through hard power for the most part and some soft power. moving forward, we're going to

be talking about soft power an awful lot. you look at the chinese and what they are doing, the trade deals they are making, while we're fighting wars. and you have a national debt that continues to expand. you have an entitlement system that continues to break down. you have a health care system and an education system that is dysfunctional k through 12. that's going to impact our power moving forward. over the next 20, 30 years. if anybody believes that after the euro is taken care of and after greece is taken care of and italy is taken care of, the world markets don't turn their attention to the dollar, and start beating the hell out of the dollar if we don't get our act together soon, then they just don't understand international finance. >> you mentioned the piece, it's really good. let me read a part of it. this is "american needs a two-page tax code." most americans, republicans and democrats, dislike the tax code. they are right to do so. america has what's arguably the

world's most complex tax code. the federal code plus irs rulings is now 70,000 pages long. the code itself is 16,000 pages. the state of france has a tax code of 1,109 pages. you have to understand that complexity equals corruption. for those who despair at the role of money in politics, the simplest way to get the corruption out of washington is to remove the surprise that members of congress give away, preferential tax treatment, a flatter tax code with almost no exemptions does that. >> it needs to be simpler, fairer, more competitive, and generate adequate revenue. we have $1.1 trillion in back door spending through deductions, exemptions, credits, and exclusions and differences in the rates between ordinary income and capital gains and dividends. $1.1 trillion a year. everybody's for tax reform.

it's time we start moving on it. but i agree with mark, it's probably not going to happen until 2013. >> all right. david walker, very good to see you. thank you very much. >> one fascinating thing as we talk about tax reform that everybody needs to keep in mind, barack obama is in the position with the bush tax cuts expiring of just sitting there and letting them expire. so if there is tax reform, it's probably going to favor the president simply because if he does nothing, bush tax cuts expire. still ahead, florida's republican governor rick scott will join us. >> we'll ask him about the martin shooting. >> absolutely. and up next, hires our heroes. tom brokaw and stanley mcchrystal are both here as part of msnbc's special effort to put veterans back to work. meanwhile, bill karins is here. >> can we put him out of week?

it's raining and cold. >> two weeks of sumner the middle of march i gave you. >> it's not enough. >> we've heard that from you before. good morning, everyone. here's what we're looking at outside today and through the next couple of days. big changes in new england where it's getting chilly and cold. tomorrow morning especially. as far as the milgsd of the country goes, very warm conditions from texas up through areas of arkansas and even the southeast. it will be beautiful today. temperatures, how does 80 sound from kansas city to denver? but notice where the cooler air is. boston to chicago. and this is what's going to happen late tonight, early tomorrow morning. winter returns. it's really just for one day. but this isn't event factoring in the winter. this is the actual temperatures. imagine all the flowers are out. all the buds are out. the growing season has started everywhere about two to four weeks early. some of that could get in big trouble throughout tomorrow morning because of the hard freeze. so it will warm up eventually. but tonight, word of caution in new england is if you can cover it up to save it, do so.

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retired from the military and found himself caught in the great recession without a job. when the unemployment rate of post-9/11 war veterans was more than 13%, about 30% higher than the national rate. >> thank you. >> charles' military pension and dawn's special education teaching job barely keep the weavers above water, while potential employers gave weaver scant consideration, he says, fearing combat veterans were too much of a risk. >> you think the country owes you something now?

>> the only thing that i think is owed to me is at least at the opportunity to go to work for somebody to go to work and prove to them that somebody from the military has something to offer. >> that was charles weaver, part of tom's special report last night on "dateline." this morning, nbc news is launching the hiring our heroes initiatives, teaming up with the department of commerce to encourage country to hire our returning war veterans. and tom brokaw is joining us this morning along with general stanley mcchrystal. good to have you both onboard this morning. >> tom, give us a background on what we were watching there. >> i just wanted -- there's a very happy ending to the story that you saw the beginning of last night. i have been following sergeant weaver since before the war began. i met with him in kuwait as they were kicking off and i was with him in baghdad when he was on post. and then when he came home. he was struggling. his family had moved to

wisconsin. his wife got a job as a special ed teacher. he couldn't find a job. we did a report on that. a wonderful man in northwest chicago and his wife have an internet marketing business. they called him, drove four hours to wisconsin and said we have a job for you. and charles was really skeptical. and mike said, no, i buy junker cars, and they are recycled and we sell them to auction houses. i need somebody who can work the phones for me and do that from home. it has been a win-win. charles has been on the job now for several months. he is doing extremely well. mike and susan have hired two other veterans. one is a diesel mechanic. the other a big buffed up marine, they thought he could drive big trucks. but he is an expert at social media, so he is reorganizing all of their internal computer stuff. it's a classic example of a small business showing a lot of

initiative and a boss saying, i want to make this work. and these young people coming out of the military, from an entirely different culture, and that's what general mcchrystal can talk about. >> general mcchrystal, we thank you for being with us and thank you for your service to america. we honor you for committing your life, your adult life, to serving and protecting this country. and what you're doing now is just so important. could you help americans understand who are disconnected from the military, who don't have any relatives in afghanistan or iraq, can you explain what happens when a soldier or a marine comes home, lands in america? as tom said to me before, it's not like they take off their uniform, put on their khakis, and are good to go. they're having to make an extraordinarily difficult transition, aren't they? >> they are. i think it's probably important

to start with they weren't born in afghanistan or iraq. they started in small towns and cities in america. and then we as a nation asked them to believe in the nation's cause and in the organization and to go into the military, and they did that. and when they went in, they were given skills, many cases they were given much needed discipline. they were given an opportunity to become part of a team. and that's the ethos of the organization. it's being part of a team. so they serve in that. and then when they come home, in many cases they may never have had a civilian job if they went in at age 17 or they may have been in at 17 or something. they work some of the ethics some people have with a work history. if i have driven an armored vehicle and i put on a resume that i drive a striker vehicle, and i go to an employer and they go, i don't have any strikers, i think what we forget is this is an individual who led a team on a multimillion dollar piece of equipment, that we had to do logistics and also deal with people. >> so what you're saying is they

