2010. hillary clinton says she's very excited about chelsea's pregnancy. they were blowing up twitter yesterday. social network facebook introducing a new feature letting mobile users mobile users locate find nearby friends. it will send notifications whenever a friend is near your location. perfect for the people you want stalking you in your life. that's going to do it for "way too early." we'll toss it over to "morning joe." good friday, thanks, gang. ♪ don't stop thinking about tomorrow ♪ ♪ don't stop someone recently has said why do you want to do this job for another four years. and i said, i said i'll win this because i believe -- i know i

have made it a little bit easier for the taxpayers. no matter what life has thrown at me, my message couldn't be spared. i won't back town. you folks, you folks will continue with the most honest, hard working mayor this city has ever seen. >> oh, my goodness. rob ford. the world's mayor on the stump last night. good morning. it's friday, april 18th. good friday, in fact. on set with us mike barnicle, the former communications director for president george w. bush and senior adviser to the mccain campaign, nicole wallace. national affairs editor for new york magazine and analyst john heilemann. and we've saved the rarest of birds for last. the co-anchor of "squawk box,"

andrew sorkin. thank you for coming back. >> thank you. i've missed you guys. >> parallel universe. >> you're on cnbc at this time. >> but the markets are closed this friday for good friday. >> i thought you were in boarding school in switzerland. >> there's this other thing. we're all part of the same family, but there's other thing going on on another network. >> what you been up to? how's the family? >> family's great. remember when you did ta to me, the picture on the wall. can we pull that up? >> i don't know why. >> who put the hat on your head? >> i put the hat on my head. i remember geist took that shot. that was during a commercial break when nobody was supposed to be seeing it. >> i still feel terrible about it. >> no, you don't. >> that hat was on your head because you put it there. >> women like a man who knows how to keep himself warm. >> i know. >> i'm just saying. >> that way though?

there's a line. >> something about a man dressing in a mink coat? >> that's a separate discussion. man fur is a separate discussion. >> we'll save that for 7:00. we've got heavy news to lead off. nbc has confirmed at least 13 tour guides are dead after an avalanche up on mt. everest. four people injured, others may still be missing. the avalanche hit right below camp tew. they were preparing to scale next month. more than 4,000 people have successfully climbed the world's highest peak. hundreds of others have died trying to reach the top. that's just an incredible story there. some missing as well. these are sherpas, effectively. people who go up there, locals, to fix these ropes. 13 confirmed dead and 9 more missing this morning.

>> what is climbing season? >> starts in mid-may. about may 15th, i think it is. it gets busier and busier every year. there's more requests to go up there. and the sherpas are the ones that lead people up to the top. that's a terrible story. and more on that ferry disaster as well in south korea which is shaping up to be the country's worst accident on the water in more than 20 years. it's been more than 48 hours now since the boat carrying 475 people capsized. nearly 270 still missing. 28 confirmed dead. keir simmons has more on this story. >> reporter: they are searching for a miracle. working in cold, tropic seas still hoping to find someone, anyone alive. they've hammered on the hull, but heard nothing back. this 6-year-old survived but her parents and older brother are still missing. she was rescued from the stricken ship without them.

passengers board the ferry at inche incheon. moments later terror as it began to sink. text messages from the hundreds of high school classmates on board. i think we're going to die. i really love you all. and a message of hope. let's all see each other alive. outrage at the news that almost none of the ship's lifeboats were deployed. even though one apparently carried the ship's captain to safety. today he covered his face in shame. i'm so sorry, he said. the ship's owner in tears, said i've committed an unforgivable sin. the ship made a sudden, sharp turn just before it began to sink perhaps causing the 180 vehicles and tons of car go on board to shift. scores of ships and

international flotilla including the u.s. navy. in the cold waters, divers do what they can. it's difficult, pain staking, and experts say dangerous. >> you're talking low visibility. you're talking an unstable vessel. >> reporter: relatives of the missing made a pilgrimage to the trek. the president was later shouted at my furious families. they know they may never see their loved ones again. while the little one waits not knowing what's become of her family. >> that's keir simmons reporting. we also have an update this morning. a vice principal of the school who was on the boat with all those kids made it off safely and we're hearing now has committed suicide as he left the boat was found hanged later today. so that's another very difficult story. we'll keep you posted on that. let's move to domestic news now. president obama launched a strong defense yesterday of

obamacare saying the latest number shows the law is now exceeding expectations. the white house says at least 8 million americans have enrolled. the number beats the initial goal of 7 million enrollees. 37% are under the age of 35. 28% are between 18 and 29. and there are 3 million more who kept coverage by staying on their parents' plans. the cost of health care is the lowest in decades. president obama says it should send a clear message to both parties in washington. >> i think that democrats should forcefully defend and be proud of the fact that millions of people like the woman i just described who i saw in pennsylvania yesterday were helped because of something we did. i don't think we should be defensive about it. i think there's a strong, good,

right story to tell. if republicans spend all thundershower time talking about repealing a law that's working, that's their business. i think what democrats should do is not be defensive, but we need to move on and focus on other things important to the american people right now. >> critics of the affordable care act and of the white house have criticized the white house for not releasing how many people have actually paid premiums for their coverage. >> what happens to the health care initiative this fall? >> the most interesting thing he said to me ear was i think democrats should not be defensive. the president was speaking to the democrat who think it's a burden they carry into the midterms. to him speaking to his base who are now anxious this law is going to hurt them that are now cutting ads where they say i'm not for this law or distancing themselves from it, i think he's gone a long way by touting these members. the reality check to me is it's

now illegal to not sign up for obamacare. so he's really touting a number of people who have simply followed the law by signing up. but at this point in a presidency, the sort of approval numbers president obama has, he's speaking directly to the democratic base and the democrats who are privately calling him with their anxieties about running on obamacare. >> scott brown, nearly 100% of his campaign so far has focused on the health care legislation. what happens to him and other candidates like him? >> well, you know, the senate races are so idiosyncratic, they're driven by candidates and different states. scott brown may have a harder time making that sell in new hampshire than some republicans in redder states. purple states trepding towards red rather than towards blue. but this all now a race on both sides to try to create the

electorate that they want to see come out. this is a -- even this early people are focused. so in midterm election years where the republican electorate has turned out, they've done well at the senate level. the president and a loot of democrats are understanding that they must make arguments that will motivate the democratic base, the base that turns out in 2012 and 2008 to turn out in greater numbers. you're going to see economic populism and the arguments defending the health care law because the voters who believe in that law who might not normally turn out are the ones the democrats need if they're going to save seats. >> isn't it too early to spike the ball? i think directionally the numbers are right. but you have the issue on the premiums which is the way you'll see if it's working in a meaningful way. and how many people were

uninsured who are now insured. how many got kicked off their plan. i mean, those are the numbers depending on how they roll out are going to matter more. spike the ball today and then a week or two from now, you have a bit of a problem. why don't you wait. >> there are two separate issues. one is i think all those numbers are important and all of us as voters should want to see it. but i don't think it's spiking the ball. you can't start making the case for the law being a good thing early enough. many democrats would think the president should have made this case a year ago. to start now, we've got a lot of days between now and election day. you can keep spiking the ball. >> it's absolutely spiking the ball. i don't begrudge him for doing it. he's been underwater on this for so long, but it's absolutely spiking the ball. i have a feeling every time they see one more person sign up, he races to the briefing room saying we got one more.

this is an absolutely defensive posture on this law. it's undeniable that democrats are afraid of taking it to the public. could that change in two years? yes, it may. but at the moment this is like the guy watching the website, we've got five more. is that enough for a new presser? >> how many times have republicans tried to repeal this law though? >> a few. >> you just have to take your chances. >> we haven't done any ball spiking with no success. there's a difference. >> spike at the feet. >> both sides making a consistent argument over time. like it or not, we're going to see. and i think the president has every right to claim the successes that each incremental. >> he can use that briefing room however he wants. >> just as the republicans have used the chamber of the house to try to repeal it. >> did you have a good nap? >> i'm talking to my friend john right here. isn't this now sort of retroactively the white house, you heard them say we knew this

was going to happen all along. when you were all worried about the website, these were distractions. we delivered on the numbers we said. now watch this working. they're not able to say that. if they have 8 million people, this is the way we scripted it. history will look at the results and the outcomes. >> that's the argument they will make. the question is whether there's enough -- look. the trend line continues to show improvement. they get better and better, right? if that's true, the question is whether there's enough time between now and november for those numbers to get good enough. democrats won't do great in this midterm, but the question is whether they'll do good enough to save themselves from a national wave. >> i would argument the judgment on whether this works is not going to be the number. it's going to be did we bring health care costs down and did more people have better service and have more insurance. and you won't be able to figure that out for several years. >> yes. but election day is still going to be here -- >> you're going to play the

headlines between now and then. >> you're right. >> that's the real measure of all this. >> let's talk harry reid. he's been very busy in the last several weeks and months. he says there's a task force to deal with cliven bundy. his refusal to pay the federal government sparked a standoff. the democrat had harsh words for the militia member who is came to support the rancher against the bureau of land management. the majority leader accused bundy's backers of bringing their children to the showdown in an effort to create negative headlines if gunfire had broken out. >> there were hundreds, hundreds of people from around the country that came there. they had sniper rifles on the freeway. they had assault weapons. they had automatic weapons. these people who hold themselves out to be patriots are not. they're nothing more than domestic terrorists. and i think we are a country

that people should follow the law. >> domestic terrorists. that's the phrase everyone's looking at today. cliven bundy owes about a million dollars for grazing his cattle on public lands. and now obviously harry reid has taken up a fight for the bureau of land management. well, there's a new measure to how voters view hillary clinton as she considers a potential run for president. fox news poll, 49% have a favorable opinion. 45% view her unfavorably. those numbers are close to her ratings from 2007 when she was very running for the white house. speaking alongside her daughter chelsea, secretary clinton was asked about immigration reform by a teenager who shared an emotional story. >> for the first time publicly i want to say that i'm an undocumented immigrant. i want to say that it's been

extremely difficult to empower myself in america, because i came here illegally when i was five. >> that was incredibly brave, and i thank you for doing that. because it's important to put ourselves in other people's shoes. that's one of the big hopes i have is that we can get back to being a country where people can understand what others are going through and have empathy for it and really try to help each other. >> nicole wallace, that sounds a bit like the jeb bush position. the act of love position. >> the first thing i thought was i can't wait to see if those are the candidates that go for each other in the primaries. interesting debate about the issue. more enlightened debate. and two candidates who really understand the human toll of failure to enact now over two presidents and parties, congress has flipped each direction. and the government has not been able to do anything about

immigration reform. and at some point you have to wonder whether it is a failure of leadership. maybe the country isn't ready to where they want to take it. but if you have two nominees like hillary clinton and jeb bush, i think there's some hope through comprehensive reform that they have the potential to elevate the debate despite the politics. >> can we talk about the human drama that is grandma clinton? >> chelsea clinton announced she's pregnant. >> that to me is -- i don't want to be cynical, and i'm not suggesting anyone is having a baby for election purposes, but i think this is -- no, no. >> hold on. >> the woman is having a baby. >> all i'm saying is -- >> i'm not suggesting that, but i will say it on the air. >> what i will say is it's going to change the dynamic of the campaign. it's going to change the dynamic of the campaign. >> for who? >> for the clintons.

