remember the watching nap gm, cole hamill. here's one from@matt woke up from a nightmare where mike rizzo came in and started breaking my fingers. it's a new day in washington. "morning joe" starts right now. vice president joe biden appeared on "meet the press." he seemed to endorse same-sex marriage. take a look. >> the president said his views on gay marriage, on same-sex marriage have evolved. have your views evolved? >> look, i think the good news is that as more as more americans come to understand what this is all about is a simple proposition. who do you love? i spent more time with soon-to-be president of china and the vice president, i wish

every american could see the look of love in my eyes for you. look, i spent a total of roughly ten days with him, five in china, five here. i have been loving him for over 30 hours, he and i. quite frankly i -- >> wow. i'm a little uncomfortable. good morning. it's beautiful. any love is good loving. >> it's tuesday, may 8th. i'm live here in washington. we have a washington anchor. c catty kay is here. in new york, the great willie geist. last night, katty kay, he was in town for the event which mika

and i hosted since 1927. the crowds were maddening. it was colin powell said the average age went down about 30 years. what the organizers of this event couldn't imagine, maybe you can explain it to us. why is it that over the past few years we have awarded the -- the awards to george h.w. bush, bono, bill clinton and the stars of all-stars yet last night, for some reason, still in 2012, british royalty gets a greater reception? it's a cultural phenomenon. what is it in america that causes that? >> it's as if we cut the ties with mommy's aprons, but we haven't really.

there's a real affection and resurgence of it. we were in london. look at the crowds of people that came from america to witness that. >> right. >> the whole royal family is on a high at the moment. this is a brand that is doing well at the moment in britain and in the states as well. after the death of diana, there was a lull. there wasn't a figure for americans to latch on to. >> before diana's death, there was a nastiness. >> yeah. there was a form of nastiness. we have kate and will, then prince harry, the wild child but doing good work with the veterans. >> a wild child yet a guy who served his country, wanted to serve his country. like you said is doing really good, amazing work. >> walking across the antarctica with the veterans. from what i hear with the people that work with the veterans,

he's really committed and would drop anything. >> willie geist will tell you because he's been involved. that's the one area americans and people across the globe don't focus enough on wounded warriors. they unfortunately, take a backseat. it was nice, prince harry being awarded for focusing so much on wounded warriors. >> i thought all the screaming girls were there for you. i didn't realize prince harry was there. you are right about the wounded warrior. i was there for robin hood taking on the event of veterans and what happens when they come home. there's a challenge facing us and in great britain, too. all the guys are coming home. iraq war ended. afghanistan is going to be over in a couple years. a large portion of the combat troops will be coming home. it's bad now. we can't handle them through the v.a. it's going to get worse. there's a lot of discussion out

there about what to do with it. >> your president on wounded warriors. >> yeah. people have been asking if george bush is campaigning. he's campaigning for the wounded warriors. he's doing work off the radar screen. last weekend near amarillo, he spent three days on a 100k mountain bike ride with wounded veterans. it was amazing. people with one leg riding a mountain bike 400 kilometers and seeing the president pushing them up the hills because they couldn't get up with one ling. it was phenomenal. >> it's what prince harry was saying. he's chasing them to the north pole. >> yeah, so -- >> it was inspiring. >> one of the initiatives of the bush center is to make sure there are best practices for the vets. >> let me put in a shameless plug, our colleague from the

post wrote a great ten-part series about not just wounded warriors but medical coverage is keeping these people alive. >> yeah. >> it's a tremendous fiscal cost. itis one worth making. their stories are complex. i recommend you take a chance. >> it's a great series by a great writer. >> we have to focus over the next generation making sure they are taken care of. right now -- especially mental health challenges for the wounded warriors coming home. let's move on to the news. the white house is facing questions about the president's stance on gay marriage, thanks to joe biden. i'm sure they gave him a warm reception at the white house yesterday morning after he expressed support for the same-sex couples to wed. it began when joe biden was on "meet the press." it continued yesterday with

education secretary arne duncan. >> do you believe same-sex men and women should be able to get married in the united states? >> oh -- >> yes, i do. >> have you said that publicly before? >> i don't know if i have been asked publicly. >> jay carney faced questions on the president's position. he said the president's views are, quote, i love this word for a 50-year-old man, evolving. >> very few people think the president is not going to, after november, whether he's reelected or not come out in favor of same-sex marriage. why not come out and say it and let voters decide? it seems cynical to hide it until after the election. >> i think the president's position is well known. he's spoken to this. it's gotten a great deal of coverage. i don't have an update to provide you on the president's position. it is what it was. >> it's rare saying i'm getting

ready to change my mind. you have really savaged mitt romney for changing his mind. i'm wondering, if you don't run some risk of looking kind of too clever. >> i don't have an update for you on the president's personal views. it's the answer he has. i don't have a new answer for you. >> who? how? what now? the president's position is what it was. here is reality. whether it's in america or great britain where they were coming out and cameron supported gay marriage and suddenly found out when the conservatives went home people in britain didn't want same-sex marriage. this is not a slam dunk politically. you have the president sounding very much like mitt romney. he's flip-flopping on this

issue. >> yeah. >> looking very bad. >> i think it's one of those moments where voters look at that and say come on, treat me like a grown up here. you have a view on something like this. okay, your view can change on something like this. the president has been president for what, two and a half years? three and a half years? how long does it take for a position to change? at some point, you know what you feel. the public has a good sense of what the president really feels on this. if he's not saying what he feels, it looks cynical. >> i hate to beat the drama. i'm going the say it again. isn't it a failure on the presses fault? yesterday, the press core went after him. you read stories in the new york times and it's a nod. of course the president supports gay marriage. we all know that. he's just not come out and said

it. shouldn't the president be forced into a position like say mitt romney would be. >> like arne duncan was yesterday. when is the next time the president is going to be speaking before reporters pub c publicly? in the next few days. we are going to have an event. i wouldn't be surprised if a reporter posed the question. >> yesterday felt different. it's no longer about where does he stand on a specific issue, it's him as a character. whether he's dancing around the issue. the more that pressure falls on the president, the more the white house has to do something publicly before the convention or election. that wasn't the case a couple weeks ago. >> shift. >> character issue. it's more problematic. >> it is. willie, to quote jesus in the bible, i hope it was jesus or my mom will kill me, if you are

ashamed of me in front of my father in heaven, i will be ashamed of you. were i a obama supporter, contributor and gay man, i would, at this point, say are you really that ashamed to say you support me? listen, if you don't support gay marriage, come out and say you don't support gay marriage. that's fine. there are a lot of good, decent americans that take that position. if you do support gay marriage, admit it. >> you have to say, it's not a mushy question for most people. for a lot of people, it's a civil rights question. should one group of americans be treated the same as other americans. to be in the middle when you are a leader of a country is a strange thing. i don't have a problem with a man evolving. lbj evolved on civil rights. thank god he did. to telegraph with a wink and nod saying don't worry, it's coming.

it strikes me as very cynical. you are for it or against it. come out and say it. >> mark, let's breakthrough this. this is about two states and two states only but two very important states. it's about virginia and north carolina. just like al gore wouldn't come out and talk about gun control because he didn't want to lose west virginia and tennessee. >> back to the character issue, this is an area people disagree with you, but will give you points for taking a clear moral stance. >> right. >> the public is ahead of the politicia politicians. our grandchildren look at this and say are you kidding me? this is an issue? this is obvious. this is the one issue that is guaranteed. life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. >> there's never been an issue -- we have not seen a social issue move this fast among the population in decades.

for americans, particularly young americans, a generational shift. they are narrowing on this, too. to move from a position where you have so clearly moving in the direction of so many americans. increasingly, it gets to your point about leadership and not looking too cynical. >> i think we are caught inside an echo chamber. it seems clear cut in manhattan and washington and even great britain. people get too far out in front of it. americans are like wait a second -- >> it was okay. >> marriage, most americans believe is between a man and woman. if this white house, one of the most tested and focus groups in the white house in u.s. history saw out there that gay marriage was a slam dunk, the president wouldn't be embarrassing himself like this.

it's never -- >> i agree with everything but one point. it's not just the coastal populous that likes or supports gay marriage. itis generational. >> that likes gay marriage? >> supports it. >> if you are talking generational, yes. >> eventually, it's not going to be an issue. we are going to realize it's a facet of society. i made a bunch of calls after the arne duncan to see why it was taking so long. officials said to me, it was north carolina and the fear is that you go out there on a somewhat of a limb and all of a sudden, you are attacking north carolina. north carolina, the spread in 2008 was 14,000 votes. if you have 7,000 votes swing, the election is different. they are worried about that. >> i think i know politics in the south, i don't think there's a doubt. if the president is in support

of gay marriage, take north carolina off the map. it was so close four years ago when the president had everything going for him. this is an issue. there are conservative democrats, not just in north carolina but indiana and across america that are not ready to take that jump in support of gay marriage. it's not faded in america. there's no doubt, just like americans are becoming more conservative on abortion and you can see it on every poll in the last five, ten years for technological reasons, 3-d imaging, they are more progressive when it comes to gay marriage. >> there are a lot of people in north carolina that disagree with what the president's position would be. i don't think it's a vote changer. i don't think even though they say i personally don't agree with that. >> not if you are a hippy wearing a scarf. i will tell you -- i will tell you -- >> if it is a vote changer, don't you think they are looking

at jay carney yesterday and looking at what the president said and thinking i'm thinking gay marriage is a concern for me. this could change my vote. they are not buying into the idea that the president is opposed to gay marriage. >> you talk to people on the campaign and they think, to themselves they think, hey, we have done a lot of gay rights. we are not there on marriage. b, look where romney is. we don't have to go out on a limb in gay marriage because mitt romney said publicly, he doesn't support same-sex marriage and doesn't support civil unions. he believes it's a man and woman. you can have domestic benefits, that's it. if you firmly believed in gay rights, where else do you have to go. >> i tell you, katty, for the 14,000 or 15,000 people that are going to decide north carolina they are not looking at this now. they will look at a flyer put on

their windshield before the election, see where they stand and look at gay marriage. it could be what tips the issue against barack obama. >> if it tips the issue, do you think a gay marriage position that is evolving is something that reassures them enough -- >> if the president comes out and says i support gay marriage. >> i don't think they think -- >> the character. >> but right now, you know -- >> it's what we think. >> you know how it works. you have dnc canvassers that knock on doors and call people. they say where is the president on gay marriage? oh, the president is against gay marriage. they have the ability to say that because the president is against it right now. nodding and winking to supporters in washington, san francisco and los angeles. >> i think voters are smarter than that. i think they are looking at what the president is saying.

