before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. ready to change your routine? ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. well, to get started i have to talk about the rumors that came out today which says that i'll be moving up to 11:30. or as my parents call it, still too late. actually the rumors are true. nbc is turning "the tonight show" into a diving competition. so exciting. >> that is exciting. what did you learn today, mike? >> well, that is exciting, jimmy fallon -- >> a great guy. >> but i also learned on a more serious note, cyprus, the

economic situation in cyprus. a million people live on cyprus. the economy is smaller than the state vermont. warren buffett should just buy cyprus. >> bloomberg buy it and split it in half. >> what did you learn? >> today was a very educational show. we found out phish is starting a new album tomorrow. that's breaking news. and i got to look at my friend james bennett without a beard and i've got to say -- >> no, don't. >> he looks younger. he looks younger. don't you think? >> it's usually what he says. >> he looks younger. >> so i was asking you what made adam so great, editor of "new york" magazine. >> my boss, my friend and i think arguably the greatest magazine maker of this moment, of the last decade or so. >> he knows how to give a magazine a voice. very important. >> and visually. >> we had a lot of "new york"

magazine people on today. >> and what a great cover story. >> knocking it out of the park. >> if it's way too early, what time is it, mike? >> well, it's time for "morning joe." but right now it's time for our ole pal crystal izz acht. >> i need a fix. ♪ i'm going down." president obama's middle east tour treks on just hours after militants fire rockets out of gaza. big moves back in washington as paul ryan's budget gets said for a vote in the house and vice president joe biden says the white house is not giving up on an assault weapons ban. plus, as the pentagon ponders pumping more millions into guantanamo, a senior u.s. military leader offers some candid comments about the obama administration's failure to shut it down. >> good morning.

>> the national school of character. >> today is march 21st, 2013. >> and this is "the daily rundown." thanks so much to the first grade class at the lielyles-cro traditional academy. good morning, how can you not be happy about that. i even got a shoutout as you heard. chuck todd is in ramallah with the president and we'll be hearing from him in just a minute. president obama left jerusalem this morning to head to the west bank where he met with president mahmoud abbas. he was greeted by a crowd this morning as only the third sitting u.s. president to visit the palestinian territories. just hours before he headed into the west bank, palestinian militants fired a pair of

rockets from hamas-controlled gaza. they landed in southern israel, but no one was injured. president obama rejected that violence and said he was committed to a two-state solution in the future and he was very specific about what the u.s. wants to see. >> we seek an independent, viable and contiguous palestinian state as the homeland of the palestinian people alongside the jewish state of israel, two nations enjoying self determination, security and peace. >> nbc's chuck todd joins me now from ramallah. chuck, hello. >> reporter: well, good morning, chris. let me just tell you the most remarkable thing about this morning's events between the president and abbas is the fact that the president is openly admitting that he is simply trying to get the two sides to sit down and talk rather -- so there's negotiations to begin the negotiations.

you can tell there's a little bit of frustration with the obama delegation in that that's the stage that we're at, but that is the stage that we're at. the issue of settlements, which is something the president dodged yesterday with netanyahu, he couldn't quite dodge it today but, boy, did he tap dance around it. take a listen. >> we do not consider continued settlement activity to be constructive, to be appropriate, to be something that can advance the cause of peace. i will say with respect to israel that the politics there are complex and i recognize that that's not an issue that's going to be solved immediately. >> reporter: later in that same press conference, the president said that the settlement issue should not be considered a core

issue. translation, he was sending a message to abbas, don't expect a settlement freeze before you sit down and talk, no preconditions. if there was one thing the president was trying to emphasize, don't be trying to have preconditions before you agree to sit down and talk. now yesterday at the press conference with benjamin netanyahu, the issue of the middle east peace process and the president's strug elgles ins first term to get it launched as he wanted to do in that first year of his presidency, he discussed that and he admitted that he's learned from some mistakes. >> i am absolutely sure that there are a host of things that i could have done that would have been more deft and would have created better optics. but ultimately this is a really hard problem. >> reporter: now, they also discussed, netanyahu and obama, the issue of iran and syria. yesterday the theme of the day was red line. so on iran, the big news is that prime minister netanyahu and

president obama agree that iran is at least a year away. netanyahu agrees with the u.s. intelligence timeline on that issue. but it sounds like netanyahu got what he wanted to hear out of the president, which is making sure nothing was being taken off the table. take a listen. >> i think that there's a misunderstanding about time. if iran decides to go for a nuclear weapon, that is to actually manufacture the weapon, then it probably -- then it will take them about a year. we do have a common assessment on the schedules, on intelligence. we share that intelligence. we don't have any argument about it. >> reporter: and as for syria, the president would not yet confirm whether u.s. intelligence believes chemical weapons have been used, but he seemed to issue the assad regime a warning.