>> who's stupid enough to -- >> nobody's doing this on purpose. but the entire country is going to watch a family have a child. you've seen this. this is a human drama. people are going to get behind this. it's going to change the way people look at hillary clinton. >> oh, my god. >> it's not like hillary clinton is having another child. >> i know she's not having another child. but there is a softening. there's a compassion thing. you don't think over the next two years on the campaign trail, this going to be part of the narrati narrative? come on. >> i mean, george w. bush became a grandfather for the first time, i don't think it did anything to change it. >> i don't think the country was as invested in that family. it's not about being a woman. i think the country has -- is so invested in this family. >> as opposed to the bushes who no one knew. >> democrats in the country? i'm totally confused. >> i don't think at the time the country was as invested in the kids. i think you're going to see babies around the campaign. >> how interested was the

country in the bush daughters? >> this is like treating voters like they're stupid enough because when somebody becomes a grandma -- this is the most ludicrous thing i've heard. >> why? >> because people have children all the time. i think you're treating this like the voters will have an ah-ha moment. >> no. but we follow people's families and births and all this kind of stuff. it changes your perceptions of people. i'm just -- >> i'll follow you down this rabbit hole. >> i'm losing points here big time. >> for better or worse, if you believe this is going to play in the election. >> better. absolutely. >> so you feel that the pictures of hillary clinton holding her granddaughter or grandson did sh. >> i do. >> -- softens her image. >> it just adds an element of compassion. absolutely. it's not a bad thing. it is what it is. and to pretend it's not going to happen is, i think, you know,

misguided. >> misguided. >> i mean, jeb bush just became a grandpa too. how's that going to play in the republican primary? >> this is why i'm losing points. i lose points with every viewer this morning. for some reason i think it will have impact. i think a positive impact. >> can i return to the subtopic of the sort? not to the immigration thing but the poll which is interesting. that they have -- i think the numbers were 49% favorable, 45% unfavorable. i think the point is it's not that different than in 2007. to me it's very early. most of the races at this point don't mean anything. favorable or unfavorable matters. and, you know, you think about where her favorable unfavorables were when she was secretary of state. and she was not having to be seen as out there kind of

climbing the greasy pole of politics. now she is back perceived by people again as being an aspiring office holder. and the same problem she has had always when she's been an aspiring office holder seems to be creeping back into these numbers. which is to say she's not going to go into this race no matter how dominant, she's not going into a general election in 2016 with 70% favorables like she had when she was secretary of state. she's going to be back down at a mortal territory. >> she also doesn't -- if you look at the numbers, what struck me, is no one is undecided about hillary clinton. the extent her campaign can move anybody. to the extent her campaign decisions matter. they're going to be talking to the tiniest, teeniest sliver of americans. because so few people are on the fence. >> you should remember that poll was taken before america started calling her grammy. >> this is so true.

to watch it closely. >> she's going to get the grand kid bump. >> hello. >> we're going to hold this tape for you. andrew ross sorkin, you have to leave now? >> i do. >> why? >> the markets are closed. where are you going? >> i'm off to mexico. going on a little vacation with my wife. >> spring break. >> i thought you were just dropping the mic after that argument. >> i'm out. great to see you. thank you, guys. coming up on "morning joe," david gregory, eugene robinson join our conversation. and later we go inside the mind of vladimir putin. how the ex-kbg agent raised in russia. and up next, the top stories in the politico playbook with mike allen. but first bill kairns has a look at the forecast. >> a pretty nice easter weekend for many of us. the exception being the southeast over the next two

days. on this good friday, if you're traveling later on this afternoon and this evening. but this morning we are getting drenched here along the gulf. we have some lightning strikes. the storm system is going to slowly be moving on today. almost looks like a tropical system there's so much rain with this. because we're expecting 3 to 5 inches of rain, there are flood watches in this area. be careful driving in southern georgia and florida. the weekend shapes up like this. today not that bad with the exception of the southeast. as we take you through saturday, we're okay except the southeast again. then easter sunday, it improves in the southeast. but the weekend looks great. ohio up through the northeast. it's looking ideal after the chilly weather we've had this week. should be a nice, mild weekend. some clouds linger around new york city this morning. but overall sunshine in the forecast the next three days. enjoy your easter weekend. "morning joe" coming right back. [ male announcer ] this is joe woods' first day of work.

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♪ just here for thomas roberts. >> heilemann said that. >> i did not. >> let's look at the morning papers. the herald sun. the cost of the missing flight 370 could quarter the top of a billion dollars. that's the word from the safety bureau chief. the underwater sub search will continue for three days. but this plans beyond that are unclear. saturday marks six weeks since the plane disappeared. >> from our parade of papers, the chicago tribune, pope francis washed and kissed the feet of 12 elderly and disabled people yesterday during mass.

the pontiff broke from tradition once again on performing on both women and non-catholics. last year he washed the feet of muslim inmates at a detention center. he's showing his willingness to serve god. >> i love this guy. u.s. today, beau biden will be on the ballot in 2016. it's not the vice president. you know who it is? beau biden. the older son of the vice president. >> beau not joe. great guy. >> running for governor of delaware in 2016 and will not seek a third team as attorney general. he writes it is not right to ask for your support knowing that my focus will be divided between doing my job as attorney general while at the same time running as a candidate for governor. >> so the new york daily news out with this. a new york city cab driver is facing charges after allegedly

crossing the rfk bridge more than 3,000 times without paying. police say the -- >> is he a domestic terrorist? >> $28,000 is not close to a million, but he is still in the debt of these tolls because he was closely following other vehicles. this is how he was able to get through. it allows both cars to pass through the toll. we're trying to teach this to people now through this story. he's charged with grand larceny and stolen possession of property. he must be tailgating really hard. >> that never happens in new york. >> never. >> in the easter sunday of parade magazine, an exclusive excerpt from pope francis' new book. the pontiff urges everyone to be, quote, joyful and positive lights of hope. and now, thomas, go ahead. >> speaking of another light of hope, he's here. with us now the chief white house correspondent for politico

mike allen with the morning playbook. >> happy good friday. >> there we go. it's going to be a good friday now. facing a grim outlook on the 2014 midterms, now deploying a triage term with the candidates. why? >> this is a shrinking map for democrats. they have this bad political environment we saw in that special election in florida last month. they're seeing some of their most vulnerable candidates already being blitzed by these koch brothers ads. and so democrats are saying we need to cut our losses. we need to start focusing on members who might lose and not so much on members who have a chance. so this triage means that if you're an endangered incumbent, you're now more likely to get help from the national party in d.c. if you're one of those up and coming challengers, if you're one of those people who were recruited as a candidate and

we'll be with you every step of the way, they're now having trouble getting resources. democrats say they're also polling earlier than they expected to because they're trying to gauge the damage from some of the health care news out there and from these koch brothers ads. >> this is all learning from past and prologue because of 2010? >> you're exactly right. then they lost 63 seats. that's when they lost the house majority in the last midterm election. they're saying it's not that bad this time. that they do have a couple of republican incumbents they hope to knock off. but this is a real change in how people here are thinking about the races. and we're told that special election last month was the wakeup call. there was one veteran member who talked to politico's alex isenstat. he said he had been bugging the campaign committee for months to get help with his ground support operation after that bad result

last month said you're right. those are the ones that are going to come away from democratic challengers who hope to knock off a republican. >> maybe this research we're going talk about now will help them. facebook just announced this new feature. regulators in d.c. got a sneak peek at facebook making sure it didn't ruffle feathers. barnicle is excited about this. this is a good way to stalk people. >> this is friends near you, what we're supposed to call it. and this makes it easier to find people who are near you. and this shows facebook getting smart. politico learned that facebook before it announced this new feature met with congressional staffs, met with people around washington to explain it. privacy groups said that they made changes in response to complaints about it. and so this is facebook recognizing one of the biggest

collections of data on the internet, they're constantly going to be under scrutiny and trying to get ahead of that. >> it's crazy to think how much privacy we're willing to give up. remember gawker stalker where if you saw somebody that had a public persona of interest, you could go on gawker and say where you saw them. then people were outraged they're giving up my location. now we're giving up ourselves. >> and people are freaking out that in order to track the cell phone numbers they find on a terrorist's computer, we save cell phone calls in this country, that offends people but the notion everywhere they go there will be tracking device is ludicrous. >> but it's an opt in thing. you can do it or not. >> you think every single person on facebook understands how this works? >> i think everyone on facebook doesn't understand how it works. but there's a difference between

stalking someone without their permission of tracking someone's cell phone. as someone who is a member of a service who clicks a button that says yes it's okay for my friends to locate me is a categorically different thing. >> brian sullivan the other day, we were talking about twitter and facebook and all of these things that they give it to you for free and you have these things that you think you're benefitting from. you're the product. you're the product. you're the product. >> i am not a product of the facebook. i do not do the facebook. >> i don't do the facebook either. >> you know that's television advertising, just to be clear. >> because we're here chatting and talking. >> i think most people would be stunned if they knew the extent that credit card companies can track your movements and know your habits. i think people would be amazed at the depth of research that mastercard and visa do on their cards. >> it goes into the track of how we're spending. but this is interesting for

facebook and heilemann as you point out, it's a buy-in. we're opting doing this. it's elective. politico's mike allen, have a wonderful easter weekend. >> happy easter to you and yours. >> thank you. coming up, it's one of the rarest plays in baseball. what? >> i was thinking how barnicle opted into a service that would allow me to track him. i know last night he was getting fried chicken. >> i was. >> that's called snap chat. >> it's called barnicle cam. it's like the barney cam. >> we've got sports after this. ♪ humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify.

