and "21 and over" is aimed at the 21 and under crowd, hoping to cash in on the same group as last year's "project x." and "last exorcism" turned out to not be the last one as the sequel hits this weekend. finally, billy bush caught up with jennifer lawrence where she admitted to getting help in her new dior ads. >> oh, my god. i haven't seen these yet. that doesn't look like me at all. >> isn't that fun, though? >> i love photoshop more than anything in the world. >> i don't think that's photoshop. that's you. >> people don't look like that. >> well, she does. she looks like that. >> she does. it's nice to know even the prettiest of the prettiest get photoshopped, you know? not everybody is perfect. >> going back to the week in review. did you see the tumble weed video? >> i think that was my favorite. >> i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned because "way too early" starts right now.

to prevent the next crisis, we just need a worse scenario. i say we suspend a monkey above the floor of congress. no, an ebola monkey. then every senator and congressperson gets smeared with banana meat. if they do not reach a budget deal by the deadline, the doors to congress are locked, the rope is cut, and it is meal time in the monkey house. >> stephen colbert offers his solution to the sequester as congress high tails it out of town for the weekend. must be nice. good morning. i'm bill karins. this is "way too early," the show that feels like the sequester never really live up to its big brothers. remember the fiscal cliff and the debt crisis? those really had us scared. thanks for waking up with us on this friday, march 1st. we have a lot to talk about, including president obama's strongest support for gay marriage to date. the white house urges the u.s.

supreme court to strike down california's ban. also, secretary of state john kerry meets with lieders of the syrian opposition as new reports reveal that the u.s. has begun trading the rebels to fight against bashar al assad's forces. but will it be enough without american weapons? and speaking of foreign diplomacy, dennis rodman becomes the new bff to kim jong-un during a trip to north korea. yes, these are the real pictures. we'll explain later in the show. first, our top story this morning comes from our nation's capital. at times it felt like a slow-moving train wreck, but time is finally up for the white house and members of congress. today, $85 billion across the board spending cuts hit federal agencies and the pentagon. two competing plans to avert the sequester failed yesterday, as expected. president obama will meet with leaders from both parties today, even though many lawmakers have already left town for the weekend.

what's left is a deeply divided capital where yesterday senator lindsey graham took his own party to task for signing off on sequestration in the first place. >> i guess the republican party feels like the pell grants and food stamps and the faa and home mortgage interest deduction and all this other stuff in the federal government should be shielded, but those who have been fighting the war that protects us all from radical islam should be on the chopping block. ronald reagan should be rolling over in his grave. shame on everybody who agreed this was a good idea on our side. >> others outside of washington put the focus on the president. new york city mayor michael bloomberg called for more leadership from the white house. >> i think the mistake that was made here is we let congress write the health care bill so that it's just a collection of special interests. you got yours, he got his, and i voted for both of those because

i got mine, and it doesn't make any sense. nobody's ever read the bill. it's just not going to work. the same thing is true with d d dodd-frank. congress shouldn't be writing specific laws. the president should send to congress a specific law that was created by people, experts in the field, and then sell it to them. they may have to tinker a little bit here and there, but the leadership has to come from 1600 pennsylvania avenue and not the other way around. >> the white house now says the president's budget will be delayed at least in part by the sequestration, something press secretary jay carney called a, quote, manufactured crisis. according to "the wall street journal," the government spent over 50% of the federal budget last year on medicare, social security, medicaid, and interest on our federal debt. but the entitlement programs are almost 100% untouched by these new cuts. why is that an issue? well, the number of americans

who receive social security retirement benefits is expected to grow 40% over the next decade. in just three years, a social security disability trust fund is forecasted to burn through its reserves. and medicare funding to pay hospitals is projected to run out by 2024. in other political news, mitt romney is weighing in on what life was like during last year's presidential campaign and how things have changed. >> we were on a roller coaster, exciting and thrilling, ups and downs. then you get off. it's not like, oh, can't we be on a roller coaster the rest of our life? it's like, no, the ride is over. >> meanwhile, politico reports several possible contenders in 20 2016 will meet in florida next week. for now, at least, governor christie is staying closer to home, working to reach out to a