>> we have to make sure that we know exactly what happened, what was the nature of the incident, what can we document, what can we prove. so i have instructed my teams to work closely with all other countries in the region and international organizations and institutions to find out precisely whether or not this red line was crossed. once we establish the facts, i have made clear that the use of chemical weapons is a game-changer. >> reporter: so, chris, the big takeaway of this trip if it ended today is this, the united states and israel are more on the same diplomatic page than ever before on iran. when iran would get nuclear weapons and what the response would be if there's proof that they're pursuing them. two, we're a long ways away from even getting middle east peace negotiations in the talking phase, but there's optimism that at least there may be an attempt

to have everybody agree, okay, no preconditions and everybody will sit down. and then of course you heard that syria threat. later today, chris, maybe the most important speech that the obama administration thinks that the president will give here during this trip and that is a speech to the israeli public university students because the president simply wants to improve his own personal ratings here. if he has better ratings here in israel, he can influence the peace process a lot more effectively in the way that bill clinton was able to do in the '90s. >> now, chuck, i would be remiss if -- there was a light-hearted moment in that netanyahu/president obama press conference yesterday that did involve you. let's play it and we'll come back and talk about it. >> reporter: so i've heard. >> thank you, mr. president, mr. prime minister. mr. president, i want to follow up a little bit on the peace process. mr. prime minister, i want to help out my colleague over here and then a question -- another question i had for you is -- >> chuck, how many you got?

you see how the young lady from channel 1, she had one question. she was very well behaved, chuck? >> i've got one for you. >> these are -- >> passover starts in a couple days. i get four questions, right? >> this is not a kosher question, but don't hog it. >> chuck, i mean you're just incorrigible. >> the incorrigible chuck todd. >> reporter: there are worse things to be called by the president. but let the record state it was three questions. one for the president and maybe i slipped in two for the prime minister. but i was just helping out a pal. i was helping out my buddy, matt, at reuters who don't get his follow-up answered. and the most important thing, chris, both of them answered all the questions. we did get some answers. in fact that specific answer on iran and the assessment on nuclear weapons, it came during our light-hearted banter, so sometimes we have to be pests, i guess. >> i like thinking of it as

question 1 a, b and c, chuck. we'll see you back on the show a little later. and let's turn back to the politics here at home where the government is likely to stay open, at least for now, in a broad bipartisan vote the senate passed a spending bill 73-26 on wednesday to keep the government funded through the end of the fiscal year. but the next fiscal fights are already under way this morning. after a day of pageantry and political theater on the house floor, the house will vote on congressman paul ryan's 2014 budget. >> as a member of the budget committee opposed to the job-killing pathway to poverty ryan budget, i stand in strong support of the progressive caucus's back to work budget. >> the ryan republican budget is a job killer. in ten years there will be no medicare guarantee. >> here's the theme. take more money from the economy, take more money from

families, take more money from small businesses, spend it in washington and hope everything works out. >> it is a vision that will not be implemented and he knows it. >> taxes just went up by $1.6 trillion. what do they want to do? throw another trillion on top. guess what, they may say it's for the rich, it's for the loophole. watch out middle class, the tax man is coming to you. >> nbc's deputy political editor is here with this morning's first read. all right, dom, let's start on ryan and the budget. you heard steny hoyer, the second-ranking democrat in the house saying this will never come to pass. that is something that people need to be reminded of. this is a budget outline that will never be law. let's talk broadly about the ryan budget. is the ryan budget good or bad politics for republicans not named paul ryan? it seems to be good politics for paul ryan, it got him as the vice presidential nominee. is it good politics in general? >> it depends. it depends on where you're running and what districts.

and it depends on how certain members of the republican party decide to change the messaging on this. we saw paul brown now making some trouble saying that the paul ryan budget isn't conservative enough. he's running for the senate in georgia. if he's going to say that the ryan budget doesn't cut enough and starts pulling people off of even the ryan budget, well, you know, that is going to be some very, very tricky politics for the republican party and something the democrats will use against them in places that are competitive. >> now, tricky politics, republicans no question on the ryan budget and budgeting in general. tricky politics on guns for democrats. now, the assault weapons ban stripped out of the broader senate bill, harry reid has taken some flak for that. joe biden yesterday, the vice president of the united states who has taken a lead role on this, on npr talking about the assault weapons ban and whether or not it is doomed.

