mixed signals for the american intelligence community after a report says north korea has developed nuclear weapons that can fit on to ballistic mispims we're live from seoul as secretary of state kerry arrives. the debate over gun control is in the senate. why one democrat says he's against even debating the proposal. secretary of state john kerry is in seoul, south korea right now on a diplomatic effort to lessen tensions in the region. he's dealing with north korean threats on multiple fronts from signs of an impending missile test launch to warnings of all-out nuclear war. it's rhetoric the pentagon is taking seriously. a newly disclosed report from the defense intelligence agency says u.s. officials believe with, quote, moderate confidence, that the regime can make a nuclear bomb small enough to fit on a ballistic missile, although that missile would likely be unreliable. but the director of national intelligence james clapper is distancing the administration from that report putting out a statement that reads in part, north korea has not yet

demonstrated the full range of capabilities necessary for a nuclear-armed missile. president obama weighed in yesterday. >> now is the time for north korea to end the kind of belligerent approach that they've been taking and to try to lower temperatures. nobody wants to see a conflict on the korean peninsula. the united states will take all necessary steps to protect its people and to meet our obligations under our alliances in the region. >> nbc's jim maceda joins us live from seoul, south korea. jim, the pentagon report was disclosed during a hearing yesterday by a congressman of the armed services committee. what's been the reaction there on the ground? >> reporter: hi there, bill. well, it seems to be -- there seems to be a difference of opinion here in seoul between what the dia is saying and south korean intelligence.

the south koreans maintain that for now pyongyang does not have a nuclear device small enough to arm a ballistic missile with. a south korean dod spokesman said that their military assessment is that north korea has not yet what they called miniaturized a nuclear device, but that if they do do that, it will be a game-changer, bill. >> so, jim, is it life as normal there in seoul? i mean, what's the feeling on the ground just from looking at the residents of the country there? >> reporter: well, life as normal is an abnormal existence here. for 60 years these people have been living in a state of war. and in a very abnormal situation. they are only 20, 30 miles away from one of the most militarized borders on the face of the earth. so things are never normal, but people do look like they're going about their business in a normal fashion. and if you ask them why they look so calm, they'll tell you a

series of general different answers. they'll give you three or four different approaches and different answers to that question. most often you hear that they have heard it all before. that the -- they simply don't believe what kim jong-un and the north koreans are telling them. they don't believe that there will be war because they say that kim jong-il -- kim jong-un may be erratic, but he's not crazy. he's not irrational and he's not suicidal. if he declares war and goes to war here, it would be the end of him and his country. so people have internalized that and they manage to get through each and every day by kind of compartmentalizing the war and the situation or the potential for war and they've done a very, very good job. they've become chronic, positive thinkers, if you will. >> jim, secretary kerry is also scheduled to visit china. what is beijing's role in all of this and that visit? >> well, beijing's role is

absolutely critical. i mean, it's north korea's main ally. the main trading partner. it seems to be on the same page for once with the united states, which is really rare when it comes to frustration, deal with the -- a very erratic kim jong-un. so beijing does have influence. it can turn on the taps of food, of fuel. but the question is, will beijing be willing to do that? it doesn't want to see a collapse of the kim regime. that would only trigger huge flows of refugees into china. a collapse would likely lead -- what does that mean? -- on china's doorstep. some kind of solution will have to be found without wrecking the whole status quo. and that will be a big challenge. but no question, it's all in china's court. >> nbc's jim maceda live in seoul, south korea. thanks, jim. more u.s. aid is on the way to syria. president obama cleared $10 million in nonlethal assistance adding to the hundreds of millions promised or already

sent. during meetings in london, syrian opposition leaders pressed john kerry for arms. but as one of the key rebel groups pledges its allegiance and alliance to al qaeda, there are real concerns about where the equipment is going and in whose hands it could end up in. still on a hearing in capitol hill, senators on both sides of the aisle called for providing lethal military aid as the civil war shows no signs of slowing. the gun control debate is officially on the u.s. senate floor. 16 republicans joined 50 democrats and two independents in voting to allow the debate to begin. proposals will include expanded background checks on gun sales and strengthen mental health and school safety programs. some families of the victims of the newtown tragedy have mixed feelings the vote. >> i was very pleased with how many yeses we did have and happy we were able to get this passed but i was still completely shocked that there were so many that were still against this and who still believe that we don't

need to be heard. that newtown doesn't deserve a vote and that nothing needs to be done. we had a good start. this is one thing we needed done, and we're not going away. at least i'm not. >> while the vote was enough to overcome threats of a filibuster, not everyone is on board. senator mark begich of alaska is one two of democrats who voted against moving the bill forward. >> i vote what's important for alaska. it's not a party decision. it's not a conservative versus liberal. my issue is that the base bill that's in front of us now does not show -- it has a lot of issues with it. i'm concerned about the base bill. there's a lot of ideas people have but i haven't seen those amendments. those are a lot of talking points and press releases. what i got to vote on was a cloture vote related to a bill in front of us and that bill does not satisfy alaskans. >> senator john cornyn of texas who also voted to block debate, it's a matter of whether or not the bill will actually accomplish anything. >> i am not interested in