come back and lack the network but certainly not the skills. and a don't of what you all are here today to talk about is what first lady michelle obama and dr. joe biden are doing is joining forces. a lot of companies have jumped in, siemens, honeywell, sears, the travel industry, members of that as well, and they are hiring veterans and gaining the benefits. it is a moral imperative i think to bring our soldiers home and give them a job. >> i think everybody gets that. but i have heard recently, we have to be constantly reminded of this, it's more complicated than it appears, because a lot of times, for example, the teamsters have done a great job of taking men who are qualified, mostly men, to drive the big trucks in the military. they have got a special kind of license. we recognize that in civil society. but as soon as they leave the military, they lose that license. and it doesn't carry over into their civilian life. so they have got to go reapply,

they have to get relicensed, they've got to rent a truck to pass the test. teamsters have moved in to say we're going to help you with that and give you the training program. it's that kind of complication. the pieces don't always fit together when you come out of the military culture into the civil society. the other thing is, and general mcchrystal and i have talked about this at some length, because they go in at age 17 or 18, their whole world is the military. they are mission oriented. they have somebody who's got their back. you just can't take somebody like that, drop them into a cubicle somewhere, and say, make 100 calls for us today and sell some insurance. or, you know, interact with other members of our group. they have got -- the transition has to be much more sophisticated. >> how do you incentivize a company to help? >> i think they are learning on the fly. >> it's a huge opportunity. what i have seen some companies do is hire some veterans to help translate things like resumes

and also help train veterans to do things like job interviews. most veterans have never done an interview until this step in their life. >> wow. >> that side of it, where there's an education side of it for human resources departments. i've told this story before. but i had a friend who came back, someone i know served in afghanistan. went in for a job interview. and the human resources person looked down and said, ok, but do you have any experience? do you have any experience? and he thought to himself, well, let's see. we went up a hill, we seized a village, we created a government and an economy. other than that, i guess i haven't done much. but how do we educate human resource departments? there was a great book about israel where military is such a part of the culture that an employer knows instinctively why it's important to have the skills that those who have served in the military have. how do we convey that to our employers here? >> i think it's a great challenge, because a as you mentioned with a small percentage of the nation serves,

more and more people aren't familiar with the terms of the experience. i think we have to do things like this to community cate it. we have to use young veterans to come out and highlight examples where they have done well, from startups to people who have jumped into corporations and done tremendous work. >> mike, jump in. >> general, i'd like to ask you about something that's out there in the water, so to speak, and it's this. no one comes back from war without carrying a little baggage. psychological baggage. and the coverage of ptsd in this country has increased, thankfully, over the last 10 years or so, to the point where treatment of it is increasing each and every day. but when it comes to potential employers, how much do you think is there in the minds of potential employers, oh, boy, you know, this person, this man, this woman, is a veteran. ptsd. do i want this man or woman in the work place? should i take a longer look at him or her? how much of that is there? >> i think there's probably some

there. i think it's important that we understand ptsd because everyone who goes through difficult experiences brings some something inside them with them wherever they go. but also i think it's an extraordinary opportunity. i think of what virgil wrote, trust one who has been through it. and if you think of what a young veteran brings to an organization, you are sometimes strengthened by those things which push you and put strains and stresses on you. so i don't think it's nearly as much that people should be fearing -- fearful. i think they should see an opportunity in the chance to leverage the maturity and experience that these young people bring. >> can you expand on what willie said before? because if i'm running a company, and i've got the chance to hire a 27-year-old kid, i say a kid, a 27-year-old kid who has seen more in four to five years in iraq and afghanistan than i will see my entire life, that has had to go into a village,

seize it, and then run are the economy, set up a sewage system, talk with elders in a village who don't trust you, and make that all work together. how does a corporation not say, that guy, he's not going to buckle when it comes time to compromising this next contract with this vendor. >> i think you captured it perfectly. i spent a day down in the helmand in the summer of 2009 when it was the most difficult with a young marine captain and his company. and first he had to shape his young marines. they had fought their way in. he had to shape them. so he took pieces of cardboard from mri boxes and wrote counterinsurgency lessoned learns all around the camp, so when they walked around they were constantly reminded. but then he was dealing with elders, opening markets. it was a heavily poppy growing

area. so he was communicating with some of the farmers that they needed to transition. this was a guy who went from the very early stages to the things which are naturally assumed to be military tasks to being a city manager. and yet really a leader. that was the hard part. >> in closing, tom brokaw, you have been a voice for a lot of these heros who have come home and telling this story. what is the main message you have learned from them in terms of their value and what they bring to the table? >> i think it's a simple message. we're all in this together. we can't ask less than 1/2 of our population to come home in body bags, all the trauma, and the families left behind as well. and if you lose someone over there, so often those families can't find work. we have no greater obligation i think as a society, it's not just justice, it's also a moral obligation, if we send these people off to protect our interests, to be the barrier

between the bad guys and us, the least that we can do is not just hold up a sign at the airport and say welcome home, buddy, but reintegrate them into society and learn from them. the university of iowa has 500 veterans who have come back to the campus because they have offered them in state tuition. the president of the university have said, in a way i could not have anticipated, they have lifted this campus. kid said see what they have been through. they are mature. they want to get out and do well. and i think that's a big piece of it. >> amen to that. and the veterans groups doing great work. general, before we let you go here, we have more breaking news this morning about a pair of men dressed as afghan soldiers, perhaps they were afghan soldiers or not, inside a nato base killing two british soldiers. this off the news of staff sergeant bales. what's your reaction to all of this and where we are right now in afghanistan? >> well, my reaction is what young people are doing over there is i would describe -- they are partnering with their afghan counterparts.

they are showing great courage there. i think that if we focus on the people side of it, that we always get the best outcome. >> all right. >> tom brokaw and retired general stanley mcchrystal, thank you so much. >> thank you for what you guys are doing. >> this wednesday, march 28, nbc news and the u.s. chamber of commerce will hold a nationwide hiring fair for veterans as part of our hiring our heroes program. so please, please, please take part in that. coming up, the reverend al sharpton will join us from sanford, florida, exactly one month after the shooting death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. keep it right here on "morning joe."