let's play that and we'll talk about it. >> we are still pushing that it pass. the same thing was told to me when the first assault weapons ban in 'now was attached to the biden crime bill, that it couldn't possibly pass. last time we passed it we only had seven republican votes in 1994. >> but he doesn't have the democrats. >> well, again, i just -- i've never found it makes any sense to support something and declare there's no possibility of it passing. >> okay. it still seems very unlikely to pass. harry reid on the floor two days ago saying there are 40 votes and they need 60. but there is a disconnect on gun legislation in general between congress and the american public. you pointed this out to me and i wanted to note it. quinnipiac poll of florida voters, support for gun safety measures, 91%, 91%. 91% of people don't agree on anything. 91% of people are in favor of universal background checks.

i think we both agree the assault weapons ban is going nowhere. 56% of floridians are in favor of that. why is even background checks, looks like a pretty heavy legislative lift. what's the disconnect? >> it is fascinating. this is not just this quinnipiac poll, it's national polls where we see 90% of people saying they're for universal background checks. 88% of people who own guns in this quinnipiac poll said that they were in favor. >> that may be the more amazing number, gun owners, 88%. >> but this issue of universal background checks as biden talked about in that interview was something that in even the '94 assault weapons ban debate, the nra was widely against this. they go to a point to say, look, you know, this is the government going to try to take away your guns, they're going to try to register your guns to know where the guns are so when they come to get the guns they know where to look. that's what the debate is over. it is fascinating that a majority of voters, 56% on the

assault weapons ban, 53% on high-capacity clips and yet it's laughed at on capitol hill. >> domenico, you will be back to talk about a little senate march madness. next up, republican family feud as more and more americans change their minds about same-sex marriage, new jersey's chris christie sticks to the party line but a former governor says it's time for a change. christine todd whitman joins me next. plus we'll go back to chuck in ramallah. and a big announcement that we just previewed for all of our political junkies. first, it's a look ahead at today's politics planner. circle 11:00 a.m. vice president boyden and mayor michael bloomberg on guns. see if joe biden repeats what he said to npr about the assault weapons ban. you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. ♪ i am stuck on band-aid brand ♪

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the republican party self imposed self review is generating a lot of reaction this week, both good and bad, about what direction the party needs to take to win national elections in the future. and one of the big areas of concern is with women voters. some of the recommendations from the report from the republican national committee include communications training, more women as surrogates, rapid response to attacks and more female candidates. joining me now is former republican governor of new jersey and former epa administrator christine todd-whitman, governor, thank you for spending some time. this is your party. this is a party in turmoil.

i am putting it nicely. this is a party, i don't want to say at war with itself but a party that is divided in many ways. those suggestions, yes, more female candidates and more female surrogates. but in truth does that get you where you need to be with women voters and if not what does the republican party have to do? >> you've got to change the message. it's not about the messaging, it's the message. you can't just say we've got to say it better or we've got to send other people out. sending a woman out as a candidate doesn't guarantee women are going to vote for her if she's taking positions that appear to be anti-women. when you vote against the violence against woman act, that raises some serious concerns among women. where is your heart really. and frankly when you start imposing as good, quote unquote conservatives government in the bedroom that also turns people off. >> we've got a map of the united states with female governors. you've got nikki haley, jan brewer, susannah martinez, mary

fallon in oklahoma. the northeast and new england broadly has not been a place where -- you are an exception to that rule but where republican women have met with much success. what do you make of it? >> i think it's more republicans in general not meeting with much success. >> that's a good point. there aren't a lot of republicans in the house. now, you're here in d.c., you have taken time from your beautiful farm in new jersey. you're coming to d.c. for an energy event, and i know that obviously you've been a former epa administrator and are deeply involved in this issue. talk to me about what's happening around the issue. president obama i know mentioned climate change to the joy of many people in the energy community in his state of the union address. tell me why you're here today. >> i co-chair something called clean safe energy coalition.org on the website. we are about educating people to the role nuclear energy plays today. what we did yesterday was release a white paper that

