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purina cat chow healthy weight. good morning. i'm chris jansing. congress is back in washington and the sequester is now in effect. this morning, two looming questions. is this see zester going to stick, no revisions? and what about the next budget fight, to avoid a government shutdown? with neither side willing to budge on the issue of taxes, they can't even agree on the economic impact of these cuts. >> i don't know whether it's going to hurt the economy or not. i don't think anyone quite

understands how the see qwester is really going to hurt. >> our hope is that as more republicans start to see this pain in their own districts that they will choose bipartisan compromise over this absolutist position. >> we are joined by "usa today" reporter jackie kusinich and laura fox. good morning. >> morning. >> so christine yulebrand was on "morning joe." let me play a little clip of that. >> what we should be doing is coming together, making a more nuanced agreement. if we can come together and replace some of these more egregious cuts, ones nobody agrees would make sense, that would be wise. >> is there a sign president obama and congress will avert the sequester or is all this here to stay? >> not at the moment, anyway. it seems like everyone pretty much lined up on their sides of the issue.

republicans have talked about allowing the white house to make the cuts and the white house doesn't want to do that because republicans have said, i think lindsay graham said if the white house makes these cuts and are allowed to stay where the cuts go, they'll attack him for it. so i think there's a lot of politics going on right here and it doesn't look like it's going to go anywhere anytime soon. >> each side accusing the other of hyping the impact of the sequester. but obviously, as of today, there have been no nightmares, screening lines at airports, stock market isn't tanking. is it kind of a wait and see that nothing is going to get done unless they feel they're forced to by their tonights? >> this is one of those areas where the longer the cuts stay in place, the longer and more severe we're going to see the cuts here. so i think this is one of those where it's a wait and see. the president is hoping that these cuts will become more evident and folks will start to feel the pain and congressmen may start hearing from constituents in their districts that are saying, you know, we can't deal with these cuts. >> after this prolonged

sequester cuts, it seems both sides are eager to fund a crisis when it comes to the government. maybe that's the good part of it. >> the president of this morning agreed that we should not have any talk of a government shutdown. >> the president doesn't believe in manufacturing another crisis. >> so if we're looking for a silver lining, jackie, is the general consensus there in washington that there will be less drama to avoid a government shutdown? >> well, the devil is in the details and i think we've seen that over and over and over again with this. in theory, but i -- the two sides on this issue are so polarized at this point, it's hard to see where there will be compromise because revenues are off the table for republicanes and democrats have certain things they're not willing to cut and they want revenues. >> so early on, everyone said this isn't going to happen. the sequester isn't going to happen. it's going to be too

devastating. you think we're listening to people like john boehner and mr. sperling. do you think it very well might happen? >> i would not be surprised if i was standing in a hallway very late on the night before this happens waiting for some people to talk. >> lauren, the rerns are divided on a lot of issues. everyone from governs deciding whether to sign in on obama care and same-sex marriage. is spending one area that they are not going to move absolutely for any of these fights sfp. >> i think we have to look at some of the disagreements that happened when sequestration became an issue. republicans were concerned about the defense department. this has been one of the cornerstones of the republican party for a long time. and, you know, there was a little bit of disagreement about do we let sequestration happen because we don't want any tax increases or do we protect the

defense department? and i think what we saw here is there is a little bit of divide in this in the party .they're not completely united. cutting the budget is a very important issue for republicans, but so is defense. so i think we may see a little bit of maneuvering there. >> do you think so, jackie? >> it could happen. it definitely could happen. it depends on how much pressure that -- especially members who have a large part of the defense industry in the district, how much pressure they're willing to put on their own party. >> let me bring in congressman holland. good to see you, congressman. >> good to see you, chris. good morning. >> so is sequestration the new law of the land or is there still some maneuver room? do you think things could change? and if so, how? >> i think things can change. the destruction caused by sequestration will gradually get worse. ooup you'll see a gradual rac t

