terangle, catherine crier, author of "the patriot acts," the esteemed martin bashir of msnbc and the always buzzy buzzfeed editor in chief ben smith. the white house is putting a positive spin on a disappointing jobs report this morning. mitt romney sees on the jobs numbers -- mitt romney seized on the job numbers which were roughly 0,000 below both estimates. this is a week and troubling report that shows the employment market remains stagnant he said. million of americans are paying a high price for president obama's economic policies. martin, ezra klein, the esteemed ezra klein said the october jobs report, he tweeted the october jobs report comes out four days before the 2012 election. an unexpected result would be an earthquake. we've talked a lot about the what the economic picture does for the president's re-election

chances. there was a lot in the recent weeks, if not months, we've been thinking the economic picture has been getting rosier if not decidedly rosy. something like this would seem to be a problem for the white house. >> ezra klein has been saying all along he thought the number would go up. if you want to talk about unemployment, you have to talk about strategies to reverse unemployment. unemployment in spain today is 23.6%. in ireland, it's 20%. in greece, it's 20% and in the united kingdom it's rising above 9%. why? because those economies have chosen a single strategy which is the austerity, the very strategy, surprise surprise that eric cantor, john boehner, mitch mcconnell and mitt romney condemn the president for avoiding and ignoring. so we have an unemployment rate that's gone down to 8.2% and it's sputtering and it's relatively good and then not so great.

do you want spain's level? >> i'm not sure that's going to be an argument that obama is going to be able to make summer and fall though. it could be worse. we could be in spain. >> i'm not suggesting that. sure. i'm not suggesting that's an argument he's going to make, but what i'm trying to say as you've been saying previously on your show, there are systemic problems integral has to how you resolve the issue of unemployment and that's where the figures relate to. if someone as grabbed as the nobel laureate paul krugman believes that actually unemployment would be below 8% now. >> which is why the president is trying to get into a substantive discussion about not only the american social compact but about fiscal policies and budgets. i talked about this before, an emotional document in terms of where we place our priorities. josh, as someone in the bloomberg business week, what did you make of the a, the fact that the numbers were estimated to be much, much higher than they ended up being and what

that means as far as political season. >> the number takes on an outsized importance. it's famously unreliable. it's a set of surveys. you're getting a basket of various indicators and politicians and economists pick their favorites. for the president today, the rate declined from 8.3 to 8.2. but what you really want to see is the number of people out of the market, 164,000 people lost from the employment market. people are not optimistic about finding work. so the number of people looking for work comes down. that's the really number you want to focus on. if you're shrewd about it, there's always one thing in every report you can use to advance your cause. ezra's point is very much if you wake up four days before the election and unemployment goes from 8.3 to 8.7, that's a problem for the incumbent. >> the you're talking about an argument nobody is having, the drop notice government jobs, not just private sector. government jobs has been dramatic. the failure to put the money in

the infrastructure is quite i ever dramatic. fact we are moving more and more into productivity increases, lower jobs, which is a condition barring new, new jobs, a new market. >> and you're talking about structural things. >> nobody talks about it. >> we talked about this a little bit yesterday on your esteemed show, martin. the long-term unemployment numbers. i mean they went down. it's 5.3 million americans are seeing long-term, 27 or more weeks unemployed. that went down 100,000, it was 5.4 million americans in february. part-time workers, this is a little bit of a silver lining fell from 818 million in february to 7.1 million in march. >> when we're replacing jobs we're talking about service sector jobs, low income jobs, the fact that our gdp or stock market prices may be going up, but the health, the domestic economy, the health is going down because we are not looking

forward to say, what are the new industries? what are the areas of long-term development to build new valuable jobs. >> the confusion about picking statistics. one of the things i thought was interesting today was we haven't seen a large increase in retail employment, and yet, for the month of march, retail sales have gone up. so there's been rising is confidence and purchasing and yet somehow, that's not necessarily reflected. that's why you say -- if you cherry pick your statistic, it works, whichever way you wish to play it. >> the white house says there's a recovery under way. they've been cheerleading it and celebrating it. i think if you see not just in late october but if you see in september, october, maybe august, if everything kind of flattens out, they're going to be in a very difficult position. >> i do want to call your attentionings to what jamie dimon of jp morgan is saying. i have no doubt our own actions

