excellent adventure" is supposedly getting a third excellent helping. alex winter says the film is on its way and will feature bill and ted dealing with their 40s. excellent. country star miranda lambert tweeted photos of a puppy she rescued from an oklahoma highway on wednesday. the singer found the pup alone in the middle of the road with his food bowl and bed. who would do such a thing? finally, celebs are sharing their thoughts on the new pope via twitter. "the jersey shore's" snooki called the pontiff adorable. joy behar called out donald trump and the birther movement. and seth rogan wrote "there's also white smoke coming out of my office, but nobody seems that excited about it." leave it to seth rogan to put together a stoner joke. >> you knew it was going to come up. and with twitter, you can say whatever you want. >> it was a loofl moment. >> i stopped everything i was doing. i was actually on a conference call at the time and just stopped talking and watch. >> i was actually sleeping, but

i caught up after the fact. >> your schedule messes up the pope election. >> i'm mara schiavocampo and this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early" starts right now. ♪ elected the 266th pope earlier today. he has taken the name pope francis i, and here now are other names he could have selected. number ten, kim jong-pope. nope, nope. number nine, pope john bush. pope "the situation" sorrentino. number two, spongebob pope hat. and number one, francis ford popala. >> good morning, i'm bill karins. this is "way too early," the show that has been inspired by

pope francis's past sacrifices. we are also giving up our chauffeurs, chefs and luxurious sleeping quarters. so far, an easy transition since we never had any of those in the first place. thanks for being up with us this thursday, march 13th. we have a lot to talk about, including new signs from president obama that his outreach to republicans may be coming up short. we'll show you his surprising comments on the ryan budget plan, straight ahead. plus, the real-life action hero vladimir putin teams up with the fake action hero steven seagal for a photo op to remember. first, our top story here at 5:30 a.m. in new york city. so much of what lies ahead for the catholic church now rests on the shoulders of pope francis. the former archbishop of buenos aires was elected by the college of cardinals yesterday in a strong message about the religion's changing dynamics. jorge mario bergoglio is the first pope from latin america, where more than 41% of the world's catholics live. he was selected on the fifth round of voting at the secret conclave. his name announced to a crowd of over 100,000 gathered at st.

peter's square. as nbc's lester holt reports, the new pontiff begins his mission by introducing himself to a global ministry faced with significant challenges. >> reporter: when the cardinals filed into the sistine chapel on tuesday, he was regarded as a long shot at best. at 76, jorge bergoglio was thought by some to be too old. but if his name was unfamiliar and caught most gathered on st. peter's square by surprise, there was unabashed joy in buenos aires tonight. jorge mario bergoglio is an argentine-born son of italian immigrants, one of five children. he lost a lung to an infection when he was a teenager but went on to become a priest in 1969. he joined the jesuit order, embracing an austere lifestyle. even as a cardinal and archbishop of buenos aires, he shunned the privileges and trappings that usually come with the job. >> he took the tram to work. he lived in a small apartment

rather than in the archbishop's palace. he's not a man of a lot of fuss, pomp and circumstances. >> reporter: in 2005, bergoglio was runner-up behind joseph ratzinger to replace the late pope john paul ii. he is regarded as a strong defender of catholic doctrine, described by his biographer as a balancing force. he earned a reputation in argentina as a fierce advocate for the poor. >> this is a man of god, a man of the new evangelization, a man who is a great defender of democracy in a country where democracy is under real stress right now in argentina. >> reporter: choosing to become pope francis, he takes the name of 13th-century preacher st. francis aseesie, who lived a life of poverty. no surprise to those who know him. >> you can see the humility of the man, you can see the calm of the man, and i can tell you, i know the strength of the man and the compassion of the man. >> reporter: his election has

sparked excitement in latin america, both out of cultural pride and the recognition of the growing importance and influence of that part of the world. >> bergoglio brings latin america to rome and to the world. >> that was lester holt reporting. in a statement, president obama offered warm wishes to pope francis, whom he called "champion of the poor and the most vulnerable among us." vice president biden will lead a u.s. delegation to rome for the inaugural mass. as president obama heads back to capitol hill today to meet with senate democrats and republicans, his position on the federal debt reveals big differences with many in the gop. in an interview with abc news, the president said, "we don't have an immediate crisis in terms of debt. in fact, for the next ten years, it's going to be in a sustainable place." but according to the president it may be republicans' proposals to entitlement changes that proposes the biggest obstacles to a grand bargain. >> ultimately, it may be that the positions are just too wide.

