>> up the middle. to the end zone. and a touchdown! unstoppable. >> the new england patriots leave little doubt tonight. they are the afc champions. >> okay. good morning. it's monday january 19th. martin luther king day. welcome to "morning joe." with us onset, managing editor of bloomberg politics mark halperin, visiting professor at nyu, former democratic congressman, heard ford jr. cnbc sarah iseman is with us this morning. and in atlanta, msnbc contributor and associate professor at columbia university dorian warren. and in washington senior contributor for the daily columnist at "the week" matt lewis and columnist and associate editor at "the washington post," dave ignatius. my goodness. that's a lot of you.

good morning, everybody. anybody see the games? >> sure. >> yeah. >> we're going as a show so i started to read in. this seattle team if you walked out of the room you might not have known that they won. my daughter was freaking out. >> some people wandered out. >> five minutes of the game you would not -- this here -- the whole game was unbelievable. the last five minutes was a metaphor for their season. started out tough. ended strong. everyone thought that 5:00 left in the game it was over the they come back and force it into overtime. russell wilson does russell wilson. >> a lot of seahawks fans had left. they gave up on their team. they left the stadium. they weren't allowed back? >> nothing more exciting in all of sports than a successful onside kick you see there. >> that's exciting. all right. >> that was the key. >> are they going to win the super bowl again? >> second time. >> i don't know. i might be -- >> we'll see.

>> patriots. >> patriots. >> well, stay tuned. we'll be doing a lot on this, actually. we're doing a prime time special. >> are you doing a prime sometime special on football? >> yes. >> i can't wait for katy perry's halftime show. >> you are very rangy. >> when is your prime time show on the super bowl on? when is that? >> isn't prime time? >> i know what day? >> february. >> the friday before. i'm not sure. >> countdown clock. >> we're going out there. we'll get to meet everybody. >> you're going to go to phoenix? >> yes. you think i'm joking. >> i believe you. >> where is the sign-up sheet for that. >> would you like me to sign you up? >> put me up for that. i would like to go. let's get to the news. we have a lot of people here. president obama is expected to announce higher tax rates for wealthiest americans. proposal unlikely to draw applause from the republican-led senate and house at tomorrow's state of the union. he's going to have quite a

chilly audience i think. the white house is branding it as an infusion for the middle class. the president is expected to propose a tax increase that would bring in $320 billion over the next decade. he will call for raising the capital gains tax and eliminating breaks on inheritance. the plan also adds new fees for the biggest financial institutions. the capital gains tax has gone up once on top earners under president obama after bush era tax breaks were allowed to expire. most of the money raised from the taxes and fees goes to tax credits for middle class famryes with two earners and triples the child tax credit. but already top republicans are penning the plan. >> this is a 20th century out dated model the president is following. the notion that in order for some people to do better someone has to do worse is just not true. raising taxes on people that are successful is not going to make people that are struggling more successful. >> on the eve of president

obama's address a new nbc/"wall street journal" poll examines the public's perspective on this. when presented with a list of options 40% say the wordy vided best sums up the state of the nation. it was followed by recovering troubled deteriorating. overall, 38% chose positive descriptions while 48% chose negative ones. there is plenty of blame to go around. 45% believe president obama has been too stubborn with republicans in congress while 30% feel he has struck the right balance. even more americans, 55%, believe it is the gop which is too stubborn only 15% believe republicans struck the right balance between stubbornness and compromise. let's go around the table. david ignatius i'll start with you. what do you think the president's strategy is here? how much does this tax proposal have to do with legacy especially given the state of where the nation is in terms of how they feel about washington? >> mika i'm struck by how i've

since he got blown out in the mid-term elections obama has been saying announcing what he really would like to do almost oblivious of the affects on democratic members of congress. these tax increases can be justified, one of the most striking facts about the american economy over the last several decades is how much more unequal the distribution of income has become. it's really a striking fact. and this proposal sticks together. but it will be very unpopular with democrats as well as republicans. in the same way as the president's immigration unilateral moves. it's a statement, i'm in this remaining two years. i'm going to announce policies i believe are right and i almost don't care what you think about it. that's my take. >> you hear republicans like mitt romney focusing in on the concept of poverty and disparity. what other options are there? >> i think this is a shrewd move because it's not going to go

anywhere in congress. i think the old days where if a democrat used to just raise the idea of raising taxes, then everybody assumed that taxes were going to go up for everybody across the board. i think it's a little more nuanced now. and look, i think there are issues like carried interest where people pay a lower rate than folks who earn ordinary income. and that does seem unfair to a lot of americans. so i'm not saying that this is good policy but i actually think for president obama to propose this it's probably good politics. i think it probably helps him and it's a populous message right now. the key will be can he really make the case that this is targeted toward middle class tax cut and raising taxes om on eses only on the very ruch. >> politics aside, sarah eisen, in terms of what the president is proposing, has the chance of seeing the light of day? what strikes you? >> not much. >> not much?

>> what strikes me is that you talk to so many ceos, republicans, democrats, everyone agrees you need tax reform. the president is is the president killing this by making the rhetoric about taxing the wealthy and going after the wealthy because everybody agrees there's so much within the tax system that is broken and that could really help our economy and help the middle class, which is the point of this entire legislation that he's proposing if they just get it fixing the tax code. that's going to be the republicans rebuttal to this which is why it's unlikely to see the light of day. the economy is improving. his economy under his term has improved. wages has not gone up. that would be the key to focus on, probably more productive as far as economic point of view and as far as both sides can get on both page. >> harold ford jr., wages flat and going nowhere. >> i agree with everybody that's been said. to sarah's point you're going to get resistance not only from republicans but businesspeople who will argue that the tax code

and regulatory structure, that this administration has imposed on them has made it difficult to produce jobs and increase wages. two, if you're going to raise taxes why not raise what matt said, the carried interest rate which i believe is probably one of the more unfair aspects of the code where people who had investment income oftentimes not their own mop any are enjoying the tax break that regular hard-working income earning americans don't receive. for some reason five or six years now the president has not propose and i think it's travesty. raising the minimum wage is an important thing to do but in the long term you're not going to increase middle class wages by taking from one group and making and distributing to another group. there was an article in the "washington post" over the weekend that said for the first time in 60 years more than half of american children in our public schools from pre-k to 12th grade are living below the poverty level. if the president were to craft a plan to feed kids and ensure hygiene for kids and k-12 i

think you would find a majority of americans earning over a certain amount say i want to give a little bit more. the am by getity of the president's plan is going to cause republicans to say no. you're going to get pushback from the community to raise wage which is the business community. >> mark halperin big picture. pullback at 20,000 feet. is this good politics? he's going to have -- this is going to be a very tough audience. i think it's the first president since 1939 in his seventh year to have an opposition in the audience. >> i hope the white house doesn't mock what i'm about to say for being too idealistic. i think this is properly explained, great politics. i beg you everything the president proposed 70, 30 or better in terms of public opinion about it. the moment will come -- he's not going to get this entire thing passed but he could make a deal with republicans to get 65% or so of what he's proposing and give them something in return and there would be tax reform and it would tax wealthy

americans. explain this well, but he's proposing to make the wealthiest corporations and individuals pay a little bit more in order to expand the child tax credit and college opportunity. i think that's something republicans could potentially be onboard for but not an increase in the capital gains. there's no way they'll pass that. >> dorian, what do you think in terms of missed opportunities? i'm thinking of the minimum wanl and other key issues that seems like it should be done by now. >> this is really a bold effort by the president, especially after getting -- you know the losses in the midterm elections, you wouldn't expect this kind of proposal from the president in the state of the union. one, it benefits him in terms of setting the terms of the debate. as mark just said public opinion around the range of the po prosposal, especially the tax on banks, will be off the chart. but secondly this sets up hillary clinton very well for a run in 2016 because if he makes the argument to go back to the capital gain tax of the clinton

'90s, who is going to argue against that? remember the clinton economy of the '90s versus when we cut the capital gains tax in 2001 2003? i think this is actually a great set-up for hillary clinton in terms of running for president as well as good policy. >> well, while we're on the topic of 2016 let's turn to presidential politics and new polls on what voters would like to see make a running. 59% of republicans would like to see mitt romney run for president for a third time while just 26% believe he should not. 50% say jeb bush should jump in. and 40% think mike huckabee should run again. he's going to be on tomorrow here onset. those polled were less enthusiastic with a chris christie bid saying he should run and 44% saying he should not. on the democratic side a whoing 85% of democrats think hillary clinton should run in 2016 with