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♪ let's pause and do some sports. how about the little yankees. >> the little engine that could. they're going to be better than people think. >> in first place. a rare feat performed by the yankees last night. >> nobody out in the second. bouncing ball to third. steps on third. on the first. it's a triple play. >> that's a triple play in tampa for the yankees. the third time yankees have turned a triple play with c.c. sabathia on the mound. for what that's worth. >> that's the unassisted. >> yeah. but proximity to the bag -- >> that helps.

nice scoop at first too. yankees get the win 10-2 over the rays. the chicago white sox were playing the red sox. nice piece of hitting. red sox go on to win the game 3-1. let's look at the a.l. east standings. yankees in first. >> david ross, you've met him. >> my gosh is he a great guy. he's just great guy and a fun player to watch as well. check out this play from the dodgers day. yasiel poo yasiel puig. >> two hands, boys and girls. >> it was a setup. he guns the runner down. wait. what? what happened? >> forced place. >> i thought they were stretching it into a double. that's a gun. >> that's a gun. >> that's a bang bang play at second. he may be known as one of one of

the most well known athletes. but doesn't mean he doesn't have a good arm. >> it's not great form. >> not classic form. >> but now look at this. did you see this? he did the fake ear bite. bless you. biting off the ear. >> boston college graduate, tony sanchez. >> nice off-speed pitch. you see tyson, you think he's going to throw a bullet down the middle. you get out in front of it. nice piece of pitching. >> we're just having your own conversation over here. >> i know. i like mike tyson. i don't think he's very good at the baseball. >> the baseball? >> good at the twitter though. >> he's pretty funny in those hangover movies. >> good cameos. no question about it. >> the tiger. >> let's go to the ice. the first round of the stanley cup playoffs. it's playoff time in hockey.

check it out. >> and hit the post. that's three for san jose. torres scores. one minute to go. now burns scores. >> 42 seconds to go. behind the net is mckinnen. there it is. they score! >> they did it! they did it! >> mckinnen, there it is. score! >> inside two minutes remaining in regulation. holds it along for chalmerson. got a piece of it. scores! st. louis to richards wide open. scores! what a play! what a finish! >> that's your new york rangers. had a triple overtime game blues beating the blackhawk there is. then the avs beating the wild. two go to overtime. a great way to start the playoffs. tonight the canadiens at the lightning.

the wings at the bruins. and the stars visit the ducks. it's one of the perks of being a mascot. you get to meet celebrities. when it comes to president clinton, mr. met was told to steer clear. one of the men behind the mascot said the secret service threatened his life. they threatened the life of mr. met. come on now. quotes a secret service agent saying, quote, we have snipers all around the stadium just in case anything would happen. do whatever it is you normally do, but approach the president and we go for the kill shot. are we clear? wow. why so serious? he said he couldn't fit his met head through a metal detector. >> doesn't it come off? >> it still doesn't fit through. so he had to get special screening and keep a close eye on him with shoot to kill orders on mr. met. wow. >> because he's a met. >> i wasn't going to say anything. "way too early" and "morning joe" live next week from wrigley

field will be celebrating 100 years of baseball in chicago. we will be at wrigley. that's wednesday, april the 23rd. starts with thomas at 5:30, that's 4:30 central. going to be fun. >> i'm taking barnicle to my favorite hot dog joint. >> you're coming right? >> mustard's last stand. two great hot dog spots. >> still ahead this morning on "morning joe," he's the mayor of sacramento, but you may know him best for his previous job. >> ooh! >> in your face kevin johnson! oh, my. >> one of the most memorable dunks in playoff history. he's now the mayor of sacramento doing a good job up there. he joins us later in the show. but first the must-read opinion pages. don't go away. we'll be back with more "morning joe." ♪ [ male announcer ] the wright brothers started in a garage.

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time for our must-read op-eds. the two countries along with the u.s. and the eu reached adale aimed at diffusing the situation. to walk away from the buildings they've seized in yeern ukraine. they have been offered more say over governmental decisions. still some of the gunmen are refusing to give up ground. president obama who spoke with european allies yesterday says more sanctions against moscow could be on the way. >> my hope is that we actually do see follow through over the

next several days. but i don't think given past performance that we can count on that. we have to be prepared to potentially respond to what continue to be, you know, efforts of interference by the russians in eastern and southern ukraine. >> our must-red on this comes from t"the washington post." putin cants to be the bad boy. he has that kind of slouch looking like the bored kid in the back of the classroom. obama has shown himself to be the opposite of a macho politician. he's reserved and analytical. rarely photographed with the top buttons of his shirt undone. he's the good boy in the class. far from marching off the cliff, he stayed safely on the sidewalk. he ae peeled for and demanded de-escalation by putin.

the wary diplomat appears to have averted war. each side can reasonably claim success. >> that's accurate. >> you're with that? >> yeah. i think the president was very measured and secretary of state was very measured in their response to this crisis. >> i thought it was interesting, though, to hear president obama talk about this deal yesterday and saying, john, he's still skeptical of this. saying we got this done, this is a first step but he'll believe it when he sees it because of putin. >> i think that's prudent and under the circumstances where a lot of people have questioned president obama's resolve indicating that all is well and kw we have nothing to worry about would have been unrealistic. >> yeah. and putin has shown so far no signs of listening to anything that the white house has said. so i don't know what makes this different. and i think the concern is that putin is more than unchecked. putin seems to be reveling in

the fact he is now widely perceived as the most powerful leader on the world stage on large part because america has been rendered meaningless in this conflict. >> meaningless? i disagree. >> we warned against the seizing of crimea. we've warned against everything and they've done it anyway. i'm not saying there were many other better options. that's not my point. my point is what we've said has not been heeded by or respected by putin. >> i don't think that adds up to he's the most powerful world leader. >> "time" magazine thought so and put it on the cover. >> you look at the profile. we've had dr. brzezinski on talking about this and looking at the makeup of the world leader that putin has become because we've all been getting used to him for decades now. and we know what happened during the bush administration and the invasion in georgia. there are still russian troops that remain in georgia. what this means and figuring out

the importance to putin. is it money or renationalization? they care about the economy. >> and if you look at it from a reality base therapy, from the point of view of the president of the united states and the secretary of state of the united states, the ukraine in reality is far more important to russia than it is to the west especially to the united states. and extensively your allies. they're all afraid of having the heat shut off. germany and the rest of europe. so let's cut a deal. >> we haven't talked about putin's call-in show yesterday where edward snowden called in. >> first time caller. >> we're going to continue this conversation ahead. when we take an in-depth look at what motivates vladimir putin.

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coming up next, president obama urges democrats to run on obamacare. signups pass the 8 million mark, but should incumbents take his advice? david gregory and eugene robinson join us next to discuss that.

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♪ wow. >> that's willie's house right there, the plaza hotel. no. that's rockefeller plaza. >> ice rink. >> where's the ice? there's no ice. >> thank god. >> not that it isn't cold enough. >> there could be ice. it's been cold enough. >> where's willie? >> what are those? eggs? >> yeah. >> those are eggs on display.

there's the rink. >> what are we looking at? >> the fake faberge eggs? >> yes. >> anyway, welcome back to "morning joe." joining us from washington, david gregory standing by. and associate editor of "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst eugene robinson. two incredibly handsome men. >> eugene also sits on the pulitzer prize board if we'd like to talk to him about anything. >> yeah. where's mine? >> yours is in the mail, mike, right where it belongs. >> controversy about some of the pulitzer prize winners. right, eugene? >> well, that's what i hear. that's what i read. uh-huh. >> i think choosing the gold finch was a fabulous, what a great novel that was. >> i agree with that. >> she's second to none. >> i agree. >> that's not the controversy that thomas referred to. >> was that the controversial.