congress voting on a measure that would have no impact on the horrific violence we've seen in recent months. the president has told some of these victims' families that this side of the aisle doesn't really care about their loss. that's not true. it's false. the president is wrong all of us care about these families. and all of us should care about violence in our communities and we should try to work together to find ways to address this. not in a symbolic sort of way but in a real way that offers a solution. >> next week the senate is expected to vote on an amendment offered by senators joe manchin and pat toomey to expand background checks to cover unlicensed dealers at gun shows, as well as all online sales. we knew president obama's

budget proposal would be divisive. now republican leaders who called repeatedly for entitlement reforms find themselves split on the plan. on wednesday the head of the national republican congressional committee said the president's proposed changes to social security by chaining cost of living increases to the consumer price index are unfair. yesterday, speaker john boehner was forced to react. >> his budget really lays out a shocking attack on seniors if you will. i think he's going to have a lot of pushback from some of the major senior organizations on this and republicans as well. i don't see this budget as either on time, adding up, balancing and, further, i think it really does go right at seniors in a way they're going to be shocked coming out of this administration. >> i made it clear that i disagree with what chairman walden said. he and i have had a conversation about it. this is the least we must do to begin to solve the problems in social security. >> white house press secretary jay carney pointed out the call

for chain cpi came specifically from republican leaders as a necessary way to lower spending. one estimate found chaining cpi would save $121 billion over ten years. but the proposal has also drawn blowbacks from the president's own party leadership. >> i, myself, believe that whatever we talk about in terms of prolonging life of social security should be considered in its own place. whatever we're doing, it's about extending the life and the strength of social security. it's not about balancing the budget. and so that's some of the concerns that some of our members have. why is this in this bill? the growing shift in attitudes toward the legal ite of gay marriage according to the new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. 53% of americans believe same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. up two points from december. but more americans also oppose gay marriage, too. up two percentage points as well. when broken down by party, 73% of democrats and 54% of

independents back gay marriage while just 27% of republicans do. 63% of americans believe the federal government should recognize same-sex marriages that have been performed in states where it's already legal. it's the stock launch nightmare that was a year ago and it just won't go away. nasdaq's ceo will take a $500,000 pay cut over his handling of the facebook ipo. cnbc's live in london with more. good morning. happy friday to you, jeff. >> yes, and to you as well. and good morning, everybody. so it's quite a haircut for bob, the ceo of nasdaq, over this bungled facebook ipo. but having said that, the gentleman still walks away with $1.3 million for 2012 in the bonus package. so i don't think we should be too upset for him. there are a lot of people, though, who are still unhappy with the settlement. $62 million is how much nasdaq

are going to pay out to settle some of these disputed trades. those who are in dispute were looking for something more like $500 million. and one other story related to facebook. you know the winklevoss brothers, the 6'5" giants who were early stage investors? well, they now appear to be owners of 1% of bitcoin. bitcoin, of course, has had its own issues of late. one platform suspending trading for over ten hours here as we saw the value of this online units fall from about $260 down to about $120 here. is it a ponzi scheme or is it the future for money? the question still remains to be answered. and i'll throw it back to you. we have weak markets here in europe as we look ahead to banking reports from jpmorgan and wells fargo later in the session. >> all right. we've been on such a good upwards ride. we can take a little step back

today anyways, geoff. have a great weekend. let us know why you're awake. shoot us an e-mail or tweet me at bill karins. we'll read the best responses later in the show. still ahead -- can the youngest player ever to tee off in the masters become the youngest ever to make the cut? your masters update is up next. and jay-z isn't waste anything time rapping about his trip to cuba. we'll hear the new song and the white house response to it. why is the white house responding to a rap song? that story and a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. >> in massachusetts health care institutions in the broadest sense and their leaders and their people are the -- probably the most respected in the entire world. all of you will be part of making certain that this initiative helps our citizens, helps our health care system and helps our commonwealth. most people think that after an accident,

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it was so beautiful it was so warm in the middle of the week. getting ready for the big party weekend. spring fever and it's going to rain all friday. d.c. already looking like you're in the clouds there. and you are soon going to be raining if you aren't already. bring the umbrella, everyone, on the i-95 corridor. we had tornadoes yesterday that did a lot of damage in the alabama/mississippi areas. one fatality on those, too. and now we're not looking at anything too dangerous but the rains pushing through eastern north carolina and it's also going to be heading up towards i-95. you can see the rain there just almost into the d.c. area. the heavier rain still back out there in the mountains. further to the north, winter weather in northern portions of new england with freezing rain and winter weather advisories. let me break down the timing for everyone in the midtlok the northeast. 7:00 a.m., heavy rains

approaching philadelphia. by noon, still raining from baltimore through eastern p.a., new york city to hartford. by about 5:00 p.m., could be a nightmare commute, southern new england to the new york city area with heavy rain right overhead. by 9:00, that exits toward boston. it will all be gone by saturday morning. the weekend looks clear. that's, by far, the worst of it. we turn now to sports. it's in my hands. it really is. and the first round of the masters. four-time champion tiger woods -- the light was in my eyes. had a solid start. 2 under par 70. just four strokes behind the leaders marc leishman and sergio garcia. bubba watson shot a 75. the highest first round score by a defending champion since phil mickelson's 76 in 2007. speaking of lefty. a rough start with three bogeys on the front nine. he managed to come back a little bit. he's now just 1 under 71.