>> it doesn't have to do with whether they are smarter than that. there are some voters who aren't engaged until the final 24 to 48 hours. they have more important things to do than sit around and pick this apart. we don't. we don't have anything better to do. >> an interesting fact that i heard about north carolina recently. you are right, it's a pivotal state. what may be more important is the number of hispanics registered. if obama captures say 60% of those votes, think about the margin of 14,000 votes, that could be the margin that swings. >> it's a mix of too many things. a supporter of gay marriage in north carolina. >> look and see what happened in north carolina in 2008. >> exactly. >> willie geist, we have a lot to talk about today. i never saw this coming. i'll be honest. you follow a campaign and primary, you think you get to know the character of the

candidates, i never, ever saw rick santorum coming out and endorsing mitt romney, weeping saying i believe the foundation for this great republic rests upon the shoulders of this great man. we are going to show the video of that. were you as surprised as me? >> you could not make this endorsement up. e-mail goes out at 11:00 p.m. last night. we counted. john tower counted the actual endorsement rise in paragraph 13 in the e-mail. it's amazing. >> absolutely mild about it. >> talk about mailing it. >> morse code. >> exactly. what's it say? i'm not sure. we are going to talk about dick lugar is up in indiana. people are looking at it as a

test for dick lugar and the republican party. we'll talk about that. the new al qaeda airliner bomb plot in yemen. former chairman of the chief of staff, admiral mike mullen, sen mary landrieu, lamar alexander and tom brokaw are also going to be with us. mike allen has a look at politico's top stories of the morning. he's in goth am to talk to willie about it. here is bill karins with a check on the forecast. what is it looking like? >> rainy in new england. first things first, we know how hot spring was. we are getting a break as we go into the second week of may. the jet stream dipped to the south and took with it the air to the gulf. instead of being hot, just mild conditions through the middle of the country. the problem weather, we are watching a good deal of rain this morning.

buffalo, syracuse, albany. it's not going to cause too many issues. it makes for a gloomy tuesday. d.c. to philly to new york. heavy rain northward. we are dealing with wet weather this morning in ohio and west virginia. the southeast, a nice start to your day. afternoon thunderstorms. the heat is confined in areas of florida and south texas. it looks to stay cool around the country through the upcoming weekend. it should be a nice mother's day for all of us. you are watching "morning joe" we are brewed by starbucks. ♪ surf's up everybody get your boards and your wetsuits ♪ free-credit-score-dot-com's gonna direct you ♪ ♪ to check your credit score before it gets too late ♪ ♪ and you end up strapped for cash ♪

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♪ welcome back to "morning joe." a look at times square. early this morning, about 25

after 6:00. let's take a look at the morning papers. the financial times. awe stairty. angela merkel is warning to stick to the plans and targets agreed to under the bailout. greece's two political parties suffered losses raising doubts about commitment to the rescue plan. >> the administrator agreed to add $100 million in education spending, annual performance evaluations for principals, teachers and add ten years to a teacher's effectiveness. >> a new study by aaa confirm what is parents already know. teenagers risk of getting into car accidents increase while

other teens are in the car. another shocking finding, mixing teenage boys, whiskey and car keys is a bad combination. the risk is 45% more when carrying one passenger or more. it is lowers 62% when an adult is in the car. greeting fans as they arrive at dodgers stadium. last night, the first home game. they took over the franchise. the dodgers beat the giants, 9-1. with us now here in new york city, the chief white house correspondent mr. mike allen. good to have you in the big seat. >> good to be here. >> let's talk about the endorsement rick santorum finally got around to giving romney a few hours ago. it was an e-mail about 11:00 last night. he said i had a private meeting with mitt romney. in paragraph 13, i endorse mitt

romney. >> this e-mail or meeting did nothing to endure him to the romney folks. we about to have a big test. will they deny rick santorum a speaking slot? people at the top of the campaign concluded the chances rick santorum will give a helpful speech, on message speech are zero. there's a push to say we are not going to have him speak. we are not going to have a distraction. you can't put him, not in prime time. makes no difference anymore. we will focus on it just the same. >> rick santorum said after the meeting with romney, i stressed to him how important it was that conservatives be represented in a romney administration. what does he mean? what is he looking for? >> to say you should add a few journalists to politico. it's not going to go over too well. >> not a great endorsement, joe. in the history of endorsements,

this ranks near the bottom. >> mark, i don't know how you would handle it. if someone gave me this type of endorsement, i would say they would have a speaking roll in a cage. i wouldn't let him near the states. say you have just screwed yourself, buddy. you have a couple months if you want to play ball. if you don't, that's fine. if you want to be a rebel rouser, go ahead. it's my party now. >> the notion santorum owns constituency, there's many other conservatives that can speak greater than rick santorum could. there's no downside other than telling him to take a hike. >> i don't understand it. i really don't. you fight hard. then after the fight is over, if you want to be a part of the party, you do what ronald reagan did in 1976. you come out and you endorse the

moderate candidate then you are given a speaking role. the best revenge is outshining your rival by supporting him in your speech. >> it gives you the opportunity to own platform and direction for the party. if you want to be a force in the party, recognize where your alliances are. >> bottom line, willie, this is bush league. if you don't want to endorse mim, don't. that's fine. people will respect you for not endorsing him. don't have it both ways, endorse in the 13th paragraph. be a man and say i can't endorse him or come out and endorse him. i haven't come out to say i would support romney. >> there you go. >> newt gingrich is only slightly less tepid last week. >> they both waited way too long. they both think they have more

leverage than they do. mark is right, the bases are almost consolidated. one uniform figure we saw was 90-some percent. republicans are for romney, democrats for obama. it's faster than we thought. >> there's a huge story tonight in the state of indiana. after 36 years in the senate, dick lugar could lose a primary tonight to a tea party candidate. he's trailing lugar by ten points. how do you see it shaking out tonight? >> republicans will be surprise first-degree he wins. republicans in washington are set for him to go down. amazing, but it's going to be written as the revenge of the tea party. the tea party coming back. it's certainly part of it. we saw this sort of way they were torturing senator hatch in utah. but, as we have seen on this show, senator lugar badly mismanaged his home front. it's a big part of it.

living in a hotel. where does he vote? it hurt badly. it's not just the tea party. >> a ton of money spent in this primary as well. early money. joe, what is the lesson for republican incumbents? >> have a house in your home state for at least a decade prior to any election. dick lugar -- >> a month. anything. >> right. that certainly hurt him. he's been out of touch with indiana electorate. the republicans have to ask themselves a question, too. that is, do we want to win the senate seat? do we want it to be a slam dunk? i don't know this race as well as i knew the delaware race. i knew if christine mcdonald won the primary, the democrats were going to win the seat in 2010. this certainly -- indiana is --

do republicans win regardless? >> it's a republican leaning state. it was a huge factor, the money. this is an example of super pac money flowing in in huge numbers and distorting the process in a way that doesn't really reflect a true democratic -- >> you know that super pac money found the weak candidate. we'll see what happens with warren hatch. he has to have a primary for the first time in 40 years. hatch will survive it because he's stayed more connected to utah, right? >> lugar, despite his great service to this country made himself vulnerable. >> his forte is foreign policy. it's not come up in any regard in the senate election. >> 4.5 million pucks. >> wow.

>> if the senator goes down, it gives obama hope of repeating indiana. it's the reason they are keeping it on the map. if there's that much turmoil in the republican party, it's the state least likely. >> a look at the politico playbook. thanks. coal hammel gets his punishment for butting a fastball in the back of bryce harper. he's called out by the nats gm saying you don't know who you are messing with. what does that mean? plus, a movie coming ut having will ferrell running asains zach. they are up with their first negative ads. i'll show you when "morning joe" comes back. look, every day we're using more and more energy.