ic? i don't think so. >> but we will be giving out eugene's e-mail at the end of this and if anybody would like to write to them, do so. >> thomas, i know where you live stop that. >> there's new view on secretary of state hillary clinton. 49% have a favorable opinion of the former first lady. 45% view her unfavorably. they do stack up to her ratings back from '07 when she was first running for the white house. speaking alongside her daughter chelsea at an event for young women, clinton was asked about immigrati immigration reform by a teen who shared a private moment. >> for the first time publicly i want to say i'm an undocumented immigrant. i want to say that it's been extremely difficult for me to empower myself in america because i came here illegally

when i was five. >> that was incredibly brave, and i thank you for doing that. because it's important to put ourselves in other people's shoes. it's one of the big hopes i have is that we can get back to being a country where people can understand what others are going through and have empathy for it and really try to help each other. >> david gregory, that's an articulation by that young woman of years of ineffectiveness in congress from parties -- from both parties on either side of the aisle. just an amazing thing when you think about it. >> right. and hillary clinton as a potential candidate sounds a lot like one george w. bush as the governor of texas in 1999 and 2000 who said that family values don't stop at the rio grande river. that was at a time when he was leading the republican party to champion a dumpifferent way to

approach reform, a way to provide a path to legalization for workers who were already here to say nothing of a woman like this who came here when she was five years old presumably a as child with her family, her parents brought her here to build a different life. these are complex issues, but there's a lot of political consensus around the idea to make it work for this young woman in america. so the idea is for some conservatives, are you going to say to that woman pack up your bags, you just admitted that ur yo a criminal. now it's time for you to go back home. i think the political consensus is moving away from that. but we're still at a moment in washington where there's not enough agreement on all the particulars to get something big through congress. >> and gene, as david pointed out, george w. bush sounds close to hillary clinton yesterday. but former governor of florida jeb bush sounds equally as

familiar. >> yeah. it's interesting. that's one strain of thought in the republican party that we haven't heard a lot of in the last couple of years. we've heard a much harder line and the whole compassionate conservatism angle has very much been down played. so maybe it's making a comeback. >> we want to talk about this story because we have governor chris christie looking to strike his sympathetic tone as he positions himself for the potential of a white house campaign. speaking yesterday and he addressed drug laws in america. he described how his personal views against abortion are also shaping the perspectives of other societal issues. >> i say to them, you know, it's great to be pro-life. but you need to be pro-life after they get out of the womb too. we have to be pro-life all the way along. if, in fact, we believe life is precious, and i do, then the

life of the drug-addicted teenager who's been arrested for the sixth time is just as precious as the lives of any one of my children. i don't believe this is a republican or democrat issue. because let me tell you. i know as many drug-addicted republicans as i know drug-addicted democrats. okay? it just is what it is. >> nicole, what's your sense of governor christie's status right now as a candidate within the republican party? >> no doubt he's been weakened by the bridgegate scandal and the glare that came down in this very negative episode in his governorship. but i see him talk right there, i see everyone -- people reacted to jeb bush's comments on immigration, and i think if we could stop looking at these two candidates and others in the context of the hurdles just

within the republican primary and sometimes think of them as potential future leaders of the entire country, i think the lens shifts a little bit. and i think that, you know, i think that chris christie could still make a run for it. i think his mountain is a little steeper now than it was before bridgegate, but i think he's the kind of republican as is jeb bush that could lead the whole country. >> this is your fault we look at these candidates, heilemann. you've done this. >> well, seems a little harsh. >> it's true though. the media only looks at these republican candidates in terms of their ability to survive the republican primary. >> you would acknowledge it is a valid way to look at them. the truth is one of the things that for example in 2012 and david axelrod and the obama campaign pointed out about mitt romney was, a potentially attractive candidate who would have to pay a heavy toll to make it through the process. if they got the nomination, they would get out on the other side with a lot of baggage.

that turned out to be totally true in areromney's case. he had to pay that toll and then ended up vulnerable on a variety of issues where he had to take positions way too far to the right. the question for governor bush and governor christie, put aside everything in their lives, is what toll will they have to pay? can they get through? and if they get through, what will be the damage inflicted on them? right now as they're talking in a vacuum, more or less, it's not a total vacuum. but they could be great general election candidates. once the battle starts, it's going to get tough for them to get through. >> nicole, you said before the one thing about the media that can be beneficial in a situation like a chris christie is it vets a lot of things and gets them ready to survive the job they're seeking. it lays out the path if they can face this, they can attain that job and get through it. >> and the vetting is -- and chris christie started in large

with your book, i mean, the vetting is what knocks the newcomers or the obscure candidates out. the vetting, you can describe it to someone like a sarah palin or newcomer, but you can't explain it to anyone in terms they can actually understand. i mean, it is the most intense, the most invasive scrutiny. running for president is just so unappealing to so many people because the scrutiny not just of your own party's primary, but all wings of the media. we now live in this highly polarized climate where we can expect more from some outlets than others. if there's any silver lining in the vetting over the past 12 months for him, is it would prepare him for the run. >> david gregory, we just put up those poll numbers where christie is up top. 15%. jeb bush 14%. take those two top two guys. chris christie and jeb bush. what's your sense of what would

be extracted from them in terms of concessions by the rest of that republican field or by the base as we call it in a presidential contest. >> you're going to have a certain amount of identity politics, social conservative concessions that will be extracted. i think it was interesting how chris christie talked about his belief in life and extended that to try to be a little bit more accessible to other parts of the electorate. there's obviously going to be some issues about privacy, about the security state, that a rand paul is going to try to extract as the republican party debates that. its position on national security, on intelligence gathering. whap do we want out of our clandestine agencies in america. and it's also a view of the economy. what role the government plays in the economy. where i agree with heilemann is that it's easier with hillary clinton to project her as a general election candidate and

look at her strengths and weaknesses vis-a-vis is republican than it is with a republican vis-a-vis is democrat. because the process is different for hillary clinton as we look at it right now. hillary clinton is not likely to have the kind of challenge that a republican would have. and republicans are just in a much different place having been out of power for as long as they have been out of power. george w. bush faced that in 2000. then it got more intense as it went along. and i think again with mitt romney, that was absolutely the case. how much tacking he had to do to the right. >> we want to get to nicole's favorite story. it involves senator harry reid. harry reid saying there's a task force being made to deal with rancher cliven bundy. speaking in las vegas, the democrat had harsh words for the militia members who came to support the rancher against the bureau of land management. >> there were hundreds, hundreds of people from around the

country that came there. they had sniper rifles on the freeway. they had assault weapons. they had automatic weapons. these people who hold themselves out to be patriots are not. they're nothing better than domestic terrorists and i think that we are a country that people should follow the law. >> cliven bundy refuses to recognize the federal government. he owes about a million bucks for grazing on public lands. but you take it to harry reid trying to make bundy out to be a type of terrorist, using that phrase. >> i wouldn't pout senator reid on the de-escalation task force. this is not words meant to bring it to a peaceful resolution. i said in the break that there are sometimes episodes -- we talk a lot about political polarization in this country. the more real experience for americans is cultural polarization. and i think the "duck dynasty" controversy last year where one

of the characters on a reality tv show made some inappropriate comments about gay americans, i mean, there are flash points and cultural crises in this country that reveal the cultural divide. and sometimes it's east/west. sometimes it's disdain and disregard for authority. but this is one of those flash points that if you do more than just read the headlines, you can dig in and understand one of the cultural divides in this country. there are people who think that it is immoral for the federal government to hand this guy a $1 million bill. >> that's all understood. here's the part where you just want to read the headline. which is as senator reid points out is there are armed militia men that comes to the guy's defense. >> the government is pointing more guns -- >> they're the federal government. just like we allow police officers to point guns at people breaking the law, the state has certain kinds of power that we shouldn't engage in armed challenges. here's the question, nicole. you don't seriously want to put

on the one side of the cultural divide liberals and on the other side conservatives that believe armed militia behavior is okay. >> i wasn't talking about liberals and conservatives. >> you were. >> no. >> sure you were. >> no. what i was talking about was there is a divide and there are people -- you may not believe it -- but there are people with such distrust for the federal government that when they get a $1 million tax. it's not like he was getting bills every month and he didn't pay them and they added up to $1 million. >> that's not a divide between -- >> can i say something? >> wait for mike. >> let's take a break here. educational break. for me to read, boys and girls sitting down at breakfast, the definition of terrorism from websters dictionary. terrorism is a noun. the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of chtrying to achieve

political goal. those people in nevada are terrorists under that definition. harry reid is right. the prosecution rests. david greg ary, take it away. >> what i hear nicole saying is away in the particulars about bundy. i think we have to be very careful i think in the media we have to be careful and i think that any federal official including politicians should not throw around phrases like domestic terrorism. timothy mcveigh was a murderer, mass murderer. he was a domestic terrorist. there are laws in this country that allow it to empower individuals. they may have had weapons, they may have been illegal. i don't know what the particular case was. we have to be very careful. we all lived through the '90s whether it was oklahoma city, whether it was the waco standoff, the freeman standoff. the question here is about how media, how federal officials seek to lessen these kinds of tension and not create more of a standoff. because there is a cultural divide. there are those who have real

antipathy toward the federal government and things can quickly get out of hand. so i don't think it's about having a debate about all of the narrative of the issue. it's about how do we bring calm to a situation that can get out of control. >> so is it fair to say, though, that an anarchist is a better term to use for bundy? >> i'm not defending bundy. and i'm not defending that he's got children and guns and things at the federal government. but all i'm saying -- i think david's got it exactly right. this must end. and hopefully it'll end peacefully. harry reid throwing around terms like domestic terrorist does not facilitate -- and i said jokingly, but i wouldn't put him on the de-escalation committee. of course he's broken the law. anyone that speeds on the west side highway is breaking the law. anyone that forgets to pay taxes on a speech they gave, i'm sure john heilemann gives lots of speeches. anyone that underpays their taxes has committed a crime. but to say that this is some

anomaly that everyone else trusts the federal government and receive a million dollar bill for 30 years of use of federal land, they accept it, that would be an incredible misunderstanding of how most people in the west and the country -- >> i just want to be clear if the irs shows up to collect extra taxes,ly not have an armed militia surrounding me to ward them off. >> i'm going to agree with nicole wallace. in that, you know -- step back for a second. this is not a criminal dispute or it should not be. this is a civil dispute over whether fines are owed for grazing lands. and this should be -- there should be a way to settle this peacefully. and while i generally speaking think we are wrong to reserve the use of the word terrorism

only for muslims, i think that's a bad habit that we have. and i think it distorts what really happens in the world. i do agree with nicole that that is not particularly helpful in this situation. and it's not just harry reid. i think the whole escalation of this, you know, perhaps could have been handled differently. and the aim now should be to find a peaceful resolution and not have, you know, what we all fear happen. >> there's no doubt that everyone would like to see a peacefully resolution, but can we run the tape of the gathering out there? can we put that back up? let's take a look at this. we don't have it right here in these frames, but there are numbers of people who arrive from around the country armed to the tee. >> this is what it looks like when i walk out of msnbc every

morning, barnicle. protests. i don't see any guns. here's the other point -- >> they're going to get someone killed. >> he is a profitable farmer. so he has money to make a settlement on his debt. if you take it out of the field, out of guys pointing guns at each other and take it into a conference room. he is a profitable farmer who can make a settlement. >> the accuracy of this video, this is almost a week old. now we're seeing guns on site. but those images we saw a moment ago, those officials had tasers. those people there were in an argument back and forth. one man was tased. he actually ripped the taser strings off of himself. so obviously the jolt wasn't that bad. i've never been tased, so i don't know. >> these people work? they have a day off. i don't get this. >> this has been brewing for -- as nicole points out, this is almost three decades of back tax issues. this is gets to a point, they're

looking at this as criminal trespass and the fact this has been an issue for this farmer. and they are trying to rectify this long standing issue with this farmer. and now it's bubbled up to this point it seems to be out of control. >> i get all that. david gregory, i'm very sympathetic to the argument you made a few moments ago about the use of the word terrorism and harry reid's use of that word. but there seems to be if you look at those pictures, there is something deeply troubling that's going on in this country. there's a level of paranoia in this country among some elements of people who regard the federal government, our government, the united states government as the principle enemy in their lives. there's something deeply upsetting here. >> but this is not new. i'm not just harkening back to our post-revolutionary period in our country. but over the past several decades as well. and we did have flash points particularly in the '90s.