including the dramatic restra restraining of bank leverage at the wrong time made the recovery worse than it could have been. >> he would say that, wouldn't he? >> i'm sorry. >> this was a former confidante or someone with whom the white house it open channels. we talk about the relationship between the business community and the white house. >> look at the jobs act. look at the danger that just infiltrates this new jobs act for fraud, the investors, consumer groups, and yet, they're touting this. it's very much still the marriage of government and wall street. >> i want to pivot a little bit to, as long as we're talking about finances and the race, mitt romney and his taxes. which was a talking point, a point of discussion a few months ago, it is now being brought back up again by the white house. let's listen to what -- jim messina is saying. mitt romney has asked him to elect him president based on his

experience as i an corporate buyout specialist. note the term corporate buyout specialist. he has put his personal financial assets in a black box and hid the key, attempting to play by a different set of rules than any candidate in recent history. let's hear what eric fern strom said this morning in response to that. >> the governor has provided all of the disclosure that's required by law. and that is significant. we've already put out hundreds of pages of tax return information that we were not required to disclose. we put out 2010 tax return information. we made an estimate for 2011 and we think that's sufficient. >> is that sufficient, josh? >> i think it probably is for now. look, the issue really peaked very early in the grand scale of the election cycle it peaked very early. there's a moment when we're all going to be focused on who pays what. in august, september, are people going to be saying is i know

he's rich, but how many taxes did he pay in i don't think so. >> as you remember, when he was asked by a reporter once how much do you actually have in terms of assets, he said i don't know. somewhere between 150 and 200 plus million. are we being fair to poor mitt romney? i'm not sure he could actually give you the specific details in terms of his tax situation because he has investments everywhere. some of them are offshore and it's not so straightforward >> he gave them to john mccain in many 2008. >> 23 years. >> so it's one of those things. you let a little information out and it kind of opens the door. why not the previous year or the previous three years. >> his father george romney began the process of releasing one's tax returns. you can be sure the white house is not going to let this go. coming up, the rhetoric heats up in the battle over reproductive rights. we'll discuss the rnc's controversial caterpillar comments when the carolyn maloney joins the discussion

next on "now." you know, those farmers, those foragers, those fishermen.... for me, it's really about building this extraordinary community. american express is passionate about the same thing. they're one of those partners that i would really rely on whether it's finding new customers, or, a new location for my next restaurant. when we all come together, my restaurants, my partners, and the community amazing things happen. to me, that's the membership effect. the sleep number bed. the magic of this bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape. wow! that feels really good. you can adjust it to whatever your needs are.

so whatever you feel like, the sleep number bed's going to provide it for you. now, sleep number redefines memory foam, combining coolfit gel foam with sleep number adjustability! during our white sale, receive $400 in free bedding. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. we all have one. that perfect spot. a special place we go to smooth out the ripples of the day. it might be off a dock or on a boat. upstream or in the middle of nowhere. wherever it may be, casting a line in the clear, fresh waters of michigan lets us leave anything weighing us down back on shore. our perfect spot is calling. our perfect spot is pure michigan.

your trip begins at michigan.org.

there's been a lot of talk about women and women's issues lately as there should be, but i do think that the conversation has been oversimplified. women are not summon know lithic block. women are not an interest group. you shouldn't be treated that way. >> that was president obama alluding to talk of a war on women. shortly after saying women are not an interest group, he listed exactly what the administration has done for women since he took office. joining the panel now the is i village chief correspondent kelly wallace and new york congresswoman carolyn maloney.

thanks for joining the program. >> thanks for having us. >> congresswoman, i want to go to you first on this. the president outlined the fact that the white house has enabled 2.3 women to get pel grants since president obama took office and $4.5 billion has been granted to have small businesses owned by women and certainly these are accomplishments worth touting but is this not a savvy piece of political maneuvering? >> it also happens to be the facts. his administration has appointed more women to important positions than any in history. and the first bill that he signed into law was the lily leadbetter act that had failed in the senate in the 21st century, which was hard to believe. but he has been a strong proponent of supporting women's issues, not only funding them appropriately but with initiatives and certainly protecting a woman's right to choose and access to contraceptives. that's been a given.