basically talks about the importance of a long-term energy strategy that includes all of the above because right now we're seeing such a run to natural gas. we should take advantage of the fact that the prices are low and that's helpful. but we've been here before and seen low prices and then seen them go up. you want to be very sure as you look at a 28% increase in electricity demand by 2040, which is what the department of energy projects, that you have a very mixed portfolio that includes all the kinds of green energy, it includes conservation as well as oil. and nuclear is part of that. >> and let me ask you about public perception because it's something nuclear energy has battled since chernobyl and fukushima. is the public more sort of open to nuclear energy now? has it lost the stigma that it's carried? >> gallup did a poll after fukushima and found better than 50% of the american people supported nuclear. the interesting thing is the closer you get to reactors, the bigger the support because the

people there understand the safety, they understand what it brings to them as far as reliable, affordable energy and the economic value to their communities. >> now, the republican party -- mitt romney talked about during the campaign briefly, he talked about nuclear energy and the need. but republicans in general, the energy issue has tended to be sort of stereotype as climate change. do republicans need to, as we are talking about sort of the need for republican renaissance, rebirth, call it what you will, do republicans need to think more broadly about energy and how it fits into this rebranding of the party? and if so, are there one, two or three things that the party should absolutely -- i assume nuclear is part of this, that the party absolutely should embrace to say, look, we're not just the guys that are antiwhat the democrats are proposing on energy and everything else. >> they need to think more broad low on just about everything, i think, but certainly on energy. one of those things is to say, look, we want clean air. we want a good quality of life for people.

so that means we need to look at clean energy. cleaner energy means less air pollutants which means healthier people. if you can call something that's contagious an epidemic, it's the single largest cause of missed school days for children. it's scary for kids when they can't do sports. there are all sorts of things that affect their lives forever in some instances. and we know that one of the triggers of asthma attacks and makes an attack worse is bad air quality. that's particulate matter that's thrown off by fossil fuels. to the extent that we can broaden our mix of energy and broaden the discussion to say what we want is clone, green energy, that's what we really should be after. stop picking winners and losers within that. let's not just say there's only a certain kind of energy we're going to support. and talk about it -- don't be afraid to talk about it in terms of, oh, by the way, it helps to clean the air. >> i want to switch topics just briefly because you've been

thoughtful on this and i want to get you on the record on this. the party on same-sex marriage, talk about thinking differently. the party, rob portman, senator from ohio, republican, has come out and said i am now supportive of gay marriage. we've seen lots and lots republicans come out. you have signed on to a brief in support of the roll back of proposition 8 in california before the supreme court. is this an issue where republicans are caught in your mind in the past? this is an issue that the public has moved on and republicans need to move on? and how do you do that given that it is to a part of the base a deeply held belief, not just sort of an opinion they have? >> well, but to that part of the base, i respect their opinion. i respect their right to feel the way they do. they also are the part of the base that feels government shouldn't be everywhere. they are the most libertarian of the libertarians. to me the most conservative position is get the government out of my bedroom. i think we should adopt what many of the european countries

do. when you go down to get your license at the local office in your municipality, that's it. that's the extent of the state's involvement. where two consenting adults come in and say i want this person to be the recipient of my beneficiaries. i want him to talk for me if i'm incapacitated and leave marriage to the church, to the synagogue, to the mosque. if they will marry a gay couple, god bless them. if they won't, move on. but the state shouldn't be involved in marriage. >> public opinion seems to be heading in one specific direction. christine, thank you. appreciate it. next, new troubles at guantanamo bay prison. plus, a massive manhunt under way in colorado after the director of the department of corrections was shot and killed at his own front door. is an ex-con to blame. but first, today's trivia question. who was the most recent secretary of state to not, to not visit the palestinian territories? the first person to tweet the correct answer to @dailyrundown

will get an on-air shout out. you will be famous. that answer and more coming up on "the daily rundown." time for the your business entrepreneur of the week. las vegas anesthesiologist dr. jason burke took his experience in the e.r. and created a hangover cure using an iv administered formula. he dubbed a bus hangover heaven. for more watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. marjorie, i can't stand you. you're too perfect. even the inside of your dishwasher sparkles. okay. so i'm the bad guy for being clean. you said it. ladies, let's not fight dirty. cascade kitchen counselor. see, over time, finish gel can leave hard-water film on your dishes and dishwasher. new cascade platinum's triple-action formula not only cleans your dishes, it helps keep your dishwasher sparkling.

