the slew of guest stars helped. ireland baldwin, the daughter of alec baldwin and kim basinger announced she is starting a career in modeling after inking a deal with two agencies. and some say you haven't made it until you're immortalized in wax at madam tussaud. that's what's happening to one direction. on monday, the pop group was measured. there's no word yet on if harry style's brand new tattoo will be on his. mike meyers made the character of "shrek" a hit. can you imagine anyone playing the part? maybe nicolas cage? according to cage t almost happened that way. he said he turned down the title role because he didn't want to look like an og rsre. >> that's my favorite thing, to learn the roles of who could have, who turned them down. >> and nicolas cage doesn't always make the best decisions. i'm mara schiavocampo, this is "first look" on msnbc.

stay tuned, "way too early" starts right now. look, if you want to lose weight, don't eat. that's the answer. >> you're right. >> this is not medicine. it's thermal dynamics. you take in more than you use, you store it. >> it's so engineered, the taste, the sweetness, the saltiness, the amount of pressure one needs to crack a potato chip with their teeth, it's all been engineered so people continue to eat that kind of food. >> as long as you don't ban cheese-its. they're okay. that's my addiction. in the case of bloomberg versus sugary drinks, score one for the freedom to drink calories in bulk. good morning, i'm mark halhalpe,

this is "way too early." we have a lot to talk about this morning including a special mass with the cardinals taking place right now. then the cardinals head over to the sis totine chapel to cast tr first ballots for the pope. and details about the house budget proposal by paul ryan that takes aim at obamacare and entitlements. this as the president plans to meet with senate democrats on capitol hill. first, in just over eight hours from now we'll get the first sign of whether or not a new pope has been picked. you're looking at live pictures from vatican city where today 115 cardinals from 48 countries will gather inside the sistine chapel to choose the next leader of the catholic church. right now they're sell prcelebi morning mass, then heading into isolation for that secret

conclave. at least 77 votes is necessary for a new pope to be elected. when that happens, white smoke will rise from the world's second most famous chimney, announcing the arrival of the next pontiff. if the vote is not conclusive, you will see the black smoke and the vote will go on to a second day. claudio, no front-runner, no known front-runner. what are people talking about today? i gather also there's a focus on the two americans who may be potential pope's. >> hi. well, we have just seen the cardinals walking into st. peter's basilica. they took the long alley to the altar. there's 115 of them. they'll be participating in the conclave starting this afternoon. earlier this morning we saw some of the american cardinals leaving the north american

college where they were staying. they seemed in good mood, even relaxed, despite the fact they have this enormous task ahead of them. this enormous responsibility of choosing the spiritual leader for the 1.2 billion catholics worldwide. after the mass, they are going to go for lunch, and that's in the afternoon, that's when the real election starts. they will be locked into the sistine chapel maybe for the first ballot, we don't know whether they will vote today or tomorrow. one thing is for sure, we will not see a pope by today or if they do vote, we will see black smoke because it's never really happened they voted a pop on the first day. the first day really they gather the situation. they try to figure out who is the real contenders. they start thinking about it overnight, then from tomorrow the real voting starts two ballots in the morning two ballots in the afternoon until we see white smoke.

>> claudio, a lot of speculation in terms of age of the pope and all of that in terms of geography are people thinking european pope or non-european pope? >> times seem to be right for a non-european pope. there is a feeling that the italians in a way have pushed or some analysts believe the italians have pushed pope benedict xvi to retire and ab abdicate following their abusing of power. and the italians, they have kept ruling and running the vatican as a state as they've been secretaries of state and other hierarchies, places in there. so in a way the time is right, even thinks, for a non-european pope. will that be an american pope? well there is a chance.

>> all right. thank you very much, claudio. right now our own conclave of sorts back here in the u.s. both chambers of congress doing something they rarely do these days, they are both working on budgets. this morning house budget chair paul ryan of wisconsin is previewing his blueprint. ryan says his budget would balance things by 2023. he's calling for no new taxes and scaling back spending from 5% a year to 3.4% a year that would bring savings of about 4.6 trillion over the next decade. ryan's plan is similar to the one the house passed last year, it would open up u.s. lands for petroleum exploration, reduce obamacare and overall medicare, medicaid mirroring the romney platform from 2012. his plan would allow seniors to buy private insurance or stick with medicare as it is now.

