♪ strea-ea-ea-ea-eam ♪ ...stream, stream, stream... ♪ whenever i want you, all i have to do is... ♪ [ female announcer ] introducing xfinity streampix. stream your favorite movies and full seasons of shows instantly on any screen. find out more online. we asked at the top of the show what you are doing up this hour. what do you got? >> on twitter, i must say i found your use of transit of prop pretty hot. >> i used it incorrectly. if it makes vanderbilt the champion because they beat

kentucky three weeks ago, i'll use it. "morning joe" starts right now. >> i am going to endorse mitt romney because he's going to be the republican nominee and he offers a stark contrast to the president's record. >> i'm going to endorse romney because he's going to be the republican nominee. it's like saying i'm going to endorse romney because what are you going to do? >> mitt is not a perfect candidate. he has a number of problems. it's hard for him, blue collar families like mine to identify with him. it's hard for economic conservatives to identify with him. he needs to reach out to the latinos. >> these are his supporters. this is presidential politics. fake it better. just imagine if past campaigns failed this test of sincerity, i

like ike would have been, ike is fine. reagan's good morning america would have been it's time to get up. it's like a football score board saying look, i know we are not each other's first choice, i don't want to pay for another month of e-harmony. settle for me. >> good morning. welcome to "morning joe." >> ike is fine. >> it's tuesday, april 3 rds. can you believe it? we have the executive editor of random house. pulitzer prize winner jon meacham. editor for new york magazine, john heilemann. hello. how are you? >> great. >> good. >> nice to see you. >> keep it short. >> wow. >> geez. >> kentucky wildcats. >> they won.

>> the best team with the best players won the game. won the national championship. >> nobody was even close. it's tournament. they dominated. >> kentucky was up 18 at one point. kansas came back with under two minutes to go. kentucky was a far superior game. this night and most nights of the season. >> all right. we'll talk more about that. we'll get to the news now, though. some of you around the table may find this interesting. president obama is speaking out about the health care. the president shot down suggestion that is the justices may find his signature law unconstitutional. >> just to remind conservative xhem thai tors is that we have heard the biggest problem on the bench is judicial activism of lack of judicial strength that

an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted law. i'm pretty confident this court will recognize that and not take that. ultimately, i'm confident that the supreme court will not take what would be an unprecedented extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected congress. >> that's unbelievable. >> the editorial board at the wall street journal took issue with the president's suggestion that they should not overturn something passed by congress. it reads in part, president obama is a former president of

the harvard law review and famously taught constitutional law. did he not teach the historic case of madison. >> that's a good one. >> after the remarks at the white house, when talking about the supreme court's deliberations, he's joining others in warning the justices they will pay a political price if they dare to overturn part of the law. >> no, no new york city. that's enough. jon meacham. i mean, you don't even have to be the president of a harvard law review. >> no. >> or teach constitutional law. just don't fall asleep in the middle of mrs. smith's tenth grade civil law when she teaches that. eighth, maybe. unprecedented. that is why supreme court was put in place and for a president

who is a former constitutional law teacher at one of the best law schools in the world. >> maybe it's a good thing he went into politics. >> holy cow. >> no, the shoe is on different feet. pick your cliche. they are judges with whom you disagree and people argue that the court should stay out of public life, which is the implication of, that's going too far. what the president wants, clearly, is for them to do what he wants them to do. >> stay in their own lane. itis one thing if a former past control exterminator named tom delay says he's going to impeach federal judge ifs they don't agree with him and for other republicans to bash the court. while that was happening, the

lawyers in that body that sat through constitutional law on the republican side were with me. we sat in the back of the room grimacing saying it's separation of power thchlt is frightening. again, this is important to say, for a constitutional lawyer to try to blur the lines, separation of power. i go back. i was disturbed. i know progressive jurists who were disturbed when the president used the state of the union address to call out supreme court members on the front row. this is a president that obviously has forgotten much of what he learned at some of the best legal institutions in america. this is democrat dagogudemagogu expect from people who don't understand the beauty of the judicial system. for a president to do it, it's disturbing. >> it's a carefully tended

beauty. john marshall created this. he was careful, he never went too far from 1801 through showdowns with jackson. impeach earl warren said that, he was never in real jeopardjeo. it's been a system that worked. i think people like this system. i don't think people like it when president's directly assault the supreme court. it throws things out of whack. i don't think people like that. >> it's so interesting, john heilemann, you can go back to 2000 in bush v. gore. the supreme court will never recover from this. you could go back to brown v. board of education. anybody that attacks the court ends up losing in the ends. go back to 1937. was it '37 or '38? >> yep. >> fdrs scheme. people still do see this court as the -- whether it's on the left or the right.

>> yes or no. i mean look, the courts, the level of respect the court has with the electorate goes up and down. the court did suffer in terms of public opinion. one of the things chief justice roberts was vocal about when put on the bench was trying to create a court to inspire public confers. the court has been careful to tend that. as tried, one of the reasons chief justice roberts said, i want to build big decisions, not narrow that would be looked at as partisan. the court is aware, if it's seen as partisan and political, it suffers. that's a bad thing. >> in this decision, it is a challenge. if it comes down, 5-4 and we have yet another decision like this, there will be an issue for the court to look at and for people to look at it and wonder what's going on there. having said that, i'm glad we

don't have a republican candidate who uses inappropriate words or oversteps his bounds when making statements. that would be awful. >> first of all -- >> this is like the first time. >> he wasn't a professor. if you are an officer of the court, you are held to a higher standard. i tell you what, you could pick up the phone and call 20 of your -- hold on and listen to me for a second. call 20 of your best liberal lawyer friends and ask them privately what they think of a president attacking a united states supreme court this way and they will tell you they are offended by it. ruth marcus is not a romney supporter. she unloaded on the president yesterday for doing this as well. you know what? it's unnecessary, willie. it's unnecessary. again -- and i saw this, this is way out of line, but i mean way

off. i remember going down and i watched the barringson's. i went to peru and watched the judicial proceedings for that case. when i came back, everybody asked me what i thought. i said thank god for america's judiciary. they drive us crazy. they irritate us, but man, they are the great equalizer in this system. >> it was most striking to me to hear the president use that group as criticism. >> you want them to be unelected. >> you don't want them answering to voters or ideologies or anything else. that was strange. i wonder how much of it is him bracing for the law to be struck down to say bush v. gore, citizens united, now this. this is an activist, conservative court taking down the things we hold dear as progressives and democrats.

>> jon meacham, let's focus on what willie said. that was the most astounding part of it, challenging tom delay as he did, attacking the judges. >> it's the point. it was, you know, this was a carefully raw system. john marshall did it. he did it in very interest ways by never pushing things so far that he got into showdowns with the president. it's a very -- it's not a simple story. it's a really interesting one. it's an achievement, you are going to snore for a second. when you knock that out of wac, people get nervous. look, anybody who is going to vote on this issue is probably already with the president. so, if you are going to attack

the supreme court, my own view, which is worth a great deal politically -- >> it is. >> i'm sure the president appreciates it. do it more subtly. do it on the issues of health care, money and politics. you'll get to 50,000 independents to broadly attack. they have broadly attacked the supreme court before and never won. jefferson lost, jackson lost, fdr lost. >> the play is, john heilemann, to the base. where you say, instead of attacking the supreme court directly in the decision, you say, listen, if you want four more years of this, vote for the other guy. if you want somebody that is against citizens united, who supports universal health care who thinks what happened in bush v. gore i will nominate your type of judges. >> i'm certain that is an

argument the president will make if this case is struck down. i think on the -- there will clearly be a huge -- it will motivate the base to some extent. i think there's -- he may end up being right about one thing, which is that, you know, the oral arguments may not fortell the law is going to get struck down. it might be that justices particularly justice kennedy can uphold the law. one of the things it president said yesterday which is true, oral arguments don't tell the story. a lot of people are saying it just turns out to be wrong. >> there's nothing wrong with being confident and believing in your signature legislation that you have been working on for years and hammered away at by republicans and conservatives, just hammered to the point of things getting ugly. >> absolutely. >> i don't know. i have a little bit of sympathy here.

>> i agree with you, john. i think justice kennedy is a conservative justice. >> yes. >> he's worried about his legacy more than the law in front of him, just to be harsh about it. i think he's going to be afraid to do the bold thing, even if the bold thing is the right thing. >> let me quickly touch on wisconsin. we are two hours away from opening votes in wisconsin in one of three primary that is could go a long way in determining the next republican nominee. the others are in maryland and washington, d.c. and likely mark the beginning for a tough month as the republican race moves to less conservative territory. it makes wisconsin more important for santorum. he's up with a new ad attacking two rivals at once. >> what if i told you this man's health care included $50 abortions and killed thousands of jobs. would you ever vote for him?

what if i told you he supported cap and trade and the wall street bailouts? what if i told you he raised taxes and stuck taxpayers with a $1 billion short fall. one more thing, what if i told you the man i'm talking about isn't him? it's him. >> as the race pushes forward. romney's wife, ann is becoming a lead voice in her husband's campaign. >> that's good. he said he needs to get her re about his more awkward moments on the trail. >> sometimes he appears stiff. do you have to fight back -- like my husband isn't stiff, okay? >> well, i guess we better unzip him and let the real mitt romney out. he is not. it is so funny to me that is the perception out there. he's funny, engaging, witty,

he's always playing jokes. when i met him as teenager, he was the life of the party. >> willie geist? >> i think she's absolutely right. unzip and let the real guy come out. let him come out. if there's another version of mitt romney, present himself now. >> did you say the real guy or the little guy? >> the real guy. >> i was glad tag came out and defended his dad. >> i'm a "madman." >> he said attack my dad if you want to attack my dad, but stay away from my grand dad. >> go to the real mitt romney. coming up -- stop. just stop. stop. sometimes you just let things speak for themselves. quiet. >> he's a great man, too. just not a good politician. what? oh, i can't say something nice about the real mitt romney? what's up?

