rick santorum returns to trail later today but how will he answer questions whether he's staying in the race? no signs of a pullback by syria's government forces as kofi annan tries to salvage his cease-fire plan. inside north korea, nbc's richard engel as the north says its rocket is ready for launch. an emotional suspension. miami marlins' manager ozzie guillen banned for five games suspended because he said he loves fidel. >> i cannot say it's unfair, unfair. they make that decision. to me, it's very sad situation because i -- they're playing good baseball right now, to not be there for them, and that's important for me to be with the club.

but that decision is made, i respect that decision. >> good day. i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. president obama will be making a populous pitch aim administer in boca raton, florida. the president is urging dong raise taxes on millionaires on the buffett rule. though it look likes an obama/romney contest, rick santorum is still officially running, or is he? chris cillizza an msnbc contribute somewhere manager editor of post politics.com and nbc's ron mott joins us gettysburg, pennsylvania, traveling with the santorum campaign. chris, let me go first to ron, because ron, are you hearing anything new here? we want to talk about the buffett rule and all of that and what paul ryan said. i just got an e-mail from somebody close to the campaign who said, just make sure you have a camera there in gettysburg. what are you hearing? because we know some people inside the campaign suggested that santorum get out before pennsylvania's primary to avoid

the embarrassment of losing his home state. >> reporter: absolutely. good day to you, andrea. we reporters are prone to ask questions, and when we got the word late last night, it was almost midnight for me, he was cancel two events in western pers pennsylvania two hours from here, scheduling an event in gettysburg, that got people think, is he going to drop out of the race? my producer asked an aide what he's going to talk about and met with a shrug. we don't know officially. we do know, over the weekend, the family was concerned in dealing with the health of the 3-year-old daughter bela, she was released from a hospital last night. folks, including conservatives, around pen and around the country were saying he should drop out of the race before the election here on the 24th to avoid that embarrassment, as you mentioned, of losing in his home state. he lost his 2006 re-election bid in a major way, almost 18 points in that race to bob casey. people are saying good that he's gained here with his improvable run would be washed away if he

were to contend with mitt romney on the race on the 24th in pennsylvania and lose it. so we'll have to wait and see at 2:00 p.m. eastern what this is all. right now, officially, we do not know. >> looking forward, chris cillizza, first, on the santorum will he stay, will he go, we know there had been leaks over the weekend he was being stubborn and wanted to keep going on but that people close to him were telling him that he should pull the plug. this has all of the signs of a really decisive day in the santorum campaign. >> yeah. i mean, andrea, i will tell you, as of last night, i checked with senior fished in the campaign and they said there are no plans, he plans to continue forward. but what we know how these things end -- and i have no inside information about what rick santorum's going to say or not -- but what we know is that these things end whet whn the candidate decides they end. it's possible that rick santorum, you know, over the weekend thought he wanted to stay in, maybe he woke up and said he wanted to goat out, vice versa, the aides don't

necessarily know because it's the candidate's decision when he wants to stay in and when they want to get out. i don't think it's outside the realm of possibility what i heard last night and today are two different things. i think that's jut just how these things happen. you're rick santorum, he's outspent -- being outspent currently $2 million-0 on the television airwaves in pennsylvania. >> the the e-mail i got said, make sure you've got a camera, which could mean either thing but could be leaning towards him making some news, news would obviously ending a campaign. now to the larger issue, which is the what looks like the general election matchup. this was paul ryan being talked about as a potential running mate, paul ryan on "morning joe." i think people think the buffett rule is sort of a budget pixie dust if we do this, we'll fix our fiscal problems. >> no. >> it pays for 6% of the

president's proposed deficit spending. two, it represents a huge tax increase on job creators. why don't we stop subsidizing the rich? why are we subsidizing warren buffett's? >> i love to get ron in on this as well, this is shaping up as the populace versus budget cutting general themes of the campaign. >> no question, andrea. look, the white house and the obama campaign believe they have something with the buffett rule. you have the president speaking about it today in florida, vice president biden speaking about it late in the pledging it's a center piece going forward. the thing i say, and i continue to say this when i see paul ryan is speaking publicly, if he's trying to be the vice president, he's doing the kind of things that mitt romney would need a vice president to do. he's using pretty hot rhetoric,

