and the high-profile republican who is adding to the chorus of filibuster threats. in. north korea further escalates its standoff with south korea as japan takes steps to protect itself from possible attack. richard engel has the report from seoul. the debate over gun legislation on capitol hill has gone from what measures will be included in the bill to whether there be a vote at all. with the senate's top republican signing on to a filibuster threat. president obama yesterday took lawmakers to task for hedging on the issue of new gun reforms. with relatives of some of the newtown shooting victims in attendance, the president pushed congress for action. >> connecticut, this is not about me. this is not about politics. this is about doing the right thing for all the families here who have been torn apart about gun violence. it's about them and all the families going forward so we can

prevent this from happening again. that's what it's about. it's about the law enforcement officials putting their lives at risk. that's what this is about. this is not about politics. and yet some folks back in washington are already floating the idea that they may use political stunts to prevent votes on any of these reforms. think about that. they're not just saying they'll vote no on ideas that almost all americans support. they're saying they'll do everything they can to prevent any votes on these provisions. they're saying your opinion doesn't matter. and that's not right. that is not right. we need a vote. >> we want a vote! >> that leaves 14 republican

senators including mitch mcconnell vowing to block consideration of new gun restrictions. senator harry reid says it is a slap in the face to victims of violence. >> many senate republicans seem afraid to engage in this debate. shame on them, madam president. the least republicans owe the parents of these 20 little babies who were murdered at sandy hook is a thoughtful debate about whether stronger laws could have saved their little girls and boys. the least republicans owe them is a vote. >> our recent "morning joe joe" maris poll shows 59% support gun control checks, sti one of the chief allies of gun reform, michael bloomberg is

rolling out a new plan today to grade lawmakers on voting records and statements on gun issues. the a through f rankings mirrors a system used by the nra which has been effecting in wielding influence inning because washingt in washington, d.c. for years. tensions in the pacific are rising after the north korea announced its decision to pull out all workers from an industrial complex it shares with the south. with the ongoing military threats from pyongyang neighboring japan is bracing for the worst. richard engel has the story. >> reporter: defenses across asia are at the ready. japan with anti-missile batteries now in place says it will shoot down any north korean missile that threatens its territory. the u.s. with two american warships and a land-based missile interceptor now in the region would be able to track a missile seconds after launch and could destroy it in flight. a shootdown would not likely happen if the missile heads out

to sea. from north korea more talk. a video shows attack dogs the let loose on an effigy. >> this could be the start of the next interkorean conflict. that's something the whole world should be aware of. >> reporter: south koreans remain calm but are increasingly asking what if? this city of 1 million is just a few miles from the north korean border, and now city officials here are telling residents to be prepared for nuclear, chemical or biological attack. stockpiling food and medicine and knowing how to quickly reach shelter underground. workers distribute thousands of pamphlets. what to do if you see a mushroom cloud or if all the birds and fish suddenly die or if radioactive fallout rains from the sky. the notices are going up in every apartment building. >> this is a map of the shelters. >> yeah.

>> reporter: north korea may be bluffing, but pyongyang may not know how far it will push without going over the edge. >> richard engel reporting from south korea. seeing a mushroom cloud. a recent cnn opinion poll fiends 41% of americans believe north korea is an immediate threat to the united states. that number is up 13% from mid-march. i've been waiting for this story for a long time. the u.s. military is rolling out a new weapon that seems to cross a line from modern warfare to science fiction. officials will install a prototype laser weapon on a ship deployed in the middle east near the coast of iran. it will be used to disable small patrol boats, and it can also destroy surveillance drones. the iranian government is believed to be developing remote controlled aircraft which one day could carry rockets. it was yesterday during

"morning joe" we learned of the passing of margaret thatcher. she was britain's longest serving prime minister in the 20th century leading her conservative party to three straight victories. she changed the course of her country's history through fiscal policy and jump starting the british economy. she had perhaps no closer ally than president ronald reagan. his widow, nancy reagan, spoke with andrea mitchell yesterday between the relationship between the two individuals, which she described as political soul mates. >> from the very beginning, the first time we met, you know, she was first state dinner we had at the white house and the last. people thought she and i didn't have a relationship. nothing could be further from the truth. we had a very special relationship. and, of course, i loved it that she and ronnie were as close as they were.