11% disagreeing. vice president joe biden is her closest competition with 40% saying he should run. 23% of democrats want elizabeth warren to jump into the race with 20% saying she should not. mark halperin should she? >> elizabeth warren? >> yes. what do you think about -- first of all, i mean, it does seem like a set-up between president obama and hillary clinton a passing of the torch with this speech on tuesday. >> certainly this posture is very clintonesque of saying you know, a little bit more from the wealthy to create opportunity for the middle class. on the republican side the romney numbers are interesting and his folks are encouraged by all the polls that show that people want him to run and he's doing well. the chris christie number is interesting. one thing i picked up last week in san diego is there's a lot of skepticism about chris christie and whether he's not the temperament and other things to be the nominee. there are a lot of republicans don't want him to run is fascinating. he's a stronger candidate, i think, than people think of him being right now. romney and bush in the race

certainly does complicate things for him. >> it really complicates things. matt lewis, you've been covering the mitt romney story. you're finding some interesting things like -- >> right. well, look mika i was on here in august with pat buchanan talking about how -- making a case for why romney should consider making himself available. and there are a lot of good reasons. he's right about a lot of things during the election. he was mocked by barack obama by several things he ended up being right about. but look i think the problem that romney has is that his running was always premissed on the motion that he would be the sort of republican states man who could come to the rescue right? if there were a brokered convention he would be the comp compromised accident. or if we got to labor day and jeb bush didn't run or flamed out and the establishment was lacking a serious candidate, that mitt romney could ride in on a white horse and be the savior. instead it now looks like mitt

romney is elbowing his way in pushing his way in. it plays into the worst stereotypes of mitt romney as being too eager. the kid who sits in the front of the class and raises his hand at every question. i think that romney is in worse shape today than he was a couple weeks ago. the polling i think reflects miami id. people know who he is. i don't think it holds up. >> isn't there a argument david ignatius, to be made. about to move on to the terror threat in europe. isn't there an argument to be made that romney was right about russia? and you look at what's happening in ukraine right now and he seemed to be right on the forefront of where things were going in terms of the threats. >> absolutely. even more so on the question of al qaeda and islamic extremists which we're now focused on so intently with the attacks in paris and moves in belgium. mitt romney can look back to the debates of 2012 and take out the

highlights where he warned that the al qaeda problem had not been rolled up as the president was implying. obama went through that campaign saying this is a problem we've solved, folks. we went after them hard and we really took them up. that's why the benghazi issue really had resonance for all these months because romney was right about what he said during the campaign. i think going in that's one reason why he's going to be a plausible candidate. and look the numbers that you showed show such a substantial number of republicans wanting him in the race. those are the same numbers that mitt romney is looking at. and he sees that -- i don't think he's elbowing his way in. he sees a desire. rchs republicans want to win this time and they have a candidate in romney who a lot of republicans obviously feel comfortable with and he's going with it. >> mark halperin seems like foreign policy is opening and, sarah eisen quickly after, his pivot to poverty is another opening as well because as many

gaffes as he's had, his life represents a real service toward those who are in need. >> you're right. and cynics say this is romney trying to reinvent himself. also jeb bush's message. when we talk about romney we're losing sight of the fact that quietly very few public it rer rans jeb bush is positioning himself to be a strong front-runner. >> sarah can he get over 47% by showing himself? >> maybe. i think whoever is the republican nominee is going to have to hone their economic message of how they're going to help the middle class. what is the republican strategy on that? it's sort of wishy washy on whether they can actually come to an agreement on what their immigration reform is. that could help business on what they will do for wages and for the middle class, which has really been left behind in this recovery and not just stand for big business because obviously that backfired for romney in the past. >> let's go to europe now. let's start in belgium where the search is on for suspects

following last week's raid that police say foiled an imminent terror plot. officials say the mastermind of theal lenled plot on police officers is still on the loose. several people who were detained last week have been released. four people are also now in custody in greece in connection to the investigation. one of the suspects a 33-year-old algerian is due in court today to comply with belgium's request for extradition. and eight israeli arab men are also facing charges for allegedly forming their own islamic state cell. officials say they tried to secure weapons for attacks and killed sheep to prepare for possible executions. it comes as british prime minister david cameron warning of a long battle to defeat islamic extimists. >> we face a very severe threat. that's who we're calling it, severe, because we believe an attack is highly likely. but frankly, we've been in this struggle against extremists

islamists terrorism now for well over a decadend a half. so we know what it takes to win but it's going to take a lot of perseverance perseverance. this threat keeps morphing because it's the same fundamental problem, extremist islamist terror. the threat has changed and altered but it's still based on the fundamental problem of a poisonous death cult narrative of one of the world's major religion religions. >> david ignatius, talk about europe's new reality and our relationship moving forward. >> well, first, europe has been struggling ever since the attack on the "charlie hebdo" magazine that left so many dead to look at the terror networks that exist as they interrogate people, as they gather information, they're seeing this is a problem that stretches across europe. the raids in belgium that came

also week i'm told are not related to the "charlie hebdo" attacks. these are people who came back from syria who they had been watching for many weeks. it just was a coincidence that they came so quickly after the paris events. but the belgians are already looking to greece. one member of the cell someone connected with these plots they believe is in greece. same thing is happening across europe, as the germans, the french the northern european countries tell their security services to look hard at who is out there, who has come back from syria, who may be having connections with jihadists. david cameron, the british prime minister, said clearly when he was in washington last friday that he believes that new powers are necessary for the security services in britain and elsewhere to go after these terrorist cells. that goes very much against the mood after the edward snowed den revelations where people thought these folks have enough power as

it is. cameron said no we are not able to track these people. they have electronic safe haven into which they disappear and we need to be able to go find them. you can look forward to a real debate in britain and the united states about whether to give additional surveillance powers to the nsa, fbi, and starting this again as people raise the specter of possible attacks. but cameron and obama, i thought in sympathy made this point forcefully as they look at the terror problem. >> harold ford. does this. vindicate some of the things and tactics and approaches that the u.s. has taken that we come under criticism if not withering criticism around the world the way we have gone after addressing and attacking terrorism? >> harold, the argument that nsa over did it went farther as it needed to is still there and needs we careful examination. but it's interesting that in this period where the danger to

populations across europe is so obvious that european governments are turning to the u.s. for pem. even the germans who are so critical of our surveillance are said to be asking u.s. and the nsa, can you help us look at these names, look at these numbers and make sense of the attack coming at us. so you know, as happens in a democracy, you swing wide one way and swing wide another way. we're in one of those period swinging back a little bit. but, you know i think in terms of people wanting to feel that their most private conversations are not open to government intrusion, that's still there. >> all right. one more story before we get to break. freezing rain. did you guys see this yesterday? caught many drivers off guard over the weekend. at least seven people were killed in accidents across the northeast. there were hundreds of accidents in the region including two pile-ups involving dozens of vehicles and the dangerous extended over night. the national weather service warned below freezing temperatures over night from northern maryland into

philadelphia. it was -- i walked out of my house yesterday and within two seconds fell flat on my back and then got into the car and got into a car accident. okay. >> oh, my god. >> let's go to bill karins with more on that. >> mika i'm glad you're all right. you're one of the thousand plus accidents, i guess. >> yeah. >> the situation was pretty rare how it occurred. it was really cold on saturday, and then saturday night. then the rain moved in. also with the rain came the warmer temperatures. the problem was, it was almost like taking meat out of the freezer. the ground was still frozen even though the air temperature was above freezing. the trees had no problems. the power lines had no problems. there weren't even icicles on the houses. it was just on the ground. it was so cold it froze the water and only created a thin coating of ice. then the rain on top of that people couldn't even see it and it just led to literally thousands of accidents and pretty much this was the box where almost all of that happened. now, it did melt a little bit yesterday with the rain. look at the temperatures now this morning. right around 33 32.

we could have isolated pockets of black ice, especially northern jersey. the catskills, poconos, also western mass. a lot of the big cities are okay. the only thing we have left this week to deal with is a little bit of light snow coming in wednesday into thursday. it does not look like a big deal. possibly of an inch. but thursday morning's commute could be the next drive we have to worry about in that area. philadelphia northwards wednesday night into thursday morning. but mika i mean that was -- it was one of the worst cases of ice i've ever seen yesterday and it wasn't even that much. it was just -- it was krytal clear. you couldn't see it, which was the worst part. >> bill karins thank you very much. a big morning ahead. former secretary of homeland security tom ridge, congressman eli january cummings former nato supreme allied commander, retired admiral james and the british ambassador to the united states ambassador peter west mascot. they all join us. uber strikes a major deal

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and get a $150 bill credit for each smartphone you switch. hurry! offers end january 31st. only on verizon. time now to take a look at the morning papers from the major brazilian paper, brazil is, quote, outraged after one of its citizens was executed in i'd do neisha for drug trafficking. brazil's ambassador has since been recall fred that country. also killed yesterday were convicts from malawi nigeria, and the netherlands. they're known for having some of the world's harshest drug laws. the ceo of uber saying he

wants to create 50,000 jobs in europe. he says the company is working with governments to ensure public safety trying to improve communications with law enforcement. they faced backlash over some practices including allegedly tracking customers and faces court injunctions in belgium, france, and germany. the san francisco-based company is valued at $40 billion. >> okay. not bad. >> guardian, in yemen, clashes between shia fighters in sanaa. the conflicts took place across the city with gunfire close to the presidential palace. shia rebels have laid siege to the city since last september. >> the honolulu star advertiser pro golfer robert allenby is recovering after he says he was robbed and kidnapped on friday night. what? the australian missed qualifying for the next day's round at the sony open in ahawaii.

later that night at a wine bar with friends he claims he may have been drugged before being assaulted. >> i went to the bathroom. i came out. group of guys said, your buddy is downstairs because they're closing up. i went downstairs. you come out the lift and you go out into the car park and that's where someone hit me. and two hours -- 2 1/2 hours later i woke up on the street in the gutter i had been thrown out of the trunk of a car. i had been robbed. so -- the only reason why i know that part is because a homeless lady told me. she said she saw it. i've watched "taken" and "taken 2" a few 250i78stimes and it's kind of like a spitting image. you know i'm just very thankful i'm alive. >> allenby says his wallet and phone were taken.