key demographic of voters. while campaigning for re-election in new jersey, he told a crowd, quote, we cannot expect to get support from a latino community if we don't make the latino community feel welcome in an important part of our party. senator marco rubio is facing heat from peter king of new york. he blasted the florida senator for raising money on wall street after voting against an emergency relief bill in the wake of hurricane sandy. congressman king tells "the new york observer," quote, being from new york, we're not supposed to be suckers. it's bad enough that these guys voted against it. that's inexcusable enough. but to have the balls to come in here and say we screwed you, now make us president. i guess i'm allowed to say that. after an 18-month battle, the house has passed a violence against women act with just enough bipartisan support. the senate approved the beill, then the house passed it with every single democrat voting for

it. only 87 of the house republicans voted for it. in the last congress, house republicans refused to bring this bill to a vote. the bill's passage also marks a new trend among house republicans. for the third time this year alone, the house has broken the so-called hastert rule. the unofficially named rule states all bills in the house must pass with a majority of the majority party voting for it. the violence against women act now goes to the white house where president obama is expected to sign it into law immediately. pfc bradm mannellman -- bra manning is facing up to 25 years in prison. he told a military judge he was fully aware of what he was doing when he leaked the data to the group wikileaks. although he says he was careful not to release any information

that could harm his fellow s soldie soldiers. he said he made copies of the files after he became, quote, depressed about the situation in iraq. among the information was video of u.s. air strikes, military incident logs and files on detainees held at gitmo. manning is expected back in court later today. turning overseas in a major foreign policy shift, the united states is offering non-lethal aid to armed opposition forces in syria, but rebel leaders say not enough. the u.s. will provide an additional $60 million to the political coalition opposing president bashar al assad as well as food rations and medical supplies to the free syrian army. but a spokesman for the opposition's largest fraction balked at the offer and said, this has become embarrassing and degrading. the regime's escalation has rendered our unmet pleas

foolish. andrea mitchell has more on this developing situation. >> reporter: meeting for the first time, the new secretary of state and the opposition leader the u.s. hopes can lead a coalition to house bashir al asad. >> the simple fact is assad cannot shoot his way out of this. >> reporter: while the rebels have been gaining on damascus, they're still outgunned by the regime's air power, including a devastating attack on aleppo last friday. the opposition leader spoke directly to assad. >> translator: i'm saying here and now, bashar assad, you have to behave for once as a human being. stop killing and massacring these people. >> reporter: the white house still won't provide weapons, fearing they could fall into the hands of more radical elements fighting alongside the rebels. but britain and france are expected to fill the gaps with military equipment. u.s. officials don't deny a "new york times" report that the u.s. is already secretly training small units of rebel fighters at a military base in the region.

>> we can't risk letting this country in the heart of the middle east be destroyed by vicious autocrats or hi jacked by the extremists. >> reporter: still, many say the administration needs to do a lot more. >> assad has air sue superior y superiority. another possible, down-the-road alternative is a no-flight zone. >> reporter: but there are a lot of risks. >> there are a lot of groups there. some of them you don't want to be giving weapons to. >> that was nbc's andrea mitchell reporting. john kerry is scheduled to travel to continue the dialogue on syria. the white house is taking its most significant stand on gay marriage yet. last night the obama administration filed a brief urging the supreme court to declare california's law limiting marriage to only a man and a woman unconstitutional. this law is known as prop 8. the administration argues states violate the constitution if they offer civil unions to gay

couples but deny them right to marry. the court's decision could be applied to at least seven other states that allow civil unions but not same-sex marriage. president obama's stance on the issue has evolved. as early as 2004, senator obama cited his christian beliefs saying he was not in favor of gay marriage. in 2010, he said he was evolving on the issue, which paved the way for a landmark interview in 2012 when he said he supports gay marriage but would leave it to states to decide. well, flash forward to this year's state of the union in his declaration that, quote, our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law. then yesterday came the court filing. also joining the cause, clint eastwood, who along with 130 conservatives, signed a brief of their own to the supreme court calling for an end to prop 8.