>> thatcher was considered a visionary a vocal critic of the soviet union. she was among the first western leaders to recognize mikhail gorbachev as an ally at the kremlin. in 1989, she saw another emerging threat, a changing climate. >> what we are now doing to the world by degrading the land surfaces, by polluting the waters, and by adding greenhouse gases to the air at an unprecedented rate, all of this is new in the experience of the earth. it is mankind and his activities which are changing the environment of our planet and damaging in dangerous ways. >> well ahead of her time with those words with news of her death, paul johnson of the "wall street journal" wrote not since katherine the great has there been a woman of such consequence. eugene robinson called her a towering and polarizing figure.

the former prime minister's funeral will be held next week, her spokesman said she specifically did not want a state funeral or flyover, because she thought it was waste of taxpayer money. margaret thatcher was 87 years old. now to business. investors remain hesitant ahead of what is expected to be a modest first quarter earning session. yesterday stocks reversed early losses to post gains. over sees, the japan stimulus plan generated ripples. let's go to steve sedgwick live in london. what's on tap today? >> they're the two big stories, the bank of japan and where this money will end up, will it end up in japanese government bonds or into the international equity markets and continue the rally. last week the s&p came off about a half percent over concerns

about the earning season. in the final quarter of 2012, we grew about 7.7% for s&p earnings, in the first quarter of 2013, that was up only 0.7%. we have it all to play for. alcoa kicked off last night with indifferent numbers. >> steve, ron johnson promised big changes about two years ago at jcpenney. things have not worked out well what went wrong? >> he has tried everything, new merchandise, new designers, new advertising, new pricing structure. he has only been in the job 17 months, a lot of these things take time. they have gone back to the previous ceo, who basically now could gain all the fruits from that transition strategy. remains to be seen. it was a work in progress, but the shares were down 50% over last year, that sealed his fate. back to you. >> i know, he threw a lot against the wall, nothing stuck.

steve sedgwick live for us in london, thanks. they are two of the most recognizable people on the planet. when jay-z and beyonce visited cuba, it was only a matter of time before controversy began. the "new york times" says the u.s. treasury department is investigating whether the couple had the proper clearance to visit the island. during the vacation, they reportedly toured a children's theater group and visited an art institute. about 10,000 americans visit the country each year under such licenses. cuban-american lawmakers like senator marco rubio are demanding answers, even issuing a statement saying in part u.s. law clearly bans tourism to cuba by american citizens because it provides money to a cruel, repressive and murderous regime. since their inception the obama

administration's people to people cultural exchange programs have been abused by tourists who have no interest in cuban peoples freedom. as always, tell us why you are awake. still ahead on "way too early," louisville comes from behind to beat michigan and to win the national championship. a bit of a controversial call in there, too. we'll get your opinion. that did shift possibly the momentum of the game. former president clinton spends quality time with steven colbert. you may be surprised why clinton says he has never sent out a single tweet. that and weather when "way too early" comes back. with some help from an american military vehicle, the heavy bronze statue came tumbling down. it's head dragged on a rope

through the streets of the capital. saddam hussain, whose regime terrorized people, finally down and out. mine was earned in djibouti, africa, 2004.

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try post shredded wheat. this has been medifacts for post shredded wheat. the white and the red. looks familiar, louisville cardinal fans, congratulations from the empire state building. let's take you into this volatile day of weather. for the midwest, it's one of those dangerous days and have those family plans in place for when those tornados are possibly moving through from texas into oklahoma. those are the two states of greatest concern. other areas that will see nasty travel weather, we have a horrible snowstorm in colorado, wyoming right now, that is spreading out through northern nebraska and south dakota. areas of yellow, you have a good chance of seeing thunderstorms up to kansas city, san antonio.

and this area of red, a moderate risk of severe weather. if you're in this area, will you deal be strong storms and possible tornadoes, maybe a few strong tornadoes. this is the heart of tornado alley. oklahoma city, wichita falls, ardmore, and later heading towards tulsa. that's the biggest concern. i mentioned the snow. it will snow hard. denver up to ten inches of snow. that will spread up through south dakota. driving up through the northern plains not fun either. now for the good part, everyone on the east coast yesterdaytoas. we are 80s from miami to new york city. easily spring fever on the east coast. the midwest are the ones paying for it with severe storms later tonight. let's turn to sports. they're already calling it one of the best title games of all time. the result, louisville's college basketball's national champion. early on it didn't look good. strong moves from trey burke.

