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topping our agenda today, breaking news coming out of afghanistan. nbc confirming at least two u.s. service members and three afghan police killed in what appears to be an insider attack at a special ops outpost in the country's, wardak province. this coming on the heels of a trip to the region by defense chief chuck hagel. we have nbc's mike taibbi joining us now live from kabul with the very latest on this. mike, what exactly happened earlier today and who's claiming responsibility? >> reporter: well, we can give you a tictoc on this, a minute-by-minute and the taliban claim responsibility for the attack. it happened at 10:30 local time at wardak province. according to several sources, afghan and military sources from the u.s.-led coalition, here's how it went down. a single uniform wearing the official uniform of the afghan army walked into a briefing that

included u.s. and afghan special forces, raised a weapon and opened fire. in the ensuing gun ballots, the gunman himself was killed but not before at least five people in that room were killed. two american service members and three afghan special forces members as well. it's been controversial for weeks now ever since afghan president hamid karzai quoted that all u.s. and coalition special forces withdraw from wardak because of unconfirmed reports of their involvement in abuses and attacks against civilians. he imposed a two-week deadline. that deadline has passed and special forces are still there and now this incident. it follows a violent weekend with two terrible suicide attacks. 18 civilian kills, including eight children. this while secretary hagel was having his meetings in kabul as well. so a difficult time when we're just weeks away, spring we were told this morning, when the responsibility for security for all of afghanistan, 100% of it,

will fall to the afghans themselves. you can imagine how unsettling and destabilizing this kind of incident can be. thomas. >> mike, what's the overview of the visit of secretary hagel to the region, especially given the fact hamid karzai has been very vocal about u.s. involvement in the country, especially given the last 24 hours? >> reporter: well, it was certainly an awkward ending to that visit. secretary hagel said he accomplished a lot. he showed the flag and visited both with u.s. and afghan troops. assured them while there was still a war on, the transition is going forward to afghan control as it should but he was supposed to at the end have a joint press conference with president karzai. that fell apart following the critical remarks that karzai made about the u.s. and the taliban working in concert, together, in a way marginalizing karzai's administration, that they were negotiating on a daily basis and they were encouraging

the attacks to ensure coalition forces will remain here beyond the 2014 end date for combat operations in afghanistan. so it's very difficult, karzai still making statements that are seen to be belligerent and aggressive toward the united states. the main benefactor and protector for almost 12 years at this point. and the u.s. still saying we're going to stick to the schedule. we were told that again this morning in a briefing, that control for security in this country will transfer to the afghans completely within a few weeks, by spring was the exact words that we used. >> mike taibbi live for us in kabul, afghanistan. mike, thank you. from afghanistan to washington, d.c., where the president has a steep hill to climb, so to speak, in the budget wars. the recent obama outreach effort is p to go into hyperdrive. this week the president's charm offensive will take him from the white house to capitol hill. a total of four trips planned with members from both sides of the aisle. tomorrow is day one. the president will attend a midday meal time meeting to talk strategy with senate democrats.

the true test is on wednesday, when president obama sits down with members of the house gop caucus. and on thursday he has meetings with senate republicans and house democrats. but will all of this work? republicans almost seem split, some pessimistic, others optimistic about the obama olive branch. >> i'm welcoming with open arms. i think the president is tremendously sincere. i don't think this is just a political change in tactic. >> this should have happened four years ago. i'm glad it's happening now. but is this about politics or is this genuine? >> which is it? >> only time will tell. this president spends a lot of time on the road, a lot of time about politics. >> the president's first day on the hill is expected to go inside with the reverse of former vp contender paul ryan's budget. it promises to balance the budget but one facet sounds like a record stuck on repeat. >> are you saying that as part of your budget you would repeal, you assume the repeal of obama

care? >> yes. >> well, that's not going to happen. >> well, we believe it should. >> joining me right now is vermont's democratic congressman peter welch. sir, it's great to have you here. that interview over the weekend with paul ryan and chris wallace really perked up a lot of ears for people to think we're going to have to live through times that were already litigated and all americans had an opportunity to basically vote on what the affordable health care act meant to them in the future. i want to play more from that interview, more from what paul ryan said. take a listen. >> this is what budgeting is all about, chris. it's about making tough choices to fix our country's problems. we believe that obama care is a program that will not work. >> so he's saying he believes it's a program that will not work. now, there are republican governors that have started to latch on to obama care knowing that it's the law of the land, that the supreme court held it up as being constitutional. we've got governors in florida, ohio, arizona, michigan, nevada, new mexico, north dakota all moving on to what obama care