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if i had a son, he'd look like trayvon. and, you know, i think they are right to expect that all of us as americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and that we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. >> i was so glad to hear the president lend his voice to this case. >> it took him a little while, didn't it? he responded more quickly on other issues than this one. >> yes. and i actually mentioned that

last week. i thought it was a little frustrating. but -- >> what? that he had -- >> but it's a murder case and there's an ongoing investigation. >> he jumped in on the rush thing. but not this one. >> there are some differences. joining us now from sanford, florida, the president of the national action network reverend al sharpton. one month later, we have had a little time to reflect on this story. >> no doubt about it. obviously, first of all, this is the first time i have talked to you since the passing of your mom. we talked about her on the show a good bit. and i just want you to know that our thoughts and prayers are with you. and with your family. tell us before we get into this, tell us one of your best memories about your mom. >> well, i think my best memories, i grew up a boy preacher. and she used to bring me to various churches to preach. she took a lot of pride in that. and i'm here in sanford. i'm leaving here tonight to go

to alabama to preach her funeral tomorrow, because when the family met to decide who should do the eulogy, one of my -- one of her grandchildren, one of my nieces, said, well, you're our favorite preachers so it will probably be my most difficult sermon. but my memory is she used to bring me around and encourage me do exactly what i'm doing. and as long as i'm alive and doing it, it will be a living legacy to her, who stepped back and pushed her son forward. >> and what are you going to tell the congregants of the church about your mom? >> that mothers, real mothers, love their children in spite of sometimes when they make mistakes, sometimes when they do things wrong. she loved me enough to correct me, but never abandon me. and that we need to extol that kind of motherhood today, where we don't have mothers competing with their children for how to be younger, but how they try to make their children wiser and

grow into maturity. and i think that my mother was one that never tried to be younger and equal me. she tried to raise me to be wiser and tried to guide me. and that was the spirit i think we need among parents today. we're too competitive with our children rather than guide posts for our children. >> that's beautiful advice. reverend al, a month later, and you've been immersed in this trayvon martin case since it began. where does it stand now in the national conversation? the president has lent his voice to it. but where does it go from here? >> well, i think that you're right. on the 12th of -- a month ago on the 12th of march -- i'm sorry, on the 12th, the police chief said he was not going to make an arrest. we got in on the 13th. in fact, the lawyer was on my station on this show. we've been here ever since. still no arrests. there's still outcries.

but nationally, we need to have a real conversation. i think the president and the leaders of this country need to sit down and have this adult conversation on race, that the president talked about during the '08 election. i think if anything the trayvon martin case has shown is that we've got to deal with a mature adult conversation on the racial divide. and i think that it is not to divide the country, it's to heal the country. how do we bring people together to understand that the inequities that still exist in the criminal justice system and education and in other areas are things that we are going to have to aggressively come together and try and conquer for the good of everybody? and i think this case brought out the divide again on how people see things differently, but need to bring this union together. >> reverend sharpton, it's willie. good to see you this morning. i send my condolences this morning and echo what joe said. we'll be thinking about you tomorrow as you perform that

difficult sermon. to the facts of the case, have you heard anything more? you've been down there as much as anybody. have you had any contact with the police? we saw one of george zimmerman's friends on "the today show" over the weekend, a gentleman who is african-american saying george zimmerman is no racist. this was an act of delve wself . have you heard any more details that you can share with us? >> we met with the family and the attorney ben crump and the justice department here last week the day of the big rally. and the fbi and others are in this now. the police department closed their investigation and now have given it to the state prosecutor. the state prosecutor has now given it to a special prosecutor who will be meeting with the family today. i can tell you that the position that has been raised by the family is all you need to do is go to the 911 tapes and hear what was said.

zimmerman said on the tape that i am following him. he was asked, are you following him? yes. they said we don't need to you do that. he said ok and he followed him anyway. there will be all kinds of people that will come out and say different things that should be said in a court of law. the probable cause is in the 911 tape. he pursued him despite the fact he was told not to. that is enough for zimmerman to not be able to use self defense. you can't follow somebody and pursue somebody even when you're told not to and then say you're defending yourself. just like in sports, willie, go to the tape. the tape says it all. and let's then go into the court of law and everyone that has evidence should present it. but we are not even in the court of law yet. >> reverend al, let me ask you what your take is on some people stating that trayvon was killed because he was wearing a hoodie. >> well, first of all, if you listen to the tape, the fact is that when they asked about the race of the person, said, well,

is he white, black, or hispanic, he says i'm black, i think. then they said what are you wearing, and he described what he was wearing and the hoodie was in the description. he never said he was suspicious because of what he had on. he was suspicious because he was standing there looking around, because of who he was. he must be real careful as we -- the family pursues whether this was a hate crime that we don't just go to apparel because whites can wear hoodies. i think that it is a great symbol to say we're going to wear hoodies to show that you can be anybody, but it was not just the hoodie. it was who he was that was what was mentioned as the reason for suspicion. >> the reverend al sharpton, thank you very, very much. we wish you the best. >> thank you. coming up, we'll talk to florida's governor rick scott just ahead. up next, "the morning joe" football frenzy with roger bennett. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] the next generation of investing technology

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welcome back to "morning joe." let's bring in right now the host of "men in blazers" 9:00 a.m. to talk about a brutal weekend for liverpool. you were stoked. tom brokaw a soccer fan. >> indeed. one of the greatest moments since nixon went to china for america. tom brokaw. the kind of activity that used to get you on the house committee for un-americanness. >> you get man city on top of the table playing against stoke, they should win. >> manchester city unbeatable at home. they have travel sickness on the road. stoke city is a vipers nest until the 59th minute. the giant skinny -- >> oh, my lord! >> come on! >> peter crouch! >> goal of the season. >> he is the spider.