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all right. let's do some sports. incredible hockey game at the garden. series tied at 2. going into game five, it looks like the caps had it locked down. with 30 seconds left, up a goal, joel ward called for high sticking. it gives the rangers a power

play. with 6.6 seconds left in the game, brad richards with an impossible shot finds the back of the net to send the game to overtime with 6.6 left. unreal. ward can't believe it in the penalty box. his penalty carries over into over time. mark staal blasts one through. it's the game winner. new york comes down a goal to win 3 2. they are up 3-2 in the series with a chance to win tomorrow night in washington. the phoenix coyotes will play the kings of los angeles in the western conference finals. >> philly suffered a loss yesterday when major league baseball handed down a suspension to cole hamels who said he threw at the rookie, bryce harper. he threw it into the lower back of the kid.

he called it his way of welcoming him to the majors. mike rizzo takes exception to the actions. they say cole hammel says he's old school? he's the polar opposite. he's fake tough. he thinks he's going to intimidate us by hitting our rookie. he doesn't know who he's dealing with. they will play again in two weeks. the clippers won in overtime, up 3-1. the spurs swept utah. they play if they close out the series. next, we go to washington. mark joins us for the must read opinion pages. we'll be right back. ♪

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nothing makes my blood boil like our comrade in chief, president obama. the only thing that helps make his socialist policy go down is his side kick, vice president, joe biden. he can always be relied upon for comic relief. >> his mom lived in long island for ten years or so. god rest her soul. and wait, your mom is still alive. i forgot that. you cannot go to a 7-eleven -- a three letter word, j-o-b-s.

jobs. >> with us now, from "the new york times," mark. mark has a piece in the new york times and it's about joe biden,. an uneasy supporting role. mr. biden is concluding at times uneasy term one marked by triumphs and occasional tensions with a boss -- still his effort to subordinate his own voice or manhood has been a struggle in the good old days when i was a senator i was my own man, mr. biden told reporters last december. now, whatever i say is attributed to the administration. i finally learned that. did he? >> i think he gets harsh reminders sometimes. sunday being the latest example. look, joe biden is a very proud man.

he's very quick to remind you that he is someone with a lot of strong opinions who's been around and done this or that. i think being a vice president is a very sort of subordinating role almost by definition. it took adjustment. there have been rough patches, no doubt. >> there have been. the president relied on joe biden a great deal. i have been surprised with how well this relationship has worked. i think it says something about both men. >> yeah. >> joe biden has been a senator since '29. let's be blunt. he knows so much more about every aspect of the federal government than barack obama will because he's lived it his entire life. he subordinated himself. the president, to his credit has taken comfort in having biden there. >> i think he has.

i think the proof is the magnitude of the jobs he has been delegated. whether it's stimulus, iraq, these are big jobs. i would say that like a marriage, you just don't know what goes on in these presidential and vice presidential races. if you look at bush/gore and bush/cheney, they started out well and got complicated for different reasons. this is a long road. if president obama wins re-election and biden is thinking of a future beyond 2012 and 2016, you get a look at their agendas. >> did you get the -- i agree with joe both on issues and a political way sending them to pennsylvania. actually, it seems the white

house relied heavily on joe biden. do you think biden sees it that way? >> i think he has. look, part of the thanklessness of being vice president is you are completely at the mercy of the boss. if the president wants to put you in a box he can. as walter mondale said, every morning a vice president wakes up and thinks what is the president going to think of me today or a variation of that. if you look at the show "veep" on hbo, there's that independence. mondale said there's a shakespearean dependence on it. it's a four-year nondivorce million marriage. it is divorceable. if the president or voters want you gone, you are gone. look, it is always complicated. i think, it seems from the outside, at least to have reached an e quill ib ree um.

>> they have long standing stuff. member that is stuck with them a long time. >> no doubt about it. he does, i have known joe biden for some time. i have talked to him over the past four years in private a good bit. anybody that knows joe biden well knows he tells you what is on his mind. >> right. >> there have been frustrations expressed from time to time. he has been -- he's been very positive about the relationship. he's been a really good soldier. again, i think, not just talking to joe biden, but talking to other people very close to the president, he really does depend on joe biden's help. especially in 2009, 2010 because for somebody like barack obama,

it might sound strange, he's painted as a progressive. for somebody like barack obama, your initial reaction where the generals come in with all the stars and everything is to immediately salute. biden has been dealing with generals and admirals since '29. nobody has greater respect for them than myself. i was on armed services committees. biden was able to play that role for the president. he's played a really important role, especially on foreign policy. >> he has. i think the interesting thing about his political future, he's -- he hasn't drawn down the curtain like most have. >> that's what he says. >> it's a wink and a nod there. >> there might be. look, there is an imperative to potential in politics. if you are seen in the capstone of your career, this is in my last job, people look at you in

a certain way. this is biden's cal cue louse on it. maybe i will run so people look at him as someone in play in the future. >> cheney was happy to say, i'm not running. to be in a position of somebody who wasn't going to run. maybe i will to keep his own power. >> i think cheney had his own power center in that administration that gave him a cachet. >> you think biden runs? you think he wants to run in '16? >> yes. yes. of course he does. >> i think he would love to run in '16. i think he was asked on "meet the press." he seemed to -- there was some daylight in if hillary runs, i might not run. >> he was talking about this in 2009 on "meet the press." >> he was talking about this in kindergarten. >> you know, he's healthy. he's in good shape.

his mom lived well into her 90s. i think joe biden will run again. >> he's got a great smile, too. >> he does, not as great as you, mark. >> i'm working on it. >> thank you for coming in, mark. the article is online at the newyorktimes.com. we'll be back with willie's news you can't use.

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>> my mouth has gotten me in a tremendous amount of trouble in my 23 years in television. >> last year you got in trouble at the oscars. >> i did get in trouble. >> nice kids got up on stage and sang at the oscars and you said -- >> i said something nasty. i wasn't thinking. i was making the guys at "morning joe" laugh. >> they are horrible people. >> oh, yes. is it time? >> it is mika. it's time indeed. steven colbert said we were terrible. he was talking about his new book, "out today." it's called "most talkative stories from the front lines of pop culture."

it's hilarious. colbert challenged the most talkative man to keep it quiet during the interview. see how that went. >> the name most talkative, there's a story behind that. >> i was voted most talkative and biggest gossip in high school, if you can believe it. >> why would not not stop talking? >> i enjoy talking. >> are you afraid -- >> of the silence? >> of uncomfortable -- >> silence? >> shh. what are you afraid -- what were you afraid the conversation would turn to if it got quiet? >> i'm afraid of the intimacy between you and i when we are quiet with each other. i like to keep talking.

[ laughter ] >> i'm excited -- >> no, no, no. >> he could only fight it for so long. his book "most talkative" is out today. there's a big election coming up this fall you may not have heard of. it's a new movie called "the campaign." they are up for the summer movie with the first negative ads. >> education is our future because schools is this nation's backbone. >> he defends women's rights. >> every day, i come in contact with women. do i sometimes fantasize about thundershower undergarments? sure. do i go -- when i see them? no. i have seen a moustache like that before. you know who wore it?

sadam hussein. >> let's get rid of daylight savings time. i hate it when it gets dark early. >> a family man and he's multicultural. >> i'm glad to be here. it's the first time i have worn a yamaha. >> get out your bleaches and air fresheners. things are a mess. it's a mess. >> that movie comes out on august 10. you have to wait three months to see how that election turns out. coming up next, we go to washington, eugene robinson and andrea mitchell join the conversation. [ male announcer ] this is the at&t network. a living, breathing intelligence helping business, do more business. in here, opportunities are created and protected.

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welcome back to "morning joe." top of the hour. look at that beautiful shot. we are going to get one of the white house as well. mark is still with us. joining us on set, eugene robinson. as we take a live look at the white house, nbc chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of "andrea mitchell reports," andrea mitchell. >> let's go back to that shot. is willie on set up there, alex.

show the new york shot again. see if you can do it on command. there's a fascinating shot of the city. >> as the sun comes up over new york. >> is that the hudson? are we going down the hudson? >> going down the hudson. >> on the west side. beautiful. look at that. >> that's where the cruise liners used to be docked. we used to go down and kids to look at the big ships. >> where we yor raised? >> the suburbs and upper west side. a neighborhood you know well. >> he pretends not to. he fits right in. last night, mika, i'm going to blow past that because i'm man of the people wherever i am. >> right. >> last night, fascinating event. >> we were at the council awards. little late this morning because i'm tired. we were up late. there's fred, who had us as the host, once again. lovely event.

my parents were there. my republican brother ian was there. >> no doubt about it. there's prince harry and colin powell receiving a humanitarian award. dr. kissinger along with chuck. >> always lovely. >> always great to see senator hagel there. prince harry, we were talking about it before, what he is doing with wounded warriors. it's just so important. it's something we are all going to have to take our focus on. mark, you were with president bush this past weekend. it's going to be a real challenge for us over the next generation to take care of these men and women who are fighting for us and were having so many more survive, thank god, survive attacks that, of course, is going to cause challenges in the generation. >> absolutely. it's hard not to think prince harry is thinking, what's he going to say. how old is he?

he got up on stage and gave a beautiful speech that was self-depry kating and acknowledging of his situation and about the issue you talked about. immediately put the spotlight on, i think, one of the most important issues of this generation for his country and ours pertaining to the war. >> no doubt about it. it was impressive. fred kemp, who runs the atlantic council said to me before the event went on, he said, you know, we have had bono, bill clinton, we've had george h.w. bush. we have had everybody at these events. they have. they have been since 1927. they have had big people there. yet he said there was no reaction like the reaction they got last night with prince harry. of course, we collectively roll our eyes then you see the young man get up and talk about his service in the military. he's a guy, he could have stayed

home hunting. instead, he decided to serve his country and -- >> there's a large part of his mother in him. those of us who met her and saw her evolution, despite all the troubles, these are the two boys she took to africa when she cradled the aids baby. they are memorable moments. obviously imprinted in their dna. >> she did a good job with them. we are going to turn to the news. today president obama is set to turn up the pressure on congress. >> no, he's not. did you not like that we were reporting on the president's evolution? i'm moved. >> yeah. >> that the president can evolve. >> yes, you ought to learn something about evolving. >> what do you think about the white house and the president, quote, evolving on gay marriage? >> it's been a slow evolution.

i believe in evolution. it's been a slow evolution. i have written about it. i thought this particular phase of evolution was probably, on some level over some time ago. but, we haven't heard that from the white house. >> yesterday, mark halperin started a minibrush fire, not quite a fire storm by asking arne duncan on our show, do you support gay marriage and he said yes. >> conspiracy theorists suggested an some republicans said this was a set up. joe biden was sending up a trial balloon. i said wait a second, with all due respect, i was there. mark halperin went off and asked him a question. it was completely unprompted.