rachetlirache ratcheting up of the disruption. that's inevitable when you try to cut $110 billion out of the federal budget in a very short period of time. the nonpartisan congressional budget office has said that we will lose 750,000 american jobs as a result of this. in other words, there will be that many fewer jobs in this country. when you've got a slow economy, that is a very big deal and that doesn't happen overnight, but it builds over time. so i do hope our republican colleagues come to their senses and are willing to replace these across the board and very deep and fast cuts with a more gradual effort to reduce the deficit in a balanced way. >> that cbo report notwithstanding, congressman, as you know, there are some happy republicans. they think, frankly, the president overplayed his hand when he laid out see zester sna sequester scenarios, for example, this claim that capitol hill janitors will have to take a pay cut, which the washington

post says is not true. what about the accusations that the president and democrats in general are overplaying this and have overplayed their hand? >> well, again, chris, i have to go back to that congressional budget office report because their finding is very clear, that it's the magnitude of the cuts in a short period of time that result in this job loss. whether or not people feel the disruption immediately, depending on where they live in the country is obviously something we'll see unfold over a period of time. i do think people were led to believe in some cases that all of this was going to happen all at once, like this past weekend. and, obviously, that's not the case. but this will build over time. and those job losses are very real. and i should say those are separate from the government furloughs. i mean, the 750,000 jobs that the congressional budget office says will be lost are not the government furloughs. these are jobs lost because the federal government is spending a lot less on goods and services over a very short period of time.

so that is very real. ben bernanke, the chairman of the federal reserve, was up on capitol hill testifying last week saying it would reduce our gdp growth this year by one-third. again, a very real effect. so, again, let's not pretend that this is somehow cost tree. it's going to have a very big wallop and that's why i believe that our republican colleagues would ultimately be willing to come up with a much more sensible way to reduce the deficit. >> they are not talking about revenue. you know that well, although some republicans are talking about a grand bargain. let me play a little bit of sound for you and we'll talk on the other side. all right. so let me just read it because lindsay graham said what i would like to see happen is that the president and republicans and democrats reengage where they left off with boehner. that we, as republicans, put up 6$600 billion, somewhere in tha

neighborhood of revenue on the table. kelly ayott said if we're going to increase revenue, it's going to go to the debt with real entitlement reform and real tax reform. a grand bargain? >> i agree that that is ultimately the way out of this mess. >> so how do you get there? >> well, the way you get there is you sit down at the table, you figure out how much more deficit reduction you want to achieve to hit your targets. and how you're going to get there. and the president has still standing on the table, he still has on the table a proposal that would get you there. i mean, and it has about $600 billion plus, more in revenue, also has about $900 billion in cuts. which certainly meets the criteria set out by lindsay graham. the issue is, as we negotiate that longer term reduction package, what do we do to make sure the sequester doesn't continue to do damage. and so i would strongly urge

people to come up with a plan that at least for the next couple months replaces the sequester and give the process time to try and get a longer term deficit reduction deal, at least the framework for one. >> you mentioned your concern over jobs and the sequester. let me ask you about something else that's out there but hasn't gotten a lot of play. over the weekend, the state department released a report that said there would be no significant environmental impact from the keystone pipeline. should the president approve it? as you know, supporters say it will bring thousands if not tens of thousands of jobs to the u.s. >> chris, i think we need time to take a look at this report. we're now in the public comment period. there are always two issues with the keystone pipeline. one is whether the particular route the pipeline would take, whether that would jeopardize auk k aquifers. they have rerouted the pipeline, to is on that issue has been dealt with. the other is whether it will

significantly release greenhouse gases. and the state department report seems to suggest if you don't do the keystone pipelines, those reverses, those resources will be developed anyway and simply take another route out. so, look, i think we need time -- >> and take, they say, another route that would cause more harm to the environment. >> that's right. this is where we have to look at the facts, we have to look at the evidence. that is why we have this public comment period so other people get an opportunity to look at the state department findings and determine whether they think they're right or wrong. so that's what i'm doing. i'm in the process of looking at the state department findings. and i'll be interesting in listening to public comment on this. >> congressman chris van holen, always good to see you. >> thanks, chris. >> jackie, you know you know environmentalists are furious about this state department report.