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wow! that's the walmart low price guarantee backed by ad match! save time and money. bring in ads from your local stores and see for yourself. now for a look at what's on our radar this morning. a little developing news here. we just learned that u.n. chief moon says the u.n. will conduct an investigation into the alleged chemical weapons use in syria. earlier this week syrian government and rebels accused each other of launching a deadly chemical attack, but there is no confirmation of those allegations. if true, it would be the first use of such weapons in the conflict. as the president said in israel yesterday, the use of chemical weapons is a game-changer. the pentagon is considering plans for $150 million overhaul of the guantanamo bay detention facility. according to facilities, the multimillion dollar plan would include building a new dining hall, hospital and barracks for the guards. the proposal comes amid mounting

signs of frustration from gitmo detainees. u.s. military officials confirm that the number of hunger strikes have tripled over the last two weeks from seven to 25. officials say no lives are in danger, but do acknowledge detainees are growing more frustrated. >> the detainees had -- and their attorneys presumably had great hope that the facility would be closed. and they were particularly put off, i'm told, that when the president has really made no mention of closing the facility, nothing in the inauguration speech about closing it, nothing in the state of the union. you know, he's not restaffing the office that was focused on closing or transferring. >> white house officials say they remain committed to closing guantanamo but their efforts have been blocked by congress. out in colorado, the manhunt

continues today after a deadly attack on the director of the state department of corrections. state officials say they don't have a suspect or a motive and don't know if the murder of tom clements was related to his job. he was recently involved in several high-profile cases. clements was shot tuesday evening after answering his front door. neighbors say they saw a dark, boxy car near his home just minutes before the murder. since 2011, clements has overseen colorado's prisons, home to more than 20,000 inmates. his wife, lisa, oversees colorado's two psychiatric hospitals. up next, the prospects for peace in the middle east. will the president's trip get the parties back to the negotiating table? chuck joins us again from the west bank. plus we're taking march madness to a whole new level. political junkies, stay tuned. we're live in ramallah has president.com contin obama cont first trip to the palestinian territories. you're watching "the daily

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palestinian president mahmoud abbas greeted president obama warmly when he arrived in ramallah today, but not everyone is pleased. protests broke out this week in gaza and the west bank among palestinians angry that president obama hasn't done more to stop israeli settlements and force a compromise. joining me now, bobby gosh, editor of "time international." bobby, the president spoke about settlements this morning. anything new there, and anything that the palestinians will take to heart? >> well, the president said that settlements were not very helpful and they were a little irresponsible on israel's part. palestinians will take some heart from that, but i think they would have preferred much stronger language from the president. the man in the street certainly would. i think mahmoud abbas probably understands the president's

predicament politically a little better than the average palestinian does because in some ways he is in a similar predicament quite often as a leader of a very divided people. how much the israelis took that to heart is a matter of some speculation. this is not the first time the president has said that settlements is not helpful. this is not the first time we have heard this from the administration. but israelis have tended to ignore, netanyahu has tended to ignore that in the past and my suspicion is he probably will continue to do that. >> bobby, does this trip, very high profile obviously, both here in the united states and internationally, does this trip raise expectations both in the region and for president obama that the two sides get to the negotiating table? >> they are very, very far apart at the moment. the president isn't really offering a new plan that brings them together. that said, the power and

prestige of the american president is not something to be sneered at. to the extent that he can nudge both sides to get even a little closer to the negotiating table, that might help. there's also excellent news just this morning boy happy coincidence from turkey where a conflict between the turks and the kurds that has raged for decades and cost 40,000 lives now looks like there's a break-through and peace is possible. that is something that's happening right in their neighborhood. if the president can get the palestinians and israelis to look at that and say, look, this is possible. it is possible that these long intractable conflicts between communities can actually be resolved if people on both sides, leaders on both sides rise above petty politics. perhaps some good can be done from that. >> bobby, you mentioned, i know "time" has written about mahmoud abbas' sort of difficult status politically between himself and

hamas. is he someone who can be a credible negotiator if good will prevails and they can get both sides to the table? is abbas someone who has the sort of political power to negotiate on behalf of all palestinians or not? >> by himself he does not. i think he is not the leader of gaza. this is quite clear. who is, is a different question. his people are quite divided on what they feel about him. he is very much at the moment a sort of compromise candidate. he can come to the negotiating table if he has buy-in from a lot of other people behind him and that has been lacking. people like barguti who is still in prison. people like hamas. unless they buy into a peace plan, he does not have the charisma or credibility to pull that off. >> bobby ghosh, thanks for the