i asked him later, he said i was asked and i answered truthfully. >> you don't see them in a carefully orchestrated -- >> why do we presume there's an evolution. he doesn't say he's against it. >> look at "the audacity of hope." he says some day as a christian and elected official i will probably live to regret that i took this position but this is the way i believe right now. back then, he was writing about his discomfort with a position but understanding it was a civil rights issue. >> in 2006 he said he was for gay marriage. >> i don't know why it's news. people in the white house have different opinions about this. >> other than that. >> okay, there's other news pertaining to the white house as well. i'm going to move on to that. president obama is said to turn

up the pressure with congress by outlining his to-do list. voters can expect to hear more about the items on the list as the president campaigns over the next six months. he's going to be in new york. he has a five-point challenge to congress, the house republicans. it includes rewarding american workers by eliminating tax shipping jobs overseas. cutting red tape so homeowners can refinance. investing in a higher tax credit, creating jobs by investing in clean energy and putting returning veterans to work using skills developed in the military. i'm not sure there's a lot to argue with there. >> no. it's a paid political advertisement. >> why? would you not support the initiatives? >> he's just putting things out to help with the campaign. >> it's for the campaign. it wouldn't help veterans or homeowners?

right now, wealthy people can buy homes. they can get loans like that. amazing. other people are having a lot of trouble. >> yeah. >> yes. >> i guess timing is something. >> did you see rick santorum's endorsement? it was moving. >> was it? >> it was just -- over the top. >> late last night, mitt romney got the word from rick santorum. >> did he? give you chills? >> yeah, he started to tear up saying i love my country. it's the country of my grandfather. >> the hands? >> yeah. the whole hands thing and started weeping. >> okay. he said mitt romney is the man. >> really? >> the man that can save this great republic. something like that. >> i don't want to steal his thunder. were his lips quivering and

voice shaking. late last night, got the official endorsement from one-time rival rick santorum in the form of a lengthy e-mail to supporters sent around 11:00 at night. in it, he highlighted his private meeting with governor romney saying he felt a deep responsibility to assess governor romney's commitment to addressing the issues important to conservatives as well as the commitment to ensuring appropriate representative in a romney administration. 13 paragraphs into the e-mail, santorum finally gets around to the endorsement. quote, above all else, we agree president obama must be defeated. the task will not be easy. it will require all hands on deck if our nominee is to be victorious. governor romney will be the nominee. he has my endorsement and support to win this most critical election.

>> mark, what would george w. bush say to an endorsement like that? >> see you later. >> whoever did that would be finished, right? >> exactly. >> why? >> because it's about principle. you are either with us or against us. be a man about it. you know, to suggest the endorsement is because you are not as bad as the other guy. that's more than backhanded. he doesn't need him. >> it's sort of bush league, isn't it? >> it is. >> we have seen it with the other republican candidates. >> he would have gotten more credit if he said i disagreed with romney and we have striking differences. i'm going to sit this one out. >> that was my point earlier. if you are not going to endorse him, fine. we respect you. if you are going to endorse him, say it. this is the worst of all worlds

for santorum. he doesn't have somebody around him to guide him politically. >> he's not listening at ul. it makes newt gingrich look graceful. that's a long shot. it's tough. you know, the fact is, for him to say that he's been assured there will be suitable representation of conservatives is to say that romney is not a conservative. he he's endorsing him and slamming him at the same time. >> would you need advice to give a better endorsement. >> it's unbelievable. >> what would have been -- first of all, would a healthy endorsement from rick santorum help romney? >> it wouldn't have hurt. >> it wouldn't have hurt. >> would it have helped? santorum is a conservative, but they are not voting for barack obama. it's not like rick santorum has such a national following. say james dobson.

if he came out and said something critical of mitt romney, then you know what? there would be people in church pews that would say maybe i won't get out and vote. santorum is not on that level. >> he doesn't have a following. there will be plenty of conservatives. >> i'm not sure. i think he developed support during the campaign. >> not as rick santorum. he was a stand-in conservative. >> the question is, does rick santorum -- i mean, is somebody in iowa going to say i'm not going to go vote against barack obama because rick santorum is tepid? >> not a lot of people. i think he did, he touched something in religious conservatives in many states, especially down the middle where he won primaries. so, you know, it's not the

hugest thing in the world for mitt romney and probably won't affect him that much. i don't think it's nothing. it's something. >> make it something. it should have been different. >> by the way, the reason i say this is bush league is people that know politics and have been around politics people that studies politics can go back to the '76 campaign. jerry ford accused ronald reagan of being the guy that would start world war iii. that was remember how ugly '76 was between ford and reagan? what did reagan do? he gracefully endorsed ford. he got a spot speaking at the convention. that was his best revenge. santorum, if he had been gracious about this may have had an opportunity to outshine romney at the convention. god knows it wouldn't be that hard to do. >> you know, already, before

this happened. romney folks were saying to me, remember our former colleague pat buchanan's speech in 1992? they did not want to give him that forum. they already did not trust him. i can imagine him speaking five blocks from the convention in the protest part. >> i don't know. with this sort of endorsement, i don't know if the romney people would give him a speaking role. get his news articles, let people write about the split between romney and santorum, you know. some suburbs of philadelphia, they might help romney. >> yeah. >> being distanced from santorum. in iowa and the i-4 corridor and the swing districts, it might not hurt. >> the polling was interesting. romney shored up his conservative base. this might help. >> right. >> i was talking to high ranking republican long-time who said he

met with mitt romney and came away not knowing what he thought and sort of not getting a feeling. what do you do? you are mitt romney and you need an endorsement. you meet with someone. santorum met with him. how do you galvanize someone to give an endorsement. it's been done. >> i don't blame romney for that. they met in private in pittsburgh. they met at santorum's campaign manager's office. it was clear. they were saying there was not going to be an announcement that day. there was no photo-op tunety. om knee didn't have the opportunity of persuading him. he was locked in cement there. >> i don't know. seems like you should take him by the throat and say listen, dude -- >> what future do you want to

have for the republican party if you are not going to support your nominee? >> this is an ongoing problem with romney. we have stories of politicians that are not good in front of the camera but behind the camera. bob dole. get behind the camera, he's the greatest guy in the world. we don't hear that about mitt romney. he's awkward in front of the camera and what mika was eluding to, i have heard this too many times, behind the camera, there's the same awkwardness. >> but he is wild and crazy. >> i would rather hear he's a shrewd lawmaker. >> why can't he close the doors with gingrich and santorum? >> eugene and andrea, stay with

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- you know, both parties agree. our kids can be healthier... the more you know. i do not comment on specific classified operations. other than to say that the united states engages in a number of operations to go after al qaeda and their militant allies, their terrorist allies who would try to attack the united states. what this incident makes clear is that this country has to continue to remain individual lent against those that would seek to attack this country.

we will do everything necessary to keep america safe. >> secretary of defense, leon panetta yesterday after u.s. officials revealed the cia this warted another al qaeda underwear bomb plot targeting a u.s. bound passenger jet. andrea mitchell, what have we learned about the bomb threat? it's troubling. >> troubling and fascinating. this is with saudi intelligence. there was never threat to an airliner. it's part of the attack on yemen, which took out, they believe, the head of al qaeda and the arabian peninsula on sunday. right now, this ied is without metal. they are taking it apart to see whether it could have gotten through airport security. that's a key factor. the fact we took down the plot before it was -- we were sort of

with inside help looking in on it all along. the president was informed in april. it was never a real threat. it shows that al qaeda is alive and somewhat well. >> they are moving around. exactly. let's get to our guests in new york. willie, take it away. >> we have tom brokaw with us and admiral mike mullen. great to have you both with us. two guys who were together yesterday with robin hood, the great group in new york city that is throwing its weight behind the effort to bring vets together and transition back to bring them home. admiral mullen, here is a picture of you guys yesterday. i don't know how you felt, but there are huge challenges facing our vets. suicide. i left with hope. i left with optimism of what we can do if we come together with it. >> that sums it up well.

there are challenges as hundreds of thousands transition out of the wars and back into the civilian work force. i think there are tremendous opportunities. this is an enormously talented group of people with skills that translate into businesses and opportunities here in the country. one of the things that, as i work this over the course of the last four years, it's an enormously complex problem. it's not one that gives way to easy solutions. what i was encourage by that robbin hood sponsors, leaders ad government leaders from jacksonville, augusta. i was encourage. with what i saw. >> tom, did you see the same thing? i had the coca-cola manager in my group. he believes they are the best

candidates for the job. >> one of the reasons we organized the summit was to bring together in the same room and share the experiences of people like steve from coca-cola that runs a beverage piece of it. we had representatives from walmart and small businesses as well. everyone can learn from one another, what are the gaps that can be closed and where do we go from here? the experience, not just in the workplace, but the academy. i was speaking with the president of columbia and the university of iowa has veterans. they say you get the veterans in your midst. they have left everyone. my guess is, based on this experience of finding ways to reintegrate them into the economy and civilian society, it's going to lift all of us. >> andrea has a question in d.c. andrea? >> thanks so much. admiral mullen, one thing corporate executives tell me and

you are hearing it tom, the veterans are so much better trained than a lot of young men and women coming out of high school without technical training. the military gives them leadership skills and technical skills. is there a way we can replicate that? we have a gap between the skill sets people coming out of high schools have and what employers want. >> there's a great opportunity to integrate them into the workplace to shine a light on success and have others who haven't had that experience or duplicate that, if you will. as i think about it, they have had exceptional training across all the services and so many of them have had leadership experiences. they are disciplined, loyal, they show up on time. they are also tremendous teammates. they are not about self.