means to the residents of their states. sir, explain why are we going to have to live through this again when we're trying to move forward as a country on a budget but we want to go back track on obama care? >> well, you know, it's pretty absurd actually, because what paul is calling a tough choice, others might see as grandstanding. this would be the 35th time that they repealed obama care. this budget is designed for the last campaign. my recollection is the same as yours, and that's romney and ryan lost. bottom line, this has no chance. it is designed to appease the tea party base, but not to make progress. now, that's a lost opportunity, because what is starting to happen with the sequester is there's a growing recognition that there is a lot of room in the pentagon, even in health care, to find savings through efficiencies. we've let things get out of control in terms of the way they are run. if we focus on trying to make things run better, we can save billions of dollars in health

care,er with save billions of dollars in the pentagon and we can have a common direction towards trying to bring down the debt and the deficit. >> congressman, does this mean, though, that congressman ryan's plan is not a serious one? someone who has been considered to be the budget hawk of the right, is this supposed to be disseminated and considered to be serious at a time where they want to go back and relitigate obama care? >> no. it is not serious. i mean when this has no chance of passage in the congress altogether and it has no chance of being signed by the president. to sign it, the president would essentially be saying that mitt romney won the election. that has absolutely no prospect of being passed. so he's doing this, i would think, because this is what is going to make his tea party folks happy in the house. they can probably ram it through the house but it's not a serious effort at trying to make progress. you know, there are things we can do. i mean we have, in the pentagon,

for instance, an enormous amount of expenditures on cold war weapons systems that really aren't necessary or helpful to us in our modern national security posture. in health care, if we just did prescription drug price negotiation in medicare, just like we do in the va, just like we do in medicaid, we could save $160 billion. that would be no benefit cut to anybody but real savings to the medicare beneficiaries and the taxpayers. these are the kind of things that we should be focusing on. >> let's talk, though, more about democrats and what they feel about the country's safety. politico has an article saying democrats not sold on the grand bargain saying the talk of any deal with congressional republicans and for now it's just that, talk, has liberals worried the white house will give in to changes to safety net programs including medicare, medicaid and social security. sir, your response? >> well, that's right. there's a lot of apprehension on the democratic side because a lot of us thought we needed more

revenues in order to be in a stronger foundation going forward and there's a real commitment to maintaining social security and medicare. but on medicare, there's a lot of democrats who understand that we can find savings and actually need to find savings in order to make medicare more sustainable. not by benefit cuts but by such things as prescription drug price negotiation, by a faster rollout of some of the things in the affordable care act, like the accountable care organizations that actually provide care more efficiently, better health care outcomes and lower costs. >> sir, isn't entitlement cut a chip that the president can use to get more revenue is by the fact that he is willing to put these types of cuts on the table? >> that's -- the negotiating by the president has indicated that he's probably willing to go farther on some of these adjustments that many of the liberal democrats are. so there's going to be a lot of toing and froing within the

party and it basically -- first of all, the negotiation is not under way when paul ryan is starting out with a proposal to eliminate the health care bill. that's just absurd. but the president, i think, is very mindful that the democratic position is broadly supportive of maintaining medicare and social security. >> sir, thanks so much. congressman peter welch, it's great to see you. we want to say good morning to our political power panel today. we have ron reagan and msnbc contributor robert trainum, also an assistant dean at georgetown university. let's get into this more talking about what the budget means and whether or not president obama and going to the hill this week will make the necessary relationships that he needs. we look first here, ron, at politico's headlines saying a senate bill won't include obama priorities, and then we have, you know, the talk being the priorities, what the president

wants based on the heels of paul ryan saying that obama care is going to have to be considered as we move forward. i mean isn't this just going back and relitigating all the old problems of the past without thinking about where we need to be ten years from now, 20 years from now? >> yeah. you think you have a guy over for lunch, you get something nicer from him the next day. paul ryan once again proving he's not a serious person and his budget is not a serious budget and that the republican party by inference is not a serious political party. repealing obama care? as the congressman -- the senator just said, they have tried this now 34 times already. it isn't going to happen. if you're going to get serious -- and by the way, paul ryan's budget foresees the repeal of obama care but somehow magically maintains the $700 billion in savings of obama care, which is a neat trick here. really the republicans are not a legitimate negotiating partner. >> as we talk about what speaker boehner has said to "roll call"