perspective. >> any time. i want to bring back our own chuck todd. he's still live in ramallah to talk more about this. we've heard from both sides of the peace process and i asked bobby this but i want to ask you. does this visit by president obama, very high profile, 5,000 reporters covering it, is there any sense from the ground there that there's a new window of opportunity in the peace process? >> reporter: well, i tell you what there's not, there's not a sense of urnl aegency about it. this is something i talked to george mitchell about this. remember he was who president obama appointed to be the envoy for the middle east peace process in 2009. he had said this was a concern and you do feel it, which is because there actually hasn't been any skirmishes in a while, there's almost a sense of they have been lulled into a sense of, well, okay, maybe this is a way that we can live this way, both sides. and abbas, because he doesn't

have the credibility and the -- with hamas and able to negotiate for all palestinian people, you know, does he really want to sit at the table because maybe he can't negotiate a peace or he can't fully negotiate a peace. that said, it does sound like netanyahu wants to give obama this. he knows it's important to president obama to do something like this. and if netanyahu wants president obama to have his back on iran, then he wants to be able to give him something on getting the peace process started. but you heard it, chris. they're still trying to negotiate the terms of the negotiations. and the president is trying to say, hey, to the palestinians, don't make a settlement freeze a precondition. if you do, we're never going to talk. >> it's remarkable, chuck, politics is never far from the mind. now, speaking of never far from the mind, a little bit more light-hearted, but today is sort of the formal kickoff over here, i know you know it, the formal kickoff over here of a little something we call march madness, the ncaa tournament, a/k/a

georgetown's run to a national championship. >> good luck with that. >> there is a great senate march madness tell me more. >> reporter: here's what we've done. so we consulted historians, consulted a whole bunch of folks and culled together a list of 65 former senators, none of the current senators were eligible, 65 of we deemed the most consequently senators. we're going to reveal the entire bracket on sunday. we have four regions -- >> well, just as he was getting to it. i know it's going to kill him to not describe this but we have domenico here. d ocht dom, pick up where chuck left off. >> i like to describe myself as

an amateur bracketologist. the thing is we have these four regions, the 19th century, 20th century, modern day and mixed. when you look at the four -- >> can i ask you mixed era, can you explain it? >> mixed era, people who are from one era to another. you couldn't really place them. they may have been in one at one time and then also kind of bled over into another era. you know, there are people who were left over not from -- not really fell into the 19th or 20th -- >> got it, got it, go ahead. >> the top seeds, we'll unveil our top seeds here. >> i'm getting excited. >> the number ones, right. we have in the 19th century daniel webster, who is known as the great orator. in the 20th century, lbj. modern day,kennedy. and in the mix's era. henry clay. the first man laid in state at

the capitol rotundrotunda. a lot of people sit here in washington and are so concerned about what's in front of them. sometimes we need to take a look back to really understand where this country has been and what it's been through. remember, this is of consequence, not greatest. we want to emphasize that. there's going to be a lack of women in this because we're not doing people who are presently in congress. >> no current senators. >> no current senators. no harry reid, no mitch mcconnell. >> and i believe chuck is back from ramallah. >> reporter: i am, i am. >> we just went with domenico through the number one seeds. my question is who is the number one of the number ones? who's the top top seed? >> reporter: who's the overall number one seed? well, look, the tournament selection committee, there was a little controversy. there's a fifth number one seed. just like miami should have been a number one, but there wasn't a fifth number one. everett dirksen should have been a number one but there just wasn't room. so we're giving this away. he's a high number two.

i think the overall number one seed is going to be lbj considering the ascention to the presidency and the setup. one more thing about how we put this together because we know there's going to be somebody to take to twitter and complain and try to make this not fun. the fact of the matter is there are going to be some senators on here who are consequential and on the wrong side of history but that doesn't make them any less consequential and norimportant american history. so we assume that voters, and everybody will get to vote, will vote according low on some of these people that will make the list when we up veil the full bracket. and we have a play-in game and that's the one we're launching today. it's an all texas deal. a longhorn versus an aggie. a republican versus a democrat, lloyd benson versus phil graham. actually they both represent their era, sort of the last of the yellow dog democrats. the first of the blue dog democrats in phil gramm to turn

republican. there it is, start your voting. it's going to be fun. and i have to say i don't expect all four of our number ones to make it to our final four. >> i love this idea. chuck, i just don't know what you mean about people taking to twitter to complain. i'm not familiar with that. anyway, thank you, chuck. >> reporter: it never happens. >> go to first read on nbcpolitics.com to get your senate madness on. vote for whether lloyd bentsen or phil gramm should be the 64th member of the tournament. the winner moves on to our other matchups that will begin next week. we'll unveil the brackets beginning on monday. our gaggle is coming up next. why the sunshine state may be brightening hillary clinton's 2016 prospects. never forget the white house soup of the day, chipotle boeef. it just makes me think of a chipotle burrito in beef broth.

