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hall. following the resignation of pope benedict xvi. the man who will in a minute no longer lead the church. this is his temporary home. we expect to see something that's always followed the death of a pope. the swiss guard both beloved tradition and entrusted with the very real job of protecting the pope will stand down. once he is no longer pope, their job is done. and they will await the election of a new pope. covering this historic event along with me, claudio lavanga is live. also with us, elizabeth lev and father john bartunic, author and priest based in rome. claudio, a crowd gathered as we saw earlier today when the pope came out on to the balcony and saw him publicly as pope for the last time. >> reporter: that's right.

that's right, chris. there are still people here to witness that historic moment that will mark the real end of the pontifficate of pope benedict xvi. the church bells started to ring. take a look at you are at that door. the summer residence of the pope. those doors in literally 30 seconds or a minute are going to close down. you can see the swiss guards have been released. now that means that marks the end of the pontificate as the personal bodyguards of the pope and leaving symbolizes that the pope has got no -- there's no more pope to protect until a new one will be elected. let's just watch that together. leaving right now. the doors will be closed shut in a minute or so.

marks the end of history in the making as this is the first time a pope abdicates. they're closing the doors. big round of applause here in the square of castle gondolfo. they have attracted the world's attention. where from this moment on, right now, the holy city becomes vacant and all power wills go to a senior cardinal who is the cardinal chamberlain. it's the vatican city of state. also been at the center of controversies in the past as his role always accused of overpowering the one of pope benedict xvi as the name was

mentioned several times in the papers leaked to the italian media. well, after that, of course, a conclave will have to be called. election of the new pope. hopefully in a few weeks. that should take place sometimes from next week onwards and before the 15th of march. in order to have a new pope in place before palm sunday on march 24th. chris? >> thank you very much, claudio. and so, we are now 2:27 past 2:00 here on the east coast. past 8:00 there at castel gandolfo 15 miles outside of rome and the extraordinarily historic moment. behind those walls, behind those gaets now, pope emeritus, the former joseph ratzinger and we have the seat is vacant. the seat of peter is now vacant. father bartuni krc, your feelin?

>> the feelings i've had all day. i'm feeming more. bitt bittersweet. nice to see how the decision of the pope is taken by the catholic faithful throughout the world. following what he believes to be the good for the church and many of us have come to really love him and respect him. and so, you really feel it. i mean, at this moment. well, there you go. at the same time, when you see the -- when you see the swiss guards kind of ending their duty for the time being, i can't help but thinking of the whole history of the papacy. they're a personal guard of the pope because the pope is attacked before. the vatican has been attacked in the 20 centuries of church. even though there's surprises in the past, the schurch is still here and god is still working through the church and so i feel a lot of hope, as well. kind of excitement about what might -- what the next couple of weeks might bring.

>> we see the three men outside those doors. those are vatican police and they now have the official duty of guarding this former pope, pope benedict. and it is so interesting. he brings up a really good point, liz. so many tourists who have been to rome or seen pictures of rome, seen the opulent uniforms of the swiss guard, probably one of the most photographs things in all of rome, certainly among the most photographed people and yet they do as father points out have a fast yating history. >> they have a remarkable history. they're actually the oldest private army or oldest private army in all of europe. they've been around since 1506 coming to serve pope julius ii and serve the papacy contin continually. perhaps most famous for the exceptional vac fis they made. may 1527 literally behind us here when the pope was attacked bay series of mercenary soldiers

from the north and the swiss guards who were 200 at the time gave their lives. there were 147 of them who died to get the pope to safety in castel gandolfo. they're a magnificent example of great personal loyalty to the pope because every year on may 6th the new recruits, they stand in the court yard and they swear to do it again should the need arise so it's a very beautiful tradition in the church of this loyalty of these young men to the pope. >> and father, you have to wonder what's going on behind those walls that we're seeing there. what a difference now for this man who for the last eight years has been the leader of 1.2 billion catholics worldwide and said several times since he announced his decision to step down and very poignantly i thought yesterday when he gave his audience talked about never being alone. talked about the weight that is included with the job of being