they are about team or the organization. i heard leaders from small to large businesses yesterday talk about the impact they have with respect to that. the kind of ability inside an organization. i think there's an awful lot there. there are -- not everyone has been trained in the military. but there are -- i talked to a number of people that actually put young men and women through a six or seven month training cycle before they introduced them into the workplace. certainly, try to ak la mate them even if they don't have the skill set training, they are great candidates to be trained because of their experience and make a difference. >> tom brokaw, with respect to what you and admiral mullen are saying in terms of the value of hiring veterans, the skills they bring to the table, the leadership qualities and

everything else they have developed when they go overseas and serve our country. shouldn't part of this be what we should be doing? part of our moral code? part of who we are as americans to rehire veterans and bring them home? celebrate who they are and what they have done. yes, do a favor. yes, make a gesture to give back to the country in a way we haven't because they have. >> that is true, mika. these veterans would be the first to say i'm not looking for it. i want to continue the kind of service and have the impact i did in the military and this economy. the piece we have not talked about this morning are the families. they have been to their own very difficult challenges where mothers and fathers have been away on extended tours, repeated tours. we need to find a way to support those families. they have been moved around a lot. that is when admiral mullens

said in the beginning, it's part of the complexity so individuals can go down the street and say can i help you with shopping on saturday morning or let me look after the kids, you get time for yourself. we knit ourselves back together again. this country is looking for an opportunity to be united and not just divided. this is a good place to start. i also think the experience we are having here with the veterans will give a lift to everyone and we may begin to think more seriously about public service in a more formalized way even if you are not going into uniform to serve the country in the future. >> the statistic that haunts americans is one you pointed out yesterday with stove cohen. that is 6500 suicides among veterans a year. it's greater than the number of combat deaths when you put iraq and afghanistan together over a

decade. is the v.a. doing enough? the second question, is it equipped to do enough? what else can we do? >> in addition to the veteran suicide, many of us worked on the dramatically increased suicide rate within the military. what really struck me in that is that's a challenge for america. there are no easy answers with respect to this. america seems to look away from the suicide problem far too often. that certainly then is resident in both the veteran population and our military population. there's an awful lot of work going on to try to understand it to intercept it ahead of time. one of the things we have to do better in the department of defense as well as the v.a. is identify the at risk individuals who are transitioning out of the military earlier. there are leaders in the

military that understand it. there are -- they are the staff sergeants, the squad leaders, platoon leaders and commanders who understand who the at risk population are. identifying them earlier or early gives us the opportunity to provide them a safety net, if you will, as they transition in a very, very complex time in their lives. >> we have layers of beaurocracy. huge veterans affairs group. private groups working together. it's a question of streamlining it. >> it was the idea of the meeting yesterday. how do we make this, a, more accessible to everyone, not just the veterans but employers small and large and get the country engaged in it and create something enduring. no society has been able to successfully resintegrate their

warriors. now, we go to war again. we have to put something in place that we can count on when future wars occur and other young people go overseas in harms way and come back to a civilian society and raise the consciousness of this society. we are on this together. we can't have two societies one in uniform and the rest of us going about our business. >> it is a crisis. i appreciate the work both of you are doing with robin hood. the website robinhood.org. still ahead, we talk to bill bradley of new jersey. chuck todd joins the conversation down in washington. "morning joe" back in a moment. we love gardening...

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would mitt romney have had the courage to go in and get osama bin laden. romney is always the guy with a quip. he shoots back and says well, you know, jimmy carter would have gone in making jimmy carter seem less than, you know, it was

an insult to jimmy carter. >> yeah. >> now, we are going to compare and contrast military resumes. >> jimmy carter graduated near the top of his class at the u.s. naval academy before helping develop the first nuclear submarine. romney owns a yacht and a sailor hat. see you next time on mitt versus jimmy. >> that's good. >> that lays it out. >> yes, it does. a new forecast on obesity in america has health experts fearing a dramatic jump in health care costs if nothing is done to bring it under control. the projection warns 42% of americans may end up obese by 2030. 11% classified as severely obese. a study by duke university. a study by duke and the cdc says

if obesity stays it would save a half trillion dollars in health care cost. >> as much as i like to make fun of you for this obesity thing, the fiscal hawk in me understands. i'm talking more about debt here. this is really a critical fiscal issue for us. what are the biggest drivers of our deficit and debt? medicare and medicaid. it's private health care. all these things combined and obesity like smoking and drugs. >> it's killing us. >> it's killing americans and more importantly, fiscally, it's driving costs. let's talk quickly today. you have dick lugar running for his life politically. it looks like he may lose, why,

andrea. you have known him for a long time. >> one of the real skeptics about the war in 2002, he lost touch with the district. didn't live in the district. couldn't vote in the state. it is a very strong tea party challenge. he's at least ten points behind according to the latest polls. >> gene, a lot of people aren't just going to say the republican party is crazy, this is a senator that's gone washington. >> the republican party has gone crazy, but this is a senator who has gone washington and frankly is in his 80s now and has been there a long, long time. you know, conservatives, not crazy conservatives think he's too mellow. >> takes up residency in a hotel in indiana. >> you don't live in a hotel in your home state. they wouldn't have challenged

him if they didn't think he was a weak and old incumbent. that is what invited the challenge. you know, the purging of the party, some of the old guard is amazing. it's an amazing story. >> we talked to indiana conservatives who said he's okay. he's 80 years old and he doesn't live in indiana anymore. >> he's beloved in the senate by his colleagues. he refused to compromise and run scared unlike some of his colleagues when faced with tea party challenges. he wouldn't change his principles. >> go back to the treaty negotiated last winter. there's not another republican in the senate who would do that with obama. the fact he's not going to be there, there will be more friction. >> eugene robinson thank you. andrea mitchell, thank you as well. who do you have on at 1:00. >> kelly o'donnell, michael

liter. nick burns on europe. >> all right booked. all right. still ahead -- >> we haven't booked the 8:00 hour, yet. >> wait, we just found somebody. senator mary landrieu and lamar alexander for their work on education reform. keep it here on "morning joe." how you doing? ♪ ♪ [ lauer ] this is our team. and unlike other countries, it's built by your donations, not government funding. and now, to support our athletes, you can donate a stitch in america's flag for the 2012 olympic games in london.

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how to better collaborate by using a mobile solution, in a whole new way. using real-time photo sharing abilities, they can create and maintain high standards, from kitchen to table. this technology allows us to collaborate with our drivers to make a better experience for our customers. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. zyrtec®. love the air. [ sneezes ] we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally.

ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. the teacher that comes to mind for me is my high school math teacher, dr. gilmore. i mean he could teach. he was there for us, even if we needed him in college. you could call him, you had his phone number. he was just focused on making sure we were gonna be successful. he would never give up on any of us. live look at capitol hill. welcome back to "morning joe" at 45 past the hour. joining us now, democratic

senator of louisiana, senator mary landrieu and republican senator of tennessee, senator lamar alexander. >> okay, did you get the memo. ghost busters dogs and cats. you are not supposed to get along. what are you working on, senator? >> charter schools. >> education reform. >> what about this week? what is special about this week? >> charter school week which is public schools that are entrepreneurial. my friend and colleague here helped start the movement. we are bringing into reality in new orleans, 80% of our children in the city are now in public charter schools. >> can you talk about that? we went to a school with starbucks and have been working down there. you really see an excitement in new orleans that i see young people all over the place. you see education really taking

shape there. >> my brother said, who is the mayor, we are not building the city. we are rebuilding the city the way we dreamed it could be. the old new orleans only better. it's a brand-new exciting entrepreneurial public school system attracting middle class white families and hispanics. seeing extraordinary gains in academics. we are freeing up our principles to be great. we are expecting our teachers to be great. this man started it. >> i left the -- as education secretary 20 years ago with the first president bush and my last act was to write a letter to all school superintendents saying try these start-up schools like some of the democrats are doing in minnesota. there are seven of them. now, there are 6,000. it's 5% of the schools. what a charter school is, new orleans red led the way. let's take memphis.

memphis has an academy for science and engineering. i went on spring break. there were kids failing in other schools. they were studying advanced placement biology. they keep their students 7:00 in the morning to 7:00 at night and saturday. take off the union rules and government rules and let the teachers use their judgment. let the parents choose the schools and good things happen. >> we have an elementary school. the children are speaking fluent french by third grade. >> i love it. >> students that don't have french speakers in their homes. we started this prekatrina. it's now a public charter. extraordinary. whether it's math, science, stem, language, art or music. bands are starting up. symphonies. it's amazing. >> listening to them, joe, i know our job is tv people and we are supposed to get them to

start fighting, then screaming. >> did you hear what mary said? >> all right. instead, since that's not what we do, i want to know if there's anything else you agree on or could agree on as it pertains to job creation and may relate to education in some way because, i think it's great to come on the show and talk about one specific singular issue you agree on. a lot of people can come on the show and agree about education. >> can i add one more thing about education, then go there? >> okay. >> last night, we saw connecticut, a liberal governor and a liberal legislature passed school reform challenging some of the old assumptions. we are not bashing unions or teachers unions. i think a lot of teachers in teachers unions understand we have to move forward and we have to be progressive on education reform. >> unions with be part of the

reform. there's nothing keeping them from it. it's a mind set. i urge the union leaders to come down and look at what's happening in the charter schools and bereform movement. you know, we've used vouchers strategically. maybe our governor's got a little too far with our voucher push in louisiana, but strategically using vouchers, accountability in every level, charter schools, is transforming outcomes for children. at the end of the day, that's what it's about. it's about academic excellence for our kids. >> the hard evidence thing to do, the thing we need to do, finding ways to reward outstanding teaching, which means pay some teachers better than others because they're better teachers. i had a brawl with the national education association. president obama stuck his neck out a little in support of that. until we pay good teachers,

we're not going to attract -- relate that to student achievement. not easy to do, but it's gauss to be done. >> we were talking -- people act surprised that we argue. that's like being surprised that people in the grand ole opry sing. we are obsessively civil to each other in the senate, and, for example, i'm working on -- with senator feinstein and others to replace nuclear fuel. 35, maybe 40, of us in both parties working way to reduce debt with the bowles act. that's a lot of senators. >> exactly stuck on that. >> but we're going to try to fix this. it's not easy. it's a lot of work. >> so senator landrieu, why is it that the senate has been less productive over the past year or two than over the past 20 years?