>> i mean, does it give him more -- does it make it easier for him to sign off on this? >> it does. it does. it does in a lot of ways. but that is not going to stop the environmental lobby from pushing back. they're going to be -- there are certain groups that are going to have protests every single time that obama or secretary state kerry have public events. so they're going to make their voices heard on this, no matter if the president feels he has cover or not. >> and lauren, what do you think? what are the chances that the president gives this an up or down? >> this is part of his above energy strategy here. what we're going to see is the president is not running for re-election. this is not going to harm the environment, like i said,

they're going to make their voices heard. exactly what was said. he doesn't have to run again. so he doesn't have -- it's the same thing. he doesn't have to rely on these people for votes next cycle. so maybe we will see this go through. >> jackie, lauren, good to see both of you. thank you. >> thank you. in rome, cardinals are meeting at the vatican to prepare for electing the next pope. the big priority, set a date of the enclave to choose the next successor for pope benedict. more on that coming up in a live report in our next half hour. new nectresse. the 100% natural no-calorie sweetener made from the goodness of fruit. new nectresse. sweetness naturally.

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women's week officially kicks off today. there is a any twist to those efforts, using social media. facebook's new game was called half the sky. turning oppression into opportunities for women worldwide. joining me, pulitzer prize winning columnist nick kristoff. coauthor of the book. let me start by setting the stage for people who don't know what this is. what is "half the sky." ? >> the argument is written by my wife and i. and our argument is that the central moral charlg for this century is empowering women around the world, educating girls and getting them into the labor force .out of the margins. that is where you get leverage. and, you know, we were excited about the book.

it was the number one "new york times" best seller. it was a documentary on pbs. we really wanted to get a broader audience. >> the documentary was amazing. i'm going to have to read that, as well. but this is ground breaking to do a game like this. how does this work and why this, why now? >> cheryl and i wanted to reach beyond the choir. one of the problems with the book and frankly a documentary is by and large, those who are going to reader it or watch it are probably those who are already sympathetic to the cause. so many people spend so many times on games, we thought, maybe there's an audience there. we asked our agent, who owns the game rights? we had no idea. and it turns out we did so we gave them to -- >> it turns out we did. >> who knew? so we gave them to a nonprofit called games for change and they have devised this facebook game. 300 million people play games on

facebook. we hope this is going to be a new audience, way toes build a broader aus audience who cares about the issues and can make a difference. >> there was a lot of talk when hillary clinton stepped down about what that would mean, the change in the foreign policy team, what that would mean. where do we stand on women's rights and is it a big lot loss for hillary clinton not to be secretary of state any more? >> i think there's been tremendous progress. you see aid organizations focusing on women in power. the pentagon in afghanistan, they saw that in districts where more girls were going to school, fewer american troops are getting killed. so they became advocates. >> isn't that amazing? that's a fact you have to stop and let sink in. girls are going to school and it's better for the troops. >> and it used to be so incredible to see these hard bitten u.s. generals one moment talking about air strikes against the taliban and the next moment talking about getting girls in school. >> as someone who has done so

much on this, and i'm very interested about this u.n. report despite an overall drop in civilian casualties, there was a 20% increase in women or girls killed or injured in afghanistan, most, obviously, were the target of the taliban and with the u.s. decreasing its presence, how concerned are you about what's going on there and how do we turn these nebs around 12347. >> i am concerned about where we go in afghanistan and education in particular is the single most important metric. and education for boys, but it's girls who are going to be most marginalized. if we miss educating those girls in afghanistan in this decade for the next 30, 40, 50 years, they are going to be in society and illiterate. there are way toes educate girls, even in southern afghanistan, even in taliban controlled areas using pakistan books, using females and negotiating with the taliban. and we hope that the game is going to be one more source of advocacy on officials worldwide

to emphasize the importance of that kind of girl's education. >> how can people find it? go to facebook. >> facebook.com/halfthegame or in the facebook index -- >> half the sky or half the game? >> half the game or search half the sky game. >> so good to see you, nick. thanks for coming in. >> great to be back. secretary of state john kerry is now on his way too abu dhabi. he discussed the crisis. in a last minute addition, kerry met with mahmoud aba two weeks before president obama's trip. time for your business entrepreneurs of the week. new york firefighter scott and tim saw their entrepreneurial dreams crushed when hurricane sandy destroyed their store.