pope. and it's always someone around and now you wonder what his life will be like for the rest of his days. >> yeah. i think we're all kind of wondering that. one hand, i'm sure he's feeling relief in the sense that, well, that weight that he felt placed on the shoulders and doesn't feel it as much right now. on the other hand, i think in a spiritual way, he must be very much at peace because as he said over and over again in the last few weeks, he believes this is what god is asking of him. he believes he's not abandoning the church. but he's now changing the way this which he's going to serve the church, serving the church from the quiet of an monastray, really. his love will continue. but it's definitely going to be a change of pace for him, absolutely. >> we should talk about what happened throughout this day and it has been an extraordinary and

historic day. he emerges from the apostolic palace and left the vatican last time as pope. there you see him with some of the cardinals who are very close to him. there were top officials there. staff, parishionors. there was a brief car ride and then a final good-bye inside the vatican before heading to the helopad and hearing the belles chiming in the background. then he took what made many of us gasp. it was the most gorgeous ride in the skies over rome. to the hill top retreat that will serve as his home for the next couple of months. vatican and local officials welcomed him and before slipping quietly, he thanked the cheering crowds of thousands of well wishers.

[ speaking foreign language ] i think, liz, there's also another reason perhaps he went there. his apartment's at the vatican apparently are not yet renovated but don't you think he's sending an important message that he does not want to influence this conclave? we all know he's apointed many of the voting cardinals and so in that sense you cannot escape the influence but he has no intention of making any of his personal preferences if he has any known or in any way being accused of trying to help decide who this next pope will be. >> no. i think clearly the separation from the whole area where the

conclave is going to be happening, where the cardinals are going to be meeting, where these -- where all of this foment takes place in the preparation for the next pope, he's removed himself not only from the area but in to a space and surrounded by nature. he will be in a place where he res in to a period of prayer and rest. eight years of carrying this burden. i think there's a little time for peace and quiet. but he has made a point in the last two weeks, he's made a point of making the world understand that he will not play a part in the governance of the church or successor. >> now the speculation can begin even more. we have already heard rumblings about it. but this will be the focus of attention in the coming days and weeks. who will be the next pope to succeed pope benedict, no longer the head of the catholic church but pope emeritus. thank you so much, claudio.

thanks to all of you and they will continue to be with us in the days and perhaps weeks ahead as we wait for the beginning of the conclave. but that concludes our coverage of the pope's resignation. now i want to hand things over to my colleague craig melvin. >> all right. chris, thank you so much. coming up here, sequester showdown in the senate. take a live look here. these are pictures as both parties prepare to vote on rival bills to replace those automatic cuts. but are leaders doing more posturing than policy making? governor chris christie responding to a cpac snub. >> i didn't know that i hadn't been invited to cpac until like two days ago when i saw it in the news. >> why christie say it is snub is no sweat off his back. also, take a look at this. a favorite picture of the day. dennis rodman taking in a basketball game with north korea's leader kim jong-un. the reason for his trip to the

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as we anticipate an across the board set of budget cuts becoming law in our land, we still expect to see your goodness prevail. rise up, oh god, and save us from ourselves. >> could almost be the not of senate these days. barry black opening with a dramatic prayer to avoid the sequester which, of course, is set to kick in tomorrow but there appears to be little if any chance the sequester will not happen.