come on t.j. let's go. we're out of here. mike allen is coming up next. >> got a new book out, huh? >> the real mike allen. >> valerie jarrett is going to join us. eugene robinson and up next, inside the circus. mike allen and evan thomas are here to look at the new e-book going inside the republican race. first, the real bill karins with a look at the forecast. >> this is like middle school lunch. it took the word unzip. get ready for a beautiful stretch of five or six days of gorgeous weather in new england. it's a cold start to the day. carry the jacket and put the gloves on kids in new england. 60 in boston and sunny. the big cities of i-95 gorgeous

from pittsburgh. oklahoma city, the worst highway in the country now is interstate 35 south of oklahoma city with the strong storms. later today, chance of strong thunderstorms, indiana, illinois, kentucky and ohio. later today, oklahoma city and dallas, ft. worth. numerous thunderstorms in the middle of the country. my apologies to everyone in denver thisegre and snowing currently. not fun. it was 85 and sunny last week. that's colorado life. you are used to it in the springtime. a beautiful day in new york city. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. ♪[music plays]

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♪ mitt romney's staffers

played a prank on him staging a fake campaign event on him in an empty room. or as newt gingrich put it, my staff has been playing that on me for six months. isn't that hilarious? >> 23 past the hour. time to look at the morning papers. new york times, the supreme court ruled by a 5-4 vote officials may strip search people arrested for any offense before taking them to jail. they declared that security trumps privacy in what is often a dangerous environment. from "the new york times," accepted that 618,000 men died in the civil war. researchers are suggesting it was closer to 7 50r50,000.

that number is adjusting for the effects of immigration and flawed census methods. yesterday, we had steve rattner on who took his son on a tour of all the -- well, yankees say civil war. in the south we say the war of aggression battlefields. he was stunned by the sheer numbers of americans that ran wave after wave after wave to their deaths. >> yeah. i grew up on missionary ridge where macarthur's father led them up a sheer cliff saying "on wisconsin" and won the medal of honor. you look at these cliffs people ran up. cemetery ridge at gettysburg. to me, one of the most interesting things is you can't tell it's a ridge until you are walking it. i'm not sure they knew what they were running into. >> yeah.

unbelievable. we are still talking about archiving facts from history. >> governor rick perry's use of painkillers to relieve back pain may have kept him from being on top of his game according to a new politico e-book released today. that brings us to today's politico play book. joining us now, the chief white house correspondent, mike allen along with princeton university evan thomas. they are co-authors of "inside the circus". hmm. what could that be about. >> our boss is here. >> your boss, exactly. >> my lord. >> mike, make sure you get things right. your boss will correct you on the air as i learned on sunday. >> yes. you don't take offense to that at all. >> i suffered back pain was on

medication in '04 and' 05. it can be debilitating. talk about his back pain and how it may have impacting the campaign. >> he said he should have had his back surgery sooner. he was pushed into the campaign in part by aids who needed a job. they quit working for gingrich. they helped convince him to run and he paid a real price for that compressed time schedule and evan discovered an interesting manifestation of that. >> evan? >> he was one of these senior campaign aids was downstairs at the debate standing at the urinal. who should walk in but governor perry singing "i been working on the railroad." >> okay. >> the time frame, professor, the time frame for "inside the circus," you start before the iowa caucuses.

romney really didn't see the santorum surge in iowa coming until it was almost too late. >> they were -- they love going negative on the romney campaign. they have folders on all their opponents. >> folders. >> big folders. somebody said where's the santorum folder. oops, there wasn't one. too late. he came up on the inside. >> what else did you guys learn? >> we sat down with jon huntsman in his living room in washington. one of the great things about these books, it gives you the chance to talk about -- to the people about who they are and what it's like. evan's idea there's only a couple people in the world who know what it's really like to run, to have us yelling at them, to have the physical rigor. we love talking to these guys. jon huntsman talked about some of the humiliations of the process for him, perhaps the

biggest one was having john mccain who went out on a limb to endorse romney back in '08 split with his family to have john mccain endorse romney. he told us for the first time, he sent a furious, bitter e-mail to john mccain. >> interesting. >> he responded, sorry. >> i can see that. >> they saw it as a betrayal. >> to us, we think they are grown ups, but it's personal. it hurts. when their families get involved, it hurts more. you could tell, they didn't look -- neither huntsman looked eager to jump back into politics. >> we know him and like him a lot. you can really tell the first time somebody first gets into national politics because things are -- which should be deeply personal for a lot of other

people. they are like okay, if i walk into a boxing ring and get hit in the face, it's going to sting. >> you can read about it all you want. one of their daughters said it's like getting kicked in the stomach every day. >> he was so not into it. the news we turned out from huntsman, when he was supposed to be in new hampshire, he disappeared and went to new york to meet with the people pushing him to run third party. in fact, he came within a couple hours before the republican primaries of announcing he was going to run as an independent. the staff told him he would quit. he thought about it. that's how not into it he was. >> gosh. >> let's talk about how the romney people are still trying to figure out the right image to use for their candidate. i mean this is -- it's pretty fascinating. >> the original idea was make it mr. fix it. he's going fix the economy.

the rich man thing crept up on him. he kept making comments that dug himself deeper and deeper. now, there's the feeling, some people, his own family wants to let him out, let him bleed and show he's an actual human being. they are expressions he used. but, i think some of the pros around him think it's not a great idea. hees going to go out and make more clumsy remarks. >> i used to think it was a good idea. i'm not sure it's a good idea now. he needs a focused message. >> they are going to have to be forced into personalizing it and making him human. he's going cringe. he's going to have to tell personal stories over and over again. there are good stories like when he closed up bain to find missing kids in new york. it was amazing to do. we'll hear that story.

i don't think he wants to get into how he counseled people as a mormon bishop. it's not romney. he's going to be forced into doing it. >> jon meacham, what hell hath you wrought on this? we love it. it's history now. >> it's teddy white in realtime. it goes to richard kramer, what it takes, one of the great classics. what they have done so brilliantly is talk to these guys. everybody talks to mike because they are terrified of him. >> he's a monster. >> he's arthur crock of the internet age. we'll explain that later. >> really? he's a clown. you're a jokester, aren't you? >> trying to debate was like remembering your golf swing thoughts. do this, do that. go behind the headlines and feel

the human trauma here. as white put out there as the first great narrative insight in presidential campaign coverage in the modern era, this is a test. a marathon. you encounter traps and foils. get past them, you get to be president. >> we understand what it means for the future of the publishing industry. what does it mean for the future of the academy? does that disturb you? >> it's good news. >> it's good news? >> there's no better non-fiction writer than evan thomas. >> how are you enjoying it, professor? >> it's great. the students are great. it's fun. mike is in my class. >> i love it. >> smart. >> all the stars. >> we have all asked for refunds. a lot of calls for that.

>> the e-book is "inside the circus." thank you very much. >> thank you, guys. coming up -- good to have you in the studio. coming up, crowds spill into the streets of lexington as university of kentucky celebrates their championship win. highlights next in sports. the capital one cash rewards card gives you a 50% annual bonus. and who doesn't want 50% more cash? ugh, the baby. huh! and then the baby bear said, "i want 50% more cash in my bed!" phhht! 50% more cash is good ri... what's that. ♪ you can spell. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet?

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time for sports. we mentioned it briefly at the top of the show. kentucky and kansas playing for the ncaa tournament championship. last night in new orleans, let's get to the game. go for it. two minutes in, gilchrist is laid out. he's going to be the number two pick in a couple months. a few minutes later, taylor drives to the basket. that is the story of the night. davis will be the number one pick in the nba draft. >> the two and number one draft. >> they are going to have five or six number one rounders. a strip here, careless with the ball. jones with a dunk. kansas comes back a bit.

thomas robinson gets the loose ball. after being down by 18 in the first half, under three minutes to go. johnson of kansas hits it. they win on a 13-3 run. they close to five with a minute left. they needed this play right here. johnson called for traveling. the ball goes over to kentucky. kentucky holds on to win the national title. 67-59. >> wow. >> george smiling down from heaven on this one. >> kansas played with a lot of heart. >> they did. >> they were an inferior team and played well. wins it first national title. kentucky wins the eighth national title. davis struggled on offense. scoring sixpoints. six blocks and 16 rebounds, enough to earn him most outstanding player. >> all you guys, i knew i was

struggling. i told him, defend the rebounds and make all the points. >> they are more talented than everybody. we were the best team. this season, we were the best team. most efficient team. we shared the ball. i have wanted that. i told them, i wanted this to be one for the ages. go out and show everyone what kind of team you were. even though we were young, it doesn't matter. it's how you play together. >> talk about the youth for a second, how young the team is and how hard it was to bring them together. >> amazing. watch the introduction of the starting lineup, freshman, freshman, freshman, sophomore, sophomore, sophomore. >> wow, incredible. >> they are 18, 19, 20 years old. to bring them together and they will play for four months total. they weren't just a talented team, they play well. they don't take bad shots.

they were a really, really good team. it's a credit to the coach who makes no bones about i get the best players i can. i understand many will be here for one year and i have to go out and do it next year. i'll be out tomorrow looking for next year. >> he took three freshman and two sophomores and made them a dominant team. >> if it were 25 years ago, what kind of dynasty they could build. >> ucla in the 1960s, four years in a row. >> impressive. >> up next -- >> are you a ucla fan? >> a little bit. >> sounds like you are swept up in the emotion. >> i'm a northwestern fan. it's where i went to college. >> and harvard, right. >> well graduate school. >> the first cut is the deepest. >> you have a good team at

harvard. >> i bleed wildcat purple. >> vanderbilt beat that team this year. >> were they one of the two? >> yes. >> wow. >> that is important. up next, major garrett joins us from the must reason opinion pages. >> all right. [ male announcer ] this is the network --