so far no arrests reported in the case. thomas? >> those injuries are pretty severe. >> yeah. the miami herald something as innocent as a selfie has sparked international infighting among miss universe contestants. get this. miss lebanon facing backlash after miss israel posted a selfie of them together on the instagram accounts. after catching heat for posing with her miss lebanon posted the photo and in the caption she wrote she had been careful not to be photographed with miss israel but that miss israel had tried several times to take a photo with her. she wrote, quote, i was having a photo with miss japan, miss slovenia. suddenly msziss israel jumped in. she says i hope for change and peace between us and even just for three weeks, just between me and her. >> how far away from the pageant are we? >> just days away. it's going to be on sunday. so donald trump runs the pageant

in a joint venture with nbc universal said it was very sad to see political animosity impacting the pageant. >> you spent a long time telling that story. i'm going to need you to explain what happened. somebody photo bombed somebody? >> miss israel and miss lebanon were in a picture together a selfie together. apparently because of the countries having such issues together the lebanese people felt this was -- >> miss lebanon was under strict orders from her government not to frat tern niz with miss israel. >> the lebanese look at that at frat fraternization. >> i'm co-hosting that pageant. >> i can't believe it. >> as you well are well aware. >> the lifetime of experience and work leads thomas roberts. >> i think joe and i are going. >> you should come. you promised you would. i know your pattern.

even though you pretend not to be. >> what's the venue? >> miami. >> maybe i wanted to be a beauty queen and never could be. maybe i'm insanely gel use. >> you're brilliant, beautiful, and you're mika brzezinski. >> today we will celebrate the birthday and life of dr. martin luther king jr. yesterday people joined the cast and crew of "selma." we've got oprah winfrey and director among those marches from selma's city hall to the bridge where police officers assaulted and tear gassed demonstrators during the historic voting rights marches of 1965. >> this is what i know for sure. everybody who crossed that bridge on bloody sunday and then had the courage to get up and go again on tuesday and then do the final march every single person who was on that bridge is a

hero. >> dr. king was a man of words but he was a man of deeds as well. and i just want to pray the grace and favor of god over selma today. because you guys are doers. the march took place here. that was action. that wasn't just words. and our prayer is that this just won't be a spectacle for a moment but that this will be a day beyond which selma is changed. incredible things happened here. and this place deserves to move forward. >> wow. there was also a nighttime ceremony on the bridge including a musical performance by john legend and common. oscar nominated song "glory." dorian, you're in atlanta this morning for an mlk event.

what are you doing to commemorate the day? >> i'll be at the services at ebeneezer baptist church. there's an annual march to commemorate the legacy of dr. king. the last two days i've been here with the falcio which has an annual mlk weekend to honor his legacy. remember he was killed supporting striking sanitation workers in memphis. it's been a packed weekend. today is the final day to commemorate the life and legacy of dr. king to take a measure of how far we've come but also how far we have to go to achieve true racial justice in this country. coming up ron's look at what president obama and mitt romney are linked -- how they're linkeded. and the one word that can be used to describe both of them?

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♪ look at these, harold. they're a little bit older than you are. get worried. this is the easy part, what you got, there babies. time for the must read opinion pages. ron writes in the national

journal one empty suit one empty agenda. one man says he will be the champion of the poor and nobody believes him. the other says he will be the champion of middle class economics, and nobody thinks he'll get it done. mitt romney and barack obama, these two decent and ambitious men are linked by sad circumstance, both squandered their opportunities to transform the american political system and now represent the utter phoniness of it. whether the issue is sincerity of effectiveness, the bottom line is that romney and obama can't be trusted to deliver. americans crave authentic leadership honest people who work together and change things for the better. mark halperin, i'm sorry, that conclusion about mitt romney whether it agree with his politics or not, how is that being drawn? >> with all due respect to ron, i think that was too cynical about both of them. i think governor romney people who know his heart can say maybe he made a mistake not talking

about i think so this before but the notion that he doesn't care about poor people is just unfair and i think kind of overly cynical. and the president does not want to waste the last two years of his administration. maybe his policies won't get through. not all of them will but i think he would like to say to republicans let's find a way to kromp compromise. >> i do think there's something to be said -- david ignatius said it at the outset object how oblivious some in washington are. if you're serious about getting things done, i have no problem with putting markers done but you put markers down at the beginning of your term as president. we're now six years in. you now have realities that is set in. the only point i make about the point about believing the president or the fact the that he will get it done, are you willing to work with republicans, are you willing to get a minimum wage plan and keystone, there are things you can do that are, i think, would make it more like likely that something would pass. you're not taking his position. i agree with your point that

this is bold on the president's part. but at the same time, the country said just a few weeks ago wanted to get things done. i'm not convinced the marker the president is putting down is going to get us closer to getting meaningful things done. >> 28% per capita gains tax. when he took over it was 15%. that's not going to pass. >> ronald reagan? >> it was 28%. no question about it. but that's not the only place where you can raise taxes. >> matt lewis, is ron being fair here? >> yeah. i'm going to defend my friend here. i think he's right. he's not saying these guys are bad guys. he's saying they're good people but i think he's absolutely right. first of all, mitt romney -- i think mitt romney cares about poor people. of course i do. but guess what. he went around talking about the makers and takers 47%. he said i don't care about the very poor. you can drill down on why he said that but those are horrible things to just in terms of like political optics to have said. that hurts him making this compelling argument which now

he's gotten around to talking about it. in the case of barack obama, you know i think he has really sort of poisoned the well. he could have worked with republicans. he could have staked out area where's there would be agreement. earlier we talked about carried interest not -- maybe it should be taxed like ordinary income. >> it should. >> you might be able to get bipartisan agreement on that. ted cruz and elizabeth warren coming together. it's smart politics. i don't think it can done and it's cynical. >> matt lewis, thank you very much. we're going tomorrow night to the state of the union. i think it's going to be kind of exciting to watch the dynamics. up next how paris changed everything. a closer look at what europe faces in the fight against terror. the former nato supreme allied commander joins us next.

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♪ that happened. >> so nice. >> okay. >> a little awkward. >> i think the optics with just like beyond -- what happened? what happened? so the president or vice president or secretary of state who speaks beautiful french does not show up at the moment when all of the world leaders come together, but they go to paris city hall and they bring james taylor and sing "you've got a

friend"? >> the big three mickey rourke are huge in france. >> john kerry said himself this is a, quote, big hug. he wanted to give a big hug to the french people and let them know that they've got a friend. james taylor. >> okay. so maybe i'm wrong. maybe it was nice. i just think we're missing the boat here. maybe there's a bigger picture we can talk about with our next guest from boston formerer nato supreme allied commander, now the dean of the fletcher school retired admiral james stabritis. very good to have you back on the show, sir. >> good to see you, mika. >> let's talk about on a more serious level what has happened in europe over the past few weeks and where you think it's going to take us in terms of our understanding of the threat posed by ideological extremeism and how it may or may not converge the views in terms of how to combat it between the

united states and europe. >> yeah i think we're seeing a reflection of what i observed in four years living in belgium which has become a bit of ground zero here. and you know the terrorists are in belgium the same reason nato has its headquarters there. it's centrally located. it's on the borders. and it affords access. and that's the european challenge, is dealing with the unlimited access throughout all of these countries. i think it will cause convergence between the u.s. approach, which has been one of leaning forward, try to play the away game use the drones use aggressive surveillance and the european approach which has been much more on the soft side. the good news is life isn't in on and off switch. you don't have to do just super aggressive or only soft power. you find that balance between hard power and soft power.

i would call that smart power. i think that's where we will see the europeans end up. >> david ignatius in washington has a question if you, sir. >> want to ask my friend about the toughest part of the nato problem which is turkey a nato member, but thousands of jihadists have crossed that turkish border into syria and iraq and are a big part of the danger that threatens the rest of europe. what do you think can be done in addition to make turkey a more solid part of nato and a better bow work against this terrorist violence? >> i think, david, it's great to see you, by the way. point one would be europe kind of missed a strategic turn not seeking to bring turkey into the european union years ago. and now the popularity of europe for turkey is declining. but still there's a desire to get into the european union, so that's a carrot that can be deployed. secondly, the alliance itself still has a lot of positive

effect in terms of keeping turkey leaning forward with us although at the moment as you know, david, they're denying us use of the bases in order to conduct the strikes. number three and probably most importantly is the sense of danger the turks ought to and i think increasingly are feeling by the turbulence on the border. you're right to put your finger on it. the numbers i see are kind of 3 to 5,000 europeans from the rest of europe going in to syria. as many as 3,000 to 4,000 turks are cross that border and get spoog the fight. >> moving quickly, mark halperin -- harold ford jr. >> real quickly. there's a debate in washington has been on going about guantanamo playing a role and helping to recruit extremists in parts of the world. do you agree with that? should bit shut down? and if you agree that it should be shut down what should we do with the most dangerous of

people there? >> i think everybody wants to shut it down mark because it is kind of a beacon of darkness if you will in terms of amount a call to violence within much of the radicalized islamic world. as you know we've now boiled down to about 800 to 600 to 400, we have really sloughed off the less dangerous folks. we're down to about 100 seriously hard-core people. i don't think there's an easy answer at this point and i don't think this is a good time to be releasing more of the jihadists. so i say hold where we are for the moment and let's not put more violence into the system coming out of guantanamo at the moment at least. >> all right. admiral james stayvridis. do you have a pick sir, for the super bowl? >> i do. i'm in boston. can you guess who i think is going to win? also, let's just look at how the games went last night. hello. >> all right. >> but i do have news.

i've heard james taylor is going to sing at halftime there. >> oh, ouch. yes, he will give everybody a big hug, too. thank you, admiral. >> thanks everybody. great to see you. >> lenny kravitz is singing at halftime and he is big in france. >> katy perry. >> it's going to be hot. all right. still ahead, 15 points in 44 seconds. if you've turned off the seattle green bay game with 2:00 to go you know, you pretty much missed the whole game. full highlights though of yesterday's conference championship ahead.