what's happening that's stopping progress? >> well, i would say we might be a little slower but we are passing some bipartisan legislation that is actually balanced to get to the president's desk and he could sign it like this transportation bill. 70-plus senators passed the transportation bill. so, you know, the house is sending us some things that don't have any democratic support and at a result we can't move, but if the senate starts something, which we have in several occasions. pass add small business bill that's been transformative. working on energy, nuclear waste. olympia snow and i have done some smau business legislation, adoption, foster care, but transportation is really what we should be coworking now. >> you're going to criticize the senate, because because we argue. we should be. that's what we're for. >> constructive arguing. >> results on issues.

the reason for that, joe, is, because the democratic leader won't bring up enough serious legislation and too many of the republicans make it harder to bring it up when it comes -- we need to find a way to get results. >> we understand the republicans are filibustering at record levels and also that harry reid bluntly is a pocket veto for the president. so a bill never actually gets to the president -- >> well, working on both sides, but we're working through it. harry reid would love to bring up important legislation, sometimes republicans would agree to amendments that are germane or relevant but they won't even agree to them. so it's a little different. >> what about moderate senators. possibly dick lugar, not being in the senate next year. how is that going to affect? >> wome are going to miss dick lugar. >> most senators are eager people who would like result and i mentioned the grand ole opry. it's like joining the opry and not being allowed to sing.

e want to see the bills come and we want to see results. >> senator lamar alexander and senator mary landrieu. thank you. >> and by the way, you guys will get us next year. >> we might. we probably will. >> four years away. still ahead -- >> maybe two decades away. >> former senator bill bradley sizes up the state of the nation in his new book. you're watching "morning joe" br brewed by starbucks.

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on tomorrow's show we'll talk to "new york times" columnist paul krugman. >> a new book out. it's going to be fun and exciting. >> jon smoltz and pulitzer prize-winning journalist buzz kissinger. we'll be back with much more on "morning joe." it's very important to understand how math and science kind of makes the world work.

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5:00 a.m. on the west coast as you take a live look at washington, d.c. back with us on set, katty kay, mark stein, mark mckennon and a new york willie geist. last night katty kay, prince harry taught the atlantic council a lesson or two. mika and i have hosted since i think 1927, and the crowds -- it was just maddening. it was -- colin powell commented that the average age of the atlantic council attending went down about 30 years, and what the organizers of this event couldn't imagine, and maybe you can explain it, because why is it that over the past few years we've awarded the, these awards to george h.w. bush, and bono and bill clinton and the stars of all stars and yet last night

for some reason still in 2012, the british royalty gets a greater reception? it's a cultural phenomenon. what is it even in america that causes that? >> you know, it's as if we cut the ties with mummy's prince but we haven't really. there is a real affection and we've seen an insurgence of it since the royal wedding. and look at the crowds of people that came from america to witness that. i think the whole royal family is on a kind of high at the moment. this is a brand that is doing very well at the moment back in britain, but also clearly here in the states as well. after the death of diana there was a kind of lull in america's affection. there wasn't a figure for americans to -- really latch on to. >> and even before diana's death, there was a nastiness. >> yeah. a kind of nastiness. at the moment it seems to be all the good news story. we have kate and wills, everyone loves, then prince harry, the wild child but doing good work

with veterans. >> the wild child and yet a guy that served his country, wanted to serve his country, like you said. is doing really good. >> amazing. he's been out there. >> amazing work. >> working across antarctica with the wounded veterans. from what i hear with the people who work with veterans he's really committed and out there dropping everything to help. >> he's been involved, the one area unfortunately we americans and people across the globe don't focus enough on. wounded warrior, willie. unfortunately take a back seat. it was nice. prince harry awarded for for ees on wounded warriors. i thought ought the screaming girls were there for you, joe. i didn't realize prince harry was there. there's a real challenge facing us and a challenge happening in

great britain too. all these guys will come home. the iraq war has ended. afghanistan's going to be over in a couple years, at least the large portion of the combat troops will be coming home. it's bad now. we can't handle them now through our v.a. it's about to get a lot worse. so there's a lot of discuss out there about what to do about it. >> the next generation, this past weekend, you did an event with the president. your president, on the wounded warriors. >> yeah. people have been asking if george bush is going to be campaigning. he is campaigning. for the wounded wabiers and doing great work off the radar screen. last week near amarillo he spent three days on a 100k mountain bike ride with the canyons with 20 wounded warrior veterans. it was really amazing. people with one leg riding a mountain bike for 100 kilometers and seeing the president pushing them up the hills because they couldn't get up the hill with one leg. it was really phenomenal.

>> what prince harry was saying. basically chasing these wounded warriors to the north pole, and it was just really -- >> inspiring. >> one of the initiatives of the bush center, make sure there are best practices for it's vets and fill the gaps where the services aren't being -- >> a shameless plug. dave wood our colleague in the "post" this is for what we won the pulitzer prize, wrote a great piece to the extent great medical coverage is keeping these people alive, and it's a tremendous fiscal cost but obviously one worth making, but their stories so complex and amazing an inspiring, and i recommend everyone take a chance -- a. great series. >> we're going to have to focus over the next, the next generations make shuure they're taken care of. right now, especially middle health challenges for all of these wounded warriors coming home. let's move on to news now and the white house, of course sshs facing questions about the president's stance on gay marriage. thanks to joe biden.

i'm sure that gave him a warm reception when he went to the white house yesterday morning. for top members express sag port to be legally wed, the conversation began when joe biden was on "meet the press," shag was absolutely comfortable on the idea and continued on this show with education secretary arne duncan. >> do e believe that same sex men and women should be able to get legally married in the united states? >> yes, i do. >> okay. >> ever said that publicly before? >> i don't know if i've ever been asked publicly. >> press secretary jay carney faced repeated questions on the president's position. carney saying that the president's views are, quote -- i love this word wore a 50-year-old man -- evolving. >> there are many people who think the president, after november, whether re-elected or not, come out in favor of

same-sex marriage. why not come out? seems cynical to hide this after the election. >> i think the president's position is well known. he's spoken to this. it's got an great deal of coverage. i don't have an update to provide you on the president's position. it is what it was. >> pretty rare when somebody runs for office saying i'm getting ready to change my mind, and you've really savaged mitt romney for changing his mind, and i'm wondering if -- if you don't run some risk of looking kind of too clever by -- >> i don't have an update on the president's personal views. that's the answer he has and i don't have a new answer for you. >> who, how? what now? the president's position is what it was. here's the reality, katty, whether in america or in great

britain, cameron supported gay marriage and then suddenly they found out when the conservative m.p.s went home that people in britain didn't want same-sex marriage. this is not a slam dunk politically, and you have the president sounding very much like mitt romney. he's flip-flopping on this issue. >> yeah. >> floundering around, looking very bad. >> and i think it's one of those moments where voters look at that and say, come on. treat me like a grown-up here. i mean, you have a view on something like this. okay. your view can change on something shrilike this, but th plaed been president for what? two and a half, 3 1/2 years? how long can you van evolving position. at some point you know how you feel about this and the public has a pretty good sense what the president really feels on this. so if he's not saying, it looks -- >> i'm going to say if again,

katty, isn't it a failure on the press' part -- yeshgsd of course, the press corps went after him. isn't it a failure on the press' part to allow president obama to get away with this as long as they have? you read stories in the "new york times," of course, the president supports gay marriage. we all know nap he's just not come out and said it. shouldn't the president be forced into a position like, let's say mitt romney would be? >> like romney did yesterday. >> when is the next time the president is going to be speaking before reporters publicly? in the next few days. we're going to have an event. i wouldn't be surprised if at that event there was a reporter that puts a question that comes to a head now with both biden and -- >> you're getting to a point. yesterday felt different it it wasn't where does he stand but about him as character, whether or not he was dancing around this issue. i think the more that that type of pressure falls on the president, the more likely it is the white house will have to do something publicly before either

the convention or the election, and that wasn't the case a couple weeks ago in large part because -- >> a political issue. >> it's a character issue. much more problematic. >> it is and willie, to quote jesus in the bible, i hope it was jesus here or my mom will kill me, if you are ashamed of me in front of my father in heaven then i will be ashamed of you. were i a obama supporter and a contributor and a gay man, i would at this point say, are you really that ashamed to say that you support me? listen, if you don't support gay marriage, just come out and say you don't support gay marriage. that's fine. i mean, there are a lot of good, decent americans that take that position. but if you do support gay marriage, admit it. >> he ought to say. it's not a mooshy question for a lot of people. more most people, should one

american be treated the way the rest of americans are? to be a leader of a country, is a strange thing. i actually don't have a problem with a man evolving. lbj evolved on civil rights and thank god he did but to telegraph with a wink and nod say don't worry, it's coming, i think as was said in the press conference, strike meese as cynical. either you're for or against it and come out and say it. >> and mark mackinnon, break through this. this is about two states and two states only, but two very important states. it's about virginia. >> north carolina. >> and about north carolina. just like al gore wouldn't come out and talk about gun control because he didn't want to lose west virginia and tennessee. >> it gets back to the character issue. i think ultimately an issue people may disagree but give ey give you points for the

position. our grandkids will look back and say, are you kidding me? this san issue? this issue is guaranteed in the constitution. life, liberty and the pursuit of happine happiness. boom. >> there's the problem. >> i'll let you make that issue at the next -- >> we've not seen an issue move this fast in america for decades. american, younger american, something of a generational shift is narrowing on this too. to move from a position where you have a majority as opposed to so clearly moving in the direction of most americans saying -- >> it may be moving that way, but -- katty, also, though -- >> still increasingly, your point about leadership and not looking too cynical. >> sometimes we're caught inside an echo chamber because it seems clear-cut in manhattan and washington and even in great britain, people get too far out in front of it and americans are -- wait a second. marriage -- >> it was okay. >> but marriage, most americans