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they're one of those partners that i would really rely on to help branch out my business. whether it's finding new customers... or a new location for my next restaurant. once you have strong support around you, then you can do anything. now this town has become a bit of a food metropolis. and that little bay laurel, it provides bay leaves for every one of my restaurants. the customers, tools, and insights to help grow your business. that's the membership effect of american express. 5:44. a beautiful look at the white house on this tuesday morning. joining us for the must read opinion pages, white house correspondent major garrett.

what's so funny? >> nothing. i'm happy to be here. >> a big steve miller fan. >> and a steve miller fan. >> stands the test of time. >> why doesn't he get more credit and have a greater legacy? >> what's fascinating, when he was hot in 1975, "fly like an eagle," i was a huge fan. i don't know how he looked. he was elusive. he never showed his face. he never wanted to be a big rock star. he's got great songs. >> people call me the cowboy. >> i can understand that. let's move on. john, i'm going help you recover from that. >> arthur crock. >> let's read the joker's piece. >> yeah. the gangster of love. >> it's called rolling the vice dice. >> romney and his team could not

be more different from mccain and his. the former candidate is risk of verse, the instinctive and vet rat gambler. the former campaign is a hospital corners operation. the smart guys in boston know in a post palin world their pick will receive scrutiny, but so will the process up to it. romney is emerging with a ton of bruises. the choice of his running mate is their best chance to spiff up his battered image. >> there's people talking about how he needs a game changing pick. he's got problems with hispanics. i think you are going to see them look at some unknown names and then the palin spector

hovers over that. are they going to be vetted? suzanne martinez, the female hispanic governor of new mexico. it might be an exciting pick, but the palin spector will hover over her. all those questions. >> it won't happen this year. they are not going to pick a female. >> i think it's right. there's brian sandoval. pro-choice. raises taxes. vetted as a former judge. he's clean, very popular hispanic. those two are very unknown. most republicans couldn't pick him out of a lineup. >> rick santorum may be able to go with a pro-choice guy, romney cannot. >> can't. >> rob portman but rob seems to be along the same lines as mitt.

not the most exciting guy. but, steady. >> the other thing, i have talked to a lot of people about this. i'm writing in my column who i think is going to be picked. >> come on. don't do that. >> i think it's going to be rob portman. i do. he's vetted completely. twice senate confirmed. hand over the pamphlet. extremely experienced in all the thing that is are important if romney is elected to the first three months of his presidency. budget, taxes and trade. vetted and skilled in all these of those areas. ohio is conformed. he doesn't tip but he doesn't hurt. he rolled out his organization proving he wants it. he knows how to tell romney he wants it and can deliver. all those things matter. i think romney is analytical,

data driven and he wants to amplify that. he has no choice. all those things are realities. portman is like gore was in '92, an amplification, not a move away from who you are. that's your message, it's who you are, run with it. >> look, he is both ready to be president on day one and passes the test of appears to be president on day one. he clear that is. in ohio, he won the senate seat with 57% of the vote. he carried 82 out of 88 counties in ohio. ohio is going to be a big battleground. portland might help him one that. >> 2010 was a big cycle. he overperformed. >> he did overperform in a big cycle. more importantly, since he got elected, i love john casic. i have been friend with him. i like rob portman. you can look at them and see how

they handle it. casic immediately went to war. approval ratings show it in ohio. portman did what he did. it was good government. it was slow and steady gets the job done. he's more popular in that state. >> there are other that is think oh, my god, are you kidding me? there's no demographic citizen toll the state. there's nothing about portman who tha reaches out to women or broadens the coalition. he's dull as dish water. that's the negative side. >> foreign or domestic crisis into the equation and i don't think people will care about being entertained. >> also, after the media, just e vis rated john mccain for his election four years ago, good luck attacking romney for picking somebody that is too solid, too steady. >> it's another argument. >> you just wrote your column.

>> on a personal note, rob is just a good guy. anybody that knows him, he's a good guy. he's a nice guy. that comes across. >> mark arubio is going to get a look. i don't think he's going to end up on the ticket but he's going to be attractive for a lot of reasons. sort of hispanic. they are going give him a look. i think they are going to go the other way. >> they will talk about arubio and try to get buzz for the hispanic folks, make it look like they are serious about it. they won't go with him. again, a guy that just got into the senate. he knows he's not ready yet. he saw what happened to sarah palin four years ago. this is a guy who is young enough that thinks he can be president in 2016. why blow himself up for romney in 2012. >> did we just write it again? you are done. >> how about nikki haley said,

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francis. tell jim he's not going michigan. because romney's a clown and i don't want him standing next to him. >> we played that for you yesterday. "madman" saturday night taking a shot at romney. now, mitt romney's son responded on twitter saying no, sir, you can't do that. that was talking about george romney. seriously, mocking my dead grandpa? that comes from tagg romney. he was as goods a man i've ever known. dad is fair game, grandpa is not. tagg romney responding yesterday. >> i'm a huge "madman" fan. but, keep grandpa out of it. very few people would have said that guy was a joke.

>> he criticizes the liberal media. many members of the media said hold on a second. george romney was a great man. >> don't say that. tagg showed maturity saying dad is fair game. leave my grand dad alone. >> the whole betty is fat narrative. >> get her out of the fat suit. come on, man. >> couldn't they say she's pregnant and move on from that story line? >> you're not buying it? >> it's coming in this season. we are out of the gates. >> a little slow out of the gates. >> secretariat came out of the gate slow, too. >> now, it was, you know what, last season was the best by far, i think. it was remarkable. this season is going to pick up. >> they will turn it around. >> we'll be right back with gene

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romney stood for big oil. when you see this ad, remember who paid for it and what they want. >> welcome back to "morning joe." look at that beautiful sunrise shot. gorgeous, gorgeous morning. jon meacham, john heilemann and major garrett are still with us. joining us, eugene robinson. and washington anchor for bbc world news, katty kay joins us as well. >> when ever heilman comes on, we talk too much about music. by the way, dreaming. one of the great moments of "saturday night live" history. we play chatter. you know, meacham is a historian. he likes talking about the fr fren french/indian war. let the viewers know what we

decided. >> four best rolling stones albums. some girls is right up there. >> this hit me a couple days ago. i'm listening to it again for the first time. '78. a '60s band puts out something in '78. it is a remarkable achievement. >> it has the feel of manhattan. >> shattered, man. >> on the left side. >> bedbugs uptown. >> major, you agree? >> i do agree. that inspired the new york album that came out in 1991. yeah. it set something in motion. >> '89, sorry. >> the reassessment of new york and why it was in decay and what it meant for this world. >> katty is a stones fan.

mr. meacham. >> what i think it did, it shaked prov 13. >> come on. >> you get the wrong coast. that would be "hotel california's" 1975 classic, which, of course led to sort of the big party and the bust. from don henley you get prop 13. >> ronald reagan. >> precisely. >> life in the fast lane leads to prop 13. >> make you lose your mind. all right. folks in wisconsin are heading to the polls. i know you love this, sorry. this is important. >> actually, it's not. this is one of three primaries

that could go a long way in determining the next republican nominee. maryland and washington, d.c. mark the beginning of a tough month for santorum as a race moves to less conservative territory. it makes wisconsin more important for santorum with an ad attacking two rivals at the same time. >> what if i told you this man's government health care included $50 abortions and killed thousands of jobs. would you ever vote for him? what if he supported cap and trade and the wall street bailouts and what if i told you he raised taxes and stuck them with a $1 billion short fall. one more thing, what if i told you the man i'm talking about isn't him? it's him. >> okay. >> my goodness. >> as the race pushes forward, ann romney is becoming a leading voice. >> before we get to that --

>> no. >> let's not take the train off the track. can i get gene's reaction to the ad? >> gene? >> it's apowerful ad for the people an tore um is trying to attack. it must really tick romney off. they want to get santorum out of this race, joe. when are you going do that? not you guys, but your party. when are they going to get him out of the race. >> he says he's going to have a sneak win. >> i guess the question is, gene, wisconsin win for romney, you would think, may push santorum in that direction. what happens if santorum sneaks this one out? >> well, if he sneaks this one out, then that lets him coast into may and friendlier territory. then it just keeps going. but, i think it's really a

question now, can he -- two things in question, one, can he really stop romney from getting enough delegates before the convention to have some sort of contest which romney would win anyhow. that's the first question. seconds question, some girls really, really think that's a top stones album. >> gene, gene, don't. >> one of their four best. it's surprising, even to me, but -- >> go back and listen. >> okay. >> cat ki katty kay -- >> i have nothing to say about rolling stones. the albums, we can forget them. >> good, good, good. can rick santorum sneak a win or does he need to turn around and walk away?

>> it's very hard to see how he, fechb he gets to the convention, if romney has the number of delegates, he's going to win on the first ballot. running for 500th time, santorum is discounting himself. you know, that ad is so strikingly negative on so many levels. visually, the compareson with obama. the woman knows romney has a problem with women voters at the moment. it's goating romney on every level. you have the grandness of the party backing romney saying we can't keep doing it to ourselves. >> there was the issue with the women voters. yesterday, ann romney responded to criticism of her husband surrounding his more awkward moments.