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my calvins. >> oh, my gosh. oh my gosh. that's justin bieber. at first i thought it was real. it was a -- >> she doesn't mean bieber. >> she does? let me tell ya. i actually can't tell you, but apparently there's something about his ad that is not real. that's all i'm going to say. all right. >> is that okay to say? >> you're horrible mika. no, i'm just rt roing the news. >> he tweeted he liked that parody. >> okay. just saying. why am i horrible? okay. could have been the tattoos. dorian warren thank you for being on this morning. much more ahead on "morning joe." could the type of terror trets we're seeing in europe happen near in the u.s.? we'll speak to the former homeland security tom ridge. plus horrible driving conditions for thousands of americans in the mid atlantic this weekend. are things any better? for today's morning commute.

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mitt romney is reportedly considering running for president in 2016 in in a related story, charlie brown is planning on finally kicking that football. when romney told the news to a group of donors they started chanting "run mitt run."

incidentally run mitt is how you boot up romney's operating system. >> aw is that fair? welcome back to "morning joe." mark halperin harold ford jr., sarah eisen, thomas roberts, david ignatius all still with us. thomas what a game last night. >> really good stuff, right? >> right. >> people were glued to the television set. let's give everybody a recap of what happened because we have the seahawks hosting the packers in the nfc championship. we know what mark feels about certain teams. but several early turnovers by the seahawks helped green bay jump out to the 16-0 lead. by the end of the first half we thought it was clear. but that score would have been higher but the packers were forced to settle for three field goals. seattle finally gets onboard. third quarter. using trickery. a field goal gets them in the end zone on a 19-yard pass from the holder john ryan. but the storing was for the

seahawks until about 2:00 left in the fourth quarter. >> from the 1, it's third and goal. here's wilson keeping it for the touchdown. good kick up into the air. it is loose and recovered by seattle. here's lynch. lynch, touchdown! >> marshawn lynch right there. seahawks recover an onside kick. at the 2:00 they score again. point conversion. give seattle three-point lead. but the packers are not finished. they kick a field goal to tie it up at 22-22. the seahawks they get the ball first in overtime. >> wilson toward the end zone. it is caught! seattle's going to the super

bowl! >> hey, there you have it. >> and just like that. >> that's incredible. it was the kick right? >> onside kick. >> yeah. wow. >> the seahawks scored in theirs first post-season overtime. they complete the comeback. shock the packers. 28-22. some of the seattle fans had already left thinking that it was, you know over and done with. but we get to the patriots hosting the colts in the battle for the afc. new england was the dominant team. quarterback tom brady threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns. blunt rushed for 148 yards. three tips to the end zone. just a ten-point lead after two quarters. the pats ran away with it. they win 45-7. brady. >> okay. >> bill belichick headed to their sixth super bowl together. so with that, it's a record. with that record big game all sets. see hawks will defend their championship against the patriots in super bowl xlix. >> we're headedignatius who do you

think is going to win? >> watching brady's dominance yesterday you would have to say new england. it's going to be a terrific game. but since i was born in boston i've got to go with boston. >> i don't know. >> we shall see. we're getting everyone to chime in today. let's go -- it's going to be fun. we're going out there. it's going to be awesome. president obama is expected to announce higher tax rates for the wealthiest americans, a proposal that is unlikely to draw applause from the republican-led senate and house at tomorrow's state of the union. it's going to be a chilly audience that he has there. the white house is branding the latest move as an infusion for the middle class. the president is expected to propose a tax increase that would bring in $320 billion over the next decade. he will call for raising the capital gains tax and eliminating break on inheritance inheritance. the plan adds new fees for the biggest financial institutions. the capital gains tax has

already gone up once on top earners under president obama after bush era tax breaks were allowed to expire. most money raised goes to tax credits for the middle class families with two earners and triples the child tax credit. but already top republicans are panning the plan. >> this is a 20th century outdated model the president is following. the notion, first of all, in order for some people to do better someone has to do worse is just not true. raising taxes on people that are successful is not going to make people struggling more successful. >> here with us now from washington, democrat from maryland and ranking member of the house oversight and government reform committee, congressman elijah cummings. congressman, good to have you onboard this morning. so the president -- what do you think his strategy is here and what has the chance of seeing the light of day in terms of what he's proposing? >> well, i think the president realizes that you know there are a lot of people who have not felt the benefit of the progress

that we made -- >> we know that to be made. >> so i think basically what he's saying is look the middle class is shrinking, poorer people are getting poorer. i don't know how this will pan out but i do believe that he's going to have the democrats 100% behind him and i think he will be able to forge his way. again, he's got to do this. i don't see any other way or any other alternative. he's got to move to support the middle class. >> you've stated what we're facing right now as a country. sarah eisen, the president's plan does it address the missing middle, the wage issue? does it -- if or some reason he could get some of this through? >> if he could get some of this through but that's the big wide open question mark. there are other things that can address the middle class. you don't have to raise taxes on the wealthy. why not go to what paul ryan in his starmttement said, address the

tax code itself instead of just raising taxes to bring in money and to address the end issing issue. >> congressman, does the president currently have the clout and relationships on capitol hill to lead an effort for major tax reform? >> i think he does. i think, you know, the fact is is that the republicans want to make sure that they show that they can lead. they've got 2016 coming up. they want to make sure that -- i mean, in the past they've been able to sit around and say no no, no. now the president is saying look, you know i've got -- i accomplished all of these things from an economic standpoint. unemployment rate cut in half and wall street doing great. and now i want to do something for your constituents. i think he has some clout. i think the veto is going to be a very serious weapon that he will use from time to time to accomplish the things that he needs to get done. >> thomas? >> congressman, does the president walk a really fine line when he starts to address a cast system of wealth against the poor instead of talking

directly about access to fulfill the american dream, making sure that it is accessible to everyone? >> well, i think he -- i think he -- i don't think he's walking a thin line. i think what he's doing is addressing reality. you've got people in my district who no longer have hope that their children are going to do better than what they did. you've got people working 9:00 to 5:00 sometimes two 9:00 to 5:00 jobs just to stay alive. so -- and there's a vast number of people that fall into that category. and so i don't see it as a question of class. i see it as a question of income equality. and so i think that -- i think the american public will be with him. we've got to increase the paychecks that people are taking home every week. >> so, all right, congressman cummings, thank you very much. david ignatius i'd like to take this question to the big picture in terms of income equality. it seems like nobody has been able to address this and we've been looking at this problem

getting worse and worse and worse. what is it going to take at this point to address wages, minimum wage unemployment and the disparity that we're seeing? and what kind of candidate at this point? >> if you talk to economists mika they worry that there is a structural problem in our economy now that has prevented during these years of expansion since the crisis of 2008-2009, has prevented a trickle-down process like what we want to see happen in a market economy, from trickling down and benefitting the middle class. is there some structural blockage? you find economists like larry summers, others arguing yes, there is. and that you need policies that focus on that. so they talk about the need for some kind of spending that goes directly to middle class jobs infrastructure spending perhaps. i think they would say that a policy that focuses only on tax

increases for the wealthy doesn't address this other side of the structural problem. but that's the thing that people i hope over this next two years of presidential politics will be debating. what's wrong? why is our middle class standing still when the rich are getting a lot richer. but they're just standing still? what's going on there? it's a big riddle in economics. >> i think that's the key question. and the key issue as we look forward in terms of presidential politics. harold, then sarah. >> six years, i'm glad we're here. states that passed minimum wage increases. there's a hunger and appetite for this. this should be the forefront, the first thing they try to do. the front page shows governor cuomo wants to raise the minimum wage in new york city. what's missing from all these conversations, republican and democrat, maybe paul ryan a little bit, in the president's plan there's no mention of growth anywhere in it. i think to david's point, you're not going to tax your way to increasing i imagine whats for the minimum wage.

you will pit people against one another to do that. since this election has talked about raising taxes, talked about reregulating broadband, for the life of me i don't understand why you would put more of the internet under a regulatory regime from the government as if that's going to help it grow. if you're serious part of what the president is about the right. raise the carrot interest rate. if you're talking about ineequal inequality and inequity that's the grossest example. the fact this democratic congress and white house has done little or not, embarrassing. say to rich americans you're going to put more money into the system to ensure that bill rhodes 4g network, bridges, airports, pipeline create jobs. >> it's an economy. it's an economy that the point and i don't know if what the president is proposing necessarily addresses that. you may be able to with your expertise. but it looks better on the outside and still really painful for people on the insgid will that has been the number one theme throughout this recovery. the unemployment.