if their position is we can't do any revenue, or we can only do revenue if we got medicare or got social security or got medicaid -- if that's the position, then we're probably not going to be able to get a deal. >> the president said he's trying identify what he calls a common-sense caucus, and yesterday he met with house gop members for the first time since 2011. while the sides spoke candidly for an hour, what is unclear is where they can compromise on fundamental disagreements, including taxes. >> you know, again, if the president wants to let our unwillingness to raise taxes get in the way, then we're not going to be able to set differences aside and focus on what we agree on. and my takeaway was that. >> i thought that we had a very frank and candid exchange of ideas. and frankly, i think it was productive. we have a spending problem. we have to attack the spending. and the president understands, yeah, we've got some long-term

spending that we need to deal with, but he's going to hold hostage the fact that he wants to raise taxes on the american people again. >> last night, the president addressed organizing for action, the group run by many of his former top operatives to help advance the president's agenda. the president downplayed his new efforts to work with members on the hill. >> over the last several weeks, the press here in washington's been reporting about obama's charm offensive. well, you know, the truth of the matter is, all i've been doing is just calling up folks and trying to see if we can break through some of the gobbledygook of our politics here. at this juncture, one of the things i believe is that we've got to get members of congress involved in these discussions, not just leadership, because i think a lot of them feel as if they don't have the opportunity

to break out of some of this partisan gridlock. >> that two-day organizing for action event has been met by criticism by several independent groups who accuse the non-profit of selling access to the president president. tickets for this event went for $50,000 apiece. however, some of the democratic party's biggest donors were not in attendance. who was? organizing for action declines corporate donations and has vowed to be more transparent with its finances. still, the group benefits from donations in unlimited amounts. last night, president obama admitted the grassroots organization has been met with some "suspicion" but still believes it can play a role in the political process. >> people have been puzzled about what it is that we're trying to do because the usual idea is, well, this must just be a mechanism to try to win the next election in 2014. and what we've tried to explain to people is, is that, no, i actually just want to govern at least for a couple of years.

>> well, the president also commented on the importance of keeping voters engaged in politics after the election, something he says he didn't do four years ago. he said it was "mistake" but hopes to rally progressives and democrats around his agenda by challenging them to stay involved. >> how do we make sure the people stay involved? how do we make sure all those neighborhood groups are engaged, feel a sense of connection? we did not do as good of a job in 2008 as i would have hoped in making sure they still felt a part of the process. can we sustain and maintain the sense of citizenship that arose during the course of the campaign outside of a campaign structure, outside of the immediate, okay, we're trying to win this many votes in this many states? but can, instead, we activate people around an agenda? >> president obama has named a new ambassador to libya.

deborah jones will fill the post that's been empty since september 11th, 2012, when an attack on the consulate in benghazi left ambassador chris stevens and three other americans dead. jones most recently served as u.s. ambassador to kuwait. meanwhile, libya's prime minister is in washington. he met with president obama and pledged to secretary of state john kerry that his country would find the truth in the investigation of the attacks. now to business. fueled by better-than-expected retail sales, the dow posted another record-breaking day. and the index hasn't suffered a daily loss this month. it is currently enjoying its longest winning streak in 16 years! for more on what to expect from the markets today, let's check in with cnbc's geoff cutmore, who is live for us in london. geoff, i don't know a lot about the markets, but the profit takers can't be far away. are people starting to get nervous? >> well, everybody is talking about that, and yet, we continue to make sequential gains. nine days in a row that the dow has managed to finish in

positive territory. it did get a help yesterday from that retail sales number, which was twice what was expected. so, apparently, some of these tax hikes and spending cuts are not affecting the american consumer yet. so, you wouldn't write off the market just yet. and we have a positive open here in europe, so some of that could feed through into another strong session in the united states. but a couple of other stories that i just want to fill in for you here. very interesting. is it the sign of desperation from apple that the marketing chief goes on record the day that samsung brings out its new phone? this has iscroll technology and a lot of interesting features, but marketing at apple, phil schiller has said you know what, you've got an inferior software service to the one you get on the iphone and a number of other critical points made about the rivals here. so, that's a little tough, but it could be a reflection of the fact that apple's share price has not been so hot of late.