and his record is an outstanding one, particularly when you contrast it with the republican party which is working very hard to roll back the gains that we've already made. i think that's why the poll numbers show a huge jump among women from all walks of life in support of the democrats and president obama and his administration. >> kelly, we have to ask you the inevitable caterpillar question, which is to say that the head of the rnc said for one thing the democrats said we had a war on caterpillars and mainstream outlets talked about the fact that the republicans have a war on cat ter pillars. as the congresswoman points out in swing states, obama has risen. he's about, almost 20 points, 18 to be precise, ahead of romney among women in swing states. >> it's a big issue. there are two things here. number one, the caterpillar comment even probably republicans will say why, why. women can say you're comparing to us insects?

obviously he was saying if you look in the full context of what he was saying he was saying this quote war on women, there's no quote war on women. you might as well say there's a war on caterpillars. this is a huge gender gap. we see it in terms of comments women make at i vil. you have women saying i'm a lifelong republican. my grandfather a lifelong republican. he would roll over in his grave feld hear this, but that the party has been so in the words of this one woman so anti-won, i can't vote republican. that is a huge problem for the party. >> catherine, this is worth calling attention to. olympia snow and lisa murkowski, olympia saying san drop fluke should have been commended not condemned. lisa murkowski yesterday saying it makes no sense to make this attack on women. if you don't feel this is an attack, you need to go home and talk to your wife and daughters. >> and congresswoman might be able to remind me, but the new york republican congressman who was talking to a huge group of

women about three weeks ago and he said, i hate to say this, i think i'm helping my party but you need to vote democratic. you need to vote for the party that is supporting you. when you look not only at national issues but at the state legislation, all over the country, if that's not a war on women and their rights, i don't know what is. >> then what are -- what is the calculation here? this is what -- the numbers don't phase them. it's not politically expedient. is it men run amok, martin? >> i'm frightened to say anything. i'm overwhelmed by the brains. one of the interesting things, it is good friday. one of the interesting things about the biblical narrative is the fact that christ died, was buried and the empty tomb was found by whom? it was found by women. women are the center of each of those three moments. and what's interesting, when you ask the question, what's the modus operandi, what's the strategy behind this when rights

priebus says such a thing? i don't think there is one because i don't think there is a proactive strategy. when you heard the president speak, it was personal. he talked about his mother, his grandmother, his daughters, his wife. he understands that women earning 77 cents on the dollar as compared to a man system fundamentally wrong and it hurts him because he's been the recipient, the beneficiary of the care and support of women. he has no doubt about that. the reason rights priebus says the thing he does is not because he's being deliberately stupid but because there is an absence of a constructive in my view productive approach to women. where is the strategy? >> being born from a mother is something we all. >> it should resonate. >> the completely selfish because the economic value of women earning comparable dollars building businesses as they do, earning their professional degrees contributing to the economy is so enormous that we

are basically you know, cutting off our own noses to spite our face. >> we do have to say we're in the midst or coming to the end of this republican primary battle. i do think some of the strategy has been if there is a strategy dealing with in terms of mitt romney the conservative wing of the party. you are already seeing this total pivot. you saw ann romney in a pretty emotional speech to say women come up to me and say they're concerned about budgets and concerned about money, concerned about the economy. i do think you're going to see this pivot, whether it's enough to change this can huge gender gap, i don't know. >> it's hard to walk away from a republican budget that is so destructive towards women, children and families. how do you walk away from ballot initiatives and laws that are chipping away at a woman's right to choose and now access to contraception? how do you walk away from having panels on women's health on

insurance where you will not allow one woman to participate? >> and thus, that's the button there. where are the women? what is the mood inside congress on that? >> he even called me a liar. he said i was lying. cy. >> that was darrell issa. >> i went to the floor and showed a picture of all of the min on the front panel and said if he could point to one woman, number one, i didn't make a statement, i asked a question. where are the women? he couldn't point to one. and then further when we pushed it, said she was unqualified. i would venture to say that any woman is more qualified to talk about women's health than any man, but he did apologize. and i appreciate that, but women should it be at all the tables and at all the discussions and this disregard of their input, the republican party's actions in this area many women are saying we've had enough. and that's why you're seeing -- >> congresswoman. >> these huge gasp. >> republican women. congress have to be looking at this and saying we are chopping

ourselves off at the knees. is there a discussion amongst your peers what the republican caucus is doing? >> yes, there is. and i had one with oh limpium snow actually this past weekend when she was in new york. she's very public about it. she mentioned it in her public statements and she sees a roll back of a attacks on women of work together in a productive way to bring change for the country. >> but she's leaving which is unfortunate. >> she said one of the reasons she's leaving is because of this total breakdown between -- >> congresswoman, to your point earlier though, how does someone like mitt romney now say that when he said publicly repeatedly, i will remove and defund and eviscerate planned parenthood, how does he now as you say pivot from that? >> martini want to point out that right now, the federal law is that no federal funds can be used for abortion. and planned parenthood is the