so that's not new. what's especially true, though, mike, today is this is not a right/left divide. there's elements of it, but you have these fissures now developing on the left and right. areas where they agree on the intrusion of the federal government. i think this decade, the past -- rather the two decades since the millennium have been about the increased power and intrusion of the federal government into the live of americans. most in a security state post 9/11 but also the economic intervention after the financial collapse. >> and barack obama. >> these things are all coming together in a way that are creating huge debates and big disagreements about the role of the government. >> it's been an energetic conversation. thanks. thank you, sir, we'll look for your column in the "washington post." andly not give out your e-mail right now. >> i appreciate that. >> david, thank you as well.

what's coming up this weekend on "meet the press"? >> the latest on corker and murphy as we figure out what putin is up to and what the next steps are for the administration. >> thank you. still ahead on "morning joe," he's the sacramento mayor, former nba star, and now the new president of u.s. congress of mayors. and up next from kbg agent to leader of a nation. why the past has so much in focus right now with putin. we go inside the mind of the russian president. we try anyway. back after this. ♪ ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees.

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russian president vladimir putin is one of the most dominating on the world stage. he jumped in the spotlight with the winter olympics and has demanded the attention of the world with the involvement in ukraine. some have called him a dictator. others a visionary. but what drives vladimir putin?

the story behind the former kgb agts now shaping world events. >> reporter: vladimir putin was born in 1952 where his family lied a humble two-bedroom home. his mother took care of the house while his father a veteran of world war ii worked as a security guard and in construction. >> there is something recognizably american. a kid that would grow up in an apartment. and he was bullied. and he prepared himself to fight back. >> putin said he knew as a teenager he wanted to join the russian security agency. the kgb. >> him who tells the story of going down to the local representation of the kgb and saying i'd like to join us. and being essentially told by the person behind the desk you

should go off and get an education and even giving him some advice about what he should perceive in university. >> he grew up and by his own account was a juvenile delinquent in the court yard before he got into martial arts training. before he dedicated himself to become a member of the kgb. so he turned his own life around, but clearly that early childhood experience on the streets of lennongrad was influential. >> putin was actually brought into the kgb in that period specifically to bring in new blood out of the normal recruitment patterns for the kgb to help with suppressing the dissident movement. it was also a period that was the height of the cold war where the kgb was trying to tackle the cia and other western intelligence agencies and to try to steal technical secrets. >> extremely loyal, some say to a fault, putin once said he

would not read a book by a russian defector because he doesn't read anything written by traitors to the motherland. >> kgb officer. that explains who he is. it's part of who he is, but much more important is the moment he came to power with russia in collapse. and his self-perceived mission or the mission he was told he had by people around him to save russia. that's much more important than his years in the kgb. >> putin, though, was looked down on by some of the former kgb generals and leaders with whom i spoke back when i lived in russia. he never made it higher than lieutenant colonel. in east germany where he was posted as a foreign spy was definitely a back water. he wasn't a glamorous james bond-like character undercover in london or something like that. there were always these questions about what exactly to

make of putin's kgb career. >> putin resigned from the kgb after its failed attempt to remove mikhail gorbachev. it is here where putin first developed his taste for politics. he was a quick learner. >> after the kgb, he worked a as a deputy mayor of st. petersburg. he recruited two groups. it was the strange group. liberal economists from st. petersburg who were brought to moscow to liberalize the economy. that's what he did in his first five years. and people from the kgb and intelligence services who would be his eyes and ears and to an extent his protecters. >> as deputy mayor, putin was known as the person to know in st. petersburg. staying out of the spotlight, it was widely believed he began closely associating with

organized crime to manipulate the local economy. he controlled the licenses for billions of dollars in exports and transfers. investigations after he left office showed he often signed deals he was not authorized to sign and took commission between 25% and 50%. >> throughout the 1990s, st. petersburg was plagued by organized crime and gangsters. it is a period of competing for control. there was always the feeling that russia's politics and politicians were hopelessly tarred by their connection to the organized crime. zr the kgb is starting to run in many respects agents within organized crime entities. so putin is part of all of that right from the beginning when he joins the kgb. so it's no surprise that putin would continue with those kind of linkages even as he moves out of the kgb and more official positions inside the russian

government. >> but st. petersburg was just a stepping sewn. he sets his sights on moscow. how he's made a favorite for the position of prime minister. part two of inside the mind of vladimir putin when we come back. ♪ ♪ ♪ no matter what kind of business you own, at&t business experts can help keep it running... seamlessly. so you can get back to what you love. when everyone and everything works together, business just sings.

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more now on vladimir putin's

rise in russia. can be directly traced between the parliament and the oligarchs backing president boris yeltsin. the power of boris yeltsin closest supporters were threatened. an adversary took control as general promising to root out in the government. but yeltsin supporters known as the family pushed back. releasing a video that allegedly showed the prosecutor general with two prostitutes. despite a lack of concrete evidence, putin then the head of federal security, authenticated the video forcing him out of power. >> i think it's fair to say that russian politics has practiced in this post-soviet era has been extremely dirty politics and the use of what russians call compromising materials whether it's phone calls or videos or

leaking transcripts of cell phone calls to me media, all of those have been practiced under putin and his colleagues. >> but he's also the kind of person because of his kgb training who is prepared to leverage things against people. particularly compromising information. so some of the classic putin strong arm tactics really nothing more than blackmail. >> many say this was the seminal moment behind boris yeltsin's decision to name putin prime minister in 1999. his first real role as a public figure. it also put the family in prime position to pull the strings behind the russian government. this would allow putin to become the next president of russia. late in yeltsin's tenure as his health began to fail, he named putin his successor. >> the reason putin was chosen was he proved himself to be a

loyal man. and what was the evidence? that putin's patron in st. petersburg, a man who had been mayor of st. petersburg, was indicted on criminal corruption charges. and putin threw some out of russia, saved him. for yeltsin, that was it. >> he is basically one of the most extraordinary rises from sort of obscure technocrat to the leader of the russian federation in the course of a couple years. that one could possibly imagine. then in a short basically year and a half time period, he went from running the fsb to being tapped by one of the wealthy oligarchs and his allies to become yeltsin's successor. >> so it's a very rapid assent for putin. and it's partly because of this ability for him to move in the background to win people other

using the recruitment techniques he learned in the kgb to rise to the top and be selected as the successor. >> putin secured his footing on the national stage using the power and money of a close knit group of oligarchs. during his first stint as president, he solidified relationships to help strengthen the russian economy. but he never let the idea of reclaiming the glory of the soviet empire leave his mind. this was demonstrated in 2008 when russia moved into georgian territory, an area that was formerly part of the soviet union. >> when he said the breakup of the soviet union was a great geopolitical catastrophe in 2004, people were wrong to dismiss that. what he's clearly saying is, i'm going to at least where i can opportunistically take every advantage to restore russia's standing and, you know, we're going to come back and show our

presence in ways and in places that you haven't heard from us in a number of years. >> for 20 years, the west led by the united states has moved its power ever closer to russia. spearheaded by the expansion of nato. but it's not only that. it's political economics. it looks like a western march on russia. no matter what good things we say about sovereignty and prosperi prosperity, american military economic political powers have been coming at russia for 20 years. >> he's also someone who says about himself that he always responds to an insult with something disproportionate. he's prepared to fight until the last man. he's prepared to basically wait everybody out. and he is prepared, again, if necessary to sacrifice himself. these are things he says about himself. and there's actually every reason to believe that this is actually a true reflection of the kind of nature of the person that he is.

>> tough minded, intelligent in a kind of simple minded fashion, but intelligent. and of course he's riding right now what is among the chauvinistic elements in russian society. seeming triumph. and the danger is that could lead him to take some other steps which might create instead of a triumph, a tremendous conflict. >> experts say it is this notion of rebuilding the soviet empire that remains paramount to his motivation today in ukraine and the rest of russia's western borders. we'll be right back. you, my friend are a master of diversification.