tantrums, pixie dust, pushing back very hard on the president of the united states which is traditionally that kind of attack dog role that the vice president assumes. i'm not saying, i'm just saying. >> you're just saying. speaking of just saying, here's george w. bush at bush institute conference in new york today talking about those bush tax ut c cuts. >> i wish they weren't called the bush tax cuts. if they're called some other body's tax cuts they're probably less likely to be raised. >> ron mott, we haven't seen him in a while. he hasn't been very outspoken, but it's really interesting he's appearing today and talking about the bush tax cuts, the tax cuts which are of course going to be big campaign issue, as we head towards the potential of expiration. >> reporter: absolutely, andrea. one of the things, too, with rick santorum, after the loss last week to -- in wisconsin to

mitt romney it seemed that mitt romney made a hard pivot away from really campaigning against rick santorum and now is focused almost solely on president obama. so in some ways symbolically, losing wisconsin last week for rick santorum seemed to be the beginning of perhaps the end here because it was yet another defeat in the industrial heartland. this part of the country that may decide this election in november, ohio, michigan, wisconsin, states that he's all lost to mitt romney. so the tax issues aside, he hasn't been able to win in places that are going to be very important for republicans and democrats in the fall, and i think that perhaps that is probably what the campaign, if it ends today, is probably going to look for as a hook to say when it was time to get out. >> and just one final thought for the both of you, we'll be tracking all of this at "the washington post," abc poll today, just ratifying the fact that there is a real gender gap problem, some has come from some of the comments that rick santorum made on social issue but republicans, including mitt

romney, tagged by it now. you see it's a 19-point gap, which is a really big gender gap going into a fall campaign if it is indeed the campaign we expect. thanks chris cillizza, thanks ron mott. i know you're right there in gettysburg with breaking news. if you hear anything, call. we'll be seeing you as the news conference in less than an hour. president obama turning up the heat in florida today as he continues it push for the so-called buffett rule. the president is targeting rivals for their budget and tax plans. republicans are not holding back either. here's what paul ryan said a little more of paul ryan on "morning joe." you know, we're kind of used to these verbal tantrums from the president, unfortunately -- >> that was a verbal tantrum? >> i would think so. look at it this way, we propose to increase annual federal spending from $3.6 million a year to $4.9 instead of the president's $5.5 trillion. that makes us social darwinists.

>> joining me now gene sperling, a man never known for verbal tantrums. gene, great to see you. your response to pixie dust and verbal tantrums? >> look, the president's proposing the buffett rule as part of an overall agenda he has for growth, jobs and long-term deficit reduction. what's very important about the buffett rule is not only does it contribute to deficit reduction, but it contributes to the trust and fairness that the american people would have in our current government and also in the prospects of future tax reform. if people believe that tax reform or efforts we're going to make to bring the deficit down are going to, once again, lead to situations where the very most fortunate, people make multimillion dollars, even billionaires, are able to pay less taxes than typical hard-working middle income families, that is bad for our fiscal situation, but it's bad for our values of fairness and

it's bad for trust. for people to hear that the 400 most well-off americans are paying an average of 18% in taxes when you've got teater te construct workers, nurses who put that much in an hour of overtime, working hard to support families, that's not good for our deficit. it not good for our sense of fairness and again, i don't think it's good for trust in government and trust in the kind of tax reform that we will need to both bring down rates but also bring down our deficit. >> what do you say to paul ryan's point that this is really pennies, less than pennies, on the dollar in terms of the deficit? so you're talking about an infinitesimal amount of money raised were the buffett rule passed. >> well, first of all, compared to current law right now, i mean compared to where tax rates are now, the buffett rule would raise $160 billion.