>> does a woman not have the right to defend her husband? >> you don't need to do this. sometimes let something breathe. let it breathe. you don't need to add. it's too much. you're always jumping on. no. here is ann romney. >> sometimes he appears stiff. do you have to fight back like my husband isn't stiff, okay? >> well, i guess we better unzip him and let the real mitt romney out because he is not. it is so funny to me that is the perception out there. he is funny, engaging, witty, always playing jokes. he's -- when i met him as teenager, he was the life of the party. >> katty kay. your analysis. >> hmmm. yeah, unzipping mitt romney and being the life of the party. i like what mike allen had in his e-book overnight, the quote from tagg romney about how mitt

arrives in the house and wants to fix things for you. you arrive with a tree and he'll be there with a bulldozer to help you out. that was much more insightful about who the guy was. how many times are we going hear he's the life and soul of the party. the voters aren't buying it. of course she's going to defend her husband. she's been a great asset to him on the campaign trail. i thought the quote that mike allen had from tagg was much more -- it was concrete. this was something voters like and respond to. it's a guy that come sboos a house and you have a problem with your boiler and he wants to fix it for you. >> i don't -- major, i don't care if he's the life of the party. >> if you have to say someone is, he's probably not. >> i want the guy that comes in, if you have a problem he fixes it. if the olympics are going under, he can turn it around. if you have a state like massachusetts that are all democrats he can still go up

there as a republican and talk to them, work with them, get things done. bain capital. i'm telling you, i talked to more -- it's a shame they don't -- they can't capture this. i talk to more democrats who work on wall street that are in awe of what mitt romney did at bain capital. one person told me, his success rate for venture capital, insane. nobody picked winners like mitt romney. nobody. >> a solid firm, no scandal, nothing about it reeks of the things that are commonly most negatively thought about wall street. it's a positive. if you talk to anyone who was there when the olympics in salt lake were collapsing, romney saved that. he didn't order people around. he pulled the team together and they solved the problem. in massachusetts, his campaign

would argue, yes, he governed less conservatively, but he had a legislature dominated by democrats. he moved it as far as you could move a democratic legislature to the right and still accomplish things. that's not nothing. there are parts of the story that are appealing. spouses can say whatever they want. they get a free pass, you know. another surrogate saying romney is the life of the party has no credibility. this country is not fascinated if he's the life of the party. they are curious about what he would do and how he would face the challenges. >> that's one of the issues with romney. i could care a less if he's energetic, the life of the party, or a stiff, whatever. something he can't get away from is the issue he might be out of touch especially with middle class and poor americans. >> jon meacham, you are working

in the future about george h.w. bush, the last gentleman. anybody who has been to his home knows he doesn't know how the rest of us lives. i mean, the thing is, that doesn't matter. i mean, i don't care that george h.w. bush listened to country music or liked pork rynes. i'm not liking him because he understands what it's like growing up in a household where you dad didn't have a job for a couple of years. i voted for him twice because i knew that was the guy that was going to be able to stand-up to the soviet and could work and make washington work. i mean romney needs to understand that. doesn't george h.w. bush need to be -- a man we all i think we consider a great man. >> yeah. >> we don't care if that great man likes hank williams, jr.,

jon? >> no. and i think, if you are not -- you can't fake it. you fake it forever and therefore the persona being you put it on the faces you meet. if you do that forever you can get away with it. we talked about it the other day. franklin roosevelt, not a poor guy. john kennedy said i'm not going to buy a land side. you can buy a win. the kennedy's showed they cared about activism. fdr cared, the man on the street was crying. did you know president roosevelt? no, but he knew me. >> i think, as you say, bush 41 was a foreign policy president in an era where that mattered. in a way, we forget that. reagan said, you can't fake it forever. the camera ultimately will show.

if romney is going to play mr. fix it, if that's who he is, be that. >> that's mika's point. mitt romney is saying i want ann romney to speak for me because she's ott campaigning trying to make a connection with female voters. the problem romney has with female voters is on the economy. this notion of not does he eat pork or the life of the party, does he understand the struggles of real people, real lives. he doesn't understand what it is that the average working americans, suburban, working class families what they are going through. >> i love joe biden. i like joe biden. i love joe biden. personally, i consider him a friend. i think he would consider me a friend. he's been in the senate since he

was 29. wi let's -- >> it doesn't matter where you are from. the question is not where you hail from, where you live but can you empathize and talk about the struggles. no matter where you live can you talk in a way that makes sense about how people are struggling to make ends meet? >> katty kay. >> they don't mind that people have lots of money and politicians have been successful. for romney, the problem is, he hasn't found a way to be easy with his wealth in the way he talks about it. he makes gaffes to his wealth. it sets him apart. it's not the money, per se. it's the way he relates to the money that makes it seem like he doesn't understand there's a world out there where you don't have an elevator for your car or a couple cadillacs. for him, that's so normal to associate with friends who own

sports teams rather than being a sports player. his language about his money is the problem. it's gingrich in the sense he has a lack of filter between his brain and mouth when it comes to talking ability his own wealth. that's what's happening him out on the campaign trail seeming like he doesn't understand people's concerns. >> to add to that, not just easy with wealth but we are at a time people are angry about the ultra wealthy. >> you know what though? i disagree with that. i disagree with mainstream voters, moderate voters, swing voters. they do not resent wealth. just like my parents growing up. when we were unemployed and struggling. we didn't resent wealth, my parents told me if you work hard you can do it. >> that concept doesn't apply anymore. >> yes it does. the american dream is still alive. talk to an immigrant and tell me it's not alive. i brought up joe biden before.

the biggest problem, i talked about him being in the senate since he was 29. but, he did have a working class, blue collar, catholic background. sometimes, when romney says the things he says, you do get a glimpse into a life that's very privileged, that hasn't understood hardship at all. i wonder if he doesn't embrace that and figure out a way to say yes, i have been blessed my entire life. this is what i'm going to do for you. >> it is a problem for him. the worst thing is to pretend to be somebody he isn't. part of the question is, is the candidate in tune not just with the cares and woes of ordinary folks but with the moment, with the times. is this a moment when people are looking for this sort of

extremely wealthy handyman to come in and come into your house and fix things. if they are, maybe they are, if they are, then he'll be a formidable opponent for the president. i think that, the times and the moment probably matters a bit more than the wealth. >> i think the times and the moment does revolve around the wealth. to counter joe and go to the major, talk to the poor, go to the middle class. talk to the long term unemployed at 40%. in 1981-82, it never surpassed 25%. we have a section of our population right now that feels like the american dream is fading. i would think wouldn't take kindly to someone who has karel va tors. >> probably not. i think they talk too suddenly

about the economy. there's a sense we are recovering, we are on the mend. people do not feel that. look at what joe biden said the other day. he said we are coming back. the recovery is moving. we are in good shape. they are speaking in an optimistic way about the economy not everyone feels. one other thing, we are going to get out of the atmospheric here. before newspaper owners is going to say the paul ryan budget. he is going to say this is a root -- this country should not go down. any republican proposal that cuts future investments in research, education training et cetera is a dead end for this country. we are going to get specific. we are going get down to brass tax today. >> i think mika is on to something about the future and fate of the middle class.

people wonder whether obama was wrong in the pacific coast edtorial meeting when he said clinton had not changed the conversation. i wonder if he did. i wonder if he's like reagan saying if you play by the rules -- >> work hard. >> you will be rewarded. i wonder if ultimately, this is more of an age of clinton in terms of that economic conversation. >> the administration would be touting that people should be paying their fair share. we could disagree in that and talk about it more. i think mitt romney needs to come up with something on the economy and foreign policy. eugene robinson, thank you so much. we are going look for your column in the washington post. major garrett, we'll look for your column tomorrow, even though we already read it. >> we are going to be a rock critic. >> oh. >> i graduated from the college of musical knowledge.

what do you want? >> a little skeptical about "some girls." >> to mention it in the same breath with exile on main strit. anyhow, i'll give you that one. >> thank you, gene. still ahead, we talk to valerie jarrett. frank bruni is up next. how the debt is not an economic issue, but a political one. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. hi, i just switched jobs, and i want to roll over my old 401(k) into a fidelity ira. man: okay, no problem. it's easy to get started; i can help you with the paperwork. um...this green line just appeared on my floor. yeah, that's fidelity helping you reach your financial goals. could you hold on a second? it's your money.

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welcome back to "morning joe." a beautiful look at capitol hill. gorgeous morning in washington, isn't it? >> you have to thank bill karins for that, but we won't. >> why, seriously. joining us, professor and former

chief economist for the international monetary fund simon johnson. he's author of "white house burning." >> simon, why did you write this book? why does this issue matter to you? >> we wanted to explain to people what's going on with the budget and the national debt. there's a lot of hysteria from the right and the left about it. the book is trying to explain and put it in plain language. try to explain what needs to be fixed. >> your thesis is the debt doesn't matter economically. >> the debt can be dealt with economically. we can afford to raise the revenue and do it in a responsible manner over a couple decades. the issue is the politics. are we going to kill ourselves and rip ourselves to pieces in an unnecessary manner. >> when you look at the united states budgetary short falls, compare it to the united kingdom or greece, two extremes there,

is it safe to say the united states is actually in better shape fiscally? >> yes. absolutely. we are nowhere near the situation of greece. the uk is forced austerity. i was just there. if you want to do that in the united states, but why. >> does the crisis balloon. i argued you can do two things at once. you can spend on infrastructure, spend on education, so long as you make the tough budget tear cuts over 20 years and slow down the rate of growth for medicare, medicaid, social security, defense spending. is that your view? >> yes, but you need adjustment up front. you need to convince the population we can bring it under control. i would not extend the bush area

tax cuts. >> if you addressed long term debt issue, medicare, medicaid, defense spending, does that not send a message that the united states is making the tough choices and they give us a little more breathing room over the next four or five years to avoid the type of cuts great britain has made? >> what you need to do is convince the markets you can create revenue that's the sticking point. one side will not budge. the other side is digging in on the spending issue. you need to show you can raise revenue. that's the issue for the presidential campaign and what happened with the bush tax cut. that changes the game completely. you take fiscal crisis off the table. >> we have a question for you from washington.