in about 15 minutes, the senate will take votes on rival democratic and republican bills that would avert the sequester but both bills are expected to fail. the democratic bill wards off some cuts focusing spending reductions on farm and defense programs. it also includes tax increases on wealthy americans and the oil and gas industry. meanwhile, the republican plan would keep the $85 billion in cuts but allow president obama to reallocate those cuts. here's the senate majority and minority leaders today. >> the republican plan what we thought was coming and it did would be like you're told you have to have three fingers cut off and their proposal to send it to the president and have him decide which finger's going to go first. republicans call the plan flexibility. let's call it what it is. it's a pubt. >> later this afternoon, less than 24 hours before the president's sequester proposal takes effect, we will vote on a

senate democratic plan that does more to perpetuate the culture of -- than spending that washington democrats claim to be concerned about. >> meanwhile, president obama's scheduled to meet with leaders tomorrow and no resolution is expected from that. joining me now, democratic senator barbara boxer of california. senator boxer, good to see you. >> same here. >> republicans are expected to block the democratic plan to avert the sequest we are the filibuster we're told and while the republican plan may get a few democratic votes, that's also expected to fail. absolutely any chance at this point we avoid the sequester tomorrow? >> well, if people will listen to our chaplain and stop this self-afflicted wound and allow these votes to go forward without a filibuster, we will have a clear majority for the democratic plan which would avert the sequester entirely and, you know what?

its biggest future is putting in place the buffett rule so when you earn your second million dollars, you have to pay the same effective tax rate as your secretary. and then we won't have to lay off people. and we won't have to hurt the economic recovery. we won't have to fire firefighters and teachers and nurses. >> yeah. >> and close down some of our air traffic control towers. this is a self-inflicted wound. >> senator -- >> it is definitely taking on this president again. the republicans don't understand that the election is over. they call it his idea when, in fact, they voted for it and as a matter of fact john boehner, their leader, said i'm getting 98% of what i want with this sequester. >> senator, you've been under that capital dome for a lot of years now. >> yes. >> you know how the game is played. do you think that there's a chance that your colleagues are going to vote for either one of

the bills and think nine hours and 42 minutes it's going to happen? >> here's the deal. if there was no filibuster, we would avert the sequester. we are going to get more than 50 votes in the senate for our plan which puts in place the buffett rule and gives us enough revenue coming in to avoid the sequester. we do a few cuts agreed to to big agriculture and we put some cuts in defense, off in to the future. we have a plan to avert the sequester. they will filibuster that plan, requiring 60 votes. their plan keeps it in place. and gives bureaucrats the ability to decide where to make the cuts. but i have to tell you. let's just step back from this and take a deep breath. is this the time when we want to see 750,000 people lose their jobs? just this year. just coming out of the worst recession since the great depression. clearly, this was put in place

so that we would come together on a long-term plan. and that's what ought to happen. so my hope is that tomorrow when the president sits down with the leaders from both sides of the aisle, they'll come to their senses, the republicans will, understand he is our president and let's not hurt the president. let's not hurt the country. let's come together on a long-range plan. >> senator barbara boxer of california, thank you. >> thanks. want to bring in the "news nation" plitd call panel now. nancy cook, correspondent for "the national journal." democratic strategist chris kofonis. nancy, i'll start with you. many economists have agreed that the sequester will cost at least, at least economic growth and roughly 700,000 jobs. some republicans, though, are saying that the cuts won't be that bad. and that the economy can absorb them. as you can see right there, right now, the dow is up about 67 points. climbing for a third straight

day. fewer than 25 points from closing a record high that it hit five years ago. when's the true impact? what would be the true impact of the cuts? >> well, the true impact is that it will happen very slowly so it's like a slow-moving train through the economy and it's true that the stock market finished very high yesterday. doesn't seem like the stock market and business leaders are worried about the sequester now but six months from now once the furloughs have gone in to place and the cuts are going through, there will be an economic impact. it's just that it's not going to happen on march 2nd, saturday, the day after the cuts happen. it's a long-term thing and probably not going to see the economic effects until july or august. >> chris, i want to throw numbers up here. that is new gallup poll and 45% say they would like to see congress pass a measure to avert the sequester but that's hardly a decisive number. 48% said the same thing in a