i don't think the public believes that $160 billion of -- is insignificant. and i don't think they think that having $160 billion in having the most high income americans pay their fair share is somehow a worse alternative than his plans that would take away health care for people in nursing homes, families with people with disabilities. if you accepted the president's plan to have the bush tax cuts for the most well-off go back up to not be extended, it would raise $50 billion. either way, it's a significant amount of money and i don't think -- i didn't know that paul ryan poo-poos $50 billion for $160 billion in deficit reduction and it's fair component of how to grow the economy and bring down the deficit than his plans which i think would have a harsh effect on investment, medical research

and education. >> gene -- i didn't mean to rupt -- jason fuhrman at the white house conceded it would be $47 billion which is .6% of the $7 trillion deficit. so it really isn't -- i mean it's not an insignificant amount of money, it's a lot of money to you and i but in comparison to the overall deficit. >> andrea, as i said, this is a component of the president's overall deficit reduction plan, a component of his overall jobs and growth plan. i think that worst thing that paul ryan or anyone should do is to look at any particular item and say, if that one item is only, quote, only $50 billion or only $160 billion, it's not worth doing when it's only going to affect people who make over $1 million, but somehow it's incredibly important to find $50 billion or $160 billion when it's affecting poor children or

people in nursing homes or families who have a child with autism or down syndrome. this business priorities. to your numbers, andrea, right now at top rate is 35%, that's what paul ryan and others would to loo continue. if you added the buffett rule to where it's 35% at the top rate, it would raise $160 billion. that's a fact. if you close some of that gap by having the bush tax cuts, not be extended for the most high income that would accomplish -- that would get some of the way in making sure that people make over $1 million are paying their fair share. but the buffett rule would add an extra $50 billion. and here's my question to paul ryan, if he doesn't think it's that significant, if he doesn't think it's going to affect that many multimillionaires and billionaires, then why not come join us and let's have a bipartisan agreement that as part of tax reform going forward, we're going to make

sure that people who make over $1 million are not paying less in taxes than hard-working, middle class families who are struggling every day to make ends meet. if it's not that big of a deal, come on, come john us. let's have a bipartisan agreement. i'm sure we could have a nice rose garden signing sarah pal c could be part of. >> we'll keep it going, thank you gene sperling. thanks for joining us today. and up next -- is it decision time for rick santorum? plus, a question of faith. politics and religion, all of that ahead on "andrea mitchell reports."d and his, uh, retement plan. one golden crown. come on frank how long have we known each other? go to e-trade. they got killer tools man. they'll help you nail a retirement plan that's fierce. two golden crowns. you realize the odds of winning are the same as being mauled by a polar bear and a regular bear in the same day? frank! oh wow, you didn't win? i wanna show you something... it's my shocked face.

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? just two weeks, mitt romney could be delivering a humiliating blow to rick santorum if romney were carry

pennsylvania. will santorum stay in long enough to find out? former pennsylvania governor and msnbc political analyst, ed rendell. let's talk about all of the signals aides saying, have a camera there in gettysburg, cancellation of a couple of events, we know he had family problems, illness of the child over the weekend, but it does indicate, i don't know if you're picking anything up from republicans in pennsylvania, whether we'll see the end of rick santorum's cal pain today. >> i don't know for sure but i think he should. i've been saying for a week, ever since the last round of primaries that rick should know when to declare victory. by victory, he's done incredibly well. think back to before iowa and if anybody said that rick santorum would win ten primaries, be the last conservative voice standing in the race, he's done remarkably well for himself. he did it when hes and a happy warrior, champion of conservative causes.

he's gotten testy in the last couple of weeks but now if he hangs on and he loses pennsylvania, and that's a very real possibility, it will wipe away all of the good that he's done for himself for the future. all he'll be remembered as the guy who couldn't carry his home state when by contrast, governor romney carried massachusetts with 74% of the vote. so i think it's in rick's interest to get out, to be the loyal soldier, to say he'll do anything that governor romney wants him do going down the trail and declare victory. he's just done way better than any of us would have expected. >> and the other thing that we've been looking at is this new "the washington post"/abc poll, a 19-point gender gap in a romney/obama fall matchup. a lot is attributed to the social issues that rick santorum focused on which are also attached to romney because he didn't push back when controversies occurred. is there a way of pivoting, of using the etch a sketch for romney to try to figure out a