number one provider of health care to millions and millions of women even goldwater supported reagan supported, george bush inspired planned parenthood. so this whole effort to the defund it which happened in the house, they voted to defund planned parenthood in the house of representatives and texas voted to defund it. so when women see this, it's frightening to them. go by any planned parenthood office in any place across the country and you will see women lined up waiting to get primary health care. >> catherine, when we talk about the pivot, we have so much to talk about the pivot/the etch a sketch or whatever it is that mitt romney needs to do to make up lost ground. there's talk today about his vp. maybe it's giving the nod to kelly ayotte from the new hampshire, she's a woman. suzannah martinez. a lot of names floated out there. to martin's point, what can he do to ameliorate his image.

>> it's going to be difficult and back to the whole legislative body state and national that you can't run away from. it's not a matter of changing your conversation because this has now spawned all of this extraordinary legislation. py expect his pick will probably be very safe and more predictable. i don't know that he will look for a woman who get the women's vote. i think the given what we saw in '08, i think he wants to be safe, predictable, comfortable, balanced. >> if he really wanted to resolve the problem, he could do it in one fell swoop and stand up and say i'm going to have a female as a v. bang goes the argument that he's negative. >> but the memory of sarah palin i think is still fresh in everybody's mind. so the question is, can senator rob partman put on a wig and take that be thing across the country? >> is he into cross dressing? >>. okay. >> we have to leave it there. but we will be talking about

more of this after the break as well as the fact that president obama and mitt romney have found agreement on at least one thing. they both think women should be granted membership at the augusta national golf club. we will discuss that next on "now." [ male announcer ] this is the network -- a living, breathing intelligence teaching data how to do more for business. [ beeping ] in here, data knows what to do. because the network finds it and tailors it across all the right points, automating all the right actions... [ beeping ] ...to bring all the right results. it's the at&t network -- doing more with data to help business do more for customers.

♪ riding the dog like it's a small horse is frowned upon in this establishment! luckily though, ya know, i conceal this bad boy underneath my blanket just so i can get on e-trade. check my investment portfolio, research stocks... wait, why are you taking... oh, i see...solitary. just a man and his thoughts. and a smartphone... with an e-trade app. ♪ nobody knows...

[ male announcer ] e-trade. investing unleashed. [ male announcer ] e-trade. i remember the day my doctor told me i have an irregular heartbeat, and that it put me at 5-times greater risk of a stroke. i was worried. i worried about my wife, and my family. bill has the most common type of atrial fibrillation, or afib. it's not caused by a heart valve problem. he was taking warfarin, but i've put him on pradaxa instead. in a clinical trial, pradaxa 150 mgs reduced stroke risk 35% more than warfarin without the need for regular blood tests. i sure was glad to hear that. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding, and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have a bleeding condition like stomach ulcers, or take aspirin, nsaids, or bloodthinners, or if you have kidney problems, especially if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all medicines you take, any planned medical or dental procedures,

and don't stop taking pradaxa without your doctor's approval, as stopping may increase your stroke risk. other side effects include indigestion, stomach pain, upset, or burning. pradaxa is progress. if you have afib not caused by a heart valve problem, ask your doctor if you can reduce your risk of stroke with pradaxa. as golfers make their way through the second round at augusta tal national today, there is renewed focus on the private club's all male membership policy. at the center of the controversy is the question of tradition versus equality. martin, this unsurprisingly has become sort of something that everybody -- >> i don't even play golf. why are you throwing this at me? >> because you're an outsider like all of us. >> badly here, i can feel it. >> jay carney, the white house press secretary says it's obviously up to the club to decide but his personal opinion, the president's is women should be admitted.