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vice president joe biden is expected to address the group shortly in washington. israeli prime minister benjamin

netanyahu will speak to the group this hour. romney says the media, part of the problem is not president of the united states. the couple, giving the first tv interview just yesterday. >> what about the media. >> do you think the media was in the tank for barack obama? >> i think that it's -- anytime you're running for office, you always think that you're being portrayed unfairly. and, you know, we of course on our side believe there's more bias in favor of the other side. i think that, you know, that's a pretty universally felt opinion. >> north korea's kim junk unwants president obama to give him a call. that's according to former nba star dennis rodman. you can't make this stuff up. rodman gave his first interview since returning to the u.s. from an unprecedented visit to north korea last week.

here is what else he had to say. i sat with him for two days. and the one thing, he asked me to give obama to say .do one thing. call him. >> he wants a call from president obama? >> that's right. he told me that. >> ashley judd dodged questions friday about her potential run for the u.s. senate, challenging mitch mcconnell. she was speaking at an event at george washington university. >> my question was a little more domestically focused because i know you may be running for political office. but i'm not asking you about that. >> is there an elephant in the room? >> the hill is reporting today judd met with leaders of the democratic senatorial committee last month to talk about a possible run. and if you read only one thing this morning, my must read is courtesy of forbes magazine, tracking down hidden fortunes across the globe. it's 2013's billionaire's club. and by the way, it's the first time in more than a decade warren buffett isn't in the top

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29 past the hour. president obama has just come into the east room of the white house. he's going to announce three nominations for the head of the omb, office of management and budget, the epa administrator and a new energy secretary. let's listen. >> but he also served as under secretary of energy under president clinton. .since then, he's directed mit's energy thinkers to develop the projects that can lead us to more energy independence and new jobs. most important, ernie knows we can produce more energy and better economy while still taking care of our air and our environment. i cannot be more pleased to have ernie join us in that effort, my nomination to lead the

environmental protection agency, lisa jackson and her team at the epa have helped us to reduce emissions of the dangerous carbon solutions that causes climate change, put in place the toughest new pollution standards in two decades. lisa is now ready for a well deserved break and i want to very much thank bob jaseppi who has not only been a great deputy administrator but has been acting as the acting administrator. everybody give bob a big round of aplow. as we move forward, i think there's nobody who can do a better job in filling lisa's shoes permanently than my nominee who is standing by me here, gina mccarthy.

>> so the president with three potential cabinet members, three nominations here. sylvia matthews-berl is being nominated as the director of office of management and budget. she now heads the walmart foundation. she used to work for the gates foundation. there you see gina mccarthy who is being nominated to be the new epa administrator. earnest monies as energy secretary, he was a dark horse in this. ice a physics professor at m.i.t. he's not going to get the kind of money that the previous administrator did, but it will be interesting to see how he and gina mccarthy work together. the president with these three nominations this morning, and today, as i said at the top, he's going to hold his first

cabinet meeting of this new administration. meantime, republicans are beginning to squabble about the right path to rebranding their party. in california over the weekend, carl rove urged the convention to break out of its core, older white voters and recalibrate to women and minorities. former governor jeb bush plans to lead the way. >> i have a voice. i want to share my beliefs about how the conservative movement and the republican party can regain its footing because we've lost our way. >> good morning, gentlemen. crip, we've talked about this division before within the gop. you've got karl rove backing establishment candidates and blaming the tea party. the tea party sees rove as old school, part of the reason that the party failed in the last year's elections. and i mean, just in general, you