katty kay. katty. >> hi. what i am hearing is the problem is about politicians. here in the united states is actually a relatively easy fix, the politicians won't do it. it's easier in europe where there aren't political institutions to fix the problem. is that right? >> that is correct as a compar comparison between us and the euro zone. they don't have an organized fiscal institution. we created them with the actions of alexander hamilton more than 200 years ago. that was the major breakthrough we have had. the europeans need to do that now and they are obviously a long way from reaching that same determination. >> jon meacham. >> is there something in the american character about our attitude toward debt that is going to shape the politics and activities? >> that's right, jon.

i'm encouraged by this. the previous five debt surges we had, we always brought the debt down. we did it in a gradual fashion. there wasn't a massive, slash right and left and center. it was done. we had a shared feeling of fiscal responsibility across the fiscal spectrum. the war of 1812 was a disaster. they figured that out. andrew jackson realized that. that is what we need to go back to. by all means, absolutely bring debt down. show everyone you can manage it. >> simon, do you think -- how imminent do you think the prospect of a debt crisis is in this country? in washington, there's a conventional view it's right around the corner. it's the thing that's going to force people to get together to

make a big grand bargain of a reform on taxes, on entitlements. the financial markets seem to, on the basis of long term interest rates and indicators, they are not that worried about our level of debt. which is it? imminent or not? >> when you look at what happens with the europeans over the past 10, 15 years, the markets were encouraging to them. greece, very low interest rates until it turns against you. you cannot call the timing or bet the markets will always be on your side. take action now. don't be panics about it. show the markets you can raise revenue in a measured fashion. show them, by all means you can control the future spending on medicare. that's the issue, medicare. show them you can fund and manage social security. then we are back to the fiscal responsibility that brought us 200 years. >> simon johnson, thank you so much. the book is "white house

burning." you can read an excerpt on mojo.com. a government agency spends nearly $1 million on a trip to vegas and leaves taxpayers picking up the tab. details next on "morning joe." fiona here was just telling me that ford dealers sell a new tire like...every five seconds, how's that possible? well, we purchase 3 million a year. you just sold one right now didn't you? that's correct. major brands. 11 major brands. oop,there goes another one. well we'll beat anybody's advertised price. and you just did it right there, what's that called? the low price tire guarantee. wait for it, there goes another one. get a $100 rebate, plus the low price tire guarantee during the big tire event. look at that. it's happening right there every five seconds.

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36 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." there is new outrage over government spending this time at a federal agency set up to help taxpayers save money. >> how could anybody be outraged by an agency set up to actually save money? i mean this is a sort of accountability that we need in our government. i salute this agency. >> no. >> how do they spend the money? what do they do? hire a lot of nerds like meacham to come in and pour over books? >> no. no. instead of saving money, they spent. >> what? >> nearly $1 million. >> research and super computers and crunch the numbers? >> no.

it was at a ritzy convention in las vegas. fine dining, coins and a rented clown for entertainment. >> i was not there. >> a mind reader? >> is that a euphemism? >> lisa myers has the nasty, dirty details. >> as the commercials say what happens in vegas stays in vegas unless you work at the general administrations. a conference in october 2010 at this ritzy resort in vegas cost a staggering $823,000 taxpayer. almost $2750 per person for a four-day conference. it included $3200 for a mind reader. more than $6300 for coins and $75,000 for a team building

exercise to construct a bicycle. >> you put it in the context of how the economy is doing. it boggles the mind to think anybody thought this was appropriate use for taxpayers dollars. >> excessive wasteful sometimes impermissible dollars. $44 per person breakfast and $95 reception dinner. the gsa is the agency that is supposed to make the government more efficient. with the goal of cutting costs. the head of the agency, martha johnson resigned saying they made a significant misstep and taxpayer dollars were squandered. the white house moved quickly to contain political damage saying in a statement that president obama was outraged by a cross misuse of taxpayer dollars. decisive action had been taken. >> so, this, by the way --

>> i don't get that. >> -- was in the administration where the president told people don't go to vegas for your next convention. the gsa goes to vegas! mika is obsessed with the mind reader. she asked the most curious of questions. >> whether the mind reader was nude. >> why would she ask that question? >> i don't know. >> i just don't get the concept. i will be quiet now. coming up, new york times frank bruni is here. >> don't say that about frank. >> modern day sexuality. that's next on "morning joe."

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you should never be anyone's slave. >> he never, ever texts you back. >> my entire life is one mistake after another. >> when you get hungry enough, you'll figure it out. >> physically hungry. >> i'm going to miss your energy. >> it's a bummer to outgrow each other. >> will you still have sex with me? >> when it's appropriate, sure. >> 43 after the hour. that's a trailer for hbos, "girls." >> he interviewed the star and wrote it amplifies a growing chore us of what's happening. part of the power dynamics and the digital culture and virtual

fixations. our young women who think they should be more like men willing themselves into a casual attitude toward sex, he convincingly rendered characters seem perplexed. does less privacy mean more intimacy? is it guarantor of sexual satisfaction. >> there is so much there. >> it was an incredible piece. it was an important piece. it looks like this hbo series is going to be an important series to explain to a lot of people what's happening with the kids. you asked the important question, did gloria go to the barricades and fight for women's rights for this? >> you know, we are seeing a lot

of congressmen and salaries. there's a lot written about women being primary breadwinners and salaries. when you talk to girls and find out what's going on in the bedroom, things are as muttled and unsatisfying as they ever have been. it's not changed as much as people hoped in a positive way. >> they are scaring and confusing. i talked to young girls about their careers and said don't forget to get married and have a life with someone. they look, first absolutely stunned that i say that, then relieved that it's okay to feel that. it's interesting as it plays into this. it's a rough world out there for girls right now. >> also, frank, you talk about the change in roles. they ask, are we really supposed to celebrate the idea we can be like men and have no emotional attachment to sex?

is that something to celebrate? >> in a lot of ways women get the cue you are supposed to be able to have sex like men. this isn't much of a compliment to those of us who are men. what's meant is not feel that much, enjoy physically and move on. at one point she said to herself, how is that the new goal? what is good about that? it's not something women do naturally. >> what's at the core of this. you said women are not finding satisfaction in the bedroom. you said it in the hilarious "gq" piece. i can't quote it here. go online. it's funny. the point is, there's a whole generation of young men raised on online porn. does that play into it? >> i hear this all the time. before i watched the early episodes of "girls" i heard it from people i knew. after the column appeared i saw an article from raquel welch,

complaining about online porn and how people have ridiculous images of sex from what they see online that is more available and cheaper. >> you bring up raquel welch. a lot of us were growing up and you could have a low-cut dress that would excite a young male. now, you bring us into your piece with this opening scene where a woman is asked -- a young woman is asked to do things that many would consider dehumanizing or literally being treated like an online fantasy. that's the real danger here. enough is never enough. >> the threshold for excitement gets higher and higher. >> no, no no. >> the threshold for excitement gets higher and higher. people have such fixed fantasies

in their head. the person in front of them is a prop toward the fantasy, not an individual in and of herself. >> what it's about is completely forgotten. katty kay, jump in. >> she thought it was part of a pendulum. you quoted the progress of one in four being higher earners than their husbands. women are better educated in america. we are in a better transition faze. we are going to move where women say we want sex the way we want it. making it more family friendly, getting the concessions we need to stay in the workplace. are we going to start doing it at home and in the bedrooms as well? it's muddled at the moment, but are we going get to the place where women get what they want? >> she's unsure about that. one of the things when talking online porn and that sort of thing, it pushes back against

that other progress. i think it's two very different realms of what happens in the board room and the bedroom. it's harder to negotiate progress in the board room. >> what do women want? again, if the idea of sexual liberation is that women will behave in the bedroom like men behave in the bedroom, as you say, that is, for a lot of young women an uncomfortable fit. i don't think it's an insult to men. for men, i hope this isn't shocking to anybody out there, for men, sex is more of a physical act. for women, it is more of an emotional act. it's the way it's been for thousands and thousands of years. >> yes. >> there are a lot of people who think it's bilogically wired in. >> right. >> no matter what changes culturely or in society, if it's

bilogically wired into us, it's not going change. >> there are exceptions to all rules. jon meacham and i are much more sensitive than other men.cuddle? we won't bring you into this. >> thank you. >> plead the fifth. >> i have got a young girl. mika, i know you have two young teenaged girls. >> mm-hmm. >> this is really frightening for me because i -- i -- i've got to know that men that my girl are going to date, that when she gets to college, will probably have been exposed to hard-core online pornography for at least a decade in this new world we live in. and that creates really frightening challenges for girls and their parents who want to protect them. >> it's very difficult to figure out what to do about them. we live in a country that rightly values free speech. you know, we don't want censorship and now there is this thing called the internet now

which speeds people to a lot of images that can have a very negative effect on them over time. >> it seems to me though that we should be able to censor material that is inappropriate and we are not it is just out there for everybody to see. little kids get their hands on this all the time now and it is destroying young minds and it is not giving them time to fully understand what they're seeing. to me, i wish that we would be able to rein in what's happening on the internet. >> certainly parents, willie, can be very aggressive inside their homes and you can get, you know, i didn't know this, i'm going to have to try this myself, brad pitt has actually bought software that stops his children from being able to google brad pitt or angelina jolie and of course, that's sort of off the path, but you can put things on your children's computers that can prevent this. >> you can.