rate is the lowest yet americans aren't feeling it. it's a wage issue. it's a despair city issue. we have a stock market close to record highs. >> that's another story. >> and yet americans are not feeling it. the average american isn't owning stocks like they used to. >> it's about raising taxes on the wealthy. two things in this plan that i think the president believes will help medium and long term. one is making college more of for theable for more people. that is the key to dealing with these problems. the second is tax credit for children and for working poor. there's a lot in here that fundamentally goes to addressing these problems. >> and the flip side of the debate is it hurts small business owners who bear the brunt of a lot of these kind of tax increases around they are the job creators in this country, the small businesses who have had lack of confidence because of the new regulation and because of higher taxes. >> sarah, why can't we get a minimum wage that's just tied naturally to inflation? why can't something like that pass? >> seems to basic. >> it does seem so basic and yet we don't do it. a lot of folks on the right

would say that minimum wage isn't the answer. that's just going to hurt businesses more. if you're mcdonald's and you have to pay a higher wage what they need is economic growth. back to harold's point. we have consistent economic growth across sectors of this economy, if we have more competitive trade policies more competitive export more competitive manufacturing as the president has talked about but really need to see more policies, a lot of these problems would be solved because there would be more demand for higher quality jobs in this country. >> let's turn to presidential politics and new polling on what voters would like to see make a run for the white house in 2016. a new cbs news poll shows 59% of republicans would like to see mitt romney run for president for a third time. while 26%, just 26%, believe he should not. why are you chuckling, harold? >> i find it interesting. >> you should run. >> he should run. the more the merrier. >> 50% say jeb bush should jump in and 40% says that mike

huckabee should run again. those polled were less enthusiastic with a chris krusity bid with 29% saying he should run and 44% saying he should not. on the democratic side, whopping 85% think hillary clinton should run in 2016. >> those are good numbers. >> yeah. it's amazing. vice president joe biden is her closest competition with 40% saying he should run, 23% of democrats want elizabeth warren to jump in the race. mark halperin how does elizabeth warren play into this conversation and -- is i guess the biggest worry for hillary clinton is that she's coming in with too much. strength? >> well, look -- >> only one way to go from there. >> i think those numbers are surprisingly poor for elizabeth warren. a fifth of democrats want her to run. i would have thought that would have been higher. there's a vacuum. the republicans are going to have 15 candidates or so a big robust debate. lots of attention. hillary clinton, even if she's

gettingle 5% of democrats, the media and some democrats will focus a lot on the 15% or so who don't vote for her or don't support her and she's going to have to address that. right now elizabeth warren is the most skilled and the most fascinating. she can say anything. the clinton folks have to respond to it. right now they're mostly responding to it with silence. whether she runs or not, i think there's a now small she will she will be extraordinarily influential and holding hillary clinton more to the left than she would like to be. >> i would agree with that. >> i'm surprised. is there any indication that she wants this? >> to be president? >> elizabeth warren that she is actually pursuing this? >> no but i think she's waiting to see what happens. hillary clinton has a vulnerability, it's elizabeth warren out there as hovering presence. again, influencing what she says. give elizabeth warren credit. she wants to be part of the debate and she thinks there should be policies that holds less toward wall street and more towards middle class people. that's the clintons' general

orientation. historically at times they have been more business oriented than elizabeth warren would like. >> don't you think that her message, her life story represents the exact void we've been talking about here on the set for an hour. >> every american should have the right and ability to grow up to be a harvard law professor. everyone. >> that's right. >> wall street and the banks. >> what's that? >> does it go beyond just chasing down wall street and being a tough banking cop when you talk about foreign policy which a lot of people think that this election is going to be much more about. >> that is -- you put your finger on something. elizabeth warren is a very narrow voice she speaks about income. financially she's not for ron rehn policy, not social issues. that's an important voice right now because that's what americans are focused on more than anything else because of the issues we've been talking about. >> the banks have paid a quarter trillion dollars in fees and penalties. what more do we want here? i'm trying to figure out -- people have been critical of banks but do we want to put them out of business? >> i don't know. i don't know. i do know -- >> i don't know where we go from

here. >> more regulation, more taxes. >> says the man from morgan stanley. >> i get it. what i'm saying is if more attention on banks is going to create more middle class jobs and higher wages i'm all for it. but the results have not shown that. in fact, we've seen jobs be created, but we've not seen wages go up. i think at some point a logical person rational person steps back and says all right, what are we achieving here? are we pushing wages up? it takes states electing republicans to raise the minimum wage. what are we doing here? >> it doesn't cure the economic problem. >> it's like louisiana ties themselves -- >> that it don't even have a state minimum wage. louisiana ties itself to the federal min rum wage. >> arkansas which elected a republican senator and republican governor raised the minimum wage. you saw several other states. and new york. >> right. >> i wish the congress and

president would say put the minimum wage on the table. it has to be increased. work a deal with the republicans. work a deal. i'm old-fashioned. i think government can work. >> i'm being told we need to go abroad. so we're going turn to belgium where the search is still on for suspects following last week's raid that police say foiled an imminent terror plot. officials say the mastermind of the alleged plot on police officers is still on the loose. several people who were detained last week have been released. four people are also now in custody in greece in connection to the investigation. one of the suspects 33-year-old algerian, is due in court today to comply with belgium's request for extradition. and eight israeli arab men are also facing charges for allegedly forming their own islamic state cell. officials say they tried to secure weapons for attacks and killed sheep to prepare for possible executions. it comes as british prime minister david cameron warns of a long battle to defeat islamic extremists. >> we face a very severe threat.

that's what we're calling it severe because we believe an attack is highly likely. but frankly we've been in this struggle against extremists islamists terrorism now for well over a decade and a half. so we know what it takes to win but it's going to take a lot of perseverance. this threat keeps morphing because it's the same fundamental problem, extremists islamist terror the threat has changed an altered but it's still based on the fundamental problem of a poisonous death cult narrative which is the perversion of one of the world's major religions. that's the thing we're still up against. >> all right. let's bring in former homeland security secretary and former republican governor of pennsylvania tom ridge. good to have you on the show this morning, sir. >> good morning. >> first of all, foreign ministers of the eu will meet today to weigh in on the rising threat of the islamic mill tansy. is intelligence sharing the key

here? >> i think it's at the heart of what all democracy have been doing since september 12th, 2001. i think it's much much better than it was. and unfortunately, a global scourge will require global vigilance and, frankly, it's something we're going to be dealing with as a permanent condition for the foreseeable future. >> do you -- >> intelligence gathering and identifying the potential actors before they act is critical. homeland security basically was a defensive operation. you try to extend your borders out and that means working with foreign governments to identify the actors be fr they strike. >> do you see privacy issues resurfacing given the fact that we need to try and garner as much intelligence as possible and how does our relationship with europe change develop and fov forward given what's happened? >> i don't think the relationship has changed. it's only gotten better. at the end of the day one of the real challenges i think we have even in this country is accept

the fact that al qaeda is not on the run. isil is not a jv team. the number one terrorist nation in the country, iran is still responsible for a lot of the chaos and unrest in middle east that has generated a lot of this activity. so again, intelligence is at the heart of this but i think there has to be greater recognition in the united states that we have a much more significant role to play and the rhetoric sometimes from the white house doesn't match the reality on the ground. >> all right. what do you mean by that? go ahead, take it a step further. >> i think the president understandably felt good that -- so did the rest of the world when we got bin laden. but al qaeda is not on the run. it has expand. they just said it has what tast sized, morphed, become more global than it's over been. the notion that isil was a jv team, they now control significant portions of syria and iraq and part of that is because of the inability of the white house to pay attention to

iranian influence in iraq and just need to accept the reality. and the reality is it's a global scourge, it's a permanent condition. the united states needs to be much more aggressive in its leadership and it would be helpful in f. in addition to having street -- a million people gather together in the western world and in paris, that muslim world joined in protest against this violence this poisonous interpretation of the koran. >> all right. now to david ignatius in washington. david? >> secretary ridge, i want to ask you what you think europe's greatest vulnerability is. if the europeans asked you to dmom as con come in as consultant and identify for them the things they most urgently need to fix to provide security what would be on your list? >> well, it's a very -- it's a very important question and i suspect the europeans have done some intraspection over the past

couple of days in this regard. let's be very very clear. they -- the notion a couple years ago is multiculturalism, this openness willingness of the european community to absorb immigrants from around the world. but let's face it they've pretty much isolated the muslim community. they've not really collaborated or worked with or integrated that community. i think one of the biggest challenges they have is to develop a relationship within the muslim community including the business leaders and the clerics so that one, they're part of the intelligence gathering operation but, two, a lot of these individuals, these young men feel they are diseffected. they're much more committed to their religion than they are to that country. i think the social integration of these individuals and these communities into the broader fabric of the country is absolutely essential for this situation to dissipate. it's not going to eliminate it but thes a simulation of these individuals into the culture,

into the economy et cetera is absolutely critical. >> secretary ridge, this is thomas roberts. you said this is a permanent condition as we say the kouachi problems cherif kouachi was radicalized because iraqi abu ghraib prison images. what are the other seeds planted since 9/11. again, 9/11 not really having anything to do with radicalization. more about the iraq war. but what other seeds are you worried about that are going to come back to roost against the homeland? >> it's a very interesting commentary when you do hear that some allege that it's the treatment of muslims in abu ghraib that has motivated them to this violence to this extremism. but also be very very clear. muslims, the zealots have killed more mus himlims than werners. it's hard to use the word rational when you look at their conduct, i think it's much more than that. i do think there are within that

religion and there's over a billion men and women that practice it. it's a very devout religion. nose those who strike out against the moderate world and refuse to accept any kind of western influence in their communities. to that end it's the biggest challenge we all have. >> are you glad mitt romney is jumping in and who is going to win the super bowl? >> well, i'm a governor centric. you can well imagine that. i'm looking forward to supporting a governor. my personal preference happens to be jeb bush. >> jeb, check. super bowl? >> pardon me? >> super bowl? >> well, my steelers didn't make it so i guess i go with tom brady and bill belichick this time. >> another patriot. >> smart man. >> thank you so much. good to see you again. still ahead on "morning joe," the u.s. military is planning to send hundreds of troops to train syrian rebels in the fight against isis. foreign correspondent mikey kay is here with a look at why that plan is facing centuries of problems. we'll also be joined by the british ambassador to the united

states ambassador peter westmacott. we'll also find out if he was offended that james taylor sint serenade david cameron when they visited the white house. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. visited the white house. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. you justthey visited the white house. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. when they visited the white house. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. because you're not you you're a whole airline... and it's not a ticket you're upgrading it's your entire operations, from domestic to international... which means you need help from a whole team of advisors. from workforce strategies to tech solutions and a thousand other things. so you call pwc. the right people to get the extraordinary done. ♪ ♪ they're coming. what do i do? you need to catch the 4:10 huh? the equipment tracking system will get you to the loading dock. ♪ there should be a truck leaving now. i got it. now jump off the bridge.