one more to leave you with. this is a head-scratcher. coca-cola accused of spying in china by beijing. it's an issue about mapping the used handheld gps devices for employees. coca-cola says it's about fuel efficiency and security and serving the customer, but beijing is looking into this, part of a growing spat over cyber security it seems, and it looks like the soft drinks maker's being pulled into it. back to you. >> so, coca-cola mapping china. sounds like trouble to me. geoff cutmore live for us in london. have a great day, geoff. thanks, as always. let us know why you're awake. e-mail waytooearly@msnbc.com or tweet me @bobcairns. we'll read the results later. still to come, a blockbuster signing in the nfl. poor tom brady, he lost his top receiver, and where does he go? to his rival, peyton manning, the most dangerous man now in football. that's next in sports. and move aside kim jong-un and dennis rodman, vladimir

putin proved that he has the best celebrity friends around. that and a check of weather when we come back. >> we the jury find the defendant guilty of murder with malice as charged in the indictment and assessment front at death, signed max e. causie, foreman. [ male announcer ] when it comes to the financial obstacles military families face, we understand. our financial advice is geared specifically

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start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom.com today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. for current and former military members and their families. get advice from the people who share your values. for our free usaa retirement guide, call 877-242-usaa. ♪ we bring you these pictures from new zealand, where they're ending their summer and the country is experiencing one of their worst droughts ever since they had records back in the early 1900s. the drought is so bad that one city official is looking for ways to conserve water and he's even recommending that people shower with friends, if possible. that is, hence, the reason why we brought you that story. now for an in-depth look at

water conservation techniques, dylan dreyer joins us. good morning, dylan. >> good morning. should i divulge -- >> you can really go into that and analyze how much water it really saves, if you want. >> i'll work on that for you. i'll do a story on that one. >> should have given you a heads-up that story was first. >> i knew the beginning of the story. i didn't know where the story was going. i'll look ahead next time. we are going to see dry conditions around the country, too, not a whole lot going on. a couple light snow showers in the northeast and back into minneapolis as well, but not really enough to create too many delays. the light snow is mostly lake effect. you know, the lakes never really got too frozen this winter, so we are still seeing that cold air over the relatively warmer lakes, and we are seeing lake-effect snow across new york, across pennsylvania, maybe about an inch to three-inches, especially in the higher elevations. minneapolis shouldn't see too many airport delays, but with some of the icing across southwestern minnesota, we could see some slippery conditions out that way for the morning commute. we are looking at temperatures in the northeast to be about 15 to 20 degrees below average.

the warm air's out in the west where temperatures will be about 15 and 20 degrees above average. even billings, montana, today should top out close to 70 degrees, not too bad. 93, though, in phoenix. that's getting a little hot. the northeast will only be in the 30s. tomorrow we're not going to see too many improvements. in fact, only into the mid-40s in the northeast into tomorrow. i was looking at some records. you know, chicago, this date last year it was start of a nice, warm trend, the temperatures in the 70s and 80s all the way until march 22nd. this time around about 30s and 40s in the forecast. so, it is going to be much colder this st. patrick's day. >> yeah. thanks. >> all right. >> i know, that's why march is known as the cruelest month, right? it's like you get teased with nice, beautiful days and then it's just -- >> i know, and we're not seeing enough of the warm days. once in a while you get the nice days, but haven't gotten too many of those. thanks, dylan. sports in the nba. going into last night, the heat had a chance to do something only three teams in nba history

had accomplished, 20 wins in a row. second quarter against the sixers, lebron james on the breakaway. is this going to be special? that's kind of his typical, uncontested dunk. the sixers trying to make this a game. nice move! jrue holiday making his way through the defense, gets to the hoop. game tied at 91. 30 seconds to play, heat up by one, lebron misses, on the follow-up, dwyane wade to tip it in. the heat slip past the sixers for a 20th straight win, 98-94. the 1972 lakers, by the way, hold the record at an unthinkable 33 straight wins. 13 to go. more from the nba. kobe bryant trying to put up the game-tying shot against the hawks. in the corner. he went down kind of hard there and he stayed down before limping off the court. you can look at it. was that a foul? a knee to the thigh and looks like his leg landed on the defender there. watch it as he lands.