i met it's a little more advanced than that. anyway, we'll be right back. are you flo? yes. is this the thing you gave my husband? well, yeah, yes. the "name your price" tool. you tell us the price you want to pay, and we give you a range of options to choose from. careful, though -- that kind of power can go to your head. that explains a lot. yo, buddy! i got this. gimme one, gimme one, gimme one! the power of the "name your price" tool. only from progressive. departure. hertz gold plus rewards also offers ereturn-- our fastest way to return your car. just note your mileage and zap ! you're outta there ! we'll e-mail your receipt in a flash, too. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

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daily flashback to this day 50 years ago when alcatraz federal penitentiary closed forever. the last of the inmates were transferred out of alcatraz, which housed some of america's most notorious criminals during its 29 years as a federal prison. one of those criminals was al capone. the one-time maximum security facility is now part of the national park service, a popular tourist destination. of course the scene of the great movie "the rock. ". trivia time. we asked who was the most recent secretary of state to not visit the palestinian territories? that answer, lawrence eagleburger. since 1994 when warren christopher met with yasser arafat, every secretary of state has visited either gaza or the west bank. and congratulations to today's winner, jonathan easley. you are now famous. if you've got a political trivia

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let's bring in our thursday gaggle. national political editor for the associated press, president of the american bridge 21st century, former spokesman for majority harry reid, and huge professional wrestling fan. sorry. had to get that in there. we're doing lightning round. i wa i was fascinated. hillary clinton, over 50% in florida against both marco rubio and jeb bush, both native sons of florida. kim, what do you make of it? >> i make it's about three years until we have to worry about it. >> how dare you. >> however, i'm glad to see those two being the ones you choose, only because they're the only ones that are coming out

with any sort of transformative ideas for the party. if we're going to go anywhere, we need something new. education reform, you know, immigration reform. we need something fresh and new. >> quickly, i found the republican autopsy that they put out, one fascinating thing, a recommendation was essentially to copy american bridge, which is opposition research. flattering? >> imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. one of the things i would say to them is one of our successes was being able to go into these primaries where republicans were saying one thing to the tea party base and another thing to the general election. we don't have that as much on the democratic side, especially on the senate side. there aren't as many hard primaries. >> it's a really good point, the divide. marco rubio, rand paul. they've sort of become establishment tea party -- symbolizing that divide. i know you're going to do the too early thing, but do you buy there is that divide within the party and does it need to be healed in these next three years? >> look, i think there's -- 2016

is going to be fascinating. we're already seeing divides, both among the republicans as well as democrats. this is going to be open on either side. the republicans are going to fight the battle of establishment versus tea party. the democrats are going to fight the battle of liberals versus centrists. all of these people considering it are going to have to position in different ways. so i say this poll is way too early because we don't know the impact that the very divisive primaries we're going to have are going to have. >> i always say remember the iraq war vote. at the time, the thinking in the democratic party, it wound up being the way barack obama got into the race against hillary. okay. shameless plugs. kim? >> officer peter leboy was horribly shot outside of an elementary school that my daughter goes to a couple weeks ago. they're raising money for him. the elementary school is. there's a link to donate to help his family out.

>> st. patrick's day might be over, but it is still time to give to st. baldrick day. it's an organization that fights childhood cancer. >> great. liz? >> i'm just going to say congratulations on five years of friends of mine who own cork and cork in washington, d.c. >> wow. okay. my shameless plug is if you like this, there will be plenty more tomorrow. i'm hosting again. it is shameless after all. >> are we coming back? >> that's it for this edition of "t he daily rundown. dhe daily remains in the mideast with the president. he'll be in jordan tomorrow. coming up next, it's chris jansing and company. ur digestive balance in sync? try align. it's the number one ge recommended probiotic that helps maintain digestive balance. ♪ stay in the groove with align. ♪ need help keeping your digestive balance in sync?

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