he said that there's no doubt as a party we need to do a better job of communicating and engaging with the american people. it seems like they lost this messaging war back in the election in november. how are they changing their tune now to get people on their side? >> they're not changing it that much because they're not in a position to have a large megaphone. i would argue they have been losing the messaging war since before november, when house speaker john boehner really started to lose control over his caucus and that's really the hard part of their messaging because they do not have a unified message or a unified caucus. on paul ryan's inclusion of the repeal of obama care in his budget proposal, imagine if he didn't include that, republicans would be up in arms that the house republicans are giving up the fight to repeal this measure, which is obviously still very unpopular with that party's base. >> normally someone who has been a good brand messenger, robert, is jeb bush. but take a look at his appearance this weekend with david gregory on "meet the press." >> who's the hottest florida politician right now, is it you

or marco rubio? who are we more likely to see in the white house? >> man, you guys are crack addicts. you really are obsessed with all this politics. >> you know, i've been called a lot of things -- >> marco rubio is a great guy. okay, heroin addict, is that better? >> robert, so why have jeb bush re-emerge, go on a book tour, show up on any talk show that will have him if he's not considering running for 2016. we're the drug addicts because we're willing to have him on. >> well, we're not drug addicts but we are political addicts. we can figure out two things. number one, that jeb bush is still a very popular former politician. he's from florida, he has a very popular stance as relates to some of the -- on education and so forth. yes, he's thinking about running for president. so is paul ryan to go back for a moment. there's a reason why paul ryan is doing this. it's obvious, because he wants to position himself far to the right in the republican primary if in fact he chooses to run

three and a half years from now. so that's the real question here. we all know that obama care is the law of the land. we all know that the supreme court has ruled on this. we all know that this is going to be the law of the land at least for the next generation or so. so this is not about policy, this is about politics. the more we talk about that and be real about it, the better off we are. secondly and more importantly here, i respectfully disagree in reference to the messaging war here. i think the republicans have done a very good job of keeping this president on the defense from a financial stand point. every three months we're talking about the fiscal cliff. every three months we're talking about the financial crisis and the president has triedo go around and around the country in a campaign-style way to talk to the american people and that hasn't really worked. his polling has slipped a little bit. so i think the republicans have a stronger hand than what we realize here. >> all right. well, let's talk about the bush brand because you talked about the republican hand here. i want to play more of jeb bush talking about having to overcome his dad and his brother, if he were to go ahead with a presidential run. >> i don't think there's any

bush baggage at all. i love my brother. i'm proud of his accomplishments. i love my dad. i'm proud to be a bush. if i run for president, it's not because of something in my dna that compels me to do it, it would be it's the right thing to do for my family, that the conditions are right and that i have something to offer. >> ron, so jeb bush is certainly a likeable, political figure. but does he walk a tight rope with the bush brand? >> yes, he does. i mean the republican party, you know, messaging positive, messaging negative, whatever you want to say about their messaging, they need to reform themselves. they need to pull their act together here and move forward. i think bush 3.0 is a bad way to move forward. frankly, i think jeb bush generates a lot more excitement inside the beltway there on the east coast and the media corridor than he does anywhere else in the country. out here in the west coast people are not holding their breath waiting to hear what jeb bush is going to do.

>> it's just us in the media. just us political addicts. our power panel today, thank you. i appreciate it. coming up, the royal treatment? queen elizabeth expected to sign a new charter today against discrimination. who it includes and who it excludes. plus, total lockdown at the vatican right now ahead of tomorrow's supersecret papal conclave. our question for you today, should the cardinals select an american as the next pope? they have some american options. tweet me your thoughts. could the u.s. be in the running? my handle @thomasaroberts. find us on facebook. [ male anne emergency workers everywhere trust duracell...?? duralock power preserve. locks in power for up to 10 years in storage. now...guaranteed. duracell with duralock. trusted everywhere. i have obligations. cute tobligations, but obligations.g. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core,