"the washington post"/pew poll this week, as well. do you think the white house failed in the attempt to sound the alarm about the impact of this sequester cuts? >> well, i mean, i think they have done a -- as good of a job as you can trying to convince people there's some serious consequences. i think part of the problem here is, you know, it's been a tough few years and i think to some extent the dysfunction in washington dealing with republicans led to this, you know, led to the american people being crisised out. some point they check out. you see in the polls, they agree with the president's approach, they agree with democrats' policy approach but the same time, they're not really clicked in. >> we have been becoming desensitized to it? >> i think that do and the real key question here is, when the cuts impact local communities, small businesses, when they start to see the furloughs, that's when i think people react. not like a cliff or a default and doesn't create the same

emotional dynamic and difficult. >> sequester doesn't sound nearly as sexy, either, chris. >> i don't know what the sexy term is for sequester. >> nancy, let's throw numbers here on the screen. this is fifth crisis past two years. more to come. march 28th, government could run out of money. april 15th, congress has to pass a budget resolution or they won't get their paychecks. we have a feeling they'll figure that out. on or may 19th, hitting the debt creoling again. what can we glean about budget battles ahead? >> well, i think we can glean that the budget battles will continue. i think that part of the reason that the business community is feeling very zen about the sequester this time around is there's an assumption that congress will fix the government funding problem at the end of march and everyone's sort of thinking, well, it won't happen. these big cuts aren't that disastrous on march 2nd. but the thing is that there are

major fiscal battles ahead and the debt ceiling battle ahead could be quite epic, actually. that would have a real economic impact and could lead to a credit downgrade. >> chris, you know, whether the sequester was created in the negotiations, it seemed like perhaps a fundamental miscalculation was made. a majority of republicans would not let the defense cuts hit because that's a piece of spending that they were for politically could defend. what changed that calculation? >> you know, i think the republican party's going through this identity crisis right now and decided to draw the line on spending cuts no matter what the consequences are for the economy or for even their own constituents and when you have a party that basically, you know, loads a gun and puts it to their head and pull it is trigger, you can't stop them. i think this is the difficult thing i think democrats have. how do you negotiate with another side that doesn't seem to want to negotiate?

democrats say we want a balanced approach. you can argue the details of that balanced approach but the republicans' answer is we want spending cuts. how do you negotiate with that? i think that's i think the difficulty. i think they thought and i was there. they thought that this would -- the sequester would force them to the table and decided not to be at the table and that's the reality of washington dysfunction when the republicans control one of the chambers. >> chris, nancy, always a pleasure. thank you. >> thank you. >> thanks. >> this sunday "meet the press," david gregory sits down for an exclusive interview with house speaker john boehner talking about the sequester. and lots more, as well. if it's sunday, it's "meet the press" on nbc. we told you earlier this report of nfl coaches and general managers wanted to ask if manti te'o was gay. one player says he was asked that question. what the nfl is doing in response. plus -- >> it makes me very

uncomfortable to have the white house telling reporters you're going to regret doing something that you believe in. >> now the white house denies that obama aide sperling threatened bob woodward. deals with the story woodward published on the automatic spending cuts. we'll show you the e-mail exchange and let you decide for yourself. new york firefighters scott edwards and tim keenan saw the dreams crushed when hurricane sandy destroyed the store surfside bagels. the team advanced and now back open for business. living with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis

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one of the biggest names in journalism, bob woodward, covered washington for decades, making headlines today after a dust-up at the white house on the reporting on the sequester telling politico he had an e-mail exchange last week with a senior white house adviser who was gene sperling. woodward says that sperling told him he would come to, quote, regret his version of the sequester negotiations.