the federal government would subsidize private premiums and medicaid under ryan's plan would become a block grant program. on the other side of the capitol, president obama is meeting with senate democrats today. tomorrow those democrats are expected to release their own budget plan. something the party has not done in nearly four years. the "washington post" reports the democrats proposal would raise about a trillion in new taxes, while cutting a trillion in spending. marrying up those two plans won't be easy. then, of course, president obama is expected to announce his own budget in april two months behind schedule. >> the president always believed the deficit reduction is not a goal unto itself. it should be part of an overall policy objective of strengthening the economy, st having it grow faster and create more jobs for the middle class. that's why he's always made sure that the proposals he put

forward keep the number one objective in mind, which is economic growth and job creation, not deficit reduction solely for the purpose of reducing the deficit. in gotham city, the ban on large sugary drinks was reversed it came as a blow for mayor michael bloomberg who is an outspoken advocate for the prevention of obesity. he spoke about it on "the late show with david letterman." >> we heard today the sugary 16-ounce soda ban has been overruled by a state court? >> state court judge said we didn't have the authority do it, we think we do. this year 70,000 mideasterns

wi american als americans will die from obesity. >> reporter: a ban on large drinks bigger than 16 ounces and larger may be arbitrary. >> you could have a banned drink at a restaurant, but go right next door and it would be okay. >> reporter: some in new york welcomed the judge's decision. >> i think it's great. there should have not been a ban in general. >> reporter: the american beverage association issued a statement saying it provides a sigh of relief to new yorkers and thousands of small businesses in new york city that would have been harmed by this arbitrary and unpopular ban. it's not the first time new york mayor michael bloomberg tried to enact laws to effect public health. bloomberg forced restaurants to post calorie information and ban

artificial transfats in restaurant foods. in a city of more than 8 million, where the obesity epidemic is responsible for more than 5,000 deaths a year, the mayor says his fight to make new yorkers healthier will continue. >> overseas now, after more than 11 years of war, we're once again reminded that american lives are at stake in afghanistan every day. yesterday marked the deadliest day of the year for u.s. forces in the country. two separate events took the lives of seven american troops a helicopter crash in southern afghanistan killed five u.s. service members there was no report of enemy activity in the region at the time of the crash, but there is an official investigation underway. earlier in the day, two u.s. special operations personnel were killed during an insider attack at an american post in eastern afghanistan. the attacker dressed in an afghan national security forces uniform, opened fire before being killed in what became a firefight. according to associated press there have been 12 u.s. troop deaths in the country so far

this year. in 2012, 297 u.s. service members were killed while serving this country in afghanistan. north korea's verbal aggression against south korea intensified yesterday. the north korea regime officially nullified the 1953 korean war armistice on monday that ended a decades long cease-fire agreement between the north and south. north korea's decision to break the armistice comes as soldiers from south korea and the united states gather for their joint military drills. the training involves about 10,000 u.s. troops. though north korea staged its own military exercises there have been no signs of open hostility near the border yet. north korea said it might preemptively attack the u.s. and south korea with nuclear weapons after the united nations increased sanctions against north korea. now we go to business where there appears to be no end in

sight for wall street bullishness. the dow posted another record high yesterday up more than 10% for the year while the s&p closed within 1% of its 2007 peak. for more, we turn to geoff cutmore in london. >> good morning to you, mark. it seems that investors are prepared to back the u.s. economy over concerns that continue to come out of europe at this point. we also didn't have mparticulary exciting news out of china or japan. it didn't matter, investors in the u.s. turned around a weak day. we got another strong close on the dow. it's been like treading water in europe, and we're struggling for strong direction to the upside. let's bear that mind as we come into the u.s. session later. one man who may be cross about the direction of travel for markets is slim, carlos slim. his own company dropped 3.3% in

the session yesterday. that took about 700 million or so dollars off his net worth. the reason for that is mexican authorities are looking at changes to telecom regulation, which might have a significant impact on the business that he has in latin america and mexico specifically. his net worth a cool $72 billion. now, wouldn't we like some of that action? back to you. >> absolutely. geoff cutmore, thank you very much. as always, let us know why you're awake. shoot us an e-mail or tweet me. you can ask about the world's most famous chimney if you would like, we'll read the best responses later in the show. still ahead on "way too early," how about another year, jets fans, as your quarterback? why he is still the front-runner for that job.

and later, the great barbara walters stands behind lelisabet hasselbeck. that and more when "way too early" comes right back. elizabeth smart's family rushing into the salt lake city police department. >> she's well. whatever she has been through, we believe she will recover from.

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but with kids growing up fast, fighting seven signs of aging gets harder. introducing total effects moisturizer plus serum. for the ninety-two practices, two proms, and one driving test yet to come. she'll need our most concentrated total effects ever. you're looking live at new york city where people are getting ready to wake up and drink gallons and gallons of shasta soda. welcome back. shasta? double sugar. welcome back to "way too early." we take a check of the weather across america with bill karins.

>> you go for the grape or the orange soda? >> grape. >> you like grape? >> it's like eating a piece of fresh fruit, but in liquid form with super charged sugar. gallons and gallons. >> the rain is moving in through new england this morning and it will melt a lot of that snow today. minor flooding concerns. a lot of big puddles out there where drains are clogged. especially in southern new england. the green on the map is where the rain is. moving into the new york city area, this will be an all-day rain event. maybe as much as an inch of rain in the next 12 hours it will come down hard this afternoon, and i expect airport delays. it won't be too windy. baltimore, washington, d.c., the rain will move in. i'm sure the beltway will be on the slow side. you can see the rain goes all the way down through the carolinas into areas of georgia. it looks like georgia and