still right in. 14-year-old tianlang guan, a 1 over par. he's 14 for a share of 46th place right on the cutline. here he is finishing his round. that was the clutch birdie putt. one of his five birdies on the day. he'll be the story today see if he makes the cut. great kid, too. really nice guy. let's go to san diego. this happened late last night. things got a little heated between the dodgers and the padres. zack greinke plunks carlos quinton. he says something to him. charges the ground. greinke does not give ground. gave bup about 35 pounds in the fight. greinke just signed a guaranteed contract. run the other way. he actually lowers his shoulder into him and he broke his collarbone on the play. greinke could easily be out a month or two months. comes right at the start of the

season with that big, huge contract. kemp also got into the mix. as did skwerry hairston late. they both get tossed. flaert the parking lot, matt kemp confronted quentin in the parking lot after the game. no footage unfortunately. security did break it up before it escalated. the dodgers did win. we'll tell you more about all the fines and suspensions probably on monday. to the nba, knicks looking to extend their win streak to 14. they are in chicago against the bulls. remember the bulls? they also broke the miami heat's win streak. fourth quarter, heinrich grabs his own rebound. connects with the three. gives the bulls their first lead since the first quarter. here's nate robinson. remember him? he sinks the three-pointer. that makes it 97-90. a huge game for nate robinson. he had 35 points. this is carmelo. game was tied. that was for the win. it does not fall. it goes into overtime. melo still all smiles.

but he wouldn't be smiling at the end of overtime. all bulls in the overtime. they broke the knicks' win streak for a 118-111 victory. coming up in the top of the hour on "morning joe," the president's budget plan is causing problems on both sides of the aisle. how will speaker boehner respond to his own party's criticism to cuts to social security? when we come back here, we'll huddle around the water cooler. what do you get when a movie theater concession worker has too much time on his hands? maybe this is what lewis was doing the last few weeks. ♪ [ ac] [ dog ] we found it together. on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play. and that... had made you smile. [ announcer ] beneful. play. it's good for you.

enough with the real news. we're gathering around the water cooler. >> my ad i put out last week was successful. have you seen this? >> no, i haven't seen it. it totally worked, dude. >> listen. i was on a beach in indonesia. i wasn't missing you. >> what have do you have? >> you probably heard about the beyonce and jay-z controversial trip to cuba. jay-z is bragging about how he got into cuba with his new song "open letter." >> i done turned havana to atlanta. wearing shirts and bandannas ♪ ♪ politician never did -- for me except lie to me, distort history ♪ ♪ obama said chill, you gonna

get me impeached ♪ snow don't need this anyway, chill with me on the beach ♪ >> white house reporters are being the huge rap fans they are. one asked this question to jay carney at yesterday's briefing. >> jay-z released a rap today. i know the other day you said that treasury was the one that cleared their trip. he suggested that he got white house clearance and that he personally spoke with the president. i'll just quote, i turned havana into atlanta, boy from the hood, i got white house clearance. obama said, quote, chill you gonna get me impeached. you don't need this expletive anyway, chill with me on the beach. >> it's a song. the president did not communicate with jay-z over this trip. >> north korea has a nuclear missile and we're talking about rap lyrics here. i don't get it. earlier this week, russian

president vladimir putin -- >> oh, you are back one day and showing topless women? >> look at him giving that thumbs up. he's a life long friend to animals. feeding an elk, whispering to a puppy. look. he's got a connection there. and now these photos. putin walking in the russian wilderness. he's dressed in a red track suit frolicking in the snow with his two dogs. there is no explanation for these pictures. do we ever need an explanation for putin and his animals? >> nope. >> look at that. that is just heartwarming. touching. >> do you still know how to read this next part? >> we have one more story. the trivial task of minimum wage. a movie employer -- you are messing me up. >> i warned everyone. >> employees asked to toss out some expired candy.

he gets inventive with the milk duds. >> my manager asked me to get rifd this milk dud and throw it in the trash can here. what he didn't say was how we're going to get that [ bleep ] done. >> we're going to have to -- >> we're going to have to see if the concession guy is still available for the water cooler. >> why are you awake? your tweets and texts are ahead. it is so good to be back with you, bill. [ phoebe ] stress sweat. it's different than ordinary sweat. it smells worse, and it can happen anytime -- to anyone! like when i ran to catch the train to work and a draft blew my skirt up and everybody here saw my unmentionables. yeah, and they aren't even cute.

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