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it is the official countdown to the conclave. in just over 24 hours, the papal conclave to elect the next pope will begin. meanwhile the 115 cardinals who will choose the next leader of the world's 1.2 billion

catholics held the last of seven days of preliminary meetings today. they are scheduled to file into the sistine chapel at 11:30 a.m. eastern time tomorrow for the first round of balloting. now, among the analogies being used, vatican spokesman greg burke tweeted today life is like baseball and tomorrow is opening day at vatican city. joining us now live from vat kin city, anne thompson and father john tunic. anne, i want to start with you, we get that interesting tweet. all americans can understand what opening day means but tell us more about what's happening today and ramping up to that opening day tomorrow. >> well, with all due respect to dpr greg burke, thomas, i would compare what's happening more like the run-up to a presidential primary. yesterday i spent my morning going from mass to mass listening to cardinal o'malley and then going to cardinal dolan's mass, the two americans who are considered to be

possible papal candidates. and it really did have sort of that campaign feel. you had all these cameras. you had -- the pews were just jammed with people. lots of italians came to see these two american cardinals. both preached in italian and both were very true to their roots. cardinal o'malley, who has attracted a lot of attention here in rome because of his very humble appearance, he wears a robe and he wears sandals because he's a monk, and he gave a homily and it was very quiet and calm and the congregation was very respectful. cardinal dolan, on the other hand, got laughs during his homily and they applauded at the end, so i think they were both very indicative of the men. but there's a lot of excitement in this city about what's going to happen starting tomorrow, because there is no clear front runner here. and everybody is very anxious to see what the cardinals decide and who they choose. >> as we look as history,

potentially the longest conclave back in the 13th century lasted twoe years and nine months, the shortest in 1503 lasting just four hours. father, as we look at the past century, no conclave has lasted more than five days. the two most recent ones in '78 and 2005, they lasted three and two days. but what do you think about this time, especially given the fact that there's been this week leading up of preliminary meetings where the cardinals have had an opportunity, they may not be supposed to talk about it, but have an opportunity to get to know one another and find out where their minds might be? >> yeah, i think the precedent is that it would only be a few days, a couple days, but there is kind of an interesting twist on the election process this time. pope benedict, the emeritus pope who just stepped down, before he stepped down he actually changed the rules a little bit. it used to be if there was two cardinals getting a lot of votes, in order to finish that

run-off one of them just had to get 51% and that would be over. so if the voting was going along that way and it seemed like one of them was going to get 50% no matter what, you could see how the cardinals would move and say he's going to get it anyway so we'll finish the voting. well, benedict before he stepped down changed the rule. he said even if there's two cardinals who are running it off, so to speak, one of them will still have to get two-thirds of the vote to be elected pope. what that could do, if there are a few cardinals getting a lot of support, that could extend the voting process because you need to get enough support to get two-thirds, not just 51%. so we could see -- we could see it go longer than just a few days, although most people think it's going to be three or four days, not longer than this week. >> and you have been in rome since we heard that benedict would be stepping aside to become emeritus pope. what are the characteristics, the main phrases that you've heard for what the next pope will need to bring to this role,

considering the headwinds that this pope will face? >> you know, thomas, there are a few things. first of all, they talk about a pope as ceo. somebody who will go in and clean up the curia. father thomas reese of -- who's a jesuit attached to georgetown university, he says they're looking for jesus with an mba is one description. another thing people are talking about, they need somebody who can preach the message of the catholic church and do it in a joyful way and reach out to the 1.2 billion catholics. get people excited again about this religion, particularly in europe and in the united states. but i think what they are looking for most, they are talking -- they are looking for spiritual person. somebody that when they boil it all down, everybody says that's first and foremost the most important thing, somebody who can radiate the spirit of god and the message of the catholic

church. >> so father bartunek is it a spiritual long shot that we could see o'malley or dolan becoming the next pope. >> i wouldn't call it a long shot, i think it's very possible. it's funny, when you talk to the italians in town here, a lot of them are really hoping for an american pope. they have seen -- the testimony that the american cardinals have given during the last ten days, last week when they have been here, they show that they really love the church, are really in tune with the needs of the church. personally i think a lot of the challenges that we faced in the united states in the last ten years have prepared these men. they have had to deal with these challenges, they have had to face them and they could really be good leaders of the church. i wouldn't say it's a long shot. i'd say it's a shorter shot than it ever has been. >> thomas, just to add to that, the taxi drivers and the waiters in the restaurants are they enthusiastic about the possibility of an american poep because they say americans bring

money so they're rooting for the american candidates. >> well, we shall see. we should know sometime soon. anne thompson and father, thanks to both of you for joining me. i appreciate it. coming up next, queen elizabeth's bold move against discrimination, but some say it may not be bold enough. plus, apparently oscar pistorius is not happy with the conditions of his bail. the news now coming your way first. first today's producer pick brought to you by our executive producer. not finding anything you want to eat on your favorite fast food menu? try asking for something that's not officially on the menu. check out my facebook page for restaurants that have secret options and more. hey! did you know that honey nut cheerios has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! ♪ wow. [ buzz ] delicious, right? yeah. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... ♪ well, would you look at the time... what's the rush?