way to deal with the woman problem? >> yes and no. i think governor romney missed a huge opportunity when rush limbaugh made the ridiculous comments. governor romney should have condemned the comments and said, look, women have the right to use contraception, that doesn't make them bad people, it's just a common sense decision they make for themselves. he should have stood up, just like he should have stood up at the first or second republican debate, they booed the gay soldier who was on the phone talking about his issue. governor romney should have stepped up there and said, look, that's inappropriate to boo him. he's putting his life on the line for you and me and it doesn't matter what his sexual orientation is, he's a loyal, patriotic american, so let's give him a hand. even if the audience booed him he would have stood up and shown leadership, strength and ability. he's missed that chance. can he walk it back? yes, to a degree. remember, there's david axelrod

out there and david axelrod has a very good memory. >> what about the fact that the obama campaign is still struggling? their super pac struggling against the republican superpacks. crossroads about to hammer the president. he has a lot at stake here if he doesn't define himself before they define him. >> sure. you're talking about the super pac imbalance. but he's got a campaign, plus he'll raise far more than the romney for president campaign will raise and he's raised substantial amount of money. he's got spend some of the money early. i believe if the republican super pacs go after him too viciously, that will be the best motivator for people to start contributing to his super pac. rate now, his super pac's having a problem people say gosh we hear he's going to raise $1 billion for his own campaign, what does he need our money for? if the attacks are vicious, you'll see donors stepping up to

the plate who might otherwise have stood on the sidelines. next, the politico briefing. can dick lugar survive a conservative challenge? this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. but we were determined to see it through. today, while our work continues, i want to update you on the progress: bp has set aside 20 billion dollars to fund economic and environmental recovery. we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years. thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i'm glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp.

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our fastest way to return your car. just note your mileage and zap ! you're outta there ! we'll e-mail your receipt in a flash, too. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. >> dick lugar, 35 years in washington, voted for bailouts, tax hikes and obama supreme court justices. >> he's become the only republican candidate in indiana with an f-rating from the nra. >> joining me now is politico's alex burns. dick lugar has a real challenge, and i think the fear that he and

others in his camp have right now that is he will suffer the way senator bennett suffered, who got -- he didn't get to the primary because of tea party and club for growth opposition. dick lugar, though, veteran, former foreign relations committee chairman, he's really endangered now and the latest is that he can't even vote in his own senate race because they discovered he doesn't live in indiana. >> andrea, i think republicans are pessimistic about lugar's ability to urn it the primary around when you have had an incumbent that's been around as long as he has, polling under 50%, where he is in internal polling, when you have an incumbent like him under 50%, it's tough to get back the majority that he needs especially when your opponent is somebody like richard murdoch, who this guy's a state treasurer of indiana, not talking about a sharon engel, christine o'donnell-type here. >> you've unearthed this road scholar appeal for help for

lugar, fellow road sclars pointed out he left oxford to join the navy, lugar is the principal reason we don't have a lot of former cold war fissile material floating around the world and getting into the hands of terror groups. there are a lot of accomplishments that this former mayor of indianapolis has but he is really in trouble. it's interesting to see this appeal from road scholars saying they don't normally support republicans and conservatives. >> right. yeah, it's a short of perfect summing up of what an establishment titan richard lugar is. all of the accomplishments and this sort of rhodes scholar call to arms mentioned this is not necessarily what's on the plimi of the electorate in indiana. >> this is a tough race to follow and the campaign, heating up, i think the indiana primary,

is it may 4th? >> may -- early may. >> early may. >> may 8th. >> thank you very much. coming up here, north korea says it is ready to launch. plus, kofi annan waiting for that cease-fire as time runs out in syria. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. over a million people have discovered how easy it is to use legalzoom for important legal documents. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 you and your money deserve. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, that means taking a close look at you tdd# 1-800-345-2550 as well as your portfolio.