you heard what's going on in detroit. their ongoing financial troubles. this morning, reuters quotes michigan governor rick snyder will officially declare a financial emergency setting up the state to take over the motor city. ever heard of such a thing? detroit has been ailing from a $327 million budget deficit and $14 billion in long-term debt. if governor snyder moves, an emergency manager will come in to oversee a financial plan, which includes changing budgets, selling city assets, and suspending salaries of elected officials. one visible ceo has been shown the door. groupon fired ceo and founder andrew mason, sending shares of the company up. so why are we covering this story? because of this. in a statement, mason said, after 4 1/2 intense and wonderful years as ceo of

groupon, i've decided that i'd like to spend more time with my family. just kidding. i was fired today. he's cool. let's take an early look at the markets as we get all up in your business this morning. karolyn roth is in london this morning. we all wish we could be like that, right, karolyn? >> what a wonderfully candid memo sent out by andrew mason yesterday. again, he said i'd like to spend more time with my family. oh, just kidding, i was fired. in that memo, he mentioned some of the reasons that led to his being fired. of course, the fact that the share price of groupon has fallen by some 75% since its ipo, now trading at around $4.50. also he said the controversial accounting metrics in the s-1 filing certainly were a part of that. me said as a ceo, i am accountable for that. one thing is for sure, bill. the next ceo really has his work cut out for him. now, shares in groupon after the company posted a surprise

quarterly loss were down 24%, but after hours they did rally by as much as 8%. in terms of the overall market, the dow jones losing some 20 points. with saw a late-session selloff. that says investors are somewhat concerned about the sequester, which kicks in today. >> carolyn live in london. thank you so much. as always, let us know why you're awake. shoot us an e-mail at waytooearly@msnbc.com. of course, we'll read your fantastic responses later in the show. still ahead, in college basketball last night, duke haters rejoice and become become uva fans. let's just say coach k was not happy after the game. we'll show you what he said next in sports. and later, lessons from parenting in russia. that story and a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back.

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[ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. this is what was happening while many of us were asleep last night. evacuations under way in riverside county, california. a fast-moving blaze getting close to a number of homes and buildings. about 200 firefighters and helicopters are on the scene. they're expecting a windy, warm day today, which will not expect their situation whatsoever. let's get a check on your forecast today. meteorologist dylan dreyer joining us. meteorological spring. >> it is spring. march, april, may, it's spring for us. you know what? it comes a lot sooner than spring for everybody else, so we'll take it. we'll see most of our warm air out in california. elsewhere, it's all about the cold that's moving in and

sticking around through the weekend. nuisance snow showers up through new england. lake effect snow coming in off lake ontario. we also have lighter snow showers across kentucky, illinois. that's an area that we'll be seeing off and on lighter snow showers today into tomorrow, mixes in with a little bit of light rain across the southeast. but look at all that cold air. 36 degrees in atlanta. with this huge dip in the jet stream, that's where the cold air is going to stay. each morning, this morning, and again tomorrow morning, we most likely will see more freeze warnings posted for all the crops down in the southeast. and it is going to stay well below average. atlanta today, a high of 48 degrees. normal high is 60. so it is going to be well below average. same goes for orlando, too, where it should be about 9, 10 degrees below average. elsewhere, we're not really looking at a whole lot of wet weather, whether it's snow or rain. it's really just about the cold. we're watching a possible storm for next wednesday and thursday. bill, i know you were looking at the models this thursday.

>> why upset people, especially in the mid-atlantic? >> that's true. let's focus on the weekend first. >> thanks. let's turn to sports. i feel so horrible for all my duke friends. wait, i don't have any duke friends. to the highlights. number-three duke on the road against virginia. under two minutes left in the first half. virginia working the ball inside. nice cut, easy off the hoop. harris for the lay-in. cavs up three. second half, more from harris. he was on fire last night. that gives virginia a 14-point lead. haste had harris had an amazing night. he scored 36. the two-handed slam to cap things off. they go on for the five-point victory. the crowd, they crush the court. virginia pulls off the upset. of course, coach k not too happy about the fans storming the court there in charlottesville. >> it's not all fun and games when people are rushing a court, especially for the team that lost. again, congratulations to them. they should have fun and burn benches and do all the stuff

that they -- you know, i'm all for that. great school, great kids. but get us off the court. >> sarcasm. burn the benches. reports say the duke team had a very hard time getting to the locker room after the game, that coach k had to be restrained after things got heated with some of the virginia fans. more from college basketball. a couple of very traditional programs are jurnds going a makeover for march madness. ucla, notre dame, kansas, louisville, baylor, and cincinnati will all wear these new adidas uniforms for the tournament. adidas, who approved these shorts? as you can see, the jerseys feature short sleeves and the shorts are rem nis sent of the zubas worn by charles barkley. remember those back in the '90s? equally as horrible. more basketball now. the united states has finally made contact with north korea political leadership in the form of our new secret cia weapon, dennis rodman.