have all these conflicts. is the gop serious about a makeover? is there something central to their message that's missing? >> yeah. i think you'd better be serious about a makeover when you get beat in a national election like we did. we still have 30 governors and i've always said when the republican party has its bumps like we did the last time at the national level, we go back to where we're the best and that's in the states with our governors. these governors are getting the job done here in my state in tennessee. the governor has a 70% approval rating. he's done all the things we like to do at the national level and he's done it without a fight and he's been able to do that because he brings both sides to the table. i think the blueprint lie wes our governors around the country. >> who is going to be the voice going forward here? is it going to be jeb bush? is it going the be chris christie? is karl rove still the player he once was? >> oh, the memories can be short. >> it can be short depending on

how much money he helps raise. i think the problem with the republican party has is, you know, every time you try to take one step forward, they take two steps back. and you see that, for example, playing out in iowa. you see that playing out in virginia. these are races they should be competitive in. but they're now in a position where they're going to nominate far right candidates and probably i would say in virginia i think they're going to lose. in iowa, i think they're going to lose because of choosing tea party candidates and the mainstream of the country, moderate more mainstream, more common sense type of voters, with the tea party activist, the republican party is running away. i think they're scared of it still. >> and i think quietly, and you can certainly disagree with me, but there were questions about this interview, chip, that mitt romney gave over the weekend and basically saying, look, i wish i was there and i would be more effective at navigating the current impasse in washington.

let me play a little clip. >> does the trades, knocks the heads together, the president leads. and i don't see that kind of leadership happening right now. >> what is this president doing? >> well, he's campaigning. >> does he help as a voice or honestly do a lot of republicans just wish mitt romney would go quietly away? >> there's nobody unwelcome at a party as the nominee who lost. all the bad things are heaped on romney. which is not good because they're really good people. but when you go on tv and you come on tv in a crisis and go, this is where i would do. who cares. that's a tough position for ann and mitt. >> and the republicans do seem

to put foot in mouth in trying to criticize former todd akin, saying pregnancies resulting from rape are rare and i'm quoting because the body is trauma advertised. i don't even -- i don't even, chris, know what to say about that except that for the many people on both sides of the aisle who have said that this is ridiculous, the republicans can't seem to get away from it. >> you know, the republican, it's these extreme voices that are becoming seen as the mainstream republican parties. fair or not. and the problem is, the republican party does such a terrible job of disabusing when you hear this kind of crazy talk. this is -- you know, this is certifiable loony talk. when you're looking at elections demographically, how do i win with hispanics, how do you win

with enough women in key states nationally? when you hear these type of statements, it doesn't stay isolated like it used to. because of twitter, because of e-mails, the internet, it explodes out and the republican party is becoming branded by this. >> it's always good to see you. to be continued, gentlemen. thanks, chris. >> thanks. meanwhile, cardinals around the world are gathering before the enclave to elect the next pope. the vatican says 103 of the 113 voting cardinals are there, but they aren't going to set a date for the enclave until they've all arrive. ann thompson is live at the vat a can for us. what did the cardinals talk about this morning? >> well, this is an organizational session this

morning, chris. they met in the sinnod room in the pope paul vi auditorium. they learned how the translation machines work. they have devices at each seat that allows them to vote electronically. they learned how that went. there was a prayer this morning and there was a welcoming address from cardinal angelo sedano who is the dean of the college of cardinals. so then they had a coffee break this morning and we understand from chicago's cardinal george and washington, d.c.'s cardinal that that was essentially a getting to know you period. you've got to remember that almost 60% of these cardinals have been elevated just in the last eight years. so they don't know each other well. so they're trying to meet everybody, take a sense of their brother cardinals and as they deal with the issues of the church. that is what these congregations are about at this point is what is the state of the catholic church and what are the issues that need to be dealt with?