ca lis tal gingrich says she's a golfer and would like to play. >> newt thought she would be a great golferer there. >> i thought callista is had given up an opinion for lent. >> that's breaking news. >> i think she's broken lent. >> we finally found one thing we all agree on, the president, newt and mitt that everybody should be able to play at augusta. >> you've got a ceo now of ibm, major sponsor that's a woman and the ceo has always been allowed to play. so you know, all of a sudden now you're going to take the money from ibm, you're going to sponsor, but change the rules? >> it's worth noting. >> legislation they could not deduct their contributions to any club, including augusta that discriminates and bars women because this is just the tip of the iceberg. it's stereotyping of women. >> yes. >> it is depriving them of mentors. it is depriving them of the business deal that is made on the golf course and really shows them as unequal that they can't

be part of the club. why should they get a ax deduction for that? it's outrageous. >> it speaks to misogny in today's society. women can play the course, they can't be members. various rules and regulations to keep them away from the real game. >> absolutely. we have this discussion every year and i think what's sad, i was listening, we have this discussion every year and nothing is done. and even president obama and newt gingrich and mitt romney everyone is saying women should be part. is anyone taking any strong stands? >> i think they're seeking steps backward. >> in 2002, i literally went to augusta with the national women's council to protest the discrimination with -- >> did you have the same pin on, where are the women? >> this is from the recent occurrence. >> it's unfortunate that that pinots no season. >> people are doing now very few people have resigned.

your viewers should resign if they believe there should be equality of treatment towards women even at augusta. >> we have much more to discuss on this topic. unfortunately, martin bashir, we are dismissing him from the charlie's angels. >> desperate to go. i'm getting beaten up. surrounded by these brains. if you ever of wanted evidence of why women are equal, here it is right now in front of you. i've been eviscerated. look at you. >> our a champion for your sex, martin. >> and the great martin bashir how get to see again right here at 3:00 p.m. eastern time on the esteemed martin bashir show. coming up, the war on women erupts at the state level. the hot spots where the lightning rod legislation is taking shape. that's next. guys. come here, come here. ing my old dealership. [ man ] may ford.

hi, yeah. do you guys have any crossovers that offer better highway fuel economy than the chevy equinox? no, sorry, sir. we don't. oh, well, that's too bad. [ man ] kyle, is that you? [ laughs ] [ man ] still here, kyle. [ male announcer ] visit your local chevy dealer today. right now, very well qualified lessees can get a 2012 equinox ls for around $229 a month. crisp, clear, untouched. that's why there's brita, to make the water we drink, taste a little more, perfect. reduce lead and other impurities with the advanced filtration system of brita.

tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about that 401(k) you picked up back in the '80s. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 like a lot of things, the market has changed, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and your plans probably have too. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so those old investments might not sound so hot today. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we'll give you personalized recommendations tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 on how to reinvest that old 401(k) tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and help you handle all of the rollover details. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and bring your old 401(k) into the 21st century. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550

we are talking about the war on women and or caterpillars. ben smith is rejoining the panel playing the role of charlie. we were talking about what mitt romney needs to do to win back women voters and we have news breaking news that there is a new romney out entitled if family," and stars ann romney talking about her role raising five or is it six sons? i can't remember. >> five. >> just five. what do you think he needs to do strategically? ann romney seems to be his best surrogate for this moment in time. >> yeah, they have this very clear partnership. he's better when he she's out there. she's i think basically at this point in the campaign a better speaker than he is. she's a really engaging character. that's clearly part of the appeal. but i think many, most every presidential candidate has a spouse who is presentable and who people like. that's sort of basically part of

the deal. that's probably not all. i think you're going to see him on policy start to pivot away from the stances he's been forced into during the primary. pennsylvania is interesting. there's an ultrasound law there being debated. i imagine he'll get questions from the local press where he is on it. i think that might be a movement when he starts to move away. >> catherine, we talked a lot during the sandra fluke, rush limbaugh moment how mitt romney didn't use that to his advantage. a lot of folks don't think of him as a raging feminist. he could have said this is wrong. he didn't do that. are you optimistic he may take the baton and run with it as we talk about women's health issues and women's rights? >> the primary campaign may still be a little early. it's obvious and history teaches any political candidate you'd better run back to the center. but how he does it is given the very declarative statements that he's made, you know, and given

the movement of the entire party across the state and national electorate, i think it becomes very difficult and he wantston keep that core base that he is struggling so hard to grasp invigorated and if he starts running to the center, will they sit on their hands? will they stay home? >> what is going to happen at the state level too? we've talked about bills in arizona and mississippi and missouri and, of course, in virginia. interesting comment from the arizona legislate tore who is a republican, senator michele regan says i was much waing the news the other night and saw something i've never seen. they were making fun of arizona and saying we've gone over the top on this bill. i thought i don't want my party to be the minority. do you think the republican legislators are going to pivot, whatever you want to call it. >> i would say when you look at the whole area of everything happening, not only in congress with legislation to roll back women's access to contraceptives and choice, but choice they've been chipping away at it a long