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billion during the dot come era into two teachers and an administrator anonymous after claim their portion of the mega millions jackpot. $218 million in total about a winner in kansas stepped forward on friday. it is not known who has that third winning ticket sold in illinois. and the white house is squaring off with north korea over the launch of a rocket that the u.s. says can carry a ballistic missile. the u.s. says it would be a flagrant violation of u.n. resolutions about so far the north is not backing down. richard engel has more from the north korean capital of pyongyang, what is now a war of words. >> reporter: as you know, we've seen this brinksmanship from north korea before. it generally follows a pattern, north korea will create a crisis, like this proposed rocket launch, which is supposed to take place between the 12th and the 16th of this month, in

fact north korea said today the rocket is ready to go right now. then, after this crisis, there's international condemnation, that come den nation is already coming from the u.s. state department saying it will further isolation north korea then, north korea takes it up one more notch, by doing something even more provocative, potentially in this case, and this is speculation from south korea, exploding a nuclear device in an underground test. then there is more condemnationing a full-blown crisis and north korea tries to back down but it -- from its perspective, backing down from a position of strength. it is a dangerous game but is it the political theater that is playing out here. and the reason i say political theater, andrea, if you listen closely behind me, you can hear orchestra music and across this city today we saw people out cleaning the streets, hanging flags in the streets and just across the river behind me, they are warming up their instruments, planning for several days of parades and

concerts, as the -- as north korea marks the centennial, 100 years since the birth of north korea's founder, and shows its strength and defiance to the world, and part of that is this rocket test. it is certain will a dangerous game. we'll see how it plays out. >> thanks to richard engel, reporting on nightly news his rare access to pyongyang. kofi an an appealing to stop the bloodshed, exsuppressing frustration over the violence that has gone unchecked despite the week's planned cease-fire deadline. >> i had hoped that by now we would have been much further ahead along the road with the government of syria honoring its commitment and all of the parties beginning to take steps to end all violence, violence of all types.

>> michael singh, former senior director for middle east affairs at the national security council at the white house. you've been traveling the world, talking to people. the syria crisis, kofi annan set a deadline of today for the beginning of withdrawal and thursday, two days from now, for the end of fighting, and instead we have seen incredible evidence, you know, hard to confirm, but what we see visually and what we hear from all of the groups inside syria, is that the regime has just been slaughtering the resistance. >> that's right, andrea. i feel like we were sitting here three months ago, six months ago, it's a new envoy but the same result, president assad and syria shows no interest whatsoever in complying with this plan or previous plans and seems as though he's determined to snuff out this uprising, this rebellion by using force and anything used the annan plan to

buy time to consolidate his position. i've been in foreign capitals and you hear similar messages, people recognize the moral imperative to do something, they recognize the strategic impa imperative to do something they just don't know what to do. >> there is frustration within the administration that i'm hearing about kofi annan's posture in this because they thought it was really giving assad the regime, time to play for time, you hear the british foreign secretary said that the cease-fire's used as a cover for intensified military efforts. france calling the claims of withdrawal a flagrant and unacceptable lie. you were in paris, beijing. but the chinese supported russia in blocking tougher u.n. action against assad. >> that's right, andrea. the chinese and russians are going to back assad for time to come. for them it's a strategy exic they don't want to see the assad administration fall.

and you know the u.s. and french and allied strategy is to try to show the russians that the annan plan failed and sort of embarrass them in supporting tougher action against syria, you know, sanctions or maybe an intervention. i think that's doomed to fail. the russians show no sign of being embarrassed by assad or eager to take action than they were prior to the annan plan. >> there's a small window where the united states, in the rotation, has drawn the presidency of the u.n. security council. so we've got susan rice in charge of scheduling emergency debates and pushing resolutions, she's got a lot of leverage, as this month's president of the security council. is there anything that you see happening at the u.n. in we see thursday come and go and there is no end in the hostilities? >> clearly the u.s. and france will try to use this in the u.n. security council. there was consensus in the security council behind the annan plan, if the annan plan has failed, which it has,

clearly, they'll try to say it's time for the next step. the question is, if the russians and chinese don't go for that, which seems likely, what do we do next? arming rebels is unpalatable in most western capitals. intervention seems off the table, which means all we can do is try to ratchet up the pressure and hope that with time assad's grip weakens. the fact is, he may be with us for some time to come. >> and meanwhile we have a crisis looming with iran, negotiations with weekend, i know you've written today that you think that the u.s. opening bargaining position is not tough enough and hearing this in foreign capitals, the french pushing for a harder line. they do not want anything short of dismantling the nuclear facilities. >> stopping enrichment and dismantling facilities is what's called for by u.n. security council resolutions in the iaea. now it does seem we see a shifting of the u.s. red leans and it's not exactly clear why that is.