and then they start looking for the next pope. chris. >> speaking of the issues that need to be dealt with, last week, the scottish cardinal keith o'brien, as you know, dropped out of the conclave. he contested at that time these allegations of sexual impropriety with priests, but now he's telling a different story. >> yeah. in fact, yesterday, he said that the standards of his sexual conduct was not up to the standards of a priest, a bishop of a cardinal. he did not directly refer to the charges brought by four men who were young priests who said they had inappropriate contact or relationships with cardinal keith o'brien of scottland, but he did apologize to the catholic church and to the people of scotland and to all who he may have offended. i asked those cardinals whirl and cardinal george this afternoon if they even talked about what cardinal o'brien said yesterday in the morning meeting and he said it was not addressed at all.

chris. >> thank you. a foreclosure fiasco. cnbc's mario is here with your money. the nation's biggest banks apparently wrongfully foreclosed on hundreds in the military. >> it looks like more than 700 military members during the housing crisis were affected by that. and apparently there were seized homes from roughly two dozen other borrowers who were, i believe, current on their mortgage payments, chris. so a really, i would say, shocking report. bank of america, citigroup, jp morgan chase and wells fargo uncovered the foreclosures while they were analyzing mortgages as part of a multibillion dollar settlement deal with federal authorities and it is the first detailed glimpse into the extent of wrongful foreclosures amid the collapse of the housing market. so when i say first claims, i would imagine there could be more information to come. >> and forget the pun, but there's a battle brewing over

budweiser. >> yeah. and inbev, the maker of bud, it's usually big, flashy newspaper ads to poke fun at that lawsuit which is alleging its beer has been watered down, you know, cheating us out of the stated alcohol percentage. tadz show one of the 71 million cans of drinking water that is sent to the american red cross and other various relief organizations and disasters saying they mu tested one of these. the ad says, by the way, the company is saying that the claims are groundless and that we're getting the alcohol that we expect, basically. >> back to you. cnbc's mandy drury, thank you very much. >> thank you. president obama's fund-raisers brought in as much as $268 million for his re-election campaign. among the top donors, har sri weinstein, eva longoria, singer dwenn stefani, and actor will

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president obama has been multi tasking, quietly mapping strategy to elect a democratic house in 2014. his advisers believe it's the path to a successful second term agenda, but how does he plan to do that? let's bring in aaron blake, political reporter for the washington post. aaron, good morning. >> good morning. >> i'd say it's an ambitious goal by the president. what is he going to do to try to make it happen? >> the president has been criticized in the past by democrats, a lot of it behind closed doors that he didn't do a lot to help his party in the 2010 midterm elections. he didn't raise money for a lot of candidates. he wasn't interested in trying to build up a bigger congressional majority. so i think the white house recognizes now, after four years of dealing with split congress,

that they really need to have a democratic house if they want to pass an ambitious legislative agenda. at a time, that's a very difficult thing to do if the last several decades of history are any indication midterms, you know, in the second term of a president is a very tough time for a president to gain seats. >> democrats would have to win 17 seats. and let me read just a little bit from the article. of all the ptds since franklin d. roosevelt, only bill clinton picked up house seats for his party in the midterm elections. i guess for starters, he does have this formidable campaign organization that he's not going to use again. that would be one place to start, right? >> yeah. this new group called organizing for action, it can raise a lot of money to help the party win seats in the midterm. that can be a big game changer. he has an accomplished campaign

committee which was obviously very successful in the 2012 midterm election. but at the same time, we're talking about the house here. republicans had control over redistricting such an extent that they made it a case where democrats would have to win 55% of the vote in the 2014 midterm elections in order to retake the house. so that's a very, very tall order. so it's not just history we're talking about here. we're talking about the current landscape of seats and i think it's just a very difficult thing for them to do. >> even given that, and the tensions that we know are very, very high, what are some of the looming fights where, obviously, if he gets the house, that it completely changes the occasion. conventional wisdom has been that a president who is a lame duck in his second term, depending on who you talk to has six months to two years, maybe, and then it's very difficult to get everything done. this will turn that conventional wisdom on its head. >> they're trying to, at least. the question is, even if they can win back the house, is that