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are you type e*? ♪ welcome back to "morning joe." here with us now from sacramento, california, the democratic mayor of that city mayor kevin johnson. you are up early for us, and we appreciate it. >> hey, i get up every morning early for "morning joe." >> now you're telling lies, mayor.

now you're telling lies. >> just like a true politician. >> there's a reason you've been re-elected in that city, mr. mayor. congratulations, first of all. you're the new president of the u.s. conference of mayors. we talk a lot on this show about national politics, about what ought to be done to get stimulus and jobs. what are you doing at the state level and local level on that front? >> i think first of all, i'm honored to be the president of the u.s. conference of mayors. you get elected by your peers and that's a big deal. what we're trying to do honestly, is we're trying to restore the faith and confidence in government. i think the american people watch what's taking place in washington. they see the gridlock. they see the partisan politics. and they're frustrated. i think mayors are a new breed of politician. you know, we don't care whether a good idea comes from the democratic side of the equation or the republican side. we want good ideas. we want to implement them. we're very practical and

pragmatic. that's what we have to do at the local level and that's our message we're trying to share. >> off of that answer, can you talk a bit about the frustration you must feel as a mayor given the polarization in washington? you've got to worry about paving roads, about mowing little league fields, about bridges that need to be repaired. talk about the frustration you feel in your job when you think of washington. >> i think it's a great example. i mean, we're happy to work with washington and we want to, but we can't wait on washington. we as mayors, we are where the action happens. and we have to get things done. we're accountable to our constituents. we can't wait on the sidelines. yes, we'd love to have federal dollars come our way, but what you're seeing right now is mayors taking action. and there is example after example around this country where mayors are saying we've got to be action-oriented. yes, washington is important. but that's why i give the

example is we don't care about bipartisanship. we don't care if you're democrat or republican. the communities that we represent, they want our potholes filled. they want our garbage picked up. we want to make sure our streets are safe and clean and our kids are going to great schools. >> you got yourself a new part-time job, i gather. you're leading the search committee for the new head of the nba players association. what are you looking for in that job? i got a couple candidates here on set with me here in willie geist and mike barnicle. >> i might have to take willie over mike, with all due respect. >> wow. >> smart man. >> we're looking for somebody who wants to put the players first. that's really important. we have an opportunity when you think about the nba and the players association, they have an opportunity to usher in this new growth in the nba. we need somebody who understands we need to grow the pie and be a great partner with the nba.

adam silver has taken over after david stern who's done a great job of growing that business. and we want somebody for the players side who puts the players' interests first but it's a partnership that will grow that business. >> i can't let you go because it is nba playoff time without showing a piece of video that goes down in nba history maybe as the best small man over big man dunk in the history of the league. let's check this out. >> there's a re-enactment. >> ooh! >> in your face kevin johnson! oh my! >> and not just any big man, mind you. the great hakim. what do you remember about that moment? >> you know what? my grandfather used to say if you're going to pick on somebody, you might as well pick on somebody bigger than you just in case you come up short. that was a great moment. that was a great moment in my career. we were playing the houston rockets. charles barkley, dan marley, we had a great team trying to get

to the nba finals. and akeem kept blocking our shots. he'd block a shot every time. i said give me the ball, i'm going to the basket, do what i can. i dunked on him. it's the 20th anniversary since that dunk. >> that's right. >> after i dunked on him -- >> you're keeping track. >> of course i am. i have the video in my pocket. after i dunk on him, i'm all excited at half court. and all of a sudden i could see this big shadow coming to half court. i look and he said don't ever do it again, little one. >> all you ever need a once. before we let you go, who's going to win it all? >> honestly i think miami's probably going to come out of the east again. i think they'll get it together in time. and then as a mayor of sacramento, you root for the smaller city markets as well. so i think san antonio or oklahoma city will come out of

the west. >> it's looking that way. sacramento mayor kevin johnson, great to talk to you. >> he looks exactly the same. >> thanks, nicole. >> congrats again on the u.s. conference of mayors position. see you soon. still ahead, she's an emmy, peabody, and goaden globe winner. marleau thomas is here with her latest work. it ain't over 'til it's over. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪ scott: appears buster's been busy. man: yeah, scott. i was just about to use the uh... scott: that's a bunch of ground-up paper, lad! scotts ez seed uses the finest seed, fertilizer, and natural mulch that holds water so you can grow grass anywhere. looking good, lad! man: thanks, scott. ez seed really works! scott: get scotts ez seed. it's guaranteed. seed your lawn. seed it!

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♪ ♪ i know where we can get some change. >> oh, that's okay. you can owe it to me. >> oh, no, no, no. i already owe you a desk. why don't i take you to dinner and i can pay you back out of the change. >> oh -- >> come on. do you have a favorite restaurant around here? >> well, there is one i kind of like. there's this little italian place around the corner. i think you might like it. >> is the food good?

>> no, but the change is great. >> she made her fame as "that girl." her new book "it ain't over until it's over, reinventing your life at any age." marlo thomas, welcome. >> thank you very much. >> i've read several acts and one is better than the next. >> thank you. >> what made you decide to take on this challenge to prove reinvention is not a bad thing? >> it's the reinvention generation. i think women realize at 42 their dreams have sort of run out on them. it used to be you raised your family and your dream was over

and you didn't live to be 90. now you do. i travel around the country raising money for st. jude and women feel stuck. women have something in the back of their mind nagging at them, why didn't i do that thing i wanted to do. there's a wonderful woman in the book, gailey mccracken. she was doing graphic design for this medical journal and she thought to herself i always wanted to be a doctor, i washi had done that. she said well, if i did it now, i'd be 50 by the time i became a docto doctor. she said, well, you're going to be 50 anyway. so she's a doctor. >> it's interesting if it's a

woman who had been in the workforce and changed gears. for a woman who has not and raised her family, how do you change that and get into the workforce? >> exactly. a lot of women say what am i going to do with my life? one woman figured out she always was losing her keys. so she created this little thing called a cell folio, where she could put her cell phone and credit cards and keys and leave the house. but she and her friends got together. women in this book mortgaged their house, sold their clothes

on ebay, they got a job as an intern, they took a lon on their retirement fund. i'm not saying do all these things. it's in the doing, it's not in the head. you all know at that. >> is the one thread that you found most interesting for the fact wherever these women were in their lives it's about achieving something they were passionate about. >> and that they wanted to do it. there are ways to do it. find a friend to do it with, do it with your husband, with your son, go intern someplace and learn this job you want it do. we do this in the television station all the time. if you want to be in a certain business, you need to be around it.

>> reap what you sew. any regrets, marlo thomas? >> no, i hope not. >> well, you were in love with me when you were a little boy. i got more marriage proposals from 6-year-old boys. >> i'll protect you from don. >> i don't need to be protected. >> this book is called "it ain't over." we'll be back with "morning joe" after this. [ male announcer ] this is karen and jeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they're gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money.

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good morning. it's 8:00 here on the east coast, 5:00 a.m. as you wake up out west. back with us on set, john heilemann, nicolle wallace. more on that ferry accident in south korea. it's been more than 48 hours now since the boat carrying 475 people capsized. nearly 270 still missing, 28 confirmed dead. keir simmons has more on this story. >> reporter: they are searching for a miracle, working in cold, choppy seas, still hoping to

find someone, anyone, alive. they've hammered on the hull but heard nothing back. this 6-year-old survived, but her parents and older brother are still missing. she was rescued from the stricken ship without them. passengers boarded, many of them women and children. 12 hours later sheer terror captured on video as the ship lurched and began to sink. text messages from many of the high school classmates on board. "i think we're going to die. i really love you all." and a message of hope, "let's all see each other alive." outrage that almost none of the safety boats were deployed, though one carried the captain away. korean television reports that

the ship made a sudden sharp turn just before it began to sink, perhaps causing the 180 vehicles and thousand tons of cargo on board to shift. giant cranes lifted the ferry from the sea bed and scores of ships and international flotilla, including the u.s. navy. divers do what they can. it's difficult, painstaking and experts say dangerous. >> you're talking low visibility, you're talking an unstable vessel. you're talking even in the best of times diving into something like that is a challenge. >> reporter: relatives made a pilgrimage to the trip. they know they may never seen their loved ones again while she waits, not knowing if she'll ever see her family.

>> a vice principal of the school made it off safely and we're hearing now committed suicide, as he left the boat was found hanged today. >> let's move to domestic move now. president obama launched a strong defense of obamacare. the white house said at least 8 million americans have enrolled through health care exchanges. 35% of the enrollees are under 35. 28 are between 18 and 34 years old. president obama says the statistics should send a clear message to both parties in washington. >> i think that democrats should

for forcefully defend and be proud that millions of people like the woman i just described, who i saw in pennsylvania yesterday, we're helping because of something we did. i don't think we should apologize for it and i don't think we should be defensive about it. i think there is a strong, good, right story to tell. if republicans wants to spend all their time talking about appealing a law that's working. i think democrats should not be defensive but we need to move on to the things that are really important to the american people right now. >> critics have criticized the white house for not yet releasing how many people have now paid premiums for their coverage under obamacare. >> what happens to that as an issue this fall, nicole? >> i think the most interesting thing he said was the democrats not being defensive. the president was speaking to

democrats about it being carrying the law. for those who are now cutting ads saying i'm not for this law or distancing themselves in these dates, i think he's come a long way in distancing themselves. it's not illegal not to sign up. but at this point in his presidency, he is speaking directly to the democrat beiic . >> in new hampshire scott brown nearly 100% of his campaign thus far, it's only a week or ten days that he's been in the race, has focused on the health care legislation. what happens to him and other candidates like him? >> the senate races are so idiosyncratic. they're driven by candidates and the different states.

scott brown may have a harder time making that sell in new hampshire than some republicans in redder states or purple states trending that trend toward red rather than toward blue. but this is now a race on both sides to try to create the electorate that they want to see come out. even this early people are focused on what are the issues that are going to drive. in mid-term election years where a republican electorate has turned out, republicans have done well at the house level and the senate level. the president and a lot of democrats are understanding that they must make arguments that will motivate the democratic base, the base that turns out in 2012, in 2012 and 2008 to turn out in greater numbers. you'll see a lot of numbers on economic populism and you have to see the arguments over the health care law because voters who believe in that law are the

ones the democrats need if they're going to save their base. >> isn't it too early to spike the ball? >> directionally i suspect these numbers are right but you have the issue on the premium and then the other issue -- i don't understand why they couldn't put these numbers out. how many people are uninsured who are now insured. those are the numbers that depending on how they roll out are going to matter more. you can spike the ball today but a week or two from now if the numbers aren't as good, you have a problem. why didn't they wait? >> i think the numbers are really important. it's a legitimate argument to say we want to know more about what is actually happening with the law. i don't think it's spiking the ball. you can't start making the case for the law being a good thing early enough. many democrats say they needed to have started making the case before now. you keep spiking the ball --

