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senators are right now wheeling and dealing over gun violence legislation. the senate judiciary committee meeting to talk about how to move forward on four different bills. well, looks like it could be another week before there's a full markup that could give lawmakers enough time to make a deal. this is the same committee that saw incredibly emotional testimony from the father of a new town victim yesterday. >> jesse was the love of my life. he was the only family i had left. it's hard for me to be here today.

it's hard for me to talk about today and talk about my son, but i have to. i'm not here for a pat on the back as many people stated down in newtown. i'm here to speak up for my son. i want to bring in the national journal's political correspondent and the washington's editorial writer. it moved people to crying there. clearly the concern among proponents of the legislation is that the momentum and emotion after newtown has a shelf life that may, frankly be wearing off. >> watching that, it sort of feels so crass to be responding to it in sort of pure, political terms. i think one of the things that is remarkable about the impact

of the newtown tragedy is how much it has kind of broken the usual consensus that, you know, you have just a very short window to get something done. i think the power of moments like that is so big and so real. and i do think that it was obviously so sincere and it is a terrific reminder to anybody, especially senators who might be thinking that the emotion of this is going to die down, i think it is valuable and it has a billing impact. >> and on the political side, vice president joe biden got pretty fired up yesterday. let me play a little bit of that. >> the public mood has changed. the excuse that it is too politically risky to act is no longer acceptable.

for the first time since newtown, voters sent a clear, unequivocal signal. >> does it feel to you that they're getting closer to some kind of legislation, or maybe another seven days before the full markup? >> i think we'll see something. when newtown first happened and there was talk about an assault weapons ban, a very sweeping agenda unveiled by the president, i think over time, political reality sets in and it looks like it will be scaled back. but there is support for bipartisan support for background checks, for possibly strengthening requirements for mentally ill people who are seeking guns. so i think it's likely something will happen. >> let's talk about background checks, something that chuck schumer and tom coburn are still trying to iron out.

mark kelley had an op-ed in politico, but it's clear that for reasons of the -- preserve a system that makes it easier for criminals to get guns. we have seen the ad where it points out that the nra was for universal background checks years ago, ruth. is this the one piece that's likely to get done. >> it's one of the main pieces that's likely to get done. maybe gun trafficking legislation along with that. and one of the oddities of this gun debate is that back ground checks are not just the most politically acceptable piece, but they're one of the most practically effective pieces. so usually in the political debate, you want x and x would be really great, but you settled for y, here the y that you would settle for, background checks could have an enormous impact as mark kelly has so eloquently testified. and the nra's bet, i was at a

breakfast with david keane, the head of the nra several weeks ago, i asked them directly, do you think this is kind of different? he said no, it goes back to the earlier question. i think it is because of the children and i think background checks are not just going to happen, but they're not just the sort of compromise fall back position, there actually would be a really important addition to the state of gun control legislation. >> i'm going to bring in congresswoman diane black, a tennessee republican on the budget ways and means committee. it's good to see you congresswoman. >> mark kelley was talking about the misinformation that's out there over the gun issue and yesterday we saw sarah palin post a face book message, we're going to default eventually and that's why the feds are stockpiling bullets in case of civil unrest. not so sinister, homeland

security is stockpiling ammo for target practice, two you condemn these tactics that are being used? >> let me just say that my heart just goes out to the newtown parents and the entire community that was just devastated by this violence and so we see this in a much smaller way, all across our country every day, with violence in general. i want to make sure that we're looking at this issue intelligently and from all -- why adam lanza did what he did. unprecedented levels of violent games, music, so on. none of these things that we're talking about right now that are the biggest in the message is really going to help what happened in newtown. so i'm disappointed that we're doing a knee jerk reaction, only

talking about it from one end, i think we have to talk about mental illness, about the breakdown of the family, about violence, about holding people who use guns and violent actions accountable, such as in the federal law where there's a penalty for just possessing a gun. >> i'm not sure that you can say there has been a conversation about the role of mental illness and there have been a lot of discussions on both sides of the aisle about that. and so i'm wondering do you then support any gun legislation, background checks, a ban on high volume -- >> i will not erode our second amendment rights. i will be appear to look at legislation that comes from anyone, whether it's from the house or the senate that will really help us curtail the violence that we see using