clearly there's a desire to sort of alleviate this crisis. but we can't lose sight of the fact that now is when we really hold all of the cards. now is when we have a strong bargaining position. we need to use that to really finally, once and for all, address this issue with the iranians. >> thank you, michael. great to see you. welcome home. in southampton, england, hundreds turned out to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the the "titanic's" departure of the fatal, final voyage. the english port city was home to more than a third of the 1500 people who died when the "titanic" crashed into the iceberg. an update on the memorial cruise that is retracing the route of the "titanic." the cruise has been plagued with problem. it was forced to turn back to ireland after a passenger developed heart problems. the vessel had already been delayed because of bad weather

and massive waves. the ship set sail sunday with 1,300 passengers with some relatives of the original passengers. james cameron my guest thursday here on "andrea mitchell reports." i love that my daughter's part fish. but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

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or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. i'm tamron hall. coming up on "news nation," breaking news, president obama, due to speak in the coming hour about the buffett rule. all is fair in love and war, but what about taxes? following breaking news out of pennsylvania, where all eyes are on rick santorum, a mysterious meeting taking place at 2:00 p.m. many people on his team have simply said, make sure your cameras are there. waiting to hear what the big news is. also, former president george bush weighing in on the economy, saying he doesn't like his name associated with the tax cuts. and developing news in the trayvon martin case, a decision whether to charge george zimmerman could come as early as today.

the november election bound to make history in one way, if mitt romney, the nation's first mormon nominee is on the ballot against the nation's first print american president. a reporter with buzz feed and has written about the complexities of that scenario. i should point out, because it is relevant, you are a mormon yourself, member of the church of the latter day saints you come with a particular understanding of what the book of mormon reveals to us about the issue of race, a complex issue. >> it is absolutely. >> what challenges do you see for mitt romney as more and more questions will be asked along the way about his faith and its particular attitudes towards race? >> yeah, well the mormon church, for most of its history, did not allow black men into the priesthood. that ban was lifted in 1978 but the church struggles with the

legacy of discriminatory policies. there are also verses in norman cr scripture that teach that dark skin is a curse from an angry god and mormon leaders used to teach that black people were less valiant or less righteous in a premortal life. none of these things are believed anymore in the church but as i wrote an increasing number of voices in the black community, mitt romney needs to speak out and condemn on this because he was alive when these things were being taught. >> buzz feed dipped into the files and came up with these pictures. a very young mitt romney when his wife -- discuexcuse me -- w his mom lenore was running for the united states senate. it quite striking to see him, of course we've seen pictures of him with his sons but he -- this was in the period when he was traveling and actually doing mission work for the church.

>> yeah, this is an interesting clip. it's fascinating. for one thing, because you can see you know the political ideology that he was raised with, which was really centrist and independent. he had two parents who bucked the republican party on issues like abortion rights and civil rights, and he was kind of raised to believe that you know you shouldn't always tow the party line. obviously in the republican primary this time around we haven't seen much of that mitt romney and it will be interesting to see, going into the general election, whether he'll be able to pivot back to being kind of that independent centrist that his father was. >> help me with this in the church, is there -- is there an attempt at various stages to walk away from some of these more controversial, racial imperatives? is there something that would be the akin to what we understand cyclical, where the vatican, for instance, steps away from some of its past teachings regarding

jews? >> absolutely. this presidential cycle in particular has been the catalyst for a couple of definitive moments where the church has backed away from past stances, notably recently a byu professor, brick bring ham young profirst, and the church came out with a strongly worded statement condemning them, saying these do not represent what this church believes, this doesn't represent our view on race and that was the definitive moment where the church kind of drew a line and said, you know, we're not going to be cast this way anymore, and we're backing away from these old teachings and these folk doctrines. >> thank you very much. you went to bring ham young as mitt romney, you have a wealth of experience to share. we have to share this. our amr moment of the day. a bear on the loose in the california neighborhood.