>> normally has control of his limbs like a new born foal. >> look at that. >> goalkeeper. >> right at the heart. >> manchester city recovered with this. >> you were kidding me. >> the kind of goal that nolan ryan would have liked. >> how far out is that? >> 35 yards. >> my lord. >> they call that shot a winning maker. manchester city reclaim the top of the table from manchester united until this afternoon. they play on espn2. >> you're talking about a meltdown. liverpool wins the league cup but they have lost against two of the worst teams over the past seven days. >> fourth place goal. try to get a goal in to calm the referee. didn't work. caldwell kept his head when all

those along him was losing theirs. >> they're in a free-fall. they lose to qpr last week. king kenny is gone. they're going to fire -- he's doing worse than uncle roy now. >> that is true. they are more charitable than bill gates right now. >> they spent so much money. so the big match, the exciting match, chelsea. this is the big one, baby. it will be so exciting. battle for fourth. >> it should have been a joan collins/linda evans kind of cat fight. there were plastic knives. i just prayed that tom brokaw

didn't watch this game. >> that was the highlight of the entire match. this was the most boring 90 minutes. >> it was. >> in the history of sports. >> so man city and man united fighting for the top. look at third place early in the year people were talking about getting rid of arsenal's great coach. and look at them now. they're in third place. >> it's been a deeply mediocre season for me. the story lines have been sizzling. >> so you think kenny is fired? >> i think he may be. you wouldn't fire an icon you would push him upstairs. it may be time for king kenny. >> and i was almost with you for the whole segment.

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>> on tomorrow's edition of "morning joe," we'll talk to senator ron johnson and also kyra sedwick is going to be here. still ahead, rick santorum's massive win on saturday in the state of louisiana has raised questions over romney's problems in the south. "morning joe" is back in a moment. turn left. the passat is one of nine volkswagen models named a 2012 iihs top safety pick. not that we'd ever brag about it. turn right. come on, nine. turn left. hit the brakes. huh? how'd that get there? [ male announcer ] we can't hide how proud we are to have nine 2012 iihs top safety picks. so we're celebrating with our "safety in numbers" event.

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>> romney agreed with barack obama on every single thing that he did because he put it in place in massachusetts. it's the blueprint for obama care. don't believe me. ask obama. why would he put someone up who is uniquely -- pick any republican in the country. he's the worst republican in the country to put up against barack obama. on the issue of health care, that's what i was talking about. i was very clear about that. come on, guys. don't do this. you guys are incredible. i was talking about obama care and he was the worst because he was the author of obama care. >> it's 8:00 on the east coast. welcome back to "morning joe" as you take a live look at new york

city. back with us on set we have mark halperin and mike barnicle. we'll start with louisiana and rick santorum is coming off a big win there on saturday night. his campaign now off the string of southern victories will hope that it undercuts romney's apparent lock on the nomination. santorum took 49% of the vote in louisiana. romney came in second with 27%. >> look at that. look at those numbers. almost a two to one victory over the guy that has all of the money. he's got all of the organization. he's got all of the endorsements. mitt romney don't want to overspeak but the guy's showings in the deep south, pathetic. >> they are not so great. barack obama was losing primaries to hillary clinton four years ago. it doesn't necessarily mean anything for the outcome. santorum has to beat him somewhere besides in the deep south to have anybody have a second thought.

the establishment is rallying around romney. they don't care about that. the game right now for most people in the party is to force santorum out of the race. >> this does have an impact possibly in the fall. the gop's geographic base is so repelled by the possible nomination of mitt romney. >> it's interesting the different factions that are sectioning off here looking at the 2012 primaries to date, mitt romney only won two southern contests in florida and virginia where only he and ron paul were on the ballot. in alabama and mississippi, romney not only lost but finished third. you say this, joe. there was a time when the south was solidly republican but those days are gone and to back up the point you were making, obama won virginia and north carolina four years ago and came close to beating john mccain in georgia. bill clinton beat george bush in georgia, louisiana, arkansas, missouri, tennessee, kentucky, and west virginia. >> look at that map.

people that think republicans naturally win the deep south, they're going to be surprised this fall in mitt romney is the nominee. mike barnicle, the south is not a lock. virginia, north carolina, still breaking barack obama's way. you have mitt romney third place in mississippi. third place in alabama. newt beating by over 20 points in georgia. beating by almost 20 points in south carolina. romney's lowest 13 results in 2008 were all in the deep south. republicans are going to waste money in the deep south because mitt romney is not liked by the gop there. >> one of the interesting items about those maps in the south is six or seven months ago, mark, if you had put on the table president obama is going to be the favorite to win again in virginia or north carolina, i think a lot of people would have said i don't know about that. given the rhetoric --