weapons. we have heard a little bit about mental health, but there's really not been a lot of discussion, there's not any laws that are being proposed on that and yet we do see the knee jerk reaction to just say, let's just take it only to the issue of how we do background checks or we prohibit people from having certain kinds of weapons. we know if we take a look at just what has happened around the country, in chicago, they have the strictest gun laws right now, and yet they have one of the highest rates of violence with use of guns. so obviously, it's going to take a lot more research than just a knee jerk reaction. >> let me switch gears. tomorrow the sequester kicks in. are you okay with these cuts going through. >> well, you know, the sequester was passed in august of 2011. we have had a full year and a half to look at ways to replace the sequester. this was the president's idea. we obviously went along wit. so we have some responsibility.

but as far as the house goes, we have twice now put out a plan to replace the sequester. at the end of the day, in a $3.7 trillion budget, if we cannot find 2% 2.5% of ways to cut our budget without talking about armageddon, which this administration has so disappointed me. because there's a lot that needs to be done about curtailing spending that's happening up here on capitol hill. >> you've got this big meeting that's coming up at the white house tomorrow. you know, all the leaders. jay carney tweeted a picture of the president with leaders before the rosa parks event describing the conversation as great. republicans say it lasted about a minute. where do we stand here and what about republicans like we just heard criticizing the administration for scare tactics? >> right, i mean i'm starting to

have that groundhog's day feel to it where we're seeing each side repeating their sides day after day. the republicans conceding their revenues and democrats are refusing to consider spending cuts. the fact that they're meeting is obviously a positive sign and we have seen these kind of christ cities avoided before. >> the senate is voting on two bills to deal with the sequester, both are expected to fail. ly this is what the president said last night. >> i think it was winston churchill who once said americans always do the right thing after they have exhausted every other possibility. and we're now getting to the point where we have exhausted any other possibility. >> what's the game plan, being pushed up against the wall that we have exhausted every other possibility? or is it the sequester and how

bad it is for people when they're feeling the pain? >> i think it's definitely the second. and it is a long, long slog from sequester, definitely happening, i don't expect really anything significant to come out of this meeting at the white house, i hope i'm wrong. then we'll deal with the funding of the government and we'll limp along and limp along, and limp along, i think until we get to the showdown point, yes, i'm sorry to tell you, another discussion of the debt ceiling sometime this summer. and it is -- and the question is, how much pain is the sequester going to enforce. how much willingness is there on the part of the white house and democrats to ease some of the pain of sequester by allowing flexibility, agencies to have some flexibility on the spending. and it is just -- it's like trench warfare in world war i. it's going to take a while for

this to sort itself out. >> thanks to both of you. for the first time the u.s. plans to provide battlefield aid to the syrian rebels in their fight to oust president assad. after meeting with opposition leaders, secretary of state john kerry also announced the u.s. will more than double financial aid providing an additional $60 million for basic services things like education and sanitation in areas that the rebels now control. >> in a united voice today, we express our commitment to helping the syrian people in order to achieve their goal to live in a free, safe and a justice society. their goal is our goal. >> the administration is still weighing whether to provide battlefield equipment, including armored vehicles and body armor. .

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vrj. in less than 45 minutes, pope benedict xvi is expected to board a helicopter and leave the vatican for good. he also said he will pray for them as they choose a successor. joining me now father robert ber rain. and investigative journalnyist and daily beast intruder. 2:00 eastern time, the pope is going to read the first in 600 years to step down. talk to me about his legacy, father. >> part of the interpretation of

vatican 2. both he and john paul ii saw their papacies an attempt to interpret vatican too properly. not so much a modernization of the church, vatican ii was an evangelical missionary council. to some degree modernizing to make the church a more apt meaning to that. hence the wide travel for example of john paul ii, hence the great teaching of benedict xvi. i think that's his major legacy. >> they're very different at least in their style and in their i guess pastor abilities in some way, although not very different philosophically. >> this has been a really unsuccessful papacy and the