rodman has infiltrated the nation with a film crew and members of the harlem globetrotters. he's going to play a little basketball too. yesterday, north korean state tv showed rodman and north korean leader kim jong-un sitting courtside taking in an exhibition basketball game. rodman also said he and kim would, quote, be friends for life. kim jong-un, who's reportedliedreportedlily a huge basketball fan, invited rodman to his house for a party. well done. first round of the honda classic played in florida. tiger woods tee shot finds the water. strips his socks and shoes off. throws on a pair of rain pants, little slickers there. he hacks and splashes. it actually works. right out to the middle of the

fareway. he gets back on to the green and makes a par. wasn't all great, though, for tiger. finished even par for the day. he's 6 shots from the lead. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," despite the uproar over today's budget cuts, the sequester does almost nothing to tackle the biggest drives of deficit in our economy. the crew will discuss the fate of programs like medicare. when we come back here, we'll huddle around the water cooler where secretary of state john kerry dusts off his language skills during his overseas trip. jimmy fallon has the translation for us when "way too early" comes right back. the peace corps gives us a chance to show a side of our country which is too often submerged, our desire to live in peace, our desire to be of help. [ male announcer ] how do you make america's favorite recipes? just begin with america's favorite soups. bring out chicken broccoli alfredo. or best-ever meatloaf.

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enough of the real news. gather around the water cooler. lewis is back and better than ever. >> that's right. and do i have a weather story for you, for a change this time. explain to me how this happened. that's a west coast texas house covered in tumble weeds after high winds from a blizzard earlier this week blew them on to the property. the giant balls of dried plants are stacked as far as the eye can see. stacking so high, they're on the roof. the owner calls it, quote, the

most ridiculous thing he's ever seen. it will take at least a week to colleen clean up. >> i issued a tumble weed warning for that house exactly. >> how does that happen? >> i don't know. >> you're supposed to know. let's move on. dash cams are becoming increasingly popular in russia. you might remember this road rage that was caught on tape a few months ago. or this military tanker unexpectedly crossed a russian highway. then just a few weeks ago, these are some pictures of a meteorite that crossed -- well, first, let's get to the tank. there's the meteorite that crossed the russian sky. >> worth waiting for. >> these are unincrediball incr videos. nothing with top this moment of extremely bad parents. this is an 8-year-old child behind the wheel of a car going extremely fast on snowy, icy roads. her parents aring le looking on

encouraging her to drive faster. apparently the father is going to be investigated and rightfully so. what kind of parenting is that? >> i don't see what the issue is. >> well, let's move on to fallon. this week as a news conference, secretary of state john kerry dusted off his french skills. he impressed the foreign minister by speaking french. jimmy fallon's got the exclusive translation. >> during a press conference from france yesterday, did you see this? secretary of state john kerry spoke briefly in french. pretty impressive. although, i listened to the translation. seemed a little off. take a listen. >> translator: where is the library? the library is that way. my wife is ketchup master. is food in this hotel? the bathroom is in the library.

>> yeah, ketchup master. not sure what he's talking about. he tried. >> lewis, that was worth it. that was good. i appreciate it. still ahead on "way too early," why are you awake? your tweets, texts, and e-mails are next. and "morning joe" is just moments away. ♪ [ telephone rings ] hello. [ man ] jen, there are a lot of beauty brands that want you to represent them. really, who? no. they add too much fragrance. no, they make you wear pink. are you kidding? no. nah. [ telephone rings ] no. not my style. no. [ cellphone rings ] [ man ] you might like this one. aveeno®. aveeno®. let me think about it.