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try, try again. republicans appear ready to resume their efforts to get rid of obama care. as i mentioned at the top of the show, the budget that will be released by congressman paul ryan on tuesday is expected to include a repeal. here was senator ron johnson talking about it earlier on "morning joe." >> obviously the law of the land right now, obviously i'm concerned about it. i think the concept of obama care is grossly understated. >> joining me is luke messer of indiana, a member. house budget commity. congressman, good to have you here.

i want to show you what talking points said of congressman ryan. they say when he unveils his budget plan this week, rep ryan will complete a 750-degree nip. can this be taken as a concerted effort when it starts like throwing down the gauntlet like obama care and its appeal. >> this document represents the consensus of the republican caucus, the governing caucus in the house in what we should do as a nation moving forward. it does reduce the rate of growth in federal government by $5 trillion over the next ten years. it's my understanding it does include the repeal of obama care which is what the republican-led majority in the house would like to see happen in broad consensus. obviously it's the first part of a process that will include the senate and the president's input and i suspect they'll have a different answer there. >> don't you think, though, that the country has already suffered enough with the republican-led efforts to try to repeal obama care? it went all the way to the supreme court where it was

deemed to be constitutional. so why can it be considered to be law of the land when there are almost a dozen governs now that a -- governors now, republican governors, making the plans necessary to have obama care be implemented? >> well, again, you have to understand what a budget is, which is our description as a governing majority in the house of what we believe america should do to balance the budget in ten years. the consensus among our team, among the republican leadership team and our caucus is that obama care was a bad idea, that it ought to be repealed moving forward. it frankly is something that i think history will not review favorably. it has the risk of driving folks out of their current health care opportunities and we'd like to see it repealed. this is the beginning of a process, though. there will be a budget. we're told for the first time in almost 1400 days the senate will pass a budget and this dialogue will continue. >> sir, i want to show this new video in from capitol hill showing closed signs because of

the sequester. do you think that republican leadership made the right decision, the decision to hold the line on the sequester or could it backfire in the long run as we start to see more effects? >> well, i think absolutely we did the right thing to hold the line on keeping those $85 billion in reductions. there's a broad consensus among both parties that we ought to restructure those cuts in a way that makes more sense. listen, there are folks out there hurting today in america. they need a healthy economy restored. we believe that the best way to do that is to control spending and use tax reform to lower tax rates for everybody and put more money in the pocket of every american family. >> last but not least, i want to get you on the record about what we're seeing in afghanistan because of the fact that you sit on the house foreign relations committee. the conflict with hamid karzai that we have seen during chuck hagel's first visit to the country, karzai accusing the

u.s. of conspiring with the f taliban, i want to play secretary hagel's response. >> the united states was unilaterally working with the taliban in trying to negotiate anything. the fact is any prospect for peace or political settlements, that has to do led by the afghans. >> and this is all prior to the attack that we had this morning, the loss of life that we had this morning. what's your reaction to the discord happening during hagel's visit? >> well, clearly karzai is -- you know, he may be what we have to work with there, but is less than an ideal leader. the sort of violence that we see today is not acceptable and an indication that we don't have the security there that we need. i, though, would associate myself with chuck hagel's comments there. i do not believe america is negotiating with the taliban and any real opportunity for long-term peace and security in that region is going to have to

be led by local leadership. >> congressman luke messer. sir, thanks for making time for me today. i appreciate it. >> glad to be here, thank you. coming up, waging war over the minimum wage. why many republicans are against that idea, even though it could help a majority of voters, including latinos. plus newt gingrich making an offer the donald accepts. we'll bring you the details ahead. and our question of the day to you, should the cardinals currently at vatican city select an american as the next pope? what do you think the odds are? tweet me @thomasaroberts and find us on facebook. in taste, freshness, and nutrition? it's eb. want to give them more vitamins, omega 3s, and less saturated fat? it's eb. eggland's best eggs. eb's. the only eggs that make better taste and better nutrition... easy. eggland's best eggs. better taste. better nutrition. better eggs. it's eb.