oh! his left ankle buckled. severely sprained ankle. of course, the x-rays were negative. the lakers did lose 96-92. after the game, kobe voiced his displeasure with the officiating. on that play, he tweeted "dangerous play that should have been called, period." more nba action and one of the best responses to an ejection you'll ever see. larry sanders of the bucks thinks he's fouled on the shot, doesn't get the call, exchanges some words. that's typical. and then he gives all the officials and the referees the thumbs up as he walks off the court. he'll also be getting a fine for that nice gesture. to college basketball now, where another team officially punched their ticket to the ncaa tournament. bucknell is headed to the big dance after winning the patriot league championship yesterday 64-56 win over lafayette. if you remember, the bison have a history of playing cinderella. they upset number three seed

uconn back in 2005 and number eight seed arkansas in 2006. now my favorite story of the morning. to the nfl. tom brady's fabulous life took a hit yesterday. his favorite target will be catching passes from a different hall of famer next season. wide receiver wes welker is headed to the denver broncos after agreeing to a two-year contract worth $12 million. really, patriots, you couldn't afford to pay your best receiver $6 million a year in the nfl? so, peyton manning, smiling as he slept last night, now has the best trio of receivers in the nfl. good luck to all the nfl secondaries trying to match up and stop welker, eric decker and demaryius thomas. and finally, with opening day now less than three weeks away, new indians manager terry franco franco francona just here on "morning joe" recently, assembled his team for a lecture on baseball fundamentals. what's he doing? this isn't cutoffs, bunting. oh, no, he didn't. oh, terry.

cleveland indians haven't laughed for a long time and they're also last on the harlem shake. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," president obama proposes a grand bargain while throwing an if into the conversation. the crew will weigh in. when we come back here, we'll huddle around the water cooler where conan o'brien gives his take on the cardinals' choice for a new pope. it's offensive. "way too early" is coming right back. ears people have saved money with...ohhh... ...with geico... ohhh...sorry! director's voice: here we go. from the top. and action for over 75 years people have saved money with gecko so.... director's voice: cut it! ...what...what did i say? gecko? i said gecko? aw... for over 75 year...(laughs. but still trying to keep it contained) director's voice: keep it together. i'm good. i'm good. for over 75...(uncontrollable lahtuger). what are you doing there? stop making me laugh. vo: geico. saving people money for over seventy-five years. gecko: don't look at me. don't look at me.

♪ we have a new pope. the vatican has chosen the first ever argentinean pope. yeah. [ cheers and applause ] so, once again, a bunch of old white guys got a hispanic to do a job they didn't want to do. the selection of pope francis i came as something of a surprise yesterday. he was considered a serious contender for the pope back in 2005, but many thought he was a little too old to warrant serious consideration by the conclave this time around. if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends that at 76 years old, just a little younger than barnacle, pope francis i is the ninth oldest pope ever at the time of election. the nine previous men who were 75 or older when they became the pontiff served for an average of only five years. i don't know why they throw those barnacle things in the

prompter and make me say those things. >> that is cruel. that is cruel, bill. where's the hate come from, bill? >> enough with the real news. >> so much hate. >> let's gather around the water cooler. lewis, what do you have for us today? >> does the title under siege and the name casey rybak mean anything for you? >> this is going to be good. >> we wanted to check in with our fishing russian strong man, yes, vladimir putin is back at it, this time reviving a stalin-era physical fitness program for his countrymen. not to be confused with "rocky iv," it's aimed at strengthening students who are a factor in college admissions. who better than steven seagal, best known for "under siege" to whip the kids into sthape. look at the size of him. he visited moscow yesterday to take part in a ceremony for a school opening. when the kids rushed putin for a photo op, segal swept into action, pulling the president to safety.

segal's films are apparently familiar in russia and he's visited several times. >> obviously, the long shorts there. >> putin is no stranger to celebrity friends. he welcomed gerard deppar due after the film star abandoned his home rate to avoid a new tax rate for millionaires. i don't blame him. there's clearly a pattern happening here. there is also stuff happening in north korea. >> we call those pro hugs. >> that's a pro hug with dennis rodman and kim jong-un. dennis rodman stopped by to toast the dictator and the couple even caught a local basketball game, as we reported last week. kim's father was also known as a movie buff, so it's possible the two discussed one of the greatest films of all time. take a look. >> they may have their own styles -- >> who does your hair, siegfried or roy? >> and their own skills. >> loose airbull. >> but now that they're partners -- >> you're looking for trouble. i don't like trouble. >> it's double. >> oh!

>> jean-claude van damme, dennis rodman, "double-teamed." >> this is an action-packed morning that seagal, jean-claude van damme, putin. >> how did you throw it all together? >> it's just what i do, that's it, you know? >> keep coming back for more. still ahead on "way too early" why are you awake? your karate chopping tweets and "morning joe" is just moments away. thank you, bill. [ male announcer ] i've seen incredible things.

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