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joining us now from the white house assistant president and director for the office of political strategy and outreach david seamus. but first, mark happen prin, you have new information from the"the washington post". >> just on the eve of this state of the union president's approve approval rating now 50% to 44% disapprove disapprove. that's what the post calls remarkable nine points in a approval just since december. >> david, now we launched the softball. no actually i'm going to ask you to pear down the president's plan for us. i want to hear the key things in

this plan that will actually attack the voids that we're seeing in this economy, wages and the middle class. exactly how are they being lifted up in this plan in a significant way? >> mika, first of all, thank you for having me on. mark, thank you for that wonderful tee up to this day. go pats by the way. >> massachusetts man. >> so there are three pieces to this mika that go to the why behind the plan. first, what are the things that we can do to make sure that families have it a little bit easier. second, what can we do to make sure they get ahead. third, how can we create conditions in a growing economy that benefits everybody. on the first piece about making things easier, increase in child care tax credit. when you have a child under 5 you get a little bit of relief in terms of day care and the other costs that you have. the second thing that we do is an enhanced second earner tax credit. so that when a mom or dad goes back to work they have a little bit of extra money in their

pocket to help deal with commuting. again, child care and all of the other costs that come with that. >> yeah. >> in the second bucket in terms of the things that we can do to help people get ahead, there are some additional money for folks in terms of college education, to help them deal with the costs. and this goes above and beyond even what the president said last week about free community college. and so two main pieces to this that help people now but lay the conditions for going forward. >> now, david, this is what i told you not to do. no listing. but how -- >> i cut it down mika. >> he edited. that's good. >> i did. >> i want to know how it actually impacts wages and how long would this take and where else in this sort of very kind of difficult economy -- you've got good numbers on the outside but you've got people still in pain on the inside. how does this address that? >> well, the good news and i think those numbers that mark

referenced in the "washington post" is for the first time in seven years, people are beginning to feel better. having said that here's the way to address it. there are two stressor on day-to-day life that people have. one is that their paycheck doesn't go far enough because costs keep on increasing. the child care piece, the second earner tax credit some of the costs for education help to address the day-to-day costs that people have. that's on the cost side. in terms of wages, look, we're hoping that as the economy grows and as companies are profitable you're going to see the increases that we saw in 2014 accelerate. but above and beyond that people understand the real way to deal with wages is essentially to give people opportunity to learn a new skill, to get some education, to have an apprentice ship to have job training to get it done. >> david simus we will see you there. look forward to hearing the president spell this out. >> thanks, mika. coming up, as a wave of terror sweeps over europe how

will the u.s. and england respond? the british ambassador of the united states is our guest, next. ♪ nineteen years ago, we thought "wow, how is there no way to tell the good from the bad?" so we gave people the power of the review. and now angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. you can easily buy and schedule services from top-rated providers. conveniently stay up to date on progress. and effortlessly turn your photos into

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37 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." europe is on high alert after a failed terrorist plot in belgium and the deadly attacks in paris. joining us now the british ambassador to the united states, ambassador peter westmacott. thank you for being on. >> good morning. >> david cameron was calling frankly ridiculous members of the european parliament for blocking measures that would allow the authorities across the continent to share information including passengers' credit card numbers, detailed travel eye ten rares. do we have a big discrepancy in

terms of sharing information about people who fly in out and of european countries and to america? >> i don't think we have a big discrepancy. this business of sharing intelligence about what we call passenger name records is an important part of ensure that we do work together in trying to ensure that we know where terrorists are traveling to and when. and that's one of the things that is going to be on the agenda today when foreign ministers meet in brussels to look at a more collective european response to the terrible terrorist threat to which we're all now subject. >> mark halperin? >> our country and yours since 9/11 have had rebust debates between the balance of civil liberties and national security. in light of your recent events would your message be people are going to have to give up some individual liberties now for more aggressive surveillance and other operations to try to ensure national security and homeland security? >> i think there's always a balance to be struck you know between individual liberty and national security. i think in the uk where we've

unfortunately had a tradition of more hribal things happening people have got used to the fact that we've got surveillance cameras. that's not just for terrorism but to deal with organized crime in public places indeed not even organized crime. i think people are broadly comfortable with that. other thing is when it comes to intelligence gathering and the reality is if we're going to catch terrorists and when we do it's often because we find they are talking to each other. people in the united kingdom are comfortable with that because there is a system of proper political oversight and parliamentary scrutiny of the way in which we gather intelligence when we need to do so. i don't think at the moment that's a huge issue. people are mainly concerned about ensuring the government is doing all they can to keep them safe. >> mr. ambassador, do you expect there to be an overhaul of europe's immigration policies after this and do you think that is at some point, do you think that is the root cause of some of the problems we're having right now, the economic disparity between immigrants in europe and the liberal policies that europe has implemented over the last few years?

>> well, what's happening in the uk at the moment is that people are looking again at the question of immigration. this has been an issue of public concern for some time not entirely to do with terrorism and people coming to the united kingdom from other parts of the world but there's also been political concern over something rather separate, which is called benefit tourism. people arrive in the united kingdom from other countries and have an entitlement quite generous handouts as they're called from the united kingdom welfare state. so politically that's an issue in which the government is looking at. that's why we've had caps put on immigration numbers. from elsewhere in the european union because there is free movement of labor, then it's much more difficult to place limits on the fact that people are coming into the united kingdom. so i think this is part of the political issue in the united kingdom and united states and other countries. you've got to look at immigration and particularly careful at people coming into your country, some of whom may be your own nationals who have been abroad and got radicalized in parts of the middle east where there is this poisonous

ideology which is affecting many of our people who have become or have always been members of the muslim community. >> ambassador peter westmacott thank you very much. still ahead, the story of one woman's return to the elementary school where she went to as child. it has nothing to do with education but everything to do with the survival of u.s. cities. and we'll explain that next. discover card. hey, i heard you guys can help me with frog protection? yeah, we help with fraud protection. we monitor every purchase every day and alert you if anything looks unusual. wow! you're really looking out for us. we are. and if there are unauthorized purchases on your discover card, you're never held responsible. just to be clear you are saying "frog protection" right? yeah, fraud protection. frog protection. fraud protection. frog. fraud. fro-g. frau-d. i think we're on the same page. we're totally on the same page. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. fraud protection. get it at discover.com ♪

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talk to your doctor and visit humira.com this is humira at work sometimes all a struggling community needs to succeed is someone to believe in it. that's the mission of one organization which is giving local leaders in low-income neighborhoods all across the country a chance to dream bigger for their fellow residents. these days linda thompson has a lot of trips down memory lane. >> i kind of picture students

and teachers saying don't run in the halls and the kids laughing and playing. >> reporter: she's flooded with these memories because the great grandmother to be now lives in the very school where she went as a child. >> this is my first grade class right here. it really takes me back. >> reporter: but the elementary school wasn't always in such good shape. for years it sat abandoned and rotting until a young energetic couple wanted to turn the building into low-income house for seniors. >> we realized that we had to do something bigger than ourselves, that we had to make an impact on the world and we saw needs. >> reporter: the only problem? the couple had no experience and nobody wanted to take a chance on their plans, but glen wilson did have one thing going for them. >> oh, wow. i am a pain, yeah my nickname they call me mr. persistent. >> yes there will be times i will be honest when i saw glen calling i didn't want to pick up

the phone. >> reporter: sue peters works in local initiative support korgs. >> but i knew it was a good idea and it was worth picking up the phone because putting lisc resources with him per serseverance we would get a good project in the end. >> reporter: she took a chance giving their non-profit company, communities first, their first round of flooding. with lisc backing they are now moving on to its next renovation. >> in total, about 36 units. homeless, at risk of homeless and people with special needs. right now it looks like there's no hope for the building whatsoever. >> reporter: revitalizing communities is lisc's business and business has been good. the company has offices a all across the country providing key support for other local companies looking to improve targeted neighborhoods. and its work has attracted some big corporates donors like the nfl, state farm metlife, and the caterpillar foundation. >> so we like that it's a grass roots effort. they do go in and they actually

talk to the people that live there and ask them what it takes and what do they want to help the neighborhood turn around. >> reporter: the caterpillar foundation was so impressed with lisc they helped open a local office in peoria illinois. >> you can't fix these neighborhoods in a couple years. however, every investment that's made takes them closer to the neighborhood that they really want it to be. >> reporter: in flint, michigan that meant conserving oak street school. and for linda thompson conserving her past. >> i feel like i've come full circle. >> caterpillar is getting out in front of the work lisc is doing in communities as you saw in the piece and we should mention that caterpillar is the sponsor of our special series. and joining us now is the president and ceo of lisc michael rubenjer. first of all, congratulations on the work. and that school? that looked like a money pit. i don't even understand how you can turn something like that around. it's such a challenge.