>> i would have said no way. >> given what's gone on in the republican party over the last six or seven months, you can say he would be the favorite to win in north carolina and virginia. >> i'm not sure about north carolina. definitely virginia. we don't know what happens if romney is a general election candidate going up against barack obama, someone to his left rather than against rick santorum or newt gingrich. people mostly to his right. whether he does well or not. i'll say also that maybe north carolina is in play but right now they have not expanded the map. georgia, kentucky, tennessee. these states are not in play currently for the general election. while it is cautionary for republicans, romney has to hold those southern states to have a chance to win, it's not some revolutionized map where obama can suddenly start talking about getting well over 300 electoral votes. >> the dye appears to be cast in the mainstream media and among the republicans because here you have romney losing by two to one

margin. on sunday they say it doesn't matter. i wonder if they say that if he loses wisconsin which has mitt romney up by 143 points in wisconsin but he had them up by 143 points in every primary back in 2008 as well and he ended up losing. >> i guess over the last week or so you have seen all of these establishment republicans -- lindsey graham said it yesterday -- time to rally around mitt romney. it's time now. let's move forward here. mark halperin, you said none of these southern states means mitt romney won't get the nomination. i wonder if you'll feel differently a week from wednesday if he's just lost wisconsin. >> if santorum wins wisconsin, this thing goes on. you can't force him out of the race. >> could he at this point? spending mitt romney has is 55-1. >> romney will do what he needs to do to win wisconsin. >> outspending santorum 55-1 in

wisconsin. those are barack obama/john mccain numbers in northern virginia. >> it's going to be virtually impossible if you look at the past states where romney spent like that. there is plenty of romney voters in that state. >> did you see david plouffe yesterday -- >> i saw haley barbour mispronounce his name on purpose. i don't fall for that. that's stupidity. >> that's like when george w. bush called him sadam. sadam hussein. >> david plouffe yesterday was talking about mitt romney. >> alex is trying to find a bite. we don't have it. >> he was dragging mitt romney in and said that he was -- what did he say? he was the godfather of health care reform. >> david plouffe yesterday showed a lot of cards on a lot of issues. >> made news. >> shows why romney people have to be worried about a general

election not just on health care but on simpson-bowles and medicare and ryan plan. david plouffe is about one of 100 people working for the president's campaign who have the research down, who know how they'll run against mitt romney. there will be tons of very skilled surrogates out there. the romney people have to be worried about that. when contrast is there, romney will have a harder rhetorical time than he's had against a weak republican base. >> the david plouffe argument is fascina fascinating. they are trying to do the opposite of contrasting on health care. >> mitt romney is the godfather of our health care plan, okay. if he's president, remarkably he's running away from that past and going to say he's going to try to throw this weight. we'll have a big fight about health care again. >> mitt romney is the godfather of obama health care plan, will he get credit if it goes well? >> maybe in 2016 when he's a professor or whatever he's doing. he can remark on that. there's no question that our health care plan, his experts

were involved in it, it's a model that was utilized. >> the supreme court starts today. they are doing six hours a day of debate, which is -- >> six total. >> six total. if the decision comes down this summer, the timing of that could be really interesting. they're not supposed to be political. but in the heat of the election. >> it could be fascinating. from that comment though, it does give you -- it reveals how they're going to go after mitt romney but it also reveals despite what the left says about the health care reform plan, mike barnicle, it's very revealing that the white house will run away from health care reform in the election year because the number one rule in a campaign is you want contrast. if the white house was responsible for driving gas prices down to $2, they wouldn't say mitt romney is the godfather of our plan. this is an unpopular health care plan. so unpopular they are trying to

lasso their republican opponent. he did it too. he can't attack us for this. >> am i the only one that finds it amusing that it's a deeply unpopular health care plan that won't take effect until 2014. why is it so deeply unpopular. >> parts of it that people will want. >> some parts, yes. the bulk doesn't take effect until 2014. >> the idea is unpopular being forced to pay for it. it divides the country. slightly less popular than popular. about 40% of the people like it. >> the supreme court is stripping it down in their arguments tomorrow and it will

be around the individual mandate. lawrence o'donnell is fascinating. talking to him saying when we were drafting the clinton health care plan and when we were going through committee, we got about halfway through it when we were trying to figure out who our committee members were and my god. this is the federal government forcing people to buy health care insurance. we better get a constitutional sk scholar because it may not be constituti constitutional. go back a year to compelling people to engage in interstate commerce. this is different. this is somebody that doesn't want to engage in their state commerce. you are now forcing them to. interstate commerce clause expanded over the years. if i want to set up barbecue stand in birmingham, alabama, i have to serve african-americans as well because the interstate is there. i get my meat from over the

border. that's where i decide to engage in interstate commerce. the supreme court can say if you engage in interstate commerce, we can compel you to do certain things. you have the supreme court deciding whether the federal government can compel somebody to engage in interstate commerce and force them to buy health care insurance. it is a fascinating, fascinating constitutional question whether you are a liberal or a conservative. >> one of the interesting parts about the health care bill as it is spelled out, it will become more interesting to a lot of people, in massachusetts they have basically the same bill that barack obama has. >> it negates the -- >> it's basically the same bill. if you live on the border of massachusetts and have no health insurance, if you live in northern rhode island, if you live in rhode island or southern new hampshire, you can come across to emergency rooms in massachusetts and be treated if you have no health insurance.

it adds to the cost of health care in massachusetts. massachusetts is still doing well in terms of overall costs. that's interstate commerce. what happens on that? >> i don't know. >> uninsured right now -- >> what if the supreme court strikes down the mandate, say in june, what does that do to the presidential race? mitt romney owns a piece of it himself. >> not a lot if it's mitt romney. not a lot. it's hard politically to figure this out. you would think if the supreme court strikes it down, bad for barack obama. basically he wasted a year and a half of his first term but it's good politically because i would much rather run against a supreme court decision like fdr could point at the supreme court and point about right wing and why we don't want mitt romney to be elected. i think most democrats understand that the individual mandate being struck down is actually good for democrats.

and then it puts republicans on the defensive. i'm just saying that's my initial -- i would much rather rail against nine lawyers in black robes that are subverting the will of 350 million people than go, we won. this is really going to be a fascinating debate because it does go to the heart of the issue of what can the federal government do and what can it not do? >> okay. >> we all like the new deal. you ask do people understand the nuances of this -- they don't. they do understand one simple basic concept. i don't want the federal government telling me what i'm going to do. i don't want them going into my refrigerators. republicans, i don't want them going into my bedrooms. democrats, i don't want them going into my wallets. this is where americans are going. >> they also understand a second basic concept. the cost of health care is bankrupting this country.