greatest single act of his papacy is that our church is in real trouble and i am not able to cope with the trouble that we're in. i think there are some of the cardinals that are hoping that the next pope that they elect will convene a vatican 3, something that will set the church on a new course, reach out to the modern world, instead of what has happened under john paul ii as well in terms of the theology and benedict which has been a look backwards in terms of what the theology means, what the role of the male celibate priesthood in particular is, which has caused such terrible troubles for the church. but both of these popes had a view that the great problem of the world today was moral relativism. and their the theology moved to address the problems of moral

relativism, and the real problem in the church itself, in the priesthood was moral relativism. >> that leads us to the question of, what will these 115 cardinal electors be looking for? do you grow with what carl has had to say as the to what they will think is their mission? >> we barely handled vatican 2, barely begun the implementation of vatican 2. i think certainly the addressing of the sex abuse problem, a need for more governance in the church, more accountability and transparency. they'll be looking more for a governor. you had in john paul and in b benedict, they were extraordinary teachers. but they will be looking for

someone who is more of a governor. >> you hear the cardinals say there's a sense of -- there's a strong desire to have a new pope as soon as possible. but for that to happen in the most prudent, enlightened way, we need some sort of prayer and reelection of getting to know each other. >> there are a lot of these cardinals who were appointed by pope benedict, who don't know each other very well, you remember that this is a worldwide church and you also have a church in the united states that's very different in some of the area where is it's growing in latin america, in africa, where frankly the people in the church tend to be more conservative. it creates almost an inevitable conflict, doesn't it. >> i wouldn't say that people in the church in latin america and in africa tend to be more conservative. the growth of the church absolutely is in the third world. one of the things that happens at a papal conclave is that the

cardinals begin discussions with each other about where the church ought to go. when we wrote his holiness and biography of john paul ii that the conclave that elected him, the cardinals talked to each other about where the church should go and the fact that john paul ii was from the communist world was a huge factor. these cardinals are now going to discuss particularly the north american cardinals, what the problems of the church are. and i suspect that we might have a north american cardinal, it's possible it won't be doeland, if it were, it would be cardinal moley. but i think that father barron is right, they're going to be looking at this internal governance. it's possible that they must say

we must convene a council that reaches out to the rest of the word because right now the rest of the world has recognized that our ship is foundering. >> we're doing to continue the conversation a little later on when we see pope benedict another the vatican for the last time. the supreme court will issue a decision on the voting rights act before it ends its current session in june or july. tough challenges yesterday. key provisions of the act could be in jeopardy. if the court would overturn the provision, nine states would be allowed to change voting procedures without getting federal permission. the justices are expected to meet in chambers tomorrow to discuss the case. mmm. [ hero ] yummy. [ male announcer ] kellogg's crunchy nut. it's super delicious! you don't decide when vegetables reach the peak of perfection. the vegetables do.

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raising the minimum wage to $9, but no the democrats wants it up even more to $10.10. the whole thing -- sources tell bloomberg the 5-year-old is leading the field to replace ambassador ruse. we have heard about newark mayor cory booker pulling people from burning buildings, shoveling snow and now he's helping men to propose. he called a new york city woman and told her to come upstairs for an event and the man was there just waiting. michelle obama will announce the lets move -- there's a new website, let's move schools.org. encouraging schools to use

creative ways to help kids get fit. like learning abcs while doing jumping jacks. my must read is "time" magazine's fascinating cover story, man, superman, gunman. it's about oscar pistorius and how a culture of crime and violence against women in south africa may have played into the death of his girlfriend. it's up on our face book page at facebook/jansingco. when what you just bought, just broke. or when you have a little trouble a long way from home... as an american express cardmember you can expect some help. but what you might not expect, is you can get all this with a prepaid card. spends like cash. feels like membership.

do we hano.a mower? a trimmer? no. we got nothing. we just bought our first house, we're on a budget. we're not ready for spring. well let's get you ready. very nice. you see these various colors.