>> well, it was a challenge. but it turned out to be a great project, as you saw on the video. and it's a wonderful example of what lisc is doing all over the country to revitalize inner city and rural low-income communities and to improve the lives of the people that live there. >> other projects that stand out to you as especially challenging but also as fulfilling? that you all are working on right now? >> well, in a way, many of them are challenging because we are working in lower-income communities that have been neglected over the years. but we have offices in 30 cities. we raise and invest over a billion dollars a year in our efforts. we provide affordable housing, create jobs increase access to health care and improve educational opportunities. ours is really a comprehensive approach and, as i say, we're doing it in literally hundreds of communities all across the country. >> people who watch that report who would like to help what can they do? >> well, they can look us up on our website and they can donate

to us of course we're a non-profit organization. but also our local offices often use volunteers to work on projects and certainly they can do that as well. >> harold -- >> talking about stimulating economic growth. we've had a conversation about taxes and some of the proposals coming out of washington. if there are one or two things, tax structures that could be changed, obviously making it possible for people to give and get the tax break but what are you facing as you build things improving people's lives and creating jobs and improving education opportunities that could be changes? >> well, the first thing we can do is maintain some of the programs we already have that we make extensive use of the federal low-income housing tax credit and federal new markets tax credit. all across the country. they really have helped us stimulate growth in many communities. hanging on to those program, often under pressure as you know in the congress. hanging on to those programs, or even expanding those programs would be the first thing i would want to do.

secondically in terms of not necessarily taxes but on the appropriations side our is a comprehensive approach there is no particular federal program geared for that. a program like that, to support the kind of work we do in our communities would be fantastic. >> thank you so much. great to you have on. congratulations on everything, and tomorrow on the show crowded subway cars and flat-of- forms spilling over we head west. leaders are doing whatever they can do deal with the historic population boom and solve the infrastructure challenges. we'll be right back. as the velocity of change in the world increases new players in new markets face a choice: do it fast and cheap. or do it right. for almost 90 years, we've stayed true to the belief that if you put quality in, you get quality out.

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troops by this spring to train syrian rebels in the fight against isis. hundreds of support personnel are also joining the mission, and here with us now to break down the challenges the plan face foreign affairs correspondent mikey kay. what you got? >> thanks mika. in order to break this done we've come a long way since the uprising in 2011. what i wanted to do rebuild it up from the beginning again. i think what's important sheer to look at the religious demographic and understand how the polarization has actually occurred in syria, because this forms a big part of the problem at the moment. look at the first slide. on a global context, 85% is sunni. 10% to 15% shia. in terms of syria, this means from this big swath here this is soviet union pip is sunni. the sunni sect.

what does that mean in terms of the groups mika? it means that we have -- at the moderate level, free syrian arm for all those galvanized during the uprisings, and then we have the wpg, syrian kurds. moderate sunnis if you like. the wahhabi and salafi. isis basically use a ostarian interpretation. spoking an it on "morning joe" a lot. what the isis group align themselves to. the salafis fit into the main jihadist groups operating in syria at the moment. on the other side shia. we've got assad who is an alowi part of the shia sect and hezbollah. they are the shia group that operates within the south of lebanon operating against ishrael

mostly but come into operating. we'll talk about that in a minute. into situate ourselves, the borders of syria. we've got iraq jordan turkey to the north and lebanon and israel here as well. what we're looking at. next slide, please. so what does that mean in terms of where the groups are? this is the geographic disposition's those groups at the moment. syrian kurds in the northeast bep know about the syrian kurds, fighting a hard battle in qabani against isis. this is the jihadist wave and down here to the west we've got the regime area. and this is damascus and we've got latiga on the coast and part of the syrian makeup. what is the problem? next slide. the problem when it comes to arming rebels? in 2011 assad and the uprising he cracked down on the uprising.

effectively galvanized this anti-opposition anti-opposition. the free sear an army. at loggerheads since 2011. then what happened the lack of governance created by the fractions between these two. the problem we've got here by arming these guys is that not only are they fighting assad, and isis and hezbollah, by arming them they're fighting four very very strong groups and we don't know effectively if that's going to be enough. back to you, mika. >> thank you. adding even more complication to the story. worth noting as we move forward and also listening to the president's strategy moving ahead. up next what the president's tax proposal says about the state of america's wealth and the final two years of the obama administration.

also horrible driving conditions for thousands of americans in the mid-atlantic this weekend. bill karins has the forecast for this morning, ahead on "morning joe." ade my life special by being apart of it. (everyone) cheers! glad you made it buddy. thanks for inviting me. thanks again my friends. for everything for all your help. through all life's milestones our trusted advisors are with you every step of the way. congratulations! thanks for helping me plan for my retirement. you should come celebrate with us. i'd be honored. plan for your goals with advisors you know and trust. so you can celebrate today and feel confident about tomorrow. chase. so you can.

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minuteclinic. another innovation from cvs health. because health is everything. welcome back to "morning joe." it's 8:00 on the east coast. nooiv 5:00 a.m. on the west coast. back with us, mark hallperinhalperin, harold ford, and matt lewis and david ignatius in washington. anybody see the games? >> sure. >> yeah. >> we're going. >> yeah. >> as a show.

so i started to read in. this seattle team -- if you walked out of the room you might not have known that they won. my daughter was freaking out. >> some people wandered out. gave up. >> wandered out of the stadium. >> the last five minutes of the game -- the whole game unbelievable. the last five minutes a metaphor for their season. started off tough, ended strong. this game here everyone thought, with five minutes left the game was over. came back in overtime and russell wilson does russell wilson. >> a lot of the seahawks fans you mentioned had left gave up on their team. left the stadium and weren't allowed back in when they heard the cheers. >> nothing more exciting in all of sports than a successful on-side kick you see there. >> exciting. >> the key, getting the ball back. >> will they win the super bowl again? >> seattle for the second time? >> i don't know. >> patriots are going to win. east coast versus west coast. >> stay tuned.

we'll be doing a lot on this. we're doing a primetime special. do you see this happenening? >> you doing a primetime special on the super bowl? >> yeah. >> i can't wait to see katy perry. >> you are very rangy. when is your primetime show on the super bowl on? when is that? >> um -- in primetime. >> what day? i know. >> the friday before. i'm not sure. >> a countdown clock for that. >> going to be fun. going to meet everybody. >> going to phoenix? >> yes. you think i'm joking? >> no. i believe you. >> where's the signup sheet? >> would you like me to sign you up? >> yeah. put me up for that. i would like to go. let's get to the news. a lot of people here and a lot of news to talk about. president obama is expected to announce higher tax rates for the wealthiest americans. a proposal unlikely to draw applause in the republican-led senate and house at tomorrow's state of the union. quite a chilly audience i think. the white house is branding the latest move as an infusion for the middle class. the president is expected to

propose a tax increase that would bring in $320 billion over the next decade. he will call for raising the capital gains tax and eliminating breaks on inheritance. the plan adds new fees for the biggest financial institutions. the capital gains tax has already gone up once on top earners under president obama after bush era tax breaks were allowed to expire. most of the money raised from the taxes and fees go to tax credits for middle class families with two earners and triples the child tax credit but already top republicans are panning the plan. >> this is a 20th century outdated model the president is sfoling. the notion for some to do better someone what do do worse is not true. raising taxes on people is not making people struggling more successful. >> on the eve's president obama's address, you a new

nbc/"wall street journal" poll examines all this. presented with options 40% say the word "divided" best sums up the state of the nation followed by the words "recovering," troubled" and "deteriorating." 38% chose positive descriptions and 48% chose negative ones. plenty of blame to go around. 45% believe president obama has been too stubborn with republicans in congress while 30% feel he's struck the right balance. even more americans, 55%, believe it is the gop which is too stubborn. only 15% believe republicans struck the compromise xwlashgs. what do you think the president's strategy is? how much does this tax proposal have do with legacy given the state of where the nation is in terms how they feel about washington? >> mika i'm struck by how ever since he got blown out in the midterm elections, obama has been saying and announcing what

he really would like to do almost oblivious of the effects on democratic members of congress. these tax increases can be justified, one of the most striking facts about the american economy over the last several decades, how much more unequal the distribution of income has become. it's a striking fact and this proposal seeks to get at it but very unpopular with democrats as well as republicans, in the same way the president' immigration unilateral move it's a statement, i'm in this remain twog ing two years and announce policies i believe are right and almost don't care what you think about it. that's my take on it. >> matt lewis, you hear republicans like mitt romney focusing in on the concept of poverty and disparity. what other options are there? >> well i think this is actually a shrewd move. it's not going to -- that taxes