still believe is between a man and woman, if and this white house, one of the most poll tested and focused groups white house in the u.s. history saw out there gay marriage was a slam dunk, then the president wouldn't be embarrassing himself like this right now. it's never -- it's never -- >> i agree with everything and one point. it's not just the coast's populist that supports gay marriage. it's so generational. polling shows -- that likes gay marriage? >> support for gay marriage. >> talking generational, yeah. >> i'm saying. eventually it's not going to be a an issue. we'll grow into realizes the a natural thing of society. why the evolutionist is taking so long, top democratic officials said it was north carolina basically and the fear that you go out there on somewhat of a limb and then all of a sudden you're attached to

north carolina. north carolina, the spread in 2008 was 14,000 votes. that just means if you have 7,000 votes swinging in one direction, the election's different in that state. >> and they're very worried about that. >> i don't think -- i think i know politics especially in the south. i don't think there's any doubt. if the president comes out in support of gay marriage he loses north carolina. take north carolina off the map. the reason, it was so close. four years ago, when the president had everything going for him and this is an issue. there are conservative democrats, not just in north carolina but in indiana, and across america that are not ready to take that jump in support of gay marriage. it's not a fait accompli in america. american, more conservative on abortion and can you see it in every poll over the past five, ten years for technological reasons, because of 3d imaging, they're becoming more progressive when it comes to gay marriage. >> joe, i agree. i think there are probably a lot of people in north carolina that

disagree with what the president's evolved position would be, but i don't think that's a vote changer. i don't think that even though they may say, i personally don't agree with that. >> not if you're a hippie wearing a scarf, but i will tell you -- >> if it is a vote changer for them, don't you think they're looking at jay carney yesterday and the defense of the president and looking at what the president has said sand thinking to themselves, okay. i'm actually thinking that gay marriage is a quick concern for me. this is something that could change my vote. they're not buying into the idea that the president is opposed to gay marriage. because they're passing it -- >> talk to people in the white house and on the campaign, to themselves they say, listen, we, a, legitimately we've done a lot or gay rights. not there or marriage. b, looking where mitt romney is. we don't have to go out on a limb in this election because mitt romney said publicly including yesterday he doesn't support same-sex marriage and he believes -- he doesn't support civil unions and believes it's a man and a woman and you can have some domestic benefits but

that's it. if you are someone who firmly believes in gay rights specifically in marriage quality, where else do you have to go? >> coming up next, former democratic senator and basketball hall of famer bill brawledly joins us to talk about what we can all do better. bill bradley. to move the country forward. and chuck todd is with us, and craig shirley takes us inside his politico op-ed explaining what republicans and conservatives may be facing in a split. plus, the west coast morning headlines. first, here's bill karins way check on the forecast. bill? >> good morning to you, joe. a gloomy may up in areas of new england especially northern new england this morning locked into the cool weather and just rainy conditions. covered in rain. this area of green is light rain and it's now starting to invade all of maine, new hampshire, vermont, your covered in it. the adirondacks to upstate new york, back to western new york. state college and pittsburgh a gloomy, gloomy morning for you.

rain starting to end in areas of ohio. almost done in columbus and in charleston, you're in the rain shuors for a good portion of your day and wet weather in central texas. this is actually where we need it. pretty serious threat. your tuesday forecast, rainy day for much of texas and new england. we are beautiful in the middle of the country. still have afternoon storms to deal with in the southeast as we go through tomorrow, we're still watching the east coast holding on to the wet weather. tell you what, looks like towards the upcoming weekend, friday through the weekend, the east coast looking nice and finally feel like our friends do on the west coast. that's the space needle in steelg seattle. one of the best springs under way. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. ♪

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presidential election in march, but opposition leaders claim he did so largely because of fraud and ballot stuffing. >> ah! bunch of sore leadoot losers. i mean beent brews. putin's melodramatic hard-line tactics and dissent, you have to be moved by how much putin is enjoying this moment. there he is. living the dream. just beside himself. overjoyed.

can't believe -- that i have been happener getting colon nos tome. it's 23 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." joining us here in washington, nbc news chief white house correspondent and host of "the daily rundown" chuck todd. >> good morning, and in new york former democratic senator of new jersey and former 2000 presidential candidate bill bradley, author of a new book "we can all do better" and we can all do bet perp can't we? >> and willie geist, chuck todd's dodgers, big night last night. right? a new era has launched in los angeles. >> yeah. chuck, it's exciting. stan caftan there shaking hands. the face of the ballpark. magic johnson there. a new day in l.a., i guess. huh? >> it is a new day. you know, now that they're not

hosting the giants and not having beatings going on there. so i would thank god for that. hopefully this really does actually clean up dodger stadium. >> yeah. >> and i'm being serious about this. that, to me, mccourt was a low point and then that mort and you thought mccort was cutting back other stuff. frank mccort. >> it was that and neglect, and frank mccort one of the -- it's one of the worst mistakes bud seal selig made. picking him as owner. >> senator bradley, so good to have you here. >> great to be with you, joenchts of course that is a problem that you did not have in the princeton gymnasium. gangs fighting. let's talk about your book "we can do better." so many americans look towards washington, d.c. with a sense of

disappointment. congress has an 8 psh%, 9% appr rating. this presidential campaign seems unending and negative. where is there hope for washington and where is there hope for america? >> i think it's with the american people, quite frankly. one of the reasons i wrote the book is to give people hope in the wake of a debt debacle last summer and middle class stagnation of income and the wars on the other side of the world. i wanted to remind people that we've had difficulties in the past. wars, depression after depression, and we overcame them, and basically there's a goodness in the american people. that's what we have to build on. and i wanted to remind people that we have political institutions that are flexible enough for us to solve any problem we confront, and what we need are politicians who put the country ahead of party and tell people the truth. >> senator bradley, we were talking a little bit on the break. i want your assessment of it as a guy who was there about this kind of romantic view out there

now, what politics in washington used to be like. guys on both sides of the aisle would get together, drink scotch, smoke cigars, solve the country's problems together. if that's accurate, how did it change so quickly? >> it is accurate, as a matter of fact. a room off the senate floor you could go between 5:00 and 7:00 with colleagues and talk about your families and life and it was a way of bringing people together. i think over time, the reason that changes, first of all, the role of money in politic. people had to go out and raise money constantly. seco second, extreme -- the way we draw lines. the extremes are rewarded because there are too many districts that are 60/40, not close enough. you don't worry about a general election. e worry about a primary challenge and take extreme positions. you don't compromise and move

our collective economy forward. >> chuck todd. >> why is it senators always find religion on this stuff after they leave the senate? i'm being a little -- i'm not just focusing on you here. i always hear from senators after they leave and they talk about all the things that are wrong, and so you say to yourself, well, what made the -- what made it so hard to make change while you were there? >> well, you know, i'm talking about things that are right. things that are good. i'm not just talking about things that are wrong. we've got to face our problems in terms of our economic problems and our role in the world, but there's a selflessness in the american people that we have to build on, and that selflessness is something i believed in my whole life. i mean, you covered a campaign in 2000. i talked about the goodness of the american people. >> no. i remember when you left in '96, though -- >> we can all do better. it's not just -- >> when you left in '96 -- >> it's individual americans as well. >> when you left in '96 you had

a lot of frustration about how the politics of washington was working then. and i'm hearing the same thing from senators as they leave now. so a lot of this hasn't changed. has it? >> well, i think to a certain extent it's gotten worse. take the role of money in politics. in '09 and 2010, health care, $45 million and it's no wonder you had a financial reform bill watered down. no public option in health care bill and you didn't even get an energy bill. the question is, are we prepared to make the structural changes that will free elected representatives to do what they should do, which is represent their people, and not have to go out and constantly raise money and compromise on the edges to please some special interest group. and until we're willing to confront that bake question, which is the role of money in politics, and here we are in the

middle of a presidential campaign with super pacs courtesy of the supreme court, it's going to be a, an orgy of money that's being spent to try to create lies in the country. and so we have to confront that, and that, i think, is the constitutional amendment that says that state, federal and local government may limit the amount of money spent in a political campaign. until we deal with the structural issue here, we're always going to be talking about who's up, who's down, who did this, who did that, and that's not the deep relevant question here. >> senator, sam stein here with "huffington post." in 2008 barack obama ran on the notion you can move the country behind party sniping and i think it's fair to objectively say that that hasn't occurred. can you diagnose whatted? how much of this rests at his feet? because it's not just strictly money. it's also a level of disperse, of course. >> i don't disagree there are

other factors. for example, 2008 on that election night in chicago we made the mistake of believing a leader to renew the country all by himself. even somebody who touched us as much as barack obama can't do that alone. it takes sergeants and lieutenants, a leader can lay a direction, but ultimately it takes citizens. i mean, democracy is not a vicarious experience. you look at any major movement in american history. abolition, the end of slavery, the sufferages, the civil rights, environmentalists, all movements started by citizens, and in the internet age, appleby's shouldn't be an option. no elected official actually took the lead in these issues. they were citizen whose took the lead that forced elected officials to do it, and you need to combine both passion and you need to combine the effect of being annal ble to get things d

>> former senate bill bradley, thank you very much. >> great message. >> good luck with the book. chuck todd stay with us, if you could. up next, craig shirley talks about conservatism. that's next on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] if you stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air. dude you don't understand, this is my dad's car. look at the car! my dad's gonna kill me dude...