>> coming up next, florida governor rick scott joins us on set. we will get the latest on what the state is doing to handle the trayvon martin and we'll talk about the economy in the sunshine state and jobs number there. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill? >> just when i thought it was gone, just when i thought i was done talking about things like windchill, looks like winter is going to return briefly but it has returned. outside right now in western new york, southern michigan, it does not feel very pleasant. windchill is 18 in buffalo. bundle the kids up. put hat and gloves back on if you can find them. 80 degrees in buffalo only a week ago. albany, new york, now getting colder. all that chilly, windy air will head for the cities on the eastern seaboard from the mid-atlantic up through new england. look at boston today. only 45 and windy. later tonight is the problem though. the cold air moves in. it's going to be below freezing. of course the growing season has started. leaves, tree, buds, flowers. you get the picture. hard freeze warnings in effect

for many areas. if you have areas to protect, cover it up before you go to bed. record temperatures in the middle of the country. texas all of the way through florida is great. the problem spot late today into tonight. if you are joining us from the west coast especially north of san francisco, a big rainstorm is going to come onshore for you. that will bring snow to the mountains of california late tonight into tomorrow. once again, if you are in new england or the great lakes, be prepared for a hard freeze later on tonight. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ male announcer ] any technology not moving forward is moving backward. [ engine turns over, tires squeal ] introducing the lexus enform app suite -- available now on the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. see your lexus dealer. splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweetener with b vitamins,

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welcome back to "morning joe." it's governor rick scott of florida. we got to talk about the trayvon martin case that's gotten big. you actually met with the family. we were asking you what's going on down in the state of florida. we're obviously concerned with no arrests. you've been quietly working behind the scenes. i want to go personal. you met with the family thursday night. talk about that. >> you know, they are wonderful. the mom just says she can't imagine this happened and there's not enough information. no one has enough information. i introduced the individuals that were running from florida department of law enforcement and i told them first and i brought in a new state attorney. i couldn't bring in another one until the existing one withdrew. >> you can't fire someone in the

judicial branch so the second they step down you were empowered to go in. >> who did you appoint? >> angela cory. >> she's out of jacksonville. >> yes. fourth judicial circuit. she's great. she's aggressive. she's anxious to do this. she has -- she was going to send down two homicide detectives on friday. we have to know what happened here. that's the problem. none of us know what happened. you hate these things. >> the official line from anybody elected or appointed or in charge of the investigation is to say there's an ongoing investigation and therefore i can't comment. but as governor, looking at what is out there and what is available, can you understand why people are tremendously, profoundly upset about what has happened. >> first off, just take the family. you can't imagine losing your 17-year-old son. you can't imagine it. >> you know what i'm saying. >> yeah. this has taken too long. we don't know enough yet.

so absolutely. we should expect more. we do have to wait. we have to get the information out before people make decisions about things. we've got to have due process for the individual that people are suggesting, this george zimmerman did something wrong. we have to get facts out. i'm very comfortable angela cory will do and florida department of law enforcement will do it. >> we're really seeing, mike barnicle, this case start to take off as al sharpton said he wasn't even aware of it until march 12th, march 13th. you've really seen actions accelerate quickly over the past week. >> obviously. now it's engulfing the entire country. i have to disagree with you on one element, governor. we do know what happened to a certain extent. we do know that a 17-year-old boy was killed. what we don't know, obviously, as you alluded to, is what triggered this, no pun intended.

what caused george zimmerman to follow him down the street. all of that i would imagine is going to come under the umbrella of this stand your ground law in florida and there's been increasing criticism of that law. where were you on that law? >> well, that law passed in 2005. what i did is i appointed a task force that will come in once we know the investigation is finished and we'll review that law plus any of the laws that impact public safety because in our state, i'm sure like every other state, you want people to feel comfortable. we're at a 40-year low in our crime rate. you want people to feel comfortable to walk their neighborhoods, go out and shop, do business. you don't want anything like this to happen. we do have to get the facts. >> and the senator that passed this law said it just doesn't apply to this case. it doesn't apply at all. >> and there's many -- >> stand the ground law. >> there are stories about other situations where it didn't apply as well and it may have a bad history. this law.

looking at this miami herald piece which we can put up where they say sanford police have caught help for failing to bring charges against shooter george zimmerman. they have been taunted by protest marchers but when they cite stand your ground there is precedent saying how outrageous criminal charges just might prove futile. >> you can't try the case on air. you are greatly concerned. >> we'll get the facts. >> the attorney general -- the state attorney that's in charge now understands you have to have due process but it's been a month since this young 17-year-old boy was shot dead carrying skittles and iced tea. we're going to see some action.

>> angela cory is a no nonsense state attorney. she'll do a good job with this. florida department of law enforcement has a great reputation of doing thorough investigations. they're going to do a very good job. >> okay. we're going to talk a lot more about florida. we're going to talk about jobs. we're going to talk about tourism. we're going to talk about a little town called pensacola, florida, when we return. stay with us for our next segment. 500 years of florida. 500-year history. pensacola just celebrated 450th birthday. we'll discuss the upcoming florida celebration and how the state's tourism continues to rebound from the bp oil spill. we shall return. [ todd ] hello? hello todd. just calling to let you know