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just hours from now the british crown is taking what some lbgt activists are interpreting a history stand. at 3:00 p.m. eastern time queen elizabeth will sign a 21st century commonwealth magna carta. it's to stamp out discrimination throughout great britain and beyond. part of that declaration reads we are implaquably opposed to

all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, color, creed, political belief or other grounds. but the lack of specifics in that language of "other grounds" is raising some question. royal watcher neil shaun joins us now from london. lbgt activists have criticized queen for not backing an issue for the lbgt community during her 61 years in reign and the fact that this language publicly acknowledge the lbgt community and the fact that it faces discrimination worldwide is raising the debate. what is the point of the charter if the language is not specific enough to be truly all inclusive. >> yesterday when this headline came out it was on the front page of the the sunday times and everybody -- it was a huge talking point over here. of course the queen backing something rather radically as

you say in her long reign. but when you look at the document, it really has no legal underpinning. it doesn't actually mean anything. it's quite a vague document itself. i really believe that the media, the press, the newspaper at that moment really didn't know what was inside the document. undertook their own sort of theory and decided to make it front page news. this document was made up quite a few weeks ago so there was never any doubt about what she would be signing or staking to. so while people may get excited and of course you've got the activists kicking up saying it doesn't say this, we've already got a few over here saying that. 41 out of 54, i believe, commonwealth states, it's still a criminal activity. and so the bottom line is where does it go from here? i don't really think it rests with her majesty, the queen. she really doesn't have that much say or can do much about it. >> you brought up the specifics, as you said 41 of 54 do have harsh penalties against the lbgt

community, including in certain parts death. we're talking about pakistan and nigeria, long prison sentences in places like uganda and that's where they have been trying to implement the kill the gays bill with tanzania and malawi so what sort of diplomatic implications could the move by the queen have, especially given the fact that this conversation has bubbled to the surface as a consequence of this charter? >> well, then again, i don't mean to be short of negative, but not a lot really. a lot of people were sort of hoping that because of her backing, shall we say, things may change. the good thing actually, thomas, is the fact that because it's her majesty the queen and this topic is now being raised, people are talking about it in far more detail, in terms of what the monarchy can do, not at all. as a royal family, one has to remember they have to remain impartial. we wouldn't really know her

thoughts on this anyway. but if you want to put a positive spin, the queen and the royal family are very much positive supporters of the community. so, you know, i don't -- i think some people over here are being a bit cruel about it. but this is an 87-year-old woman. at what point would she really get involved in that? >> neil sean reporting from the u.k. great to see you today. we appreciate it. >> a pleasure. thank you. michelle obama taking her let's move campaign to twitter. it's time for the poli side bar and right now the first lady is trending on the timeline and hosting a twitter q & a. it's the latest in a series of events she's doing to help prevent childhood obesity on the third anniversary of the let's move campaign. one follower asked what's your favorite cardio workout. the first lady tweeted back, kick boxing to relieve stress. her husband, meanwhile, got bellies going in a different way getting laughs at the gridiron dinner. here are the president's best punch line votes.

because of su kwefrt they cut my fails. my joke writers have been placed on furlough. i know a lot of you reported that no one will feel any immediate impact because of the sequester. well, you're about to find out how long you are. some of you have said that i'm ignoring the washington press corps, that we're too controlling. you know what, you were right. i was wrong. and i want to apologize in a video on white house.gov. and finally, in the words of one of my favorite star trek characters, captain james t. kirk of the uss enterprise, may the force be with you. by the way, donald trump is saying that he will foot the bill. the tours got nixed due to the sequestration cuts. michael bloomberg promises to keep fighting for special gun laws saying special interests shouldn't be dominating this conversation. >> up until now it has only been the nra that has been talking about guns to the public and to

congress. and i'm trying to level of playing field and bring out the facts. >> a new enterprise story from the a.p. says republican president richard nixon was also a huge advocate for gun control. he not only wanted to ban handguns altogether but was willing to fight the nra to do it. right now former president bill clinton is in haiti promoting an investment in the caribbean nation's agricultural sector. he is expected to announce several grants from his clinton foundation during his two-day visit there. and the big question, is ashley judd going to be running for senate, and is it all but a done deal? the huffington post has announced that the actress has all but settled that she's in it to win it. it's set to coincide with kentucky's biggest moment, derby day. the travel industry expects 2013 to be a big year for the boomer travel market. with many retiring and more time to travel, the over 50 set are hitting the road. so where are they heading?