nice hang in the lane. there louisville was down as many as 12, the tournament's most outstanding player, he moves at 5 miles per hour but is deadly. luke hancock. he hit three after three. that got louisville back in the game. michigan cut the lead to one. this is the controversial play. burke was up high. did he get him with the body or was this a clean block? big turning point. that's a tough call. that did go against burke. that and the foul shots put up louisville by five. they held on to win from there. it's the cardinals first championship since 1986. that's the first year that the ncaa adopted the three-point shot. the story of the tournament is kevin ware. he had that horrible injury earlier in the tournament and they lowered the backboard and he cut the net. coach rick pitino spoke about

the game. >> kevin, without question, i'm not sure i could have or the players gotten over that emotional trauma if he didn't say to me, coach, i'll be fine, we've got to win the game. he said it three times. i said hold on, i got everybody in. i'm not sure any of us could have beaten a great team like duke unless he gathered us altogether. >> a lot of people didn't expect us to get this far. a lot of people didn't expect us to get past the second round. you know, we fought. we fought all the way up to this point. like coach beilein said, louisville was the letter team today. they were deserving of the win. >> rick pitino becomes the first coach to win national titles at two different schools. pitino got a bit of a scare as cannons fired off confetti. look at pit tiinopitino's react.

whoa. he could handle those pressure situations, but the sudden noises, not so much. thank you, rick pitino, for that. now the latest in the scandal at rutgers. the university will launch a full probe into the basketball program and how the school handled claims of abuse. on monday governor chris christie said he helped manage the situation while on vacation in jamaica he said when he learned about the tape, he told the university's athletic director "you need to get rid of this coach and get rid of him right away." christie was clear about his feelings about coach rice at a press conference monday. >> you have lots of successful coaches in this country at the college level that don't act this way. lots and lots have been successful. yet they don't conduct themselves like animals. and, you know, one of my questions to folks was what parent would let this animal

back into their living room to try to recruit their son after this video? >> mentioned the fbi is doing their investigation, christie announced he would not launch his own probe into the incident but ultimately he's defending the rutgers president handling of the situation. >> i think he showed leadership. if you wanted to define leadership as having ask to see the video, he made a mistake. it's not a fireable offense. when he knew the gravity of the situation, had is when he saw the videotape on tuesday morning, he took action from there. coach rice was fired the next morning. pretty good work for 72 hours. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," live from washington, d.c., president obama renews his push for new gun laws as more high-profile republicans dig in with filibuster threats. is there a compromise in site? we'll huddle around the water

cooler. usually vladimir putin is not a fan of protesters, this time the russian president had a slightly different reaction. that's next on "way too early." [ male announcer ] there are only so many foods that make kids happy. and even fewer that make moms happy too. with wholesome noodles and bite sized chicken, nothing brings you together like chicken noodle soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. and you'll dump your old mop. but don't worry, he'll find someone else. ♪ who's that lady? ♪ who's that lady? ♪ sexy lady ♪ who's that lady? [ female announcer ] used mops can grow bacteria. swiffer wetjet starts with a clean pad every time, and its antibacterial cleaner kills bacteria mops can spread around. swiffer gives cleaning a whole new meaning.

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enough of what we call the real news, let's gather around the water cooler to watch steven colbert share the stage with bill clinton. they shared the stage where clinton admitted he's not one of the millions of people on twitter. we'll leave it to colbert to change that. >> do you tweet? >> no. i think i'm so sort of insecure, like if -- you know, you -- what if you tweet and nobody tweets back? what if you tweet and you have -- if there's nothing worse than a friendless tweeter, just wandering around in cyberspace. >> i took the liberty of opening you a twitter account. now, president clinton was taken. william jefferson clinton was taken. but prez billy jeff was available.

would you like to break into the 21st century right now and send your first tweet? i'll type it. >> you'll type it? >> i'll type it. 140 characters or less. >> just spent -- >> just spent -- >> amazing time with colbert. >> all good. >> is he sane? >> is he sane? >> he is cool. >> can i put an exclamation mark at the end of that, sir? >> yeah, i haven't used the 140 yet. you can. >> yeah, you got some more left. anything else? >> no, no i'm done. here's the tweet.

@ prebillyjeff already wracked up more than 28,000 followers. president is kind of funny in those situations. finally, russian president vladimir putin is no stranger to being protested. maybe that explains his reaction yesterday when at a trade fair in hanover, could this happen here, in germany, a group of women ripped off their blouses and charged putin's entourage screaming obscenities. putin reacted with a double thumbs up. afterwards when asked about the protesters he said as to this action, i like, adding that protesters were pretty girls, but he couldn't see if they were blond or brunette. still ahead, why are you awake, your tweets, texts and e-mails are next.

and "morning joe" live from washington, d.c. just moments away. there is lewis. haven't seen him in weeks. [ female announcer ] does your vibrant color just seem to fade away...? now start vibrant, stay vibrant! new vidal sassoon pro series has an exclusive hydrablock system that helps fight fade out -- for up to 8 weeks. vidal sassoon pro series. salon genius. affordable for all.

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