>> it's absolutely spiking the ball. it's absolutely spiking the ball. i don't begrudge him for doing it because he's been underwater on this for so long. i have the feeling of time they see one more person sign up, he puts on his tie and races down to the briefing room and says get the cameras ready, we got one more. it's undeniable the democrats are afraid to take this law to the public. may that change in two years? it may. >> how many times have republicans in the house tried to repeal this law, though? >> a few. >> i mean, come on. >> so you say you have to take your chances. >> we haven't done any ball spiking. there hasn't been any success, mike. there's a difference. >> both sides making a consistent argument over time. that's what we're going to see, like it or not. i think the president has every right to claim the successes,

each incremental success. let him keep doing as the republicans have used the chamber of the house to try to repeal it. >> let's talk kerrey reed. he's been very busy. he said there's a task force formed to deal with bundy. he had harsh words for those who came to support him. he accused them of bringing their children to the showdown in case negative problems came out. >> there were hundreds who came there. they had sniper weapons on the freeway, they had automatic weapons. these people who hold themselves out to be patriots are not. they're nothing more than domestic terrorists and i think

that we are a country that people should follow the law. >> domestic terrorists, that's the phrase everyone's looking at. cliven bundy, who refuses to recognize the federal government owes about $1 million for grazing his cattle on public lands. obviously harry reid has taken up the fight for the bureau of land management. >> there's a new poll on how viewers of hillary clinton. according to fox news poll, 49% have a favorable view of her and 45 view her as unfavorable. those numbers stack up close to numbers in 2007. secretary clinton was asked about immigration reform by a teen-ager who shared an emotional story. >> for the first time publicly i want to say that i am an undocumented immigrant.

i want to state that it's been extremely difficult for me to empower myself in america because i came hereily little lee when i was 5. -- i came here illegally when i was 5. >> that was incredibly brave. that's one of the hopes i have, that we can get back to being a country where people can understand what others are going through and have empathy for it and really try to help each other. >> nicolle wallace, it sounds a little bit like the jeb bush position, the act of love, compassion. >> the first thing i thought is i can't wait to see if those end up being the candidates that prevail in the primaries, have a more enlightened debate and two candidates who really understand the human toll of the failure to enact, now oaf two different presidents, two parties. congress has flipped each direction and the government has

not been able to do anything about immigration reform. and at some point you have to wonder whether it is a failure of leadership. maybe the country, maybe my own party isn't ready to go where george w. bush and now jeb bush wants to take it. if you have two nominees like hillary clinton and jeb bush, i think there's some hope among comprehensive immigration reform activist, especially in the latino community, that they have the potential to elevate the debate, despite the politics. >> can we talk about the human drama that is grandma clinton? i don't want to be cynical. i'm not suggesting anyone is having a baby for election purposes -- no, no. >> oh, oh, oh -- >> all i'm saying is -- >> i'm not suggesting that but i will say it on the air. >> what i will say on the air is it's going to change the dynamic of the campaign. >> for who? >> for the clintons.

>> who is stupid enough to think the fact of joy -- >> no, an entire country is going to watch a family have a child. this is a human drama. people are going to get behind this. it's going to change the way people look at hillary clinton. >> it's not as if hillary clinton is having another child. >> no, i know hillary clinton is not having another child. there's a softsoftening, a compassion thing. you don't think over the next two years on the campaign trail this isn't going to be part it have? >> george bush became a grandfather -- is it about being a woman? >> no, it not about being a woman. i think the country is so invested in this family. >> as opposed to the bushes. >> i don't think at the time the country was as invested as the kids. i think it's going to be

different. you're going to see babies in the campaign. >> how interested was the country in the bush daughters? >> this is like treating voters liker th like they're stupid enough that when they -- >> why? >> because people have grand children all the time. but if you're treating this that the voters are going to have some ah-ha moment, it's ridiculous. >> no, in the celebrity world we live in, we follow people's families and -- i just -- i feel like i'm losing points here big time. >> for better or for worse in the sorkin analysis, for better or for worse? >> i would say better. >> so you think the pictures of hillary clinton holding her granddaughter or grandson softens her image? >> yeah. it just adds this whole element of compassion. i don't say it's a bad thing.

it is what it is. to pretend it's not going to happen i think is misguided. >> jeb bush just became a grandpa, too. how is that going to play out? >> for some reason, and this is why i'm losing points, for some reason i think this will have an impac impact, i think a positive impact. >> can i return to the story of the morning? the poll, 49 favorable, 45in favorable, i think the point was to say it's not that different from how it was back in 2007. to me it's very early, most of these horse race polls to this point doesn't mean anything. favorable or unfavorable on hillary clinton matters. you think about where her favorables and unfavorables were when she was secretary of state. people often pointed out she was benefiting from being in a nonpolitical position and she was not having to be seen as out

there climbing the greasy poll of poll tex, now she is back and perceived by people as being an aspiring office holder, and people see her in a more negative way seems to be creeping back into this number. she's not going to go into a general election in 2012 or 2016 with 70% favorables like she had when she was secretary of state. she's going to be back in a much more mortal territory. >> the numbers struck me that nobody's undecided about hillary clinton. to the extent that they can change somebody, they're going to be talking to the tinniest, teeniest sliver of americans because so few people are on the fence or confused about where they stand on hillary clinton. >> should take into account

those numbers were in before america started calling her grammy. >> still ahead, what would it be like to eat for just $1.50 a day? over a billion people in the world are doing it. and later, pope francis gets into the easter spirit by doing what he does best, bucking hundreds of years of catholic tradition. and up next, the top stories in the politico play book. first, bill karins has our forecast. >> good friday to you, willie. this is a beautiful day in many places. mississippi, you got drenched last night. it's shifted oaf to southern portions of georgia and now north florida. we are going to get maybe 3 to 5 inches of rain. watch out from tampa bay to orlando today. we could see strong thunderstorms, maybe an isolated

tornado. as far as the flood threat goes, this is an area of concern, this area of green so far. river levels are already running pretty high. we'll watch that today and tonight. i don't expect anything too devastating. rainfall totals, 3 to 5 inches, that's hefty rain. a few showers around cleveland and buffalo. overall it's looking like a pretty nice easter forecast. easter egg hunts on saturday and sunday looking great from the ohio valley to the northeast. the on trouble spot in the midwest with showers and thunderstorms. this is a pretty nice three-day stretch, including nice weather into l.a. "morning joe" coming right up. ♪ ♪

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nicolle wallace is here -- >> let's take a look at the morning papers while we're at it. "herald sun," the search for the missing malaysia 370 flight could top a billion dollars. saturday marks six weeks since the plane disappeared. >> the ""chicago tribune,"" pope

francis washed and kissed the feet of elderly people. he said he did that to perform his duty of god as a slave. >> "usa today," beau biden, the oldest son of the vice president is going to run for governor of delaware in 2016 and will not seek a third term as state attorney general. he says "it's not right to ask for your support in 2014 knowing my focus would be divided between doing my job as attorney general while at the same time be running as a candidate for governor. >> a new york city city cab

driver is facing serious charges after allegedly crossing the r.f.k. bridge more than 3,000 times without paying. >> is he a domestic terrorist under harry reid's definition? >> $28,000 is not close to a million but he is still in the debt of these tolls because he was closely following other vehicles. this is how he was able to get through. it allowed both cars to pass through the toll. we're trying to teach this to people now through this story. he charged with grand larceny, theft of services and criminal possession of stolen property. he must be tailgating really hard to be -- >> that never happens in new york. >> never. >> in the easter sunday edition of "parade" magazine, the pope's excerpt taken from the homily the pope delivered last year, the pope urges everyone to be "joyful and positive lights of hope." thomas, go ahead. >> speaking of another light of hope -- >> is he here?

>> he's here. the chief white house correspondent from political, mike allen with the "morning play book." give it to us. >> good morning and happy friday. >> it's going to be a good friday now. mike, explain this triage management. >> they have this bad political environment we saw in the special election in florida last month, we're seeing candidates being blitzed by the koch brother ads. democrats are saying we need to cut our losses and start focusing on members who might lose and not so much on members who have a chance. so this triage means that if you're an endangered incumbent, you're now more likely to get help from the national party in d.c. if you're one of those up-and-coming challenges, you

were recruited as a candidate and the party said you'll be a great candidate, we'll be with you every step of the way, they're now having trouble getting resources. democrats say they're also polling earlier than they expected to because they're trying to gauge the damage from some of the health care news out there and from these koch brothers ads. >> this is all learning from past is pro log because of 2010? >> you're exactly right. then they lost 63 seats, lost the house majority in the last mid-term election. they're saying it's not that bad it time but they have a couple of republican incumbents they hope to knock off. this is a real change in how people here i thinking about the races. we're told that the special election last month was the wake-up call. there was one veteran member who talked to politico's alan

eisenstaedt. he said he had been seeking help for months to get help. they said, yes, you're right, here are the resources and those are going to come away from democratic challengers that hoped to knock off a republican. >> facebook just announced this brand new feature. regulators in d.c. got a sneak peek making sure it didn't ruffle any feathers. barnicle's excited about this. it's a good way to stalk people. >> this is friends near you is what we're supposed to call it. >> okay. >> terrifying. >> this makes it easier to find people who are near you. this shows facebook getting smart. politico learned that facebook before it announced this new feature met with congressional staffs, met with people around washington to explain it. privacy groups said that they made changes in response to complaints about it and so this is facebook recognizing with one

of the biggest collections of data on the internet. they're constantly going to be under scrutiny from regulators and trying to get ahead of that. >> it's so crazy to think how much privacy we're willing to give up. remember gawker stalker? remember if you saw somebody who had a public persona of interest, you could go online and say where you saw them? people were outraged. now -- >> we're giving it up ourselves. >> and people are freaking out that in order to track the cell phone numbers they find on a terrorist computer, that offends people's sensibilities, but the notion that everywhere they go there will be a tracking device is ludicrous. >> but it's an option thing. you can opt in or not. >> you think every person on facebook understands how this

works? >> i think every person on facebook doesn't understand much of how it works. >> as a woman is stalked by some facebook freak. >> every person who clicks a button who says it's okay for my friends to look at me is a different thing. >> they talk about all of these things on facebook and twitter that are free they think they're benefiting from, you're the product. you're the product. >> i am not a product of facebook. i don't do the facebook. >> i don't do the facebook either. >> you realize that's also television advertising to be clear. >> we're here chatting and telling dirty stories. >> i think most people would be stunned if they knew the extent that credit card companies can track your movements. >> coming up next, could you eat on just $1.50 a day.

