glorious optics. president obama just beginning his audience with the pope. it's their first official visit. minutes ago the president arrived for this private meeting. we know that the other people in attendance right there, we had images of secretary of state john kerry and the press secretary jay carney. as the president was received by the pope, the wo men sat down at the pope's desk. they were both saddled with interpreters. the two men conversed moments before the cameras were pulled away. we can see how the prestige of all of this is taking place. and there we see secretary of state john kerry. but obviously, africa, the middle east, syria, all topics that will most likely coming up. people understanding that these two men, one being the president in his sixth year and the new

pontiff being just after his first anniversary, share a love of talking about equality and the plight of inequality globally. let's go to peter alexander who is live in vatican city. peter, good morning. this is what many people have been waiting for, to see the interaction of these men that they feel will go well because of their personalities and their brands fit. >> reporter: i think you're right. there's probably no two men like these in the world who fully understand the other person's experience. where every word, every expression is parsed thoroughly for its unique meaning. the minute that they allowed the cameras to be there when both the pope and president obama were visiting together is an image the world will likely see. after this meeting people will be looking very closely at the statements that come out of both the vatican and the white house to see what each side really wants to emphasize.

thomas, this ceremonial meeting that's taking place between the president and pope francis will last for about 45 minutes. it's our understanding where the business gets done. a meeting with president obama, his national security adviser and secretary of state john kerry will meet with the vatican secretary of state. that's where the more complex issues will be more fully addressed. the issues that exist throughout the world right now from the ukraine and crimea to the relationship with russia, the middle east, syria. but also topics as they relate to the president's health care law at home and to the issue of gay marriage, and other topics that are still debate d not jus in the u.s. but around the globe. >> the pope said he's a son of the church and wants to focus less on social issues that the churches seem to trip over and more on issues of poverty and baseline foundational issues of

church governance. we're seeing the first time president obama meeting with pope francis. here onset with me is chris jansing and what we like to consider our best catholic at msnbc. >> i spent some time covering the vatican, that's for sure. >> the thing that gets me is as we covered yesterday on "morning joe," fortunate magazine naming pope francis the best leader in the world. president obama is not on that list. here we see the fact that pope francis continues to ride a tidal wave of popularity within the church and also just because of his branding stance. president obama, on the reverse of that in his sixth year, is not riding that type of popularity. how do you think the president and the pope will see eye to eye? >> i don't think think there's

any question that their personal come pass leads them to the issue of income inequality. these are two men who spent their early careers working on these issues. and the president himself was influenced heavily, in fact, got a grant when he was working in inner city chicago from the catholic church. was influenced by the priest at the church there. he has an understand iing of th. they are both deeply intellectual men. while the president has not openly practiced his faith, he doesn't go to church every sunday, he's someone who is conversant on these issue, mot just on a social level but theological level. if i had to guess, people would be surprised if we could hear this conversation how deeply intellectual and theologically linked it will be. it is for both of them a moral imperative of our time. i think one of the reasons we

have seen this extraordinary popularity for pope francis in and out of the church is because people sense that moral compass. in other words, he walks the walk, he doesn't just talk the talk. >> we haven't had a catholic president since kennedy. yet all of the presidents want to receive and have an audience with whoever is the pope at that time. president bush met with him a total of six times. president obama did meet with benedict. but now with pope francis, as you point out, maybe they do have that compass alignment more when it comes to talking about the issues of inequality and on an international stage. >> the other thing is, frankly, pope benedict was not anywhere near as popular as pope francis. if you want to look at it on a po polling level level, the pope's popularity was double that of the president's. so you see he is riding this wave of not just popularity, but international recognition and as

someone who is catholic, i often have people who are not catholic walk up to me, friends who will say, i'm jewish, but i love your pope. i say, he's not my pope. you're welcome to share him. i think that's the kind of past pastoral feeling that he exudes. i was very interested, and i'm not a big person, and i have no expertise in reading body language or anything like that, but i know that people were going to be watching for those initial moments. the smile, the warmth of the handshake. he is this kind of person. from someone who was when he was elected as pope, he does have that pope john paul warmth, natural quality of making you feel as he's being inclusive. i think that warmth will come through. >> there is a people person charisma pr pope francis.