time but now it's gone to contraception. if you look at the initiatives across the states, it's horrifying to most women. take the virginia law. it started out there had to be a vaginal sonogram. by any other name that would have been called sexual assault. it was rolled back to a regular sonogram. still, there are 17 states that the have ballot initiatives that really rog back access or block access to contraception. this is new in american politics in my lifetime. there was always chipping away at choice. now they've moved to planned parenthood, exaccepted areas of public policy. you're talking about health, spacing and timing your children, protecting your health. >> economic prosperity for one-half of the country's population. carolyn maloney, it was a pleasure to have you on the program. we hope you don't have to wear that button for much longer.

>> after the break as the traditions of passover and good friday coincide, today we will take a closer look at the commingling of religion and politics. deepak chopra joins the panel next. i used to only wear sun protection on a beach day. now, i wear it every day. because damaging uv rays are everywhere with olay daily complete uv, its possible to block 92% of harmful rays for naturally beautiful skin in any light. olay daily uv.

♪ home was an airport lounge and an ipad ♪ ♪ made sure his credit score did not go bad ♪ ♪ with a free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ app that he had ♪ downloaded it in the himalayas ♪ ♪ while meditating like a true playa ♪ ♪ now when he's surfing down in chile'a ♪ ♪ he can see when his score is in danger ♪ ♪ if you're a mobile type on the go ♪ ♪ i suggest you take a tip from my bro ♪ ♪ and download the app that lets you know ♪ ♪ at free-credit-score-dot-com now let's go. ♪ vo: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. arrival. with hertz gold plus rewards, you skip the counters, the lines, and the paperwork. zap. it's our fastest and easiest way to get you into your car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

bayer aspirin... ohh, no no no. i'm not having a heart attack, it's my head. this is made for pain. [ male announcer ] bayer advanced aspirin enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes extra strength relief to the sight of your pain. feel better? yeah...thanks for the tip! ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ flapping continues ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at nissan, our ideal is innovation. 5 all-new models over the next 15 months,

including a completely reimagined altima. welcome to our most innovative year ever. nissan. innovation for all. ♪ at the start of passover and on good friday, faith is on the minds of many across the nation. but has religion gone too far into the public square and should it have a role in politics? joining the panel is dr. deepak chopra. he is the author of several books. his latest "the spiritual solutions, answers to life's greatest challenges oixts i cannot wait to read this back because i need as many spiritual solutions as possible. i want to call your attention to an article in foreign affairs magazine written by andrew preston. he says not everyone shares the united states religious world view which has twos components

that do not sit easily with one other. an embrace of religious liberty historically grounded in the separation of church and state. i wonder if we think about sort of the american religious mind. do you think it's changed significant lit that we have the more religion in many obviousliable in politics, but in sort of normalized secular discourse? >> i think we have a return to more dogma ideology, fundamentalism. as a result, we have more polarization, moraysism, more eth though centricism, more bigotry and more presently de-- prejudice. >> what do you think accounts for that? >> fear. >> for economic reasons or. >> fear of losing one's identity to a certain expent it america is a melting pot. people are coming here from all over the world. new york is a micro yox of the

whole planet. there are certain parts of this country that are scared of that that don't want to lose the identity. >> what's interesting right now the is that if we look at the race for president we have on one hand the likely nominee is going to be a mormon and the other, our president is a christian but has been accused of being a muslim by many corners of the right. andrew sullivan in the daily beast rights the ability to be faithful in a religious base and reasonable in at trophied befor. >> catherine, what do you make of that? >> one of my favorite quotes is from john adams, ideology is the science of idiots. you go back and see the diversity among the founders whether it was jefferson to the quakers to the protestants and you realize their whole conversation was how do we have a ethical moral society? you can get your ethics in morality shared from many places, but religion was a very common way of getting it.