according to politico, woodward perceived that as a veiled threat and a claim the white house denies and we have the e-mails. joining me now, mark murray. mark, there's been a lot of back and forth on this to say the least. here's the quote in question of an e-mail from the white house aide gene sperling. we'll put it on the screen here. quote, i do truly believe you should rethink your comment about saying that potus asking for revenues is moving the goal post. i know you may not believe this but as a friend i think you will regret staking out that claim. >> craig, having covered politics for a while now, i would say that's some of the nicest brush back an administration official or any type of political aide might end up giving a political reporter. oftentimes we end up getting e-mail that is have curse words attached to them. and people saying not so nice things and you end up getting a thick skin in this business and what you were saying is a give

and take between sources and reporters. and a lot of the description this was a threat i think when you see that e-mail as well as the e-mail that bob woodward replied it wasn't a threat. >> there's a perception of a thin skin and saying that they have to be willing to live in the world where they're challenged, referring to president obama's aides. but this friction with journalists, it does not seem to be that unusual with this white house. no? >> oh, it's a constant give and take. and not only with reporters covering the white house and presidential administration, but also, reporters covering congress, reporters covering campaigns. there's always a give and take. but i do think one thing worth noting is policy here. and one of the things that the white house took issue with with bob woodward and a lot of other reporters following this took issue with, woodward said there would be no revenues coming out of a deal with the sequester and the reporting and the language

of the budget control act makes it pretty clear that revenues were always seen to be as a possible solution to the sequester stalemate. >> the language woodward used in the e-mail, as well, the moving of the goal posts, that being a phrase typically used by the gop. so thank you, mark murray. always good to see you, sir. >> thanks, craig. a major issue, house republicans refusing to pass the senate of the violence against women act. now congress has finally sent that bill to the president's desk. we'll get reaction from one of the measure's champions. maryland congresswoman edwards. there's a lot going on today and here's some of the things we thought you should know. bloomberg news reporting that caroline kennedy is a leading candidate to be the ambassador to japan. she's been a long of the time supporter of president obama. the white house is expected

to lend its support to the fight in the supreme court against california's prop 8. the obama administration is expected to file what's called a friend of the court brief. the high court is expected to hear oral arguments starting march 26th. yesterday, the supreme court heard arguments for and against the voting rights act. during the court session, justice scalia called the landmark legislation as, quote, the perpetuation of racial entitlement. here's how reverend al sharpton reacted on "politics nation." >> as one that got beaten on that bridge and that watched what you watched, to hear voting rights referred to as a racial entitlement, i mean, what -- how do you react to that? what were you thinking? >> it was unreal, unbelievable, almost shocking for a member of the court to use certain

language. i can see politicians and even members of congress but it is just appalling to me. it is an affront to all for civil rights movement for people died and bled for and people marching across that bridge 48 years ago. we didn't march for some racial entitlement. we wanted to open up the political process and let all of the people come in and it didn't matter whether they were black or white, latino, asian american ornative american. for his small business. take these bags to room 12 please. [ garth ] bjorn's small business earns double miles on every purchase every day. produce delivery. [ bjorn ] just put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less? ahh, oh! [ garth ] great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. here's your wake up call. [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards.

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[ crows ] ♪ ♪ no two people have the same financial goals. pnc works with you to understand yours and help plan for your retirement. visit a branch or call now for your personal retirement review. more than a year after letting the violence against women act expire congress voted to reauthorize the bill with a vote of 286-138. the house today approved a senate drafted five-year extension of the bill. all democrats and 87 republicans

voted for it which will now go to the president's desk for signature. moments ago, vice president biden stressed the importance of today's vote. >> there was still too many women in this country who live in fear of violence. and there's still too many victims who we mourn. there's an urgent need for the bill that got passed. and it cannot be more obvious in my view. >> joining me now, congresswoman donna edwards of maryland, co-chair of the congressional women's caucus. congresswoman, it's good to see you. >> good to see you. >> one of the issues that held this up was gop opposition to extending protection to native americans, lbgt victims, as well. what did it do for the protections? >> what it said, frank lyfrankl matter who you are, we won't ask