but in this -- >> the neighbor's house? >> in this world, you're just putting your finger in the dam when another leak springs. i'm trying to think, frank, of the parallel between violence. we first start talking about online violence and violence on tv, we thought we were going to raise a generation of kill births argument to me is if you were a good enough parent, you were going to stop your child from becoming a killer based on what they have seen on tv. it seems to me it is a little trickier and stickier for a parent to step in and talk about sex which is much more uncomfortable. >> i think is a lot trickier for a certain reason, we never say to them a certain amount of violence is okay. they can compartmentalize it when they see t with sex, we are not saying don't be excited by sex, don't ever do that we are saying do it responsibly in a restrained fashion. >> i have two young girls that is going to be my position. >> yeah. >> don't ever do it. >> don't be excited. don't ever do t. >> there aren't enough anglican nuns, but if there were, two

more. >> frank, thank you so much. >> frank, thank you. very important piece. >> catty kay, thank you as well. great to see you. >> katty, you have a young girl? >> a i have a 16-year-old girl and 6-year-old-year-old girl. >> what advice do you give them? >> that you want to share. >> i think you need to try to talk about it tough try to overcome the embarrassment. for my 16-year-old, what i worry about is them being put in a position where they are being abuse and not getting any gratification and not getting any satisfaction, you hear these awful stories from high schoolers. i think you have to give them a sense of self-worth, you don't need to be in that poe you are better than that, strong, more dignified than that and don't have to do everything everybody asks you. >> catty kay, thank you so much. still ahead, white house seen year adviservillery jarrett on how women's issues are affecting the presidential election. we are back in just a moment

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on medicare and social security out from behind closed doors in washington. because you've earned a say. good morning. it is 8:00 on the east coast. welcome back to "morning joe," as you take a live look of new york city. back with us on set, we have jon meachum and john heilemann. some of you around the table find this a little surprise. president obama is speaking out on the fate of his health care law in his first public comments since last week's supreme court

arguments. during a joint news conference with the visiting leaders of mexico and kanab dark the president shot down suggestions that the just at this times may find his signature law unconstitutional. >> i just remind conservative commentators that for years, what we have heard is the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint, that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a dually constituted and passed law. well, there's a good example and i'm pretty confident this court will recognize that and not take that step. ultimately, i'm confident that the supreme court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was

passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected congress >> >> that's unbelievable. >> the editorial board at the -- >> flabbergasted. >> took issue with the president's suggestion, the court should not overturn something passed by congress. the editorial reads, in part, "president obama is a former president of the harvard law review and famously taught constitutional law at the university of chicago. but did he somehow not teach the historic case of marbury versus madison"? >> that was a good one. >> that was a good one. >> "mr. obama's astonishing remarks on monday on the white house when he ruminated in public on for the first time in public on the supreme court's recent obama care deliberation. mr. obama's remarks suggest he is joining others on the left in warning the justices that they will pay --." >> no, no, no, that's enough. jon meachum, you don't even have to be the president of the

harvard law review -- >> no. >> or teach constitutional law at the university of chicago. just don't fall asleep in the middle of mrs. smith's tenth grade civics class which teaches you marbury v madison. >> eighth. >> eighth grade, maybe. unprecedented. that is why the supreme court was put in place. and for a president who is a former constitutional law teacher at one of the best law schools in the world? >> maybe it is a good thing went into politics? >> holy cow. >> no, it's -- the shoe's on different feet, pick your cliche. activist judges are judges with whom you disagree and people who argue that the court should stay out of public life, which i guess is the implication of -- that's going too far. what the president wants, clearly, is them to do what he

wants them to do. >> to stay in their own lane. and you know, it's one thing if a former pest control exterminator named tom delay going around saying he is going to impeach federal judge it is they don't agree with him and other republicans to bash the activist court. i can tell you, you be while that was happening, the lawyers in that body that had sat through constitutional law on the republican side were with me, sit in the back of the room and we could grimace going it's separation of powers and this is very frightening. but again, this is important to s say, for a constitutional lawyer to try to blurt lines, separation of powers. i will say i will go back. i was disturbed and i know progressive jurists who were disturbed when the president used his state of the union address to call out supreme court members on the front row.

this is a president that obviously has forgotten much of what he learned at some of the best legal institutions in america. this is demagoguery, which i expect from former pest control people that don't understand the beauty of the american judicial system. but for a president do this, this is really disturbing. >> and it is a very carefully tended duty. john marshall essentially created this he was very careful, he never went too far from, you know, 1801 through jackson. impeach earl warn said that, but he was never in real jeopardy. it is a system that has worked and i think people actually like the system and i don't think people like it when presidents directly assault the supreme court, 'cause it throws things out of whack and i don't think people like that. >> it is so interesting, john heilemann, you can go back to 2000 and bush v gore, and you remember everybody saying the supreme court will never recover

from this. and you can go back to brown v board of education. anybody that attacks the court ends up losing at the end. go back to 1937, was it '37, '38? >> yep. are >> fdr's court packing scheme. people do still see this court as the ump, whether it's on the left or whether it's on the right. >> well, yes and no h look, the courts, the level of respect that the court has with the electorate does go up and down and the court did suffer in terms of public opinion after bush v gore and it sufferered again after citizens united. one of the things that chief justice roberts was very vocal about when he was put on the bench was trying to create a court that would inspire public confidence. the court has historically been careful to tend that and has tried. one of the reasons is that chief justice robert said, i want to try to build big majority

decisions, not narrow decisions that will be looked at as being partisan. the court is aware, that if it is being seep as being partisan and political, it will suffer that is a bad thing. >> in this decision that is a challenge. if it comes down 5-4 and have yet another decision like this there will be an issue for the court to look at and wonder what is going on there having said that i'm really glad that we don't have a republican candidate who uses inappropriate words or steps -- oversteps his bounds when he is making statements. that would be awful. >> first of all, he is not the -- >> had the first time. >> not the president of harvard law review, also not a professor. i'm telling you if you are an officer of the court, you are held to a higher standard. i tell you what you could pick up the phone -- hold on and listen to me for a second, mika. call 20 of your best liberal lawyer friends scan them privately what they think about a faith tacking the united states supreme court this way? >> i don't disagree with you.

>> they will tell you that they are offended by it t is disturbing. ruth marcus, who certainly is not a mitt romney supporter, ruth marcus unloaded on the president yesterday for doing this as well. i mean, you know what it is just unnecessary, willie. it is just unnecessary. again, what make -- and i saw this -- this is way out of line, i mean, way sort of off the bet, but i remember going down, watching the berrenson's parents, went to peru and watched some of the judicial proceedings for laurie's case and when i came back, everybody asked me what i thought. i said thank god for america's judiciary. thank god for the independents they drive us crazy, they irritate us, but man, they are the great equalizer in this system. >> it was more striking to me to heart president use unelected group of people as a criticism, which is the whole point. >> of course, you want them to be unelected.

>> don't want them answering to fund-raisers or voters or ideology or anything else that struck me as a little bit of strange. i wonder how much this is him brace for the possibility of law being struck down saying bush v gore, citizens united, now this, this is an activist conservative court taking down the things we hold dear as progressives and democrats. >> jon meachum, let's focus on what willie just said. that was probably the most astounding part of it channeling tom delay as he did, attacking "unelected judges." >> unelected judges? which is it is the point and it was -- you know, this was a carefully wrought system. and again, john marshall did t and he did it in very interesting ways by never pushing things so far that he got into genuine existential showdowns with the president. and if is a very -- it is not as simple al story, it is a really

interesting one. it's an achievement of you're going to snore for a second. a madisonian balance. when you knock that out of whack, people get nervous. are the independent -- look, anybody that is going to vote on this issue is probably already with the president. so, if you're gonna attack the supreme court, my own view, which is worth a great deal politically as you might imagine. >> it s >> i'm sure the president appreciates it, is do it more subtly. do it on the issues of health care of money and politics and you will get to those 50,000 independents. to broadly attack -- presidents have broadly attacked the supreme court before and never won. jefferson lost. jackson lost. fdr lochlts. >> johnh -- john heilemann,

instead of attacking the supreme court directly, you want four more years of this, vote for the other guy. somebody who supports universal health care, thinks what happens in bush v gore was wrong, vote for me and i will -- i will nominate your type of judges. >> i'm certain that that argument is an argument the president will be making if this case is struck down but i do think that on the -- and clearly be a huge -- it will motivate the base, to some extent. i do think though that there is -- there's -- there's -- he may end up being right about one thing, which is that the oral argumentness may not foretestimony that this law is going to get struck down. it might be that justices, particular justice kennedy finds his way to upholding the law and the president -- one of the things the president said yesterday is true, which is oral arguments don't testimony the story. >> no. >> and could end up at a place with a lot of people doomed

saying last week just turned out to be wrong. >> nothing wrong also with being confident and believing in your signature legislation you have been working on for years and you have been ham aired way at by republicans and conservatives, just hammered, to the point of things getting really ugly. >> absolutely. >> i justs have a little bit of sympathy here. >> and i agree with -- i agree with you, john. i think justice kennedy is a conservative justice with a small c. he is worried about his legacy more than the law in front of him, just to be really harsh about it and i think he is going to be afraid to do the bold thing, even if the bold thing is the right thing. >> let quickly touch on wisconsin, 'cause we are about two hours away now from opening votes in wisconsin in one of three primaries that could go a long way in determining the next republican nominee. today's other primaries maryland and washington, d.c. likely mark the beginning of a tough month for the former pennsylvania

senator as the republican race moves to less conservative territory. that makes wisconsin all the more important for rick santorum, who is up with a new ad attacking two rivals at once. >> what if i told you this man's big government mandating health care included $50 abortions and killed thousands of jobs? would you ever vote for him? what if i told you he supported radical environmental job killing cap and trade and the wall street bailouts? and what if i told you he dranl matically raised taxes and stuck tax payers a $1 billion shortfall? one more thing, what i told you the man i'm talking about isn't him? it's him. >> and as the race pushes forward, mitt romney's wife, ann is becoming a leading voice in her husband's campaign. >> that is good because he said the other day he needs to get her out on the campaign. >> yesterday exshe responded to criticism surrounding some of the candidate's more awkward moments on the trail.