so all the diverse comments from the founders were all about religion is one very effective tool top impose hidden laws. ethical, moral structure which a society needs a little society needs. unless you go back and understand that, then you can get caught in these ideological games that we're christian or this or that. no, we need to be enforcing ethics and morality in which religion is a very important component. >> several j. deon takes sort of a page from that blaybook and says if east ser about liberation, this must include intellectual freedom. it will involves a tempered approach to politics involving a steady quest. elections even as important as this year's should not routinely be cast as armageddon. the idea that you can be faithful but that that faith and

that faith can inform your political positions but should not dictate your policy is a nuance that i think is greatly lost on perhaps -- >> the base which you should form your values is truth, goodness, harmony, love, compassion, forgiveness, the golden rule. they're universal. you don't have to belong to any religion or you can even be an atheist and have those values. >> i'm going to say something probably terrible injenious. in this campaign season, most of the candidates have been pretty sincere seemingly to me about their religion. mitt romney has come under a lot of fire, why doesn't he talk more about mormonism? should he talk more about it than newt gingrich talks about catholicism? to me they've done a pretty decent job of saying religion has influenced some of thai thinking. it's not the thing they're all talking about all the time. people may disagree with that.

i think there is a quality of sincerity about it that i haven't seen in previous campaigns. >> you can give the republican party some credit, right in the a party that a lot of people, a lot of democrats thought being taken over by evangelicals, many of whom believe mormonism is not a form -- and is likely to nominate a mormon presumably regardless of their theological views on what he believes. >> we talk about mitt romney on women and a host of issues. a lot of people think for mitt romney not only has religion been a defining theme in his life, he's very, very involved in the mormon church, it's shape the who he is. for a lot of -- in a lot of ways what race was to barack obama, religion may be for mitt romney. >> he barely talks about it. >> that's precisely the point. >> he's very happy to discard his views to -- >> you don't agree it shaped. >> certainly shaped his identity. i don't think he cares about

social issues informed by religion. if he did, he won't have switched his position so often. >> you can argue the veracity of saying you're faithful and having the position he's had. i do think there is some desire to have him come out and say something about his mormon faith. i want to play this sound, an exchange on monday about interracial marriage. he basically shuts it down as soon as he's asked about it. >> in the mormon wobook, it say there was a blackness. >> we're not going to have a discussion of religion. if you have a question, i'll be happy to answer your question. >> do you believe it's a sin for a white man to marry and procreate with a blacking? >> no, next question. >> good answer. >> it's a good answer. he's basically saying if he were here talking about his religion, it's possible we would be saying look at the way he's letting religion influence politics. he said look, this is what i am. >> the mormon church banned black priests until 1978.

>> all religions you'll find those problems, every religion. i think the difference between morenism and say the catholic church with all due dishonest, bigger following. all religions are cults with large followings, period. >> the issue is, the arkansas supreme court justice. >> ray: moore got bumped and now he's back in the political mix because he's basically saying god's laws come first and then man's laws. and i'm sorry, in our court system, you've got to look to manmade laws. which may or may not controvert your own religious belief. that's where it becomes important. are you going to supersede the law of caesar, jesus said render under god what's god and under caesar what's caesar. >> if you're going to supersede our political society with your own religious belief, then the electorate should be worried. but if you have beliefs that have shaped and informed you but you understand the role, then

it's not such a great concern. >> something tells me that this is not the last time that romney is going to be asked about his mormon faith. >> and if he's not embarrassed about it, then he should be open about it. >> the i don't think it's an issue of embarrassment but it's about -- >> if he's uncomfortable, that's not a good sign. >> it is not indeed. dr. deepak chopra, thank you so much for your time. we look forward to more discussions with you in the future. we have breaking news. the navy is confirm agf-18 jet has crashed in virginia beach. we have more on that story in the coming minutes and hours ahead. that's breaking news an f-18 jet has crashed in virginia beach this afternoon. we will be back more next on "now."

you know, those farmers, those foragers, those fishermen.... for me, it's really about building this extraordinary community. american express is passionate about the same thing. they're one of those partners that i would really rely on whether it's finding new customers, or, a new location for my next restaurant. when we all come together, my restaurants, my partners,

and the community amazing things happen. to me, that's the membership effect.

mitt romney believes the general election is upon us. president obama insists he's still doing his day job. it's time to look back and ask, what just happened? >> all the endorsements and all

the inevitability and all the phony math. >> this week, great expectations. >> we feel like we might pull off an upset here tomorrow in wisconsin. >> met with cold, hard reality. >> we won them all. >> and so it would seem the game is on. >> you want to play big boy, come on, big boy, let's play. game on. >> despite the fact that the president is still most certainly definitely not on the campaign trail. >> it is a trojan horse. a radical vision on our country. it is thinly veiled social darwinism. >> he is making speeches that sound like the start of a campaign. >> president obama is focused on legislating. the stock act, the jobs act, and the stash act. >> $250 tax deduction for the cost of maintaining their mustache. >> anything we get out of the government is great. >> mitt romney ready for the general is having a hard time connecting. >> hello, is this carol? good morning, lois. this is mitt romney calling.