authorities in la cresenta tranquilized the black bear. climbing around fences, sniffing around homes looking for uneaten food, that came to an end before lunch. we hope that he or she is now being taken to more appropriate digs. we're told that those tranquilizing guns are not harmful to the bear. are gettine clean in the bhroom? [ gasps ] think again. try charmin ultra strong for a clean with fewer pieces left behind. its diamondweave texture is soft and more durable so it holds up better for a more dependable clean. fewer pieces left behind. charmin ultra strong. [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels

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which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? now here at msnbc news, chief white house correspondent and political director, chuck todd, host of the daily rundown. we're all waiting on the rick santorum news conference and all the information says something is afoot. we don't know as many have suggested that he will get out of the race but we'll have the latest and continuing current

coverage. i want to ask you as a florida guy about ozzy guillen. the suspension today. let me play a little of his news conference after being suspended by the marlins for having said that he loves fidel castro. those are fighting words in miami. let's watch. >> it's a funny thing. i said next time i see this room with this many people, it will be next to me. this is the biggest mistake in my life that i make so far, yes. very stupid comment. because when you as poor man, you should be involved with politics. and politics is nothing to do with sport. >> so bud sellic put out a statement saying that he supports major league baseball support the decision by the marlins to suspend ozzie guillen. and as often said, that baseball is a social institution and important social responsibilities. mr. guillen's remarks, which

were offensive to an important part of the miami community have no place in our place in the game. >> you have to understand where this stadium is built. this stadium is built in little havana. this was very important to the city of miami, for instance, that the horrible decision that was made by major league baseball over 15 years ago, nearly 20 years ago, when the original owner came in there and decided not to name it after miami. not to name it after the capital of latin america. not to tap into the hispanic population. all of those mistakes were trying to be righted in the last six months. and part of that was not just hiring a latino manager but also creating a connection with the hispanic community in miami which is largely cuban. so this is a massive business and public relations failure on the front of the marlins and ozzie guillen. and i'm surprised it is just a five-game suspension. i'm surprised that they didn't come down worse.

because this, the financial ramifications of angering the cuban community down there is like no other. >> wow! and we all know the love of cubans, cuban americans and cuban cubans for baseball. i wanted to also bring in george w. bush. this is what he had to say in new york today at a bush institute seminar. >> you know, i'm often asked, do you miss the presidency? i really don't. i enjoyed it. it was an unbelievably interesting experience. it was inconvenient to have to stop at stoplights coming over here. but i guess i miss that. when you get out of office, it's kind of a daunting feeling. you've served, you've given it your all and all of a sudden you have some years ahead of you. and i have decided to stay out of the limelight. i had plenty of the limelight. i don't think it's good, frankly, to our country to

undermine our president and i don't intend to do so. >> a reminder, he is still to endorse mitt romney. >> yes, i think you just switched me over and andrea was still interviewing me. >> sorry, chuck todd was just getting somebody else talking to him in his ear. so with apologies for that. we just saw that george bush at that conference today. and we will of course be watching. we'll be talking to chuck and everyone in the coming hours about what rick santorum is doing. that does it for us for this edition of andrea mitchell reports. thanks. so for joining us. tomorrow on the show, rick santorum's senior adviser, john brabender. my colleague tamron hall has a look at what's next. >> a lot going on and news this hour. any minute from now, rick santorum is expected as andrea mentioned, to speak in pennsylvania.

there is a lot of speculation over what mr. santorum will say. we'll bring you his important comments. will he drop out of the race? that is the big one. and we're following news regarding the president. mr. obama due to speak in the coming hour about the buffett rule. all is fair in love and war but what about taxes? congressman paul ryan also the rounds. we'll have both sides and what the president will say in the next hour. and developing news in the trayvon martin case. meanwhile, we are hearing from george zimmerman via the internet. what he is saying now online. ar. 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. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 you and your money deserve. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, that means taking a close look at you

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studying the gulf's environment. thousands of environmental samples have been tested and all beaches and waters are open. and the tourists are back. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. departure. hertz gold plus rewards also offers ereturn-- our fastest way to return your car. just note your mileage and zap ! you're outta there ! we'll e-mail your receipt in a flash, too. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. right now on "news nation," we're following developing news. rick santorum is expected to address voters in his home state of pennsylvania any minute now. we have a live picture of where it will take place. that's gettysburg, pennsylvania. it