questions. we provide services. that's always the way that those of us who've worked in domestic violence shelters and programs handled these issues. that's what i did long before coming in the congress and so this was really an important victory for all victims of domestic violence. and i think that congress did the right thing today. it's kind of amazing because it's really a bill to have passed a year and a half ago. and but it's good that we did it today. >> took a long time for congress to get this thing reauthorized. how did the democratic and republican leadership finally get to today's vote? and for folks who haven't been following the story, how did it become a political football? >> you are so right to point that out. passing in 1994 and then later reauthorized, it's actually never been controversial. certainly, never been partisan and political in the way that it has this time. the way that we got here is that the republicans failed to be

able to get a vet on their own bill that would have stripped protections for victims who are in the lgbt community, would have stripped protections for women on indian reservations. and would have made distinctions about people who received domestic violence services and instead we passed the senate bill that didn't draw those kind of distinctions and never drawn in services and shelters and programs and passed the bill we should have passed long ago and did it in the house and senate with bipartisan support. to be sure, in the house, it required democrats once again to put the bill over the hump. >> 30 seconds i have left here and while i have you, i want to ask you about the sequester. is there a sense of urgency at all underneath that dome right now? >> there's not a sense of urgency of republicans as far as i can see. in fact, some of them are actually celebrating the fact that the sequester will take place on march 1st. and look at what we have here.

i'll be very brief is that we passed the violence act of women today and then cuts of shelters and services and giving with one hand and taking away with the other. >> only in washington, right? >> only in. >> congressman woman, good to see you. they. >> thank you. secretary of state kerry telling the syrian opposition the united states has their back saying, quote, their goal is our goal. >> the simple fact is, assad cannot shoot his way out of this. with our eye nighted voice today, we express our commitment to helping the syrian people. >> that help includes $60 million to help pay for food and other nonlethal supplies and senator marco rubio says the opposition needs more than that. we'll have a live report next. if you have high blood pressure and get a cold

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united states increasing the aid to opposition in syria, fighting to depose president bashar al assad. in rome, secretary of state john kerry announced that the united states will be providing additional $60 million in nonlethal, nonmilitary aid. >> with our united voice today, we express our commitment to helping the syrian people in order to achieve their goal to live in a free and a safe and a just society. their goal is our goal. >> nbc's ayman mohadeen is watching developments. the u.s. provided some $50 million, $50 million in aid to the opposition. $385 million in humanitarian aid to the syrian people. how will the new aid be different? >> reporter: well, there's two components to this aid as we understand it. this $60 million according to

officials goes to opposition inside syria to help with issues of governance and capacity building in areas liberated, that is areas where the opposition is more in control than the government. in essence, trying to help them begin to build local government structures to help meet the local needs of the people there. and that is a very important component because the u.s. is extremely concerned that in many of these area where is there's an absence of government, the extremists are filling in these areas and that's going to be more problematic down the road so there's that component to it. the other component is nonlethal aid to the armed opposition including meal rations as well as medical supplies to the rebels on the front lines to treat them if they're injured and wounded so it has two components to it but both vitally important to the opposition. >> what's the potential practical impact there on the ground for the opposition? >> reporter: well, you know, we

have been asking a lot of people that. syrian opposition said they're cautiously optimistic about this aid because they're saying it's important, no doubt about it, but they're also saying it's not going to make an immediate impact in tipping what they call the balance of power and syria experts tell us privately which is the key in this dynamic right now as secretary of state john kerry has said, they want to get president al assad to change the calculation to get to a political solution. they can't get him to do that unless there's a change of balance of power on the ground. to do that, the rebels say they need weapons and take the fight to the regime and make the calculation very different. right now, the president of syria and his allies, russia and iran, not afraid sort to speak with the new announcement and aid. >> watching it all for us this afternoon, in cairo, thank you, sir. the death of a mississippi candidate is ruled a homicide. that tops the look at stories