but the optics of this. it's like the president is sitting down for a job interview. >> you could make the argument that he is looking for the pope to help advance his agenda. there's no doubt that in this upcoming campaign, the number one issue will be how do we deal with these issues of income inequality. although for the pope, i think it's important to point out for him many of these issues are not about the middle class. they are about people who are li living in poverty. having said that, the way the democrats and the republicans believe that these issues should be addressed couldn't be more opposed. we're not going to see the pope delving into the minutia of american politics, but the photo ops and it doesn't hurt that we have a large catholic population that votes. so the opticings of it are something that can help the

president as he's approaching midterms. >> votes pr our elected leaders but donates to the catholic church. how do you think the invitation from speaker boehner to the pope to come speak to congress. do you think that will come up? the pope will not want to get into american politics. >> this is a huge invitation. speaker boehner, obviously, as well as nancy pelosi, as well as joe biden are all roman catholics. catholics are the largest denomination after protestants. so there's that invitation out there. but one of the things that we have seen since he's become pope is that everybody who is pope have a lot of offers and invitations. but this has been extra order marry for the folks working at the vatican. there was a delegation in philadelphia who was just there a couple of days ago. they had hoped to have a long meeting with the pope. they ended up going to the

general audience and having a brief photo op. they want him to come to philadelphia. the invitations are extraordinary. he will cause a sensation coming to the united states. whether he will make that choice to go to congress, he's a very politically savvy guy. it's important to remember when he was in argentina and he injected himself into the politics of that country, within that context of christian social justice, he was very smart about the way he operated within the political system. i think we're going to see some very thoughtful decisions being made for him as he recognizes that he's not just coming as a pastor. there's a huge political component to his visit to the united states. >> chris jansing, always great to have your insights on this. the best catholic we have at msnbc. we'll see you coming up at 10:00 a.m. thank you, i appreciate it. before arriving, president obama spoke in belgium yesterday where he made a declaration to

standby allies. he said the borders of europe cannot be withdrawn with force. >> russia's violation of international law, its assault on ukraine's integrity must be met with condemnation. not because we're trying to keep russia down, but because the principles that have meant so much to europe and the world must be lifted up. understand as well this is not another cold war we're entering into. after all, unlike the soviet union, russia leads no block of nations, no global ideology. >> the president also took on claims of hi pok ypocrisy of ams handling of the iraq war. though he was a vocal critic during the invasion. >> russia pointed to america's decision to go into iraq as an example of western hypocrisy.

i opposed our intervention there. but even in iraq, america sought to work within the international system. we did not claim or annex iraq's territory. we ended our war and left iraq to its people. still ahead on "way too early," more of the headlines including a fierce fire. and stephen colbert weighs in on an ad in iowa. something you don't want to miss. that story when "way too early" comes back. stick around. for the first time, he claimed he was part of the original hijacking plot that unfolded on 9/11. his role, one personally

approved by bin laden was to fly a plane into the white house. nice morning, scott?

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a fire broke out yesterday afternoon in a four mf story apartment building. the fire chief says it was the fastest-moving fire he has ever seen. the fire caused an explosion that created panic pr those nearby. 13 other firefighters were injured. firefighter michael kennedy and lieutenant edward walsh both became trapped in the basement. they called may day but could not be saved. officials say their brave actions ensured no civilians were hurt. >> people were saved due to their actions today. that's what we do. we sacrifice our life for the

citizens of boston. >> there was a touching tribute before the start of the celtics game. the team held a moment of silence. it is the first time since 2007 that boston firefighters were killed in the line of duty. we take our attention west and the numb of people missing after saturday's catastrophic mudslide in washington state. officials now say up to 90 people are missing. that's about half of the initial estima estimate. there are 35 others whose status is unknown. the death toll stands at 24. unchanged from yesterday. one woman is dealing with the heartbreak of knowing her mom was killed and her 4-month-old baby is still missing. >> i lost my mother. i've lost my baby. and my mom, she was the most beautiful woman. she's in a good place.

she didn't die this horrific death. she died and she has my baby with her. >> so heartbreaking for the family and others just like them. the immediate response is now being questioned though because some local lawmakers say officials failed to realize how serious the situation was, waited too long to ask for help. there's dramatic video of a boy being rescued hours after the disaster. he's safe back with his mom, but his father and siblings are still missing. the community is coming together to help those in need. volunteers are collecting donations pr families who lost everything. just so sad for them. we want to get a check on the weather. bill karins, a wrap up of yesterday's storm. >> that was partially responsible for the flames moving so fast in boston. 40 to 50 mile per hour winds because of that nor'easter. it's a brutally cold, late march