>> sometimes he appears stiff. do you have to fight back some -- like my husband isn't stiff, okay? >> well, you know, i guess -- i guess we better unzip him and let the real mitt romney out because he is not. it is so funny to me that that is the perception out there, because he is funny, he's engaging, he's witty. he's always playing jokes. he is -- he is -- when i met him when i was a teenager, he was the life of the party. >> willie geist? >> i think she is absolutely right. unzip him, let the real guy come out, if he is in there >> don't fall out. >> the real guy? >> if there is another version of mitt romney, he should prevent him. >> the real girt little guy? >> the real guy? the real thing? the real deal. >> you all are -- >> i was glad tag came out and you defend his granddad. >> "mad men." >> i'm a big "mad man" fan but that was a cheap shot. tag, stay away from my granddad.

>> real mitt romney, if he wants to attack. coming up, gender gap. we are going to take a look at how the fight for women voters has become a focal point in the presidential election. we will talk to white house senior adviser are, valerie jarrett. >> also talk to her about your book out in paper back today. heat bate the hell out of men getting more cash, think the subtitle s. >> is about the money, ultimately, know your value. but first, here is bill karins -- >> speaking of money, the highest paid man at nbc. >> check of the forecast. >> cuff link also. very expensive cufflinks. good morning, everyone. we are watching interesting weather in the midwest, beautiful weather in the northeast and also the northwest. you're soggy, too break it down. the biggest weather concern today is with thunderstorms, this is april, we will have a few tornadoes later today. right now the strongest storms between oklahoma city and north of the border there the red river. as far as this afternoon goes, if you are in the yellow areas, a chance to see strong thunderstorms. make sure that there's no --

late this afternoon, illinois, indiana, southern portion there is of ohio and also northern ken ken and then late today, oklahoma city, once again, dallas-fort worth, watch some storms. the other story today, snowing this morn energy denver, colorado. it was 85 a few days ago. right now it is 34 degrees and snowing. actually going to get two inches of accumulation before the day is done. some slippery driving there in colorado. as far as the forecast goes, beautiful, boston to d.c. no problems on the east coast. west coast looks good, l.a. to san francisco. wet from portland northwards. a preview of tomorrow, the beautiful weather. i think we are in for a six-day stretch in a row in the areas of the mid-atlantic and new england. you are going to see perfect spring, april conditions. times square, looking nice, temperatures warming up. you are watching "morning joe." we are brewed by starbucks.

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even here at home, we have to stand up for women's rights and reject efforts marginalize any one of us because america needs to set an example for the entire world. and it seems clear to me to do that, we have to live our own values and we have to defend our own values, we need to respect each other, empower all our citizens and find common ground. all these women, these women in

the world, have proven that committed, often with help, help from their friends, can make a difference in their own lives and far beyond. >> tough to do look at that beautiful shot of the white house at 22 past the hour. that was secretary of state hillary clinton speaking at the daily beast, "newsweek's" women in the world conference. >> speaking of women, today a big day. >> is a big day. that's why we have our next -- >> mika brzezinski's knowing your value, boom, now out in paper book p. >> yes, it s. >> it sold more books anything other than the guttenberg bible and now out in paper back. i can't tell you how many people come up to us us where we go, i'm dead serious r i'm sarcastic, but willy, you have heard it i read the book, change hide life a are lot of reports that women that don't even watch the show have read this book and

it changed their life. >> tell them it gave them the courage and the one thing, never use the word sorry and i think a lot of women have said that to me after reading it book, they don't use the word sorry anymore. >> i am sorry about donny. and please, just sit down. >> aim fresh from doing a -- sarah palin. >> he don't care. >> with us from the white house, senior white house adviser, valerie jarrett. >> beautiful. >> what a beautiful day. >> valerie, thanks for being on the show this morning. >> good morning. good morning. mika, my pleasure and congratulations so delighted to be here the first day your terrific book out in paper back, so congratulations to you. >> valerie is featured in the book, one of the great stories in the book, a lot of great women and some good advice as well. valerie, thank you for that i will be joining you this week at the white house forum on women and the economy. give us a sneak peek what we will be talking about. >> that us for that as well. mika is going to come down and moderate the first panel we are going to have this friday.

the whole forum gaichbs opportunity to highlight everything the obama administration has done to guarantee women's security at all ables so we are looking forward to having you there women are now half the workforce. we are graduating from college at higher rates than men. professional schools, even higher. yet we still are only earning 77 cents on the dollar. so, we are going to focus on women in the workplace, women in health care, women were ennewerships, everything we are doing to combat domestic violence that has an impact on women's ability to be in the workforce, it is going to be a great day. i think one of the statistics that i always try to throw out is that right now, two-thirds of all families with children are either headed by a woman or they have two bread winners so a woman's contribution to the economy is not just a women's issue. it is a community issue, a family issue you a society issue and it is something that we have been mindful of since day one here in the obama

administration. >> something the reason we decided to write about this, women tend to sort of undermine themselves when it comes to negotiating and we have to understand holistically if we do that we are undermining our spouses, undermining our children's financial security and futures there is a long way to go the article that came out yesterday about female cfos, a great example on a grander scale but still getting paid 16% less than their male counterparts there are other areas where we still see weaknesses and valerie, you say the white house is working to overcome these? >> we are. we are working together with the private sector, with academics, we are working. for example, it was a great article this morning in the "new york times" featuring harvey mudd, one of the great clermont colleges, the president was saying everything that she is doing there to try to change the curriculum to encourage women to go into science and technology and engineering and math, those are the growth fields of the future. and so we have been doing everything here in the obama administration to open up those

doors to all people and encourage girls at a very early able to get interested in those fields and embrace them because there thank's where the country is going. in order for our young folks to be globally competitive, we need to encourage them to take advantage of those kinds of fields and to go into them. so friday gives us an opportunity to take a step back and look at everything we are doing from helping small business to combatting domestic violence to creating an atmosphere where girls and everyone can get a world-class education, making college affordable, a whole range of ways in wit obama administration has been there for young women and girls. >> jon meachum. >> valerie, i was going to ask you about education and obviously that is the extent to the gateway to middle class and economic security you national security ultimately what are some initiatives that the white house is pursuing that would wind opportunity for women? >> look at everything we are

doing for race to the top generally and making sure that we are rewarding success and performance, making sure that in all of our public schools, we are focusing on that an initiative called change the equation, work work the private sector in communities all across our country, work with private companies, for example, xerox, should work with high school girls, get them interested in stem, focused on science and technology and engineering and math at an early age and design the curriculum that will encourage women and girls, people generally to go into the fields, provide them with mentorship opportunities, provide them with opportunities for internships at companies so they can get a sense what it is like and dream big. work, with the private sector, the obama administration is focusing at an early age with women and girls, people generally, boys, too, to go into these important fields for the

future. >> val troy, the man who has setback rights of women for a decade perhaps -- maybe a generational, donny deutsch. >> nine of his 11 business partners in women. we were so successful. that i won't take. valerie, a question, put you a little on the spot, if you gave me a private tour of the west wing today or entire offices of what's going on the white house, would you be happy with the amount of women in power, not talking as far as hillary clinton, but behind the scenes at the white house? >> absolutely. never have too many women. >> that's my point. >> the president certainly has surround himself both within the white house, both deputy chiefs of staff, one of his senior advisers, his white house council, look at the cabinet, secretary clinton, secretary sebelius, administrator jackson, i could go on and on. so certainly, his administration reflect the diversity of our country and women are well represented. he grew up in a household with

women, a single mom, what hes two daughters, he wants to make sure they are able to grow up in a world where they can compete on a global marketplace, an even playing field and created the white house council of women and girls within his first two months. >> valerie, willy, good to see you again. >> hey, willie, how are you? >> doing well, thank you. heard the president talking yesterday in the rose guard been the possibility of the supreme court overturning the affordable care act. what all are you doing there at the white house to prepare for the possibility that that law could be wiped off the books, the first year and a half or so of the work you did there will essentially be eliminated? >> first of all, as the president said yesterday, we are very confident that the supreme court will find the law constitutional. and that there will be real consequences in the event that we don't. already, we have two and a half million young people on their parents insurance. my own daughter, when she finished school, came on my insurance for a while. senior citizens benefiting from help with prescription drugs,

average of $600 senior citizens have received to help them with prescription drugs. children with pre-existing conditions can no longer be discriminate ready against by insurance companies. so there are already in place many benefits for the affordable care act. the stakes will be high if that is dismantled and i mean that in terms of real people ben fitting from the affordable care act already. if you are sick, you shouldn't have to worry you will run up against a lifetime cap of your insurance, the insurance company can drop you with you when you need it the most. off child with an illness, you are already grahaming with that you shouldn't worry if they are getting health care. i want to put it in context. we are confident we will be successful a lot of work went into crafting a through would be constitutional. we are prepared to whip and move forward. >> there is is a chance and perhaps a good chance it will be overturned, perhaps a 5-4 decision what do you do next? what is the next move? >> i wouldn't concede there is a

good chance it will be overruled. as i said, we are very confident that it falls well within the supreme court's press dent in deferring to congress on the commerce clause. so, we are highly confident that we will win f we don't, we will face that when we get there but we are very confident we will win. >> valerie jarrett, thank you for coming. nice things about knowing your value, out in paper book. very excited, this friday you valerie is going to be the women and the economy at the white house and mika, of course, is going to be moderating a panel. the president will be speaking. as always, i will be there to answer any questions any women have about empourmt in the workforce. >> you know what i will say something that might surprise you, joe, actually, i they have you have been very supportive of mika and her career, from everything i have heard about so i'm not going to criticize you about that. >> fighting from day one.