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shot of the white house. a beautiful day here in washington, d.c. welcome back to "morning joe." 34 past. and craig shirley, historian, author of "reagan's revolution: the untold story of the campaign that started it all." frank has a new piece in politico asking whether the marriage between conservatives and the gop is over. and he writes in part, this -- republicanism is grounded in winning elections for politicians while conservatism is grounded in winning freedoms for individuals. american conservatism has changed over the years only to the extent that it is always about the expansion of freedom. thus lincoln and reagan were true revolutionaries, anti-status quo conservatives and not really republicans. indeed, both lincoln and reagan belonged to other political parties before joining the gop, but doing so was a practical decision. if they were going to bring radical change they needed the

apparatus of a political machine. republicanism is about anything but radical change, thus the gop and conservatism have little in common. it is a tenuous alliance at best. >> so rodney bumper stick-- you a romney bumper sticker. >> i've got to -- >> yeah. >> i -- i've been discouraged for eight years as a conservative, because the republican congress and george bush passed the largest deficits in the history of his country. the biggest debt, $7 trillion drug benefit plan in medicare we can't afford, and what really scares me about this election is mitt romney and republicans coming in and giving us four more years of that. i think it destroys the conservative movement. listen, i'm certainly not saying that barack obama would be better for conservative, but mitt romney causes real concerns

historically for the conservative movement. >> you bet. somebody observed the other day, might be the first republican nominee to get the nomination without people securing his base prior to getting that nomination, and so there's a very tenuous relationship, thin relationship, between mitt romney and the conservative movement we think dominates the republican party today. >> everybody falls in line in elections. getting excited about gerald ford in '76. bob dole in 19 -- bob dole in 1996. >> look at rick santorum. >> no. i always say, republicans don't win presidential campaigns by going to the middle. republican the win by picking conservative candidates. judging by history, mitt romney's in tough shape. is he not? >> this might be -- like 1976, like 1980, this might actually be more like 1940 in that wend

wilkey runs basically a new deal light and voters give haim choice between the real new deal and the fake new deal. go for the real new deal. if romney runs as a centrist, what his campaign has been about. i'm against this, against this candidate, super pacs destroying all of this opponents, and at the end of the day we're left with a candidate we don't know what he stands for. most candidates, successful campaigns, conceptualize them on a bumper sticker. carter was going to come, clean up washington and put a human face on international rights and international affairs. reagan was going to, you know, defeat the soviet union and cut taxes. john kennedy get this country moving again. we know what obama stood for in 2008. romney could be the nominee and we don't know what he stands for. >> chuck todd, there was a certain republican columnist who lives out in california, has a talk radio show, that was

basically attacking me for not getting onboard. i've got to tell you, though, i'm from the deep south. and this weekend i was in northwest florida. the riviera we love to call it. you know it very well. spent a lot of time in alabama. again, in the deep south. there is no excitement for mitt romney whatsoever. in the heart of american conservatism. california republicans may love him. new york republicans may love him, but in the heart of american conservatism, i have never seen them more tepid about -- >> i have a family member in the rural district who said to me on florida primary date, who would you vote for? i voted for newt? why? i know he's not going to be the nominee and probably lose worse to president obama. i always want to say i didn't give the republican party mitt romney. very -- this is a, somebody who's run for office down there.

this is not some -- somebody who's not engaged in the process. so there is a passion issue with mitt romney he described him this way. the guy's a postcard. a two dimensional figure. and that's part of, we don't know who mitt romney is. >> hasn't filled it out. >> when i read your column yesterday, i said, boy, if mitt romney loses, that's going to be the debate inside the republican party. it's going to be -- >> it's going to be the debate. >> what is -- is it because mitt romney wasn't -- this going to be the debate. is it because mitt romney wasn't a true blue conservative and what is the republican party going forward? >> i was -- first of all, craig published the book -- >> there's a book. >> technically, i don't think it's regional. i think mitt romney has a problem with passion in every region. when he left massachusetts his number was terrible. i think that has to do with the

type of candidate he is and i think you saw that yesterday in two instances. one was, when he said that when this happened last night, he said he was -- he deserves credit for the auto bailout turnaround. that's fact actually not true. second, refused to stand up to this woman in the crowd when she said obama should be tried for treason. he shouldn't be held responsible for the people, what they say at his rally, john mccain had that same -- >> you said it all. you're right. always calculating. it's not natural. if craig and i were giving a speech and we are conservatives and somebody says barack obama was guilty of treason. no he's not. he's is a good guy. wrong on every political measure. >> that's an important point, because politics, the establishment of politics -- >> if somebody stood up and said -- >> ridiculous. >> what i'm saying, somebody stood up -- in a -- like say 1941, you would denounce. >> easily.

>> conservatism about not episodic and tactical, they're sta tree strategic and philosophy and ideals, not just striking political points. >> struck me, funny you bring it up, struck me mitt romney was so programmed to, don't affect conservatives. he's still not -- like he's forgotten -- >> so, craig, i've got to ask you this question, because too often a political party is judged by the person that wins the nomination. the fact is, mitt romney won the nomination because he had a lot of weak conservatives running against him. chris christie, a new poll out, plus like 20 points in the blues to bluest states. he's one of the most popular governors in america. he didn't run. jeb didn't run. mike pence, a conservative, a reagan conservative out of indiana. mike could have won this

nomination. i know some conservatives have trouble with mike huckabee. he could have won the nomination. why didn't the first team of conservatives run for president this year? >> search me. >> governor rick perry is a good job and done a good job down in texas. >> just couldn't speak in complete sentences on the campaign trail and know t. a slight problem there. >> but he's done a good job in texas pap good man. >> the process for running for president is so grueling now made more so by the fact can you have $25 million. i was talking to craig. newt gingrich will go down in history as the first victim of the super pac. if you're sitting back saying i think i can run for president, do you really want $25 million in negative ads run against you and -- >> historically, romney killed him twice, in iowa super pacs and florida super pacs. i would say probably nobody's

had more negative campaign ads run against him than newt gingrich in large part because of mitt romney in iowa and florida. >> don't forget, too, these other candidates who didn't run looked large, because they didn't run. if they had gotten in the race they, too, would have been crushed down in the process. >> you get diminished by the process and, remember, did you want to run against mitt romney who you knew was going to do whatever it took. >> right. >> craig shirley, thank you so much. >> by the way, craig shirley -- >> wow. that's weird. >> yeah. >> are you going to do, instead of, what would have been. >> exactly. >> and chuck todd, we'll see you on "the daily rundown" right after -- >> in 15 minutes. >> right. >> 15 minutes. that's -- >> 15 minutes. >> keeping the audience in the arena. >> that's right. >> chuck, thanks. next, business before the bell with -- oh, crazy brian sullivan. >> he is crazy. we'll be right back with more joe.

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business before the bell. brian sullivan live at cnbc global headquarters. brian, fascinating pap story today about the fact there are a lot of jobs opening in manufacturing, but there is a real challenge in finding skilled laborers. we hear tab in the i.t. sector, but now it's a problem in manufacturing? >> yeah, really is. this has been a theme of our show at 2:00 p.m. "street signs" covering it for a while. people wrote in to mika's point saying we were crazy for telling the story. "usa today" has a story as well. manufacturing is starting to come back, but the revival will slow down if not stop we if don't find skilled women and men to take these jobs. >> what's the problem here? >> lack of training.

lack of geographic mobility. i can't find a machinist in new jersey. probably a machinist in another state to wants to job but can't sell his house. we seem to be a seat whery either go to college or have few skills, a dog gone shame. anybody's who's had any work done on their home, i'm in the process of doing stuff. the plumber, the guy's rolling up in a mercedes in my house. it is noble have a skill. my best friend, rest his soul, passed away from cancer, a carpenter. never went to college. made a great living. i would do anything to have his skills. i can't even hammer a nail into a wall. >> the problem. a mind-set you either go to college or you're a failure, and there is a large swath in our economy that depends on having skilled workers, and it sounds like right now, brian, you're saying we don't have it and

that's a real economic threat to this country as we move forward. >> it's hard for people to believe and i'm sure i'll get the e-mail. saying i can't find the skilled workers i need. i graduated from a state school, liberal arts school. when i graduated i was qualified to do nothing. i ended up going to law school to have a marketable skill. >> so sad. your story is sad because it's so much like mine. >> why we ended up in tv. qualified to do anything. >> my mouth, or i wouldn't have a job. >> look at these hands. >> he's not -- >> i told you. look at these hands? >> i'm sure he's okay. >> she great. >> no. i think -- >> he's on the edge of, like, literally disaster. >> we love him. >> every second. >> in the studio. >> we'll have a nice chat. >> i love it. >> no. >> brian, thank you so much for being on. appreciate it. >> that could be dangerous. >> manufacturing is coming back to america.

we just have to be prepared. thank you, brian sullivan. looking forward to seeing you at 2:00. out west, headlines. we shall return, "morning joe." people with a machine.

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you know, mika, from seattle down to san diego, from alaska

to salt lake city, there's some tortured souls that wake up at 3:00 a.m. on the west coast and watch our show every morning. >> why? >> i'm not exactly sure why. >> why do they do that? >> why do they do that? doesn't make any sense. >> we thank them. washed ashore from the japanese tsunami posing the woeft environmental threat also has of seen. experts say the potential fallout could be more damaging than the exxon valdez oil spill back in 1989. from the "las vegas sun" drivers will soon be sharing the road with driverless cars. the state dmv became the first in the nation to issue google a license to test out its new fleet of self-driving cars. vehicles used gps and sensors to navigate through traffic. that doesn't make sense. "los angeles times," chris paul, rises to the oh pags core the clippers. >> the clippers beat the grisz

grizzlies in overtime. excited about it. clippers now lead three games to wunchts go clippers. >> go clippers. >> we have the clippers and lakers at a showdown. look at that beautiful sunrise in seattle. >> did we learn anything? >> yes, we did. i'm meteorologist bill karins with your travel forecast. afternoon storms could cause minor delays in airports in florida. middle of the country looks pretty nice. west coast looks great today into wednesday. as we go through wednesday afternoon, more wet weather along the east coast. have a great day. ttle speech ri? may i? [ horse neighs ] for too long, people have settled for single miles. with the capital one venture card,

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