morning. it's as cold as it gets for late march. single digits. even the negative numbers up in maine. new york city to philadelphia, it's a cold morning. this should be the coldest morning we'll have for a long time. warmer air is on the way. it's moving through the midwest. this is the 24-hour temperature change. comparing temperatures right now to yesterday morning, we're about 20 to almost 25 degrees warmer in the northern plains. so the warm southerly winds, which we haven't had in months, is finally returning. the unfortunate part is with it is going to come some stormy weather late today. we have rain moving in through chicago. it's still snowing in northern michigan. you'll change over to rain later today. it's interesting. because it's been so cold and so dry, we haven't talked a lot about severe storms. we're at a record low pace pr tornadoes this year because we have been dealing with winter so

long. that's about to change. >> the season lasts for tornadoes -- >> the peak system is typically april and may with may being the biggest month and tails off the middle of june. >> thank you, sir. at the top of the hour on "morning joe," the president and the pope opinion an historic meeting. is it symbolic or going to amount to something more than that? then on a different note, we'll huddle around the water cooler together where joe biden adds a very important item to his 2016 resume. hillary clinton, eat your heart out. we'll explain. "way too early" will be right back. check it out. i can't believe your mom has a mom cave! today i have new campbell's chunky spicy chicken quesadilla soup. she gives me chunky before every game. i'm very souperstitious. haha, that's a good one! haha! [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right.

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welcome back. we have been covering president obama's audience with pope pran sis. if you want to sound smart, tell your friends this is the 28th meeting between a pope and a u.s. pope. and since 1959 every president has met with at least one pope during their time in office. president bush holds the record meeting six times with two different popes. it's time to huddle around the water cooler. >> that is right, thomas. i'm not going to say what that stands for. hillary clinton is the only presidential candidate to get a little cosmic recognition. remember this creepy cover

story? it mapped out the clinton characters in her orbit. the vice president is boldly going where no man has gone before. they spotted an object 7 billion miles from the sun and nicknamed it biden. the name is really a nice coincidence. 2012 v.p.-113. if i know joe biden, i think that could be a possibility. >> or get an invite to the naval observatory where biden lives. nx time a candidate complains about a painful political debate, they ought to remember this guy. that's treasurer steve grossman. a democrat running for governor. during tuesday's election forum he was passing a kidney stone while up on stage. on a scale from 1 to 10, his spokesperson says the pain level

was a 10. it's often compared to what a woman goes through when delivering a baby. you have to give it to him. you can't even tell he's in extreme physical misery. the incident even inspired a twitter joke. what else, that's a little gross. i give it to him. >> can you imagine the pressure of going through that and the distraction of passing a kidney stone? >> let's hope it doesn't happen to you or i on air. >> from your mouth to god's ears. >> watch out for us up there. let's turn to entertainment news. diddy announced he's making a big change. here's jimmy fallon on the explanation. >> diddy announced he's changing his name back to puff daddy. >> what? >> it wasn't an easy decision and he considered several other names. let's take a look at some of them. duff paddy, paddy did i have if i, paddy pid day, cup of coffee,

difl wilf, poofy doofy, patrick duffy, and kyle. >> i like kyle. >> kyle is good. it's like #hardtostayrelevant. we brought you this campaign video. iowa state senator joany erinston. stephen colbert thinks she's a rising star in the gop. >> as compared with 2010 or 2012, the gop has done a better job of recruiting credible candidates. really? more credible than 2012? republicans had serious people like sharon angle and richard murdoch and a stick of butter with googly eyes. nevertheless, good man, nevertheless, this year the gop has stepped up its game with

even credibler candidates like iowa's joanierness who is running on a platform everyone can get behind. >> i grew up castrating hogs on an iowa farm. >> sold! joany, you had me at castration. >> i like that. >> six words in and she brings up castration. >> she's a serious lady. i wouldn't want to mess with her. >> she's a rising star. either in politic or on snl because i see a skit coming. >> have you ever castrated a cow or calf? i actually have in north dakota. it's really tough. it scarred me. >> i'm scarred now. >> on a ranch. any way. >> okay. >> maybe a little too much.

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two things to tease. lewis is going to have a picture of this castration thing. >> yes, i'm not going to>> we d evidence. >> justine, we didn't do twitter today but kenya thing is blowing up. >> it's blowing up. i think they prefer yours cover to that cover. >> check it out. "way too early" is over for today. thanks, gang. "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ >> jimmy carter was on the show last night, and he was traveling with these four guys. they belong to some party frat. secret service. man, those guys can drink! >> one of the agents had so much to drink during the a day of