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>> we have world class beaches. we have natural sea shores. we have everything to offer for businesses to move here, for people to move here. we need to tell that story. that's what we're about. >> we're going to have -- let me tell you. >> you were part of that. >> let me tell you something. ironically it's a lot easier and

a lot less work goes into keeping the beaches white than keeping ashton that white. >> so it continues. >> don't make fun of him. that's our mayor. >> he's a character. >> stop that. stop it now. >> he's a hard worker. >> he's great worker. >> he's a hard worker. he calls me all the time about new businesses coming. >> constant. he really does. constantly works hard. with us now the executive chef of jackson steakhouse in pensacola. erv miller. and also the governor. you came up to new york to promote tourism in the state of florida. the economy that you inherited was terrible obviously a lot of jobs lost because of the collapse in -- >> it's changed. we're making this the number one place to do business. 85 million tourists last year. all sorts of businesses coming

back. time warner is moving jobs there. >> fantastic. >> yes. the entire state is busier now. unemployment at a three-year low. restaurants are busy. beaches are beautiful. come for the beaches and stay for the business. >> that's what you're doing and what chamber of commerce has been doing since the bp spill there's been a lot of concerns but come for the beaches stay for the business. in pensacola, florida, where america began, celebrated 450th anniversary this past year you are also trying business and restaurants and culture. >> i heard mika talking about our mayor who is also here. we'll talk about why we're all up here in a minute. ashton came up for this big celebration we're doing tomorrow night. the beaches, we found out quick with bp that it's not all about the beaches. the beaches shut down a lot and tourists weren't coming but we have a rich heritage and culture

and celebrating the 500th anniversary of the first time europeans set foot in florida. that's part of what we're doing tomorrow night but it's all about jobs and tourism is here in jobs and we're finding another way to get people here. that's a huge movement with baby boomers coming in and doing cultural heritage tour ism and the governor came up here to go to this event tomorrow night and he's doing other things while in new york. >> what's the event? >> james beard house tomorrow night. we have five chefs up here cooking similar foods they would have had 500 years ago. fresh shellfish and red snapper and that stuff. >> you're here from jacksonville but what did they took 500 years ago? >> i want to introduce the team of guys because the team itself is incredible amount of talent. dan dunn from h20 and frank taylor just up the street

prosecute jacksfrom jackson's. it's really a great representation of the city itself and the beach. we have teamed up with pensacola chamber of commerce and what a great opportunity to do that to promote the whole tourism and restaurant culinary industry. >> governor, come for beaches and stay for the business. it will be bellwether in the 2012 election and it's going to be about business. >> it's about jobs. >> you think jobs are turning around there? >> three-year low in unemployment. this election is going to be about blueprint for jobs. i won my race because i had seven steps to 7,000 jobs. lower taxes. less regulation. easier permitting. it makes florida businesses more competitive. it's all about building jobs. >> you know about the real

estate market all too well. it's still tough down there. a lot of people that i knew and a lot of friends of mine lost their businesses over the past three years. it's a tough fight back, right? >> it's been very tough. everybody said in '07 it's starting to turn. '08 it's starting to turn. '09. now '10 and '11. >> it's like that in nevada and other places that overbuilt. >> we were one of the first states, florida obviously, to get the big boom and vegas and california. we're feeling it. it will take us a while to come out. again, rick scott has a great jobs package that was passed in the legislature which we appreciate again everything he's doing and he's never lost his focus on jobs. that helps. tourism being part of it. we're looking at other things like i said. diversify after bp we couldn't all be about beaches even though they are 100% clean. there are other things in florida. >> is there a misperception

about the spill? we went to pensacola for the first book tour and i have never seen more beautiful beaches in my life. they are stunning. >> we never had oil on our beaches. the problem is people saw the headlines and thought it was covered in black. it's not. we are getting over that. thank you to you and joe to coming to do your show there. it is white. >> fantastic. >> not as white as ashton's teeth. it is pretty white. >> you say he's here? is he downstairs looking in reflections of store windows of himse himself? >> he's trying to get jobs in florida. >> he's adorable. >> go after jobs. >> he does. >> he's aggressive. that comes back to you look at the politicians that have succeeded and those who haven't over the past four or five years, those that have focused on ideology lose. those who focus on jobs win. there's just this obsessiveness.

we first saw bobs for jobs in 2009 in virginia. got elected. you did that, governor, in '10. irv, are you seeing people coming back to florida and to restaurants? >> we've been busier than ever. absolutely. i did want to get back to your question about historical foods. >> what are you going to cook? >> the team of us met with colonial food experts from uwf. they showed us things that would have happened years ago with breads and army rations and rice and these things that you would have found years ago. but they are also in contact with the archaeological dig so we found things that still remain today that were from years and years ago. it's a very cool thing. >> very cool. i like that. >> and the viva 500 calls for 2013 is when 500th anniversary when european first came over

and it's big. we got a lot of europeans coming in to visit now. that's great. >> that's great. >> thank you so much. >> thank you, guys. we greatly appreciate it. pensacola, where america began. governor, thank you for being here. as a fellow floridian, i've got to tell you, i really, really appreciate you fighting to bring jobs to our great state. >> it's working. just keep doing it. >> let us hope. all right, guys. thank you so much. we shall return with the best of late night. [ male announcer ] this one goes out to all the allergy muddlers.

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>> you know, we should have been it all through history. what happened? we had the first really good harbor. we had good sized buildings here. 15, 16 stories high. new york has a swagger that boston doesn't have. so you mix the complex in with jealousy of what happens in new york, glamour that you get when you play in new york that you don't get when you play in boston. so that's part of it. the other part of it is also pretty easy to understand. we just hate the [ bleep ] yankees. >> my goodness. barnicle. >> it's funny you said that. >> wash your mouth out with soap. >> i apologize. >> that was a clip from the new pbs documentary "inside fenway

park." 100th anniversary of fenway park premieres tomorrow night on pbs. "morning joe" will be there when they turn 100 on the field. it will be a lot of fun. >> watch your mouth. >> i was fortunate enough to be at the '99 all-star game with the all century baseball team and ted williams of course coming out. that was the night that i'll remember forever. i got a feeling this is going to be a night. the 100th anniversary of fenway that we will all remember forever. >> it's going to be a spectacle i can tell you that. that '99 all-star game, mark mcgwire's home runs breaking the lights. ted coming out in the golf court surrounded by -- >> it was more moving than a super bowl. i looked over at a guy, a tough guy to my right, while i had joey to my left, when they had