>> joe. >> come on. >> again, on fry day, the white house forum on women and the economy, it really will highlight the importance of this issue. valerie, i thank you so much t is quite an hopper to be involved. >> donny that is enough for me. valerie, thank you very much. >> what people don't see is joe has women with ring cards after the show, whether he did a good show, an 8 or a 7. let's stop with this women empowerment stuff, please. >> i think that is inappropriate. >> it is the truth. >> where did he get that? willie, where did he get that? >> from the deutsch -- deutsch -- the deutsch vault. >> every board meeting. >> so things women did that worked with you, donny. >> this is like an episode of "curb your enthusiasm." >> it is not funny. it is pathetic. >> where were you before this? >> i was with sarah palin, on the "today" show, a lot of fun. >> behind the scenes stuff next? >> thank god for valry.

>> more "morning joe" in just a minute. plus what sarah palin said about john heilemann and mark hall print. >> ouch. i'm freaking out man. why? i thought jill was your soul mate. no, no it's her dad. the general's your soul mate? dude what? no, no, no. he's, he's on my back about providing for his little girl. hey don't worry. e-trade's got a totally new investing dashboard. everything is on one page, your investments, quotes, research... it's like the buffet last night. whatever helps you understand man. i'm watching you. oh yeah? well i'm watching you, watching him. [ male announcer ] try the new 360 investing dashboard at e-trade.

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do any of you here have experience with people being paid a lot of money to pretend

like they're you? i didn't see the movie and i wouldn't waste my time -- >> telling the truth, doesn't see it? >> no, because i don't waste my time. >> that kind of hurts. >> a liar. >> halperin is a liar and -- >> she said she didn't see it? >> i remember talking to them while writing the book. talking to them what are you going to do now? they are like, you could see, well, why don't we just pretend that she didn't know this or that and laugh. >> high five. >> okay. what if we said. made it up out of thin air. thin air. >> not thin air. >> a lot of people saw it.

>> goes sammer and couldn't candy. >> it was interesting she said under no circumstances would she see it or has she see it but julianne moore was terrible. >> that was the first time i met the governor in person. she asked my -- [ inaudible ] >> it was amazing how great julianne moore was. it was more than ever -- >> so let me ask you this, many liberal men who have met sarah palin, very impressed in her presence and i don't mean this -- i don't mean this in any negative way at all but most people that meet sarah palin say that when you meet her, regardless of your politics in a one-on-one setting, she is really impressive. >> star quality. >> star quality? >> she's got t you are drawn in. she is very attractive, you

country not like her, politics aside, she is an edge gauging, engaging woman and she has that thing. i have always said, forget political star, she is a media star. >> and you showed that on "game change" where yes, she could give the big speech but where she really seemed to shine was in the rope line, said people were drawn to her, there is -- very few politics have star quality, barack obama has it. i know this off fenced people on the left and right, but barack obama has it, sarah palin has it bill clinton had it, ronald reagan had it just talking the pat buchanan political athlete. sarah palin is one of those few who has it and mika, by the way is shaking her head furiously, but that's reality. >> endlessly watchable, all of them. endlessly watchable and something i have said before on this show, you can't teach it, you can't buy it you can't borrow it, as a politician, you

either have it or you don't and she had it from the moment she stepped on stage. she has other sig flaws but that is an asset she will always v. >> willie, we saw that at the convention? >> yes, we did. >> mika, she does have star quality, i disagree we having she says, she has got it she does, the camera doesn't lie. >> why does that offend you? >> let her agree with that. >> sarah palin is no pat buchanan and i will leave it there h. >> i don't know what that means. >> well, talking about -- making all these parallels and she is no president obama. let's not do that >> the telegeneralically. the four people the last 50 years that have it. great. >> nothing to do with the politics. >> reagan, clinton, obama, sarah palin, they are media superstars, forget politics aside. something that happens with the camera that happens in front of the you crowd, has nothing to do -- >> i think it is something that

happens to men. >> hold on, i have got to talk here, we have to stop this, this is nonsense, mika. >> s. >> you stack president obama up in 2008 with joe biden there is not a comparison. joe biden so much more qualified to be president of the united states against barack obama. you stack up hillary clinton against barack obama, there is no comparison. you stack up chris dodd next to barack obama, no comparison as far as knowledge of how washington works, knowledge of how the world works, knowledge of all the issues that matter when you're going in to be president but why did barack obama win, because avenues political superstar. so you can be offended by us saying this about sarah palin all you want, barack obama would never have been elected if he didn't have the same type of star quality that this so offensive to you that -- that -- that sarah palin had. just not even a choice comparison, joe biden, barack obama. no.

i'm not -- but listen, could you say the same thing about john kennedy in 1960. you could -- some said the same thing in 1932 about fdr. >> so say the same thing about ron reagan and george herbert walker bush in 1980 in terms of governmental experience, bush was more qualified, governor of california. >> but bush ambassador to china, bead the -- >> head of the cia. >> head of the cia. again, this plays a part in politics on the left and the right. >> with he vote for people, not issuesed when a vote for people that we want to invite into our home every day for four years and that's fact. >> not a lot i can say that is going to be very helpful. >> can i go back to the book for one second? >> a great book. >> this is very important about this book. >> no, it's not. >> yes it s. >> i want people to buy this -- >> you are a person that get excited about barack obama in 2008. >> and still am. not because he is a superstar. >> a lot of women related to

sarah palin. >> and they don't anymore. >> the most intense -- that's just not true. a lot of women in your neighborhood may not relate to sarah palin, i tell you, my mother still relates to sarah palin and a lot of republican women across america still relate to them, okay? but let's just -- let's just not be so one sided. go ahead. >> very quickly, say one thing about the book that has been brought up. for your daughter or your granddaughter, buy it. a woman that is about to enter the workforce or that's in the workforce this teaches women entitlement, really, really, really important. so, forget, i'm saying if off daughter, a granddaughter, very important books and i mean that. >> donny, thank you. >> a great book p i appreciate it. >> grandson. >> nobody is positioned more properly that is the way you sell the book. up next, business before the bell with cnbc's michelle caruso-cabrera. keep it right here on morning joe. [ male announcer ] if you believe the mayan calendar,

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time to get business before the bell with michelle caruso cabrera at cnbc. what do you got? >> chrysler sales year-over-year, up 34%. pretty incredible move. one of the big reasons is fiat is up 600%, 642%. numbers stilt you had, the first ye -- numbers will be stilted, but chrysler back from a terrible year last year. ford sales up 5%. don't think chrysler doing better than ford, chrysler up 34%, ford 5%.

chrysler had a terrible year last year. however, auto sales are coming in stronger. here are key numbers to remember. right now the prediction is we will sell 15 million cars in the united states this year. at the worst moments of the financial crisis, we were only selling 10 million cars year, the peak of the economy, selling 17 million, so right back to about the middle. a lot of people don't think 17 million was realistic, cheap money. 10 million was a full-on depression. that is why we saw such crisis in detroit et cetera. right now, auto numbers telling us that things are certainly getting back to maybe more normality, guys. >> sounds good, michelle caruso-cabrera. >> what is more compelling is credit is stricter not like people are getting those cars away, that is even more compelling. up next, the best of late night.

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i'm going to endorse mitt romney, and the reason why he is not only going to be the republican nominee but he offers such a stark contrast to the president's record. >> i'm going to endorse romney because he is going to be the

republican nominee. that is like -- i'm going to endorse mitt romney because what are you gonna do? >> mitt is not a perfect candidate. he has a number of problems. it is hard for him for blue collar families like mine to identify with him t is hard for economic conservatives to identify with him. he needs to do more to reach out to the latinos. >> all right. gee. these are his supporters. for god's sakes this is politics, presidential politics. fake it better. just imagine the past campaign also failed this test of sincerity. i like ike would have been, ike's fine. reagan's optimistic morning in america would be, yeah exit's ti -- yeah, it's time to get out a proposal on a football scoreboard reading, yeah debra, you know we are not each other's first choice, but i don't want to pay for another month of

eharmony and you're a worthy comparison so common. >> a supporter has come forward to i will dust the ground beef we buy at the supermarket is it what we think it is or padded with a filler the whistleblower calls pink slime? >> oh, pink slime is bad but green slime is good enough to dump on our children. pink slime is actually a delicious, wholesome meal you'd want to share with a friend. specifically, your best friend because up until 2001, it was used only in dog food. which begs the question, what are we feeding our dogs now and when do i get to eat it? >> mitt romney's staffers played a prank on him by staging a fake campaign event in an empty room. or as newt gingrich put it my staff verse been playing that prank on me for six months. isn't that hilarious? april fool's, man. ♪ na, na...

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but enough about donny deutsch. let's figure out what we learned today. what did you learn today? >> i learned only an organization as lame as the federal government could go to vegas with $3200 and spend it on a mind reader. there's so much more you could do with that money. >> donny what do you like? >> know your value, get it for the daughters, grand daughters, meachum is here, every other man is like 6'8" on this set. >> we are actually -- people that come in, always shocked, we are -- "morning joe" guys are usually 6'8'', or not. stand next to him. what did you learn? >> willie geist gave an interview to gq.com, said office hipster who wore plaid shirts and skinny ties, obviously not true. referred to me as a piece of the male anatomy, i can't say on tv. but a drinking game which people would drink every time i interrupted mika and went on one of my "speed ball