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invitations to speak here and around the country. i can't sweat the small stuff, i got a state to rebuild. >> mitt romney will be at cpac and it doesn't appear he's holding a grudge against christy for praising president obama's response after hurricane sandy. mitt romney donated the limit to chris christie's re-election campaign. good morning. >> john, does chris christie need cpac? did he diffuse the controversy with his comments? >> c spak the last couple times nominated ron paul to be their standard bearer, so i don't think that cpac is an organization that chris christie needs. i think that chris christie is the most popular republican governor in the country and is

tracking spending at the local level and getting the teacher's unions to do a better job of teaching and at the same time he has this remarkable record of rebuilding new jersey after the big hurricane. i think that for someone like cpac, a group like cpac, they need someone with some common sense values that someone like chris christie has. >> chris christie has an approval rating of 74%. a republican governor in a very blue state. is he the 2016 candidate that maybe democrats would fear most? >> oh, it's much too early to tell. and for chris christie and for any republican, the key is going to be can they move to the center and can they say no to people like cpac. and chris christie has an advantage that he's not part of the washington politics now and he's able to say what he thinks. when he gets among republican conservatives, can he maintain that candor? that's going to be the test for him. >> you need to be a little more

conservative to get the nomination, and he found himself the subject of some criticism after he praised president obama for his response to hurricane sandy. charles krauthammer says it's time to let chris christie out of the doghouse. >> chris christie has a -- earn the opportunity to run and win in a primary is ridiculous. receive is exactly right, it's very early in this process. i do think that the fact that cpac did not invite him gives christy much more of an opportunity to say what's on his mind. i think people want a sense of authenticity from their political leaders, someone with a track record that's actually gotten stuff done and christie has done this long before the republican primaries begin. >> a comment over the last 24 hours or so that the u.s. should

start supplying ammunition to some rebel groups in sere yachlt let me play you just a little clip. >> i think one of the things we can consider is we can identify a couple of responsible groups or more responsible groups that we feel have built a -- ammunition is something we can provide, which is not weaponry per se, but is essential to the weaponry. and that's a step i'm prepared to advocate for. >> steve, what do you think? is he a real contender? bobby jindal? who's looking strong at this point? who do you see positioning themselves for 2016? >> they're all positioning themselves because it's going to be an open seat. but from what i have seen so far, i don't think any of them are going to beat hillary clinton. >> short and sweet answer. john, what about you? >> the think that marco rubio has a -- actively engaged in the

world. it's a responsible adult world view and i think he would be an excellent contender for the white house and his personal story is so compelling, that i think that voter also really like him. >> we often talk about how hillary clinton, getting into the rice would change it on the democratic side. but it will be interesting to talk as we go forward about how it will change things on the republican side. thanks, gentlemen. good to see you. checking the news feed this morning, this hour the army private accused of leaking classified documents to wikileaks. he wanted to spark a domestic debate on the role of our military and foreign policy in general. he has now faced 22 criminal charges that include aiding the enemy and reportedly plans to plead guilty to some of the lesser charges. mississippi police are investigating the murder of a man running for mayor in clar

clarksdale. his campaign spokesman says that mcmillan may have been the only viable gay man running for governor. the thieves clearly prefer thin mints and short bread, those are the only ones taken. prince harry showed off his dance moves again during a visit to south africa, the prince learning a traditional dance at one of the centers supported by his charity that helps orphans and children with special needs. and we are coming down to the pope's final departure from the vatican, complete live coverage a little bit more than 15 minutes away right here on msnbc. buying a new car is now more expensive than ever. cnbc's brian shackman joins us with what's moving your money.