we have hunt are biden and hugh evans. they're taking this extreme poverty challenge to heart. they think you should be joining in on this too. they join us next on "morning joe." ♪ ♪

♪ give a little bit, give a

little bit ♪ >> ceo of the global poverty project hugh evans and chairman of the board of world food program usa and director of the board of the truman national security project, hunter biden. guys, it's great to have you here. this is really fun. we were telling all kinds of tales on the commercial break about your cousin. if you're watching, i did show it to your cousin hunter. >> it's a good picture. guys, this is great. as we heard, you're trying to bring attention on what it's like to live on $1.50. explain how you're trying to make people understand this is a reality for so many people not just in our country but around the world. >> we're here to talk about the live below the line challenge, it's a five-day challenge where you live on $1.50 for food and drink for five days and each day

do you it, earn money for the charity for the 1.2 billion people on this planet who live in extreme poverty. you can raise money for the world food program, you can raise money for the hunger project, opportunity international, raise money for all these amazing organizations, the forefront of fighting extreme poverty in the developing world and do it in the five-day challenge, from april 28 to may 2nd and we want to invite everybody around america to be part of this. >> it's a great way to bring people to the conscientious reality that so many people have to live with it and live below the line. have you thought, hunter, about what $1.50 will buy yet? >> i did it last year and i hadn't thought it through very well. i ate a lot of ramen noodles and oatmeal and that's about it. this year my wife kathleen and

my three daughters, the five of us are all going to do it together. i think with their help i may be eating with a little bit more nutrition in my diet. a little bit more. >> how have you planned it this year, the whole family to do it? >> the best way to do it is to do it as a group so you can go out and you can obviously get a lot more in terms of the protein that you can put into the diet if you do it in bulk and you bring it all together. whereas if you're just trying to go out and do it individually, it really very difficult. think of going into the idea of a grocery store with $7.50 and have your whole week. this week we'll be able to go into the store and buy a bag of rice and make it last and buy a dozen eggs.

one in eight people go to bed hungry every night. >> it's not just a developing world problem. it's in this country and parts of europe. food insecurity is truly a global problem. >> it's an enormous problem worldwide, it's a huge problem in america and so we wanted to highlight really that worst form of human suffering where a child would die for lack of a 30 cent immunization. we're really passionate about doing this. we want to invite everyone across america. if you guys want to be part of it as well, we'd love to you join us as well. >> i gave up ramen noodles after college. >> it makes you realize how indulgent some of the discussions are about obesity -- not that they're not important. i don't want to run afoul of mika here by saying that conversation isn't important. first you need to address the fact that in this country alone,

millions of children live with food insecurity every day. they go to school starving. >> that's exactly right. $50 can feed a child for an entire year. so it is not -- it's not an impossible goal -- >> is that a global figure? >> a global figure. >> so an average. >> if you average it out, a $50 donation can feed a child for an entire year, which is an attainable thing. the more people we get to actually do the challenge, it's all about awareness. and you guys, if you wanted to do it for a day and my family, my whole family, my immediate family but also my mom -- i'm volunteering them. they know this generally but they're going to be doing it for at least a day or two. >> your dad's going to do it? >> he's going to do it for a day at least. >> will he post of images of the food on instagram? we got the hot shot with the

aviators and the selfie with the president. >> do you have a deal with the secret service to monitor this? >> i have my contacts. the naval aides will make sure he only has $1.50 a day. >> as i understand, you've raised over $4 million? >> last year there were over 21,000 people worldwide who took part in the challenge and we raised $4.4 million. this year we're going to try to hit over the $5 million mark. we want to get 25,000 people globally and already we're signing on thousands of people across america, across britain, across europe. >> how do people join the challenge? >> it's really very simple. you go to livebelowtheline.com and create your own user profile. you create your profile and then you encourage your friends and

family to sponsor for you for every day you're living below the poverty line or they might give you an overall donation. much like reasoning a marathon. as hunter said, if you raise $50, that's enough to feed someone in the developing world for an enormous amount of time. it takes ten minutes. >> when you think of $50 and you take your spouse out to dinner, just the two of you, you can spend $50 on a night for dinner, maybe not even getting a drink. >> for a lot of hard problems, this one is not one of the easier ones. >> what hugh has done through global poverty project and creation of live below the line is absolutely amazing. he is truly on the forefront. i get to sit and do this from a volunteer perspective, but he's been doing this his entire adult life in one form or another and

he really, truly is going to make a difference and is making a difference already. the web site is livebelowtheline.com. you can advice the our web site and sign up to take the challenge to live below the line. hunter biden and hugh evans, it great to have you both here. you can tell missy we did her justice. >> pope francis, we're talking about what the pontiff has done to. "morning joe" is back right after this. stick around. ♪ ♪ ♪ did you lie when you spoke to me ♪ ♪

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coming up straight ahead, the pope that's shaking up the church one tradition at a time. how pope francis is changing the game when it comes to bringing attention to the catholic church. we're going to talk to father james martin coming up next on good friday on "morning joe." ♪ ♪ ♪ i know a thing about an ira ♪ and i got the tools ♪ to do it my way ♪ i got a lock on equities ♪ that's why i'm type e ♪ ♪ that's why i'm tyyyyype eeeee, ♪ ♪ i can do it all from my mobile phone ♪

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here with us now is editor at large of america, a national catholic magazine, father james martin, who is also the author of "jesus, a pilgrimage." you're a best selling author. it's good friday. let's give everybody a lesson. take us to church. remind us what good friday is all about. >> good friday is the day we commemorate jesus' suffering on a cross. it is the most somber day of the christian year and it's the whole story of jesus' death and resurrectio

resurrection, which we celebrate this weekend. >> as we're watching what the pope is doing this holy week, are you amazed as everyone else, what he's doing, the traditions, that he continually moves the boundaries around -- >> i would say the only thing that would surprise me is if he didn't surprise us. for example, yesterday at the holy thursday day services, he washed the foot of a woman and a muslim man in addition to other people. normally popes have done just the feet of priests and they've done it in these great basilicas and disabled people. >> and they weren't catholics. >> most of them were catholics and christians but one of them

was muslim and he included a woman. >> does anyone wonder why a pope hasn't embraced this sooner? >> different popes bring different things to the office. one of my friends described it as the revolution of normalcy. he's being himself, he's being authentic. but he is i would say breaking some traditions by doing things in a little different way than say ben district and john paul did. >> do you sense in your every day work as a jesuit that this jesuit, who is now the pope, has infused a new feeling among catholics in this easter season? >> absolutely. i have many people coming to me and explicitly saying i am coming back to church because of the pope. i have a friend who was a gay man who was distanced from the church and he called me and said

i registered with a parish and a few weeks ago said i went back to profession and he said it's because of pope francis. the pope tends to make people feel welcome. >> do you have any sense from the vatican, putting the children in the pope mobile, going out of the vatican to add misster to the poor, that the old guard in the vatican are having their chains rattled a little? >> there are some of them not comfortable with change. i talked to a high level jesuit in rome and asked is there most resistance? and he said, yeah, and i asked why and he said it's the gospel and it's working. >> a season of reflection, to know where we're coming from and where we're going and up say the

pope washed the feet of a woman and it breaks tradition. douch see this pope taking a serious look at making sure that women have a better place in the catholic church. >> he said that he wants them to have more decision making roles in the catholic church. that's something he wants to do. >> father james martin, it's always a pleasure to have you here. >> coming up, what if anything did we learn today? that's coming up after this. we learned a lot, folks. we learned a lot. so we talked about her options. her valuable assets were staying. and selling her car wouldn't fly. we helped sydney manage her debt and prioritize her goals, so she could really turn up the volume on her dreams today...and tomorrow. so let's see what we can do about that... remodel. motorcycle. [ female announcer ] some questions take more than a bank. they take a banker. make a my financial priorities appointment today. because when people talk, great things happen. make a my financial priorities appointment today. life with crohn's disease ois a daily game of "what if's".

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time to tell you what we learned today. let's start with thomas roberts. >> on good friday, eugene wallace and nicole can get along. >> i learned this week that the pope is one of the all-time great guys. putting those kids in the pope mobile, that made my week. >> i learned that kevin johnson is like the rest of us in the sense that if you had everyone dunked over hakeem olajuwon, you would watch that every video every day. >> and i learned he looks exactly the same. he's like in a type capsule, physical fitness, whatever it is. >> we wish everyone a happy

easter. we'll see you back here on monday. >> it's luke russert today. switch watch. secretary of state makes surprising steps in geneva involving ukraine's crisis. meantime, president obama has two numbers in mind, 8 million and 2014. new health care sign-ups shoot past the administration's own expectations and the president urges democrats to, quote, forcefully defend the law's impact. plus, just one month till mitch mcconnell hopes to put a hurdle behind him. democrats find out who's facing their best shot in the south and a primary pitch by mitt romney pays off -- or maybe not. that's all happening on may 20th, the closest thing we have to a super tuesday in this mid-term year and it's just one month away later in the show. good morni f