around the "news nation" today. the body was found in the mississippi river wednesday. the 34-year-old had been called mississippi's first openly gay man to be a viable candidate for public office. police say a person of interest is in custody. the nfl says it will investigate reports at least one prospective player questioned about the sexual orientation at the league scouting combine. nick cassa says he was asked questions like do you have a girlfriend and do you like girls? a nfl spokesman said the questions are impermissible subjects. check this out. this one got our attention. look who's all chummy with north korea's kim jong-un. dennis rodman. the warm there as a basketball diplomat of sorts along with the camera crew filming for the vice series on hbo. rodman allegedly told the north

korean leader, quote, you have a friend for life. up next, the army private accused of leaking classified material pleads guilty but not to the most serious charge of aiding the enemy. we'll have a live update on that. also, a "news nation" "gut check" on the claim of bob woodward he was threatened by the white house. can i get the smith contract, please? thank you. that's three new paper shredders. [ boris ] put 'em on my spark card. [ garth ] boris' small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase every day. great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. read back the chicken's testimony, please. "buk, buk, bukka!" [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase every day. told you i'd get half. what's in your wallet?

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army private who handed over hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the website wikileaks finally had a day in court. bradley manning pled not guilty to ten charges and then spent more than an hour telling the court in his own words why he gave away each of the documents and videos. nbc's national investigative correspondent michael isikoff is watching the story closely for us. what did bradley manning tell the court today?

>> basically, he gave his account for an hour and ten minutes why he leaked the documents and videos to wikileaks he said to provoke a domestic debate on american foreign policy and american national security policies that he believed these documents would. and to -- i think it's fair to say that given the attention that they did get, he was probably right about that. he emphasized most the videos of air strikes in iraq. he gave which he said troubled him in his words he said the videos showed a seemingly delightful blood lust by the american military officers who were directing these air strikes. he said that they referred to civilians as dead bastards and congratulated one another on the ability to kill large numbers of people. bradley manning, of course, was

a private based in iraq. he saw the videos. he was troubled by it. an interesting tidbit is he had first tried he said in the statement to contact "the new york times." >> i saw that. >> "the washington post." never got a response which is why he eventually turned to wikileaks. >> all right. our national investigate ifr correspondent, michael isikoff for us. thanks as always. >> thank you. time now for the "gut check." veteran washington journalist bob woodward in a dust-up with the white house sort to speak. he got this e-mail with white house adviser sperling taking issue on his reporting of the sequester. quote, i apologize for raising my voice in our conversation today. my bad. but i do truly think you should rethink your comment saying that potus asking for rev noous is moving the goal post. i think you will regret staking out that claim.

that's for gene sperling to bob woodward. this is the response saying in part, quote, you do not ever have to apologize to me. you get wound up because you're making your points and you believe this. this is all part of a serious discussion. i for one welcome a little heat. there should be more and i welcome your personal advice. i am listening. ala frazier crane. what does your gut tell you? based on the e-mails, do you think that the white house, do you think that the white house threatened bob woodward? go to facebook.com/newsnation. here's a quick update on yed's "gut check." the republican of governor chris christie has not been invited to the upcoming cpac, the conservative political action conference. last night, christie seemed unconcerned about his standing with cpac leaders. >> i wish them all the best. they're going to have their conference, a bunch of people

speaking there. they don't want to invite me. it's their call. it's their organization, their business. and they get to decide who they want to have come and not come. i'm not lacking for invitations to speak here and around the country. i can't sweat the small stuff. i have a state to rebuild. >> go w.h.o. has a better brand, governor christie or the gop? our poll shows viewed favorably. 99% of you, 99%, said governor christie. 1% said the gop. that's it. that's all for this edition of "news nation." i'm craig melvin in for tamron hall on this thursday. you can catch "news nation" every weekday 2:00 p.m. herein on msnbc. .. there's no subtext... just tacos. yeah, it's our job to make you want it. but honestly... it's not that hard. old el paso. when you gotta have mexican.

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