the jets fly over right over the end of the national anthem, this big tough guy looking over is crying. it was a moving moment. this will be moving. >> try not to mess it up. >> i'll try. >> it's already messed up because yankees are going to be there. >> should we move onto business before the bell? >> let's do that. business before the bell with brian shactman live at cnbc headquarters. a lot of people are -- >> i don't want to move on. i want to talk about the sox. >> talk about them. >> my dad, ted williams is my dad hero. he wrote my letter to ted williams for all of the things people said negatively about him and asked him about fishing. he got a handwritten letter back from ted williams. this is back in the '60s. he has it framed in our basement. >> cool story. >> if you are from boston, we have clips, the original clips in our house of his last at bat which was a home run on a hazy day where not many people were

there to witness it. >> it's amazing. you talk about ted williams and fishing, reminds me of a conversation we had a couple weeks ago. carl is just a remarkable, legendary writer out of florida, out of south florida, he talked about going out fishing with ted williams. ted williams didn't put up with crap from anybody. if you got on ted williams' boat and you were pretty damn good. i asked because you hear ted williams was -- you know, my grandfather told me who flew in world war ii in the navy. he told me, ted williams, probably the best pilot we had up there. vision. he said he and jagger had vision that nobody else had. the greatest hitter of all-time. come on. they are puffing williams up. he wasn't the greatest fisherman of all time.

he said i never saw anybody any better. >> the greatest bonefisherman of all time down there in the keys. >> carl will be on the show on monday. >> is he really? we'll ask carl about a lot of things including ted williams. >> and snakes. >> a couple things on the business side of it, end of the quarter this week. up double digits in every major index. we're doing something at cnbc about gas prices. oil production in the u.s. is up in the last six years. we have demand down in the last six years. so why the heck are we at $3.90 a gallon? it doesn't make logical sense. we'll try to delve into why. they are not building new refineries and old ones keep breaking down and i want to touch on "hunger games." i never heard of this story before a month ago. it made 155 million. third biggest opening ever. that stock will definitely pop

here at the open. >> 155 million. about a bunch of teenagers going around shooting each other. >> killing each other on live tv. >> i'm too old. as my grandma said, this world is not my home. i'm just passing through. >> don't get it. okay. >> thank you, brian. thank you for the ted williams story. we really appreciate that one. >> coming up, pope benedict dons a sombrero on his visit to mexico. we'll have the latest on his international trip next. today, we stand against the tyranny of meager travel cards. battle speech right? may i? capital one is issuing a venture double miles challenge. show us how much you spent last year and we'll give you 2 miles for every dollar spent on your travel reward card. up to 100,000 miles! hawaii, here we come. claim your miles at capitalone.com today!

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welcome back at 50 past the hour. pope benedict makes his first visit to cuba. the first time no more than a decade that the hope has gone to cuba. nbc's kerry sanders is in santiago with the story. >> reporter: the alter is ready setting the stage literally. among cubans, especially those who remember pope john paul ii's historic visit here 14 years ago, there is a rock star excitement in anticipation of today's mass. how do you feel. >> very proud. very proud to participate. >> reporter: it's exciting? >> yes, of course. >> reporter: fidel castro once

promised cubans the communist government would take care of them cradle to grave but now it's the catholic church that helps feed the elderly. political expression is still censored but at time the government tolerates some groups. some believe the economy here is an opening for the holy father. a surprise to find such a beautiful church? a monsignor is already here in cuba. >> it's important to say the church doesn't embrace one particular economic system or political system. i think that what the church does is speak to values. >> that was kerry sanders speaking from cuba. president obama will hold more meetings with world leaders in south korea today as part of an international summit aimed at preventing nuclear materials from falling into the hands of

terrorists. obama addressed the groups today. the president also issued a direct challenge to north korea. >> your provocations and pursuit of nuclear weapons have not achieved the security you seek. they have undermine it. it's of dignity, you are more isolated. instead of earning the respect of the world, you have been met with strong sanctions and condemnation. you can continue down the road you are on. but we know where that leads. it leads to more of the same. more broken dreams. more isolation. ever more distance between the people of north korea and the dignity and the opportunity that they deserve. >> tensions on the korean peninsula are high after the south threatened to shoot down a north korea rocket carrying a

satellite. president obama also met today with outgoing russian president dmitry medvedev. they have disagreed on how to handle syria's brutal crackdown on protesters. president obama vowed to continue working on those differences. a lot going on there. the pope's visit to cuba? >> it is an historic opening of course. there continues to be brutal crackdown of dissidents. "the wall street journal" had an editorial about one in particular who again has been thrown in jail for years. they continue to beat people. it is a brutal, oppressive regime. hopefully the pope can shed a light on some of that brutality today. >> one other story before we go to break, former vice president dick cheney is recovering at a

washington area hospital this morning after receiving a heart transplant over the weekend. doctors say the 71 year old is doing exceedingly well. cheney underwent the operation on saturday after spending 20 months on a waiting list for a donor heart. the former vice president has suffered five heart attacks over his lifetime. the first back in 1978. in a statement, the cheney family says while they do not know the identity of the donor, they will "be forever grateful." >> great to hear he's doing well. the prayers with the vice president and lynne cheney and liz and the rest of the family. >> what if anything did we learn today? up next. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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mike barnicle, what did you learn? >> i learned that the pope should have paid attention to something john f. kennedy said years ago. don't wear hats. horrible. the pope wearing that hat -- >> didn't work. >> look who is talking. really. >> none of us have been to cuba. we need to go on a field trip. >> i heard it's remarkable. >> florida celebrating 500th anniversary. next year. come visit. mika? don't be afraid to come out here. you can step out. >> i think i've been mean to ashton. >> you don't mean that at all. >> what did he say? >> great job. great job. >> maybe he should come on the show and defend himself. >> that's right. >> don't think so. and tonight on pbs -- tomorrow night on pbs you use