going to be good enough for him? they have a very difficult landscape in the senate right now where they have 55 of the 60 seats that they need to pass basically anything that they want to do and a lot of race necessary 2014 is in the senate are in red states that are held by democrats. it's going to be very, very difficult for democrats to build on their senate majority and get towards that 60 seats that you need to do basically anything today in congress. i don't think it's just a house thing, i also think it's a senate thing. >> aaron blake, thanks so much for coming on. >> thank you. today's tweet of the day comes from roger simon who asks, what are the chances dennis rodman is an ultra sophisticated cia agent penetrating highest reaches of north korean government? and i knew he'd feel better if he lost a little weight. so i switched to purina cat chow healthy weight formula.

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well, cardinals from around the world are gathered today too soon to choose a new poeg open. pope benedict is beginning his

retirement, also. it is beautiful and it has a fascinating history as i learned on a tour with rome based art historian elizabeth lousse. >> what is casto gondolfo? >> it is a series of hills built out of volcanos and in an area that is a couple of kilometers outside the city. and all of a sudden you're in peaceful, wonderful, quiet area of town. >> with this beautiful facade of a residence, what is behind the closed doors? >> i think this facade is always deceptive. extending beyond these doorways, you have a space of villas and gardens that go on and on and on. this is 55 hectors as opposed to the 44 sectors that make up vatican city state. >> should anybody be surprised that when pope benedict sdooit decided he was going to step down, the fist place he would

come is here? >> though. this has always been a place of refuge. from the moment it was built, the pope used it as a personal place to get out of the heat and the crowds of rome. even during the second world war, this became a place of refuge where we hid many people from the german occupation. >> including pregnant women. >> including pregnant women. one of my favorite stories. the pope's own bedroom was reversed for pregnant women and 40 babies were born inside the pope's house. >> where pope benedict stays now and will stay after his retirement. unbelievable. let me ask you a little bit about what happens here. i mean, sleepy down? >> it's a population of about 9,000 people. and it seems on a day like this that it's very, very quiet. but on sunday, especially in the summertime is, it fills up and it's very busy.

it's a place -- >> he would check out what was cooking in the kitchen? there's also this adorable sign that's down here on the municipal building. and it's in italian, right? so i'm going to have to have you interpret it for me. >> well, for the jubilee of the ordination of his priest hood, benedict xvi came out here and as a matter of fact this is a place he has come with great joy for many years. as he addressed the people of casto gandolfo, and this is a quotation of the pope's own words in 2011 where he said, here i find everything. i have mountains, i have lakes, i can see the sea and the people are kind. and that is, i think, a wonderful way for us to understand what it's going to mean for benedict xvi to come out and is be among these people that are so dear to him as he prepares for his transition into the monastery and the vatican. >> this will be the new residence for the new pope, but

benedict, will he still be able to come here? >> i hope so. he loves it so much. 55 hectors, there is so much space. they'll be able to go to different places or maybe they'll want to walk together. >> that's an interesting thought. thanks to liz lev. that's going to wrap up this hour. thomas roberts is up next. not a bad place to retire. >> and when do you go back? >> we're waiting to find out when the conclave starts. soon, i hope. >> before the 11th, i'm sure. good morning, everybody. like a phoenix from the ashes, can a grand bargain arise from the sequester mess? both sides outlining frameworks, but revenue is the gop sticking point. will march madness lead to a government shutdown after all? plus, laying the foundation for president obama's trip later this morning. and john kerry meeting with palestinian president abbas today. then listen to this, don't ask,

don't tell for nfl draft picks about their sexuality. super bowl champs brendan miadesho will join me. the bus. ♪ to tracking field conditions. ♪ wireless is limitless. [ female announcer ] from more efficient payments. ♪ to more efficient pick-ups. ♪ wireless is limitless. the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... and a choice. take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. [ male announcer ] that's handy. ♪

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