>> the average price, $30,500 and i actually crunched some numbers, chris, say the medium nblg in this country is 50,000. say you're taking home $3,000 a month, if you didn't put anything down on a car and you finance it at 3% for five years, you're paying $550 a month. that's before insurance, that's before gas, so basically 20% of your overall income on transportation. washington, d.c. has a pleadian income of $86,000. that's the only place that you would be able to afford a scar at the median level. . >> air travel, from trip advisor, what did they find out. >> the five biggest complaints. seriously, you know what they are, right? the seats, they are dirty, there is no regular room, the fees, the delays, the security lines

and other passengers was number five on the list. >> other passengers, that's funny. but the one that's really interesting is those security lines because with sequestration, we might see more lines at the airport, at least that's the sense we get from the faa so that might jump up a little bit next year if it lasts a long time. are you thriving where you live? the annual well-being rating is out for the states, it's based on physical health, outlook on life, job satisfaction and lifestyle. here's the list, number fiver, vermont, four is utah, three minnesota, two colorado and the top spot for the fifth year in a row, hawaii. by the way, west virginia came in last. you can see the complete list on our website, jansing.msnbc.com.

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s. the view of saint peter's basilica and there you see members of the college of cardinals as well as the staff waiting. in about 15 minutes, we are expecting to see pope benedict get into -- representing more than 8 million workers launching a new ad campaign this morning. >> by refusing to budge, you and republican leaders have guaranteed reckless automatic cuts that will devastate our troops, first responders, students, educators, families, seniors and could destroy a million american jobs. is this how you want to be remembered, senator mcconnell? >> let bring in chuck loveless, what are you hoping to accomplish with this ad?

>> they're going to move forward and move forward and have a devastating impact not only on people but on the economy as well. >> arnie duncan talked about the impact of the cuts. >> as many as 40,000 teachers could lose their jobs and there are literally teachers now who are getting pink slips, getting notices they can't come back this fall. >> we hear the concerns from nea, we hear the concerns from -- gave the education secretary an f or four pinocchios for those claims. there's some exaggerating going on, because that is the complaint by republicans, that in fact, groups like yours as well as the white house are overstating the potential impact here. >> well, i can't tell you, chris, with surgical precision when the cuts are going to kick

in and actually really hurt people. certain cuts are going to be more devastating, more immediate than others. but let me say with regard to state and local governments. they cannot make decisions on two-month increments. the fact is they're making decisions right now for the next school year or the next fiscal year, so cuts are very definitely going to happen and they're going to hurt people. >> the president has invited leaders to the white house tomorrow. but has he done enough? has he taken the lead? and what about the lack of conversations on both sides? >> well the problem is, chris, it takes two to tango here, and republicans have been adamant that not one dollar of new revenue can be on the table. whether it be closing loopholes, so unless we -- >> so let me ask you really

briefly, what are you saying to your 1.6 million members. >> we are telling them to prepare for cuts. we have already sent an e-mail out to most of our membership, we're having an emotional call on individual. these cuts are going to be real, people are going to be furlowed, we're very excited about the situation. today's tweet of the day comes from the "new york times" brian stelter, quote, you know it's going to be a good day when sequester, bob woodward, syria and the pope are some of twitter's top five friends this early in the morning. [ female announcer ] it balances you...

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on this day in rome, history is being made. there you see members of the pope's staff, the household staff, he will leaf vatican city for the final time as leader of the catholic church and it's 1.2 billion members. that he could will take him to castle gun, dolpho. he will cease being pope at 2:00 p.m. today. at the vatican, next's anne thompson, father john bartunic and elizabeth lev. welcome to all of you, as we receive see the welcome sign to pope benedict there. how is this going to play out? >> he will come out, he will get in a car and he will be driven over to the helipad over here at

the vatican. he'll be going to castle gun dolpho, that is the papal retreat. he's expected to address, we hear there are about 8,000 people there and he is expected to address those people, not a formal speech, but just to make some remarks. and then he will go inside and at 8:00, the way we will know that there has been a change in the leadership of the catholic church is by a changing of the guard. the swiss guards who guard the pope in those striped costumes and those metal helmets that we see, they will move away and a they will be replaced by vatican police, because swiss guards only guard the pope and not