florida, that rain will be exiting shortly. the forecast today, very warm. that's nice. that's why we're melting so much of the snow with the rain. today will probably be the barmest dbar warmest day of the week. another chilly start for you in minneapolis, chicago, st. louis, kansas city. the beautiful weather this is typical of march, the whole southern half of the country, if you get a sunny day, it will be 50s and 60s. in dallas, sunny, 70 and beautiful. we are still dealing with the winter weather in the northern half of the country, the south, looking good. >> looking warm. cold in the north. we have to wait until april. sports now. several teams from men's college basketball officially punched their tickets to the ncaa tournament. gonzaga dominated st. mary's,

they won 65-61. they earn an automatic bid. zags are likely number one seed in the tournament. iona came back in the second half to edge top-seeded manhattan 60-57 and win the metro atlantic title. iona has not won an ncaa men's basketball game since 1980. davidson back in the tournament, they beat college of charleston 74-55 in the southern conference championship. davidson got bounced in the first round of the tournament last year. western kentucky going back after claiming the sunbelt title. they squeaked past florida international, 65-63. and the dukes of james madison university will make their first ncaa tournament since 1994 after winning the colonial athletic association title. they beat northeastern 70-57. little nfl news now.

two playoff teams from the same division make big moves to upgrade their offenses. the vikings wide receiver percy harvin is going to seattle as an exchange for a package that included the seahawks first round draft pick this year, not to be outdone, san francisco 49ers sent a sixth round draft pick to the ravens for wide receiver anquan boldin. boldin torched the 49ers in the ravens super bowl win. it appears mark sanchez will begin the 2013 campaign at the top of the jets depth chart. the newly hired jets offense iv coordinator said sanchez would have a leg up and is likely to win the job again. this despite the fact that sanchez last season had 26 turnovers and just 13 touchdowns. his main competition figures to be dave gerard who has not

played an nfl game since 2010. tim tebow also on the roster. good luck sorting that south. another new york story involving depth charts. the biggest spenders in baseball, the yankees, are making an effort to show fiscal restraint paul ryan style and get under the luxury tax threshold. the yankees will try to cut $18 million from their payroll, which is currently $207 million that way they can stop paying the luxury tax and they will be eligible for financial reimbursement. the franchise, though, is not hurting for cash. the team is valued at almost 2 billion, with a "b" dollars. and they'll sort that out here because that's what we do in new york. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," new york city chubbies break out the jumbo mountain dew after a judge overturned mike bloomberg's ban on sugary drinks. the "morning joe" crew will discuss the move over some

water. and when we come back here, we'll huddle around the water cooler and watch the ladies of the view set the record straight when it comes to who is coming and who is going. we'll tell you what they said when "way too early" comes right back. [ male announcer ] this is the opposite of subliminal advertising... there's no subtext... just tacos. yeah, it's our job to make you want it.

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. okay then.

we told you at the top of the show that later today we will find out if the papal conclave has decide on a new pope. there have been calls for the conclave to choose a pope that will energize the faith. if you want to sound smart, tell your friends that the average age of the voting cardinals is 72. the youngest cardinal that will coast a vote is 52. we're done with real news, we will gather around the water cooler with lewis. >> we're in the tournament. >> congratulations. >> the jets also, with a lot of happiness comes a lot of sadness. it seems like the jets will play sanchez again. >> what have you got? >> i've been following this story closely. there's some shakeups at "the view." first we learned joy behar is leaving in august, and rumors are flying that this could be

the last season for elisabeth hasselbeck. she has been called unpopular for her conservative political views. yesterday on the show barbara walters set the record straight. let's take a look. >> we love elisabeth. i like her personally, and she's a wonderful person. but beyond that we value and appreciate her point of view, it's important to us, because elisabeth helps give the show perspective and balance. and believe me she's tougher than she looks. she has to be, she is here for decades and takes the guff and what we give her. we have no plans for elisabeth to leave the show. >> if you want an endorsement, barbara walters is the person to get it from. they say brooke shields will be the top replacement for joy behar. i believe in bill getty. keep it on track. >> all right. what else? >> we know the boy scouts of

america instills values in young american boys. there are over 100 merit badges offered, everything from camping, archery, community service, this week the latest badge of merit was unveiled in gaming. an honor that requires scouts to compare different types of games including video games. they are also asked to design their own game and explore careers in gaming. it sounds legit. it's not just video games. >> how certain are you that's not the onion pulling the wool over your eyes? >> i looked on the site it look also a j looked legit. someone told me you are an eagle scout. is that true? >> i can't say. >> you have to read a national publication, an online publication in the same day for the journalist badge. >> i will build towards that. thank you very much. still ahead on "way too early," why are you awake?

your merit badge worthy tweets, texts and e-mails are next. "morning joe" moments away. [ male announcer ] when it comes to the financial obstacles military families face, we understand. our financial advice is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. life brings obstacles. usaa brings retirement advice. because every flake is double-toasted... splashed with sweet honey... and covered in rich double-roasted peanuts. mmm. [ hero ] yummy. [ male announcer ] kellogg's crunchy nut. it's super delicious!