travel site boomwatch.com found the number one boomer destination was mexico. warm weather and beaches also made hawaii and the caribbean places where boomers are kicking back and enjoying life. [ male announcer ] this is kevin. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. because all these whole grains aren't healthy unless you actually eat them ♪ multigrain cheerios. also available in delicious peanut butter. healthy never tasted so sweet.

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nchts let's declare in the wealthest nation on earth no one who works full time should have to live in poverty and raise the federal minimum wage to $9. proem calling on congress to raise the federal minimum waij, it's been the president s plan calls to raising it to $9 an hour. the a democratic plan would raise it to $10.10. a gallup poll showed an overwhelming majority of americans, 71%, support president often bmpb ampb mmpb ampb s proposal. joining me in the studio, usa today columnist.

fir of all quick numbers. in terms of how this affects the hispanic community. there's roughly one in five workers who work on minimum wage are latino. about 23% of latinos are living in poverty if we raise the minimum wage, it would disproportionately affect our community. back to what you mentioned about the link between hiring unemployment and raising the minimum wage. there are many studies on both sides of the issues. one of the biggest, most comprehensive one was done by the center for economic policy research and reform, they found there wasn't a link between raising the minimum wage and people hiring less workers. one thing i think has been lost in this debate about proposals, a very important part of it is that both president obama and senator harkin who has his own minimum wage proposal, they want to pro most increasing the minimum wage and also with an index for inflation. which is so critical.

because i mean, anyone can tell you that $10 right now is not the same as $10 ten years from now. >> for people in the country that are living to learn to stretch their dollar farther as inflation advances, as we look back over recent history. congress last voted in '07 to raise the minimum wage to its current level, where it sits now. speaker vainboehner voted no ba then. so from 2007 to 2013, doesn't see a need for a raise in requiring american businesses to pay a minimum wage that is fair. do you think that this is going to continue branding the republican party as the party of no? >> right. that is their great danger and i just have to, i have to say from a purely strategic outlook, there are so many reasons why the republican party should you know reconsider this position. for one thing, when we raise the minimum wage, we get people off welfare. we get people off food stamps. we help get people out of debt. isn't that what conservatives

want, less reliance on government programs? >> one thing i want to get this out there, the ceo of the subway fast food chain also called raising the minimum wage quote bad idea, saying it will cause franchises to raise prices, they'll look to offset the cost of paying their employees by jacking up the price on a $5 foot-long. >> and the ceo of costco is very much in support of the higher minimum wage. when you have higher minimum wage, you have higher employee retention, more productive employees it lowers your cost. in about 40 years, the minimum wage has risen about $5. you don't have to be any type of economist to know that's not enough. the minimum wage was designed to insure that people 0 who were working and contributing to the economy are not living in poverty. that's what's happening for so many americans and i think it would be wise of the republicans to consider that when we look at the people who are earning minimum wage, half are women, one-quarter are latino and the

rest are young people and african-americans. that's pretty much on a very big part of the coalition that helped elect president obama. >> "u.s.a. today" columnist and nbc contributor, raoul reyes. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. eastern. joining us, charlie rangel and sean spicer and jonathan capehart and hogan gidley and the conclave procession gets under way in our hour tomorrow, at 11:00 a.m. "now" with alex is coming up. an attack today in afghanistan leaves two u.s. soldiers dead. further straining the already-frayed relationship between president obama and president karzai. former national security council spokesman tommy veeder joins wes moore to discuss this and how president obama is reasserting his power ahome and abread.

plus the senate's gang of eight is hammering out a deal on immigration. will it make it past the house? and author tai salasa will be here to discuss her new book, "ghana must go." and discuss the search for american identity. now when we start in 180 seconds. you can do just that. with our visionary cloud infrastructure, global broadband network and custom communications solutions, your business is more reliable - secure - agile. and with responsive, dedicated support, we help you shine every day of the week. licking the cream off these oreo cookies. that's stupid. you're wasting the best part. shuh, says the man without a helicopter. wait, don't go! [ male announcer ] choose your side at oreo.com.