civilians, which is what he will become at 8:00 tonight. >> we saw 150,000 who were there for his final audience. father bartunic, i'm guessing you feel as all of us do, i'm still in a little bit of a state of shock as i watch this scene developing, because this is something we thought we would never see in our lifetime, something we have not seen for centuries, a pope deciding that he would step down, what are your thoughts as you watch this happen and put it into the context of the significance that this holds for the catholic church. >> yeah, i think that the shock is kind of wearing off, most of it has worn off, but i think the feeling, the overall feeling that we shared, even yesterday during his last audience, is bittersweet. he made the decision he thought was best for the church. he did it in best conscience after a lot of prayer. and he really won over a lot of

hearts in his time as pope. so to see him go, we kind of feel sad and a little bit of somber. in the catholic church, a lot happens a lot of times, but this is something that's been seven centuries and it has not happened. and the way it happened with pope benedict, it's never happened in that way before. after so much reflection and pondering and thinking about it and with anticipation giving the public announcement. so we are really in new territory. it's kind of rare for a church that has 2,000 years of history. >> and as someone who has spent some time inside the vatican and knows how the papal household works, i'm wondering what must be going through the mind of the people assembled as they're waiting for the pope to come out and get that inn that car and drive away for the last time as pope? >> i was remembering yesterday,

when benedict was talking about how he was not alone, how there were people around him. we see his family, these are people who for eight years have passed in the hallway, they have been part of his daily life. i think it must be very moving to see this separation from a daily encounter to moving to another place entirely. >> there will be a number of people as we see the pope now, kneeling and kissing his ring who will go on the helicopter with the pope. the deputy prefekt of the papal household will travel as well. his personal physician and it has been well documented, especially since his decision to step down, some of the medical difficulties that he has had. he has a pacemaker, he has gone blind in his wright eye and we know that on his trip to mexico and to cubcuba, we took a fall.

there was a butler who had to step down, so the one who was his butler -- he is 85 years old. and yet, carl, as we were speaking earlier, you wrote a book about pope john paul. part of his legacy was the way he lived his final years, the fact that he was a testament to the value of life in all of its forms. it's very interesting that this very traditionalist pope has chosen the opposite path. >> john paul ii wanted his suffering with parkinson's and other ailments to be an example to the world with how you deal with suffering. this pope has done something remarkable which is to say that the church is in trouble and he is not up to governing it. and that message, whatever the affection that he is held in by these cardinals, an he's held in great affection because most of

them owe their red hats to him appointing him as did john paul ii appoint the rest of the cardinals. whatever the affection, they know that he has thrown a gauntlet doubt in the church. and whatever reflection takes place at this conclave, there has to be a re-evaluation of what has caused the church to have such terrible truck in the modern world during his papacy. particularly about the role of the priesthood itself, male celibate priesthood has caused the church terrible problems. they're going to have to start to address these questions and whatever their affection, and it's great affection, they know that their institution is being watched now by the world, not just in terms of this ceremony and the moving farewell, but also in terms of how the church is going to move forward in this

troubled time, without a leader yet, who is going to be the next leader? will he be on the order of a john the xxiii, will it be a john paul ii who knew how to deal geo politically with the modern world in terms of poland and the communist world at the same time dealing with the internal problems of the church. and yet, we're also seeing ancient tradition here. as well as an ancient pope who was unable to perform as he had hoped. >> we see that final wave, it seems, from pope benedict and those who have been so close to him over the eight years of his papacy and the applause by, again, members of his household and he is giving them his blessing and you see on his right hand, the fisherman's ring, it is cast for each and

every pope, and when they cease to be pope, as he will at 2:00 this afternoon eastern time, and you see that traditional kissing of the ring, it will be taken and a silver hammer will be taken to it and it will be destroyed because that is also the papal seal. so this extraordinary moment in history, using the former joseph ratzinger who will be within hours be pope emeritus, getting into the car for this short ride to the helipad leaving the grounds of vatican city for the last time as the head of the roman catholic church. and liz lev, as our historian, give us some historical perspective and what you're seeing as you see this, as someone who has been so close to the vatican and lived ed id ino longe? >> i'm looking at this courtyard, which has had so many different events take place