have you ever heard of me? >> he even called it will marvelous. that's a word you don't often hear generally. >> i do worry about every american and the poor, i probably as much as anyone if not more. >> so the republican front-runner is enlisting some is your grats. >> i wish ann were here. >> i guess we'd better unzip him and let the real mitt romney out. >> and borrowing a few lines from his friends at the white house. >> i would be willing to consider the president's plan but he doesn't have one. >> when it comes to his public character, he doesn't have a core. >> he has taken a series of steps that end medicare as we know it. >> it will ultimately end medicare as we know it. >> if all else fails, romney can always count on the conservative base. >> it seems he is the nominee. are you happy with that? >> you know, anything is still possible. there can still be a bit of a shake-up. >> but with a record like his, will voters still be wondering where is the beef? >> is this moose, caribou? >> well, we don't know where the

beef is, but we know where the marshmallow peeps are. look at that. that is maybe the best thing to ever come out -- to ever be on the show for sure. it's probably worth putting this in a little context. our 100th show was on tuesday, i think buzzfeed sent us 100 boxes of peeps. what do you do with peeps other than there's -- those are some of the hundreds of peeps we have in the office. i have about seven cavities. and so we decided to make a set, actually, i had no role in this, angela dubois and sarah schwartz from the art department. >> fabulous. >> sarah schulze. sorry. made this. it's incredible. and we're expecting you to eat all of these peeps when we're done, ben. >> i hear there's going to be a peep eating contest. >> there will abe contest. we'll see if you can eat more than four peeps in 28 seconds. if we talk about what happened, who has the most work to do? >> mitt romney. do you know me?

and ann romney too, who she's going to go out there and be wooing women voters but that unzip comment, talk about words she wishes she could pull back. >> talk about uncomfortable, unzip mitt romney. josh? >> mitt romney. i don't think there's any doubt he's up against a very difficult election campaign. he's got a president who is a very smooth campaigner and romney has to bring the very strains of things he has had out there, different ideologies, bring them together and weave a tale and quickly. >> the same thing. it's not just a matter of is he going to run to the center but all the criticism about him as a candidate will continue as he moves into general election mode and will he be able to change that. >> we will see. mitt romney, if there is a peep-sized marshmallow, perhaps accept send him out this weekend. that's all for now. i'll see you back here monday at noon eastern/9:00 a.m. facebook.

"andrea mitchell reports" is next. happy tried to you. >> happy easter to you. and thanks so much, alex. coming up here, the documentary and bully" gets a new rating and will be seen by the very kids it is meant to help. the director and one of the teens featured in the film will be joining me with their reaction. ladies still will not be bearing the green jackets as the augusta. we're there live for the update. and fun ronald reagan weren't running today? could he win the nomination? president obama doesn't think so. we'll find out more and, of course, the jobless report next. here's to more saturdays in the sun. and budgets better spent. here's to turning rookies - into experts, and shoppers into savers. here's to picking up. trading up. mixing it up. to well-earned muddy boots. and a lot more - spring per dollar. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot.

wipe out weeds for less, with bayer advanced durazone weed and grass killer, now just $19.88. like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. dollar for dollar, so i test... a lot. do you test with this? freestyle lite test strips? i don't see... beep! wow! that didn't take much blood. yeah, and the unique zipwik tab targets the blood and pulls it in. so easy. yep. freestyle lite needs just a third the blood of onetouch ultra. really? so testing is one less thing i have to worry about today. great. call or click today and get strips and a meter free. test easy.

sorry. sore knee. blast of cold feels nice. why don't you use bengay zero degrees? it's the one you store in the freezer. gives that instant cold sensation. that's chilly. same medicated pain reliever used by physical therapists. and it lasts for hours. [ sigh of relief ] [ short breath ] [ longer breath ] [ short breath ] [ male announcer ] new bengay zero degrees. freeze and move on. i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. we begin with breaking news out of virginia beach, virginia, where the naerve is now confirming an f-18 fighter jet has crashed. the pentagon confirms it went down outside the base but cannot confirm reports that it struck an apartment bu