are going up for everybody across the board. it's a little more nuance now. and, look i think there are issues like carried interest. where people pay a lower rate than folks who earn ordinary income. that does seem unfair to a lot of americans. so i'm not saying this is good policy, but i actually think for president obama to propose this, it's probably didgood politics. it helps him and it's a populist message now. the key will be can he really make the case this is targeted towards a middle-class tax cut and raising taxes only on the very rich? >> mark halperin big picture, pulled back at 20,000 feet. good politics? it's going to be a very tough audience. like the first president since 1939 in his seventh year to have an opposition in the audience? >> i hope the white house

doesn't mock what i'm saying being to idealistic. great politics. i bet everything the president prosed 70% or better in terms of the public opinion about it and i think the moment will come possibly where the president -- he's not getting the entire thing passed but could make a deal with republicans to get 65 or so percent of what he's proposing and give them something in return and there would be tax reform and it would tax wealthy americans. need to explain it well. he's proposing make the wealthiest way a little more for college opportunity and some republicans could be on board for but not increase in the capital gains. no way they'll pass that. >> dorian missed opportunities? minimum wage and other key issues seems it should be done by now? >> well this is really really a bold effort by the president, especially after getting -- you know, the losses in the mid-term elections. you wouldn't expect this kind of

proposal from the president in the state of the union. this is a two-for. setting the terms of the debate mark just said. public opinion, es special lit tax on banks, will be off the charts. a lot of support from the american public on that but secondly, this sets up hillary clinton very well for a run in 2016. because if he makes the argument to go back to the capital gains tax of the clinton '90s, who is going to argue against that? remember the clinton economy of the '90s versus when we cut the capital gains tax in 2001 2003? this is a great setup for hillary clinton in terms of running for president, as well as good policy. >> well while we're on the topic of 2016, let's turn now to presidential politics and new polls on who voters would like to see make a run for the white house in 2016. a new cbs news poll shows 59% of republicans would like to see mitt romney run for president for a third time while just 26% believe he should not.

50% say jeb bush should jump in and 40% think mike huckabee should run again. he'll be here tomorrow, on-set. and less enthusiastic about a chris christie bid saying he should run and 44% saying he should not. the democrating side a whopping 85% of democrats this hillary clinton should run in 2016 with only 11% disagreeing. vice president joe biden is her closest competition with 40% saying he should run. 23% of democrats want elizabeth war ton jump into the race with 20% saying she should not. mark halperin should she? >> less beth warren? >> yeah. what do you think? seems like a setup between president obama and hillary clinton passing of the torch on this speech tuesday? >> certainly this posture is very clintonesque, a little bit more from the wealthy to create opportunity for the middle class. the republican side romney

numbers are interesting and his folks encouraged by the polls that show people want him to run and he's doing well. the chris christie number is super interesting. i picked up in the republican national committee last week in san diego. a lot of skepticism in chris christie whether he has the temperament to be the nominee. a lot of republicans don't want him to run. he's a stronger candidate, i think, than people think of him being right now but romney and bush in the race certainly does complicate things for him. >> really complicates things. matt lewis, you've been covering the mitt romney story, and you're finding some interesting things, like -- >> right. well, look and mika i was on back in august with pat buchanan talking how -- making a case for why romney should consider making himself a available, and there are a lot of good reasons. he's right about a lot of things during the election mocked by barack obama for several things that ended up he was right about. look. i think the problem romney has is that -- his running was

always premised on the notion he would be the sort of republican state statesman who could come to the rescue. right? a broker convention he would be the compromised candidate. got to labor day and jeb bush didn't run or flamed out, and the establishment was lacking a serious candidate, that mitt romney could ride in on a white horse and be the savior and instead it now looks like mitt romney is elbowing his way into this race pushing his way in. i think it plays into the worst stereotypes about mitt romney as being too eager. the kid who sits in the front of the class and raises his hand at every question. so i think that romney really actually is in worse shape today than a couple weeks ago. the polling i think reflects name i.d. people know who he is. i don't think it holds up. >> let's go to europe now and start in belgium where the search is on for suspects following last week's raid that police say foiled an eminent terror plot. officials say the mastermind of the alleged plot on police

officers is still on the loose. several people who were detained last week have been released. four people are also now in custody in greece in connection to the investigation. one of the suspects a 33-year-old algerian due in court today to comply with belgium's request for extradition, and eight israeli arab men are also facing charges for allegedly forming their onus laum -- own islamic group and killed sheep to prepare for possible execution. it comes as british prime minister david cameron warns of a long battle to defeat islamic extremists. >> we face a very severe threat what we're calling it severe because we believe an attack is highly likely but frankly, we've been in this struggle against extremist islamist terrorism now for well over a decade and a half. so we know what it takes to win,

but it's going to take a lot of perseverance. >> this threat keeping morphing because it's the same fundamental problem extremist ize istist islamist terror the threat has changed and altered but still based on the fundamental problem of a poisonous death cult one of the major religions of the world. and that's what we're still up against. >> david ignatius, talk about europe's new reality given the events of the past few weeks and our relationship moving forward. >> well first, europe has been struggling ever since the attack on the "charlie hebdo" magazine that left so many dead to look at the terror networks that exist as they-they-intatorer intothey-intier gate. these people that came back from

syria, watching many weeks. it was a coincidence they came so quickly after the paris events but the bellgians are looking to greece. they believe the plot is connected to greece. same thing across europe as the germans, the french the northern european countries tell their security services to look hard at who's out there, who's come back from syria. who may be having connections with jihadists. david cameron, the british prime minister, said clearly when in washington last friday that he believes that new powers are necessary for the security services in britain and elsewhere to go after these terrorist cells. that goes very much against the mood after the edward snowden revelations where people thought these folks have enough power as it is. cameron said no. we are not able to track these people. they have electronics safe havens into which they disappear and we need to be able to go

find them. you can look forward to, i think, a real debate, both in britain and the united states an whether to give additional surveillance powers to the nsa, to the fbi. >> here we go again. >> and starting this again as people raise the spector of possible attacks. cameron and obama i thought, in sympathy made the point forcefully as they look at terror problem. >> good morning. harold ford. quickly. does this vindicate some of the things in tactics and approaches the u.s. has taken, we've come under criticism around the world? the way we've gone after addressing and attacking terrorism? >> harold the argument that the nsa overdid it went farther than needed to is still there. it needs careful examination, but it's interesting that in this period where the danger to populations across europe is so obvious, european governments are turning to the u.s. for help. even the germans, so critical of

our surveillance are said to be asking the u.s. and the nsa, can you help us look as these names, these numbers, and make sense of the attack coming at us? you know as happens in a democracy, you swing wide one way and swing wide another wear and we're in one of those periods swinging back a little bit, but i think in terms of people wanting to feel that their most private conversations are not open to government intrusion, that that's still there. >> all right. one more story before we get to break. freezing rain. did you guys see this yesterday? caught many drivers off guard over the weekend. at least seven people were killed in accidents across the northeast. there were hundreds of accidents in the region including two pileups involving dozens of vehicles and the daker extended overnight. the national weather service warned below freezing temperatures overnight from northern maryland into philadelphia. it was -- i walked out of my house yesterday, and within two seconds fell flat on my back

and then got into the car and got into a car accident. okay. >> oh my god. so let's go to bill karins with more on that mika glad you're all right. one of the thousand-plus accidents i guess. >> yep. >> it was -- the situation was pretty rare how it occurred. really cold on saturday. then saturday night. then the rain moved in. also with the rain came the warmer temperature, but the problem was, almost like taking meat out of the freezer. the ground was still frozen even though the air temperature was above freezing. the trees had no rob, power lines no problems. weren't item sickels sicicles on the ground. then the rain on top of that people couldn't see it and it led to literally thousands of accidents and pretty much this was the box where almost all of that happened. now, it did melt a little bit yesterday with the rain. look at the temperatures now this morning. right around 33 32. we could have isolated pockets of black ice especially northern jersey, the catskills, pocono

also western mass but a lot of the big cities are okay. the only thing we have left this week to deal with is a little bit of light snow coming in wednesday into thursday. it does not look like a big deal. possibility of an inch but thursday morning's commute could be the next drive we have to worry about in that area. again, areas like philadelphia northwards, wednesday night into thursday morning. >> thanks bill. still ahead on "morning joe," executive editor of "harper's bizarre" laura brown will be here. heard donny's not here and actually came in. >> coast is clear. >> all of a sudden she's fine. food poisons friday but that was when donny was supposed to be here. she's back now. and an interesting op-ed about life's second chances. also when a picture is not just a picture. why this selfie is creating a major international controversy at thes miss universe pageant. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back.

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time now to look at the morning papers from the major brazilian paper. brazil is "outraged" after one of its citizens was executed in indonesia for drug trafficking. brazil's ambassador has since been recalled from that country. also killed yesterday, convicts from malawi nigeria, vietnam and the netherlands. indonesia is known for having one of the world's lauchest drug laws. >> the ceo of uber saying he wants to create 50,000 jobs in europe by partnering with cities across the continent saying the

company is working with government to ensure public safety improving communications with law enforcement but uber faced a lot of backlash over its practices including allegedly tracking customers and faces court injunctions in belgium, france and germany among other countries. the san francisco-based company is valued get this $40 billion. >> not bad. >> guardian in yemen, clashes erupted in the saept city of sana'a this morning. gunfire and explosions across the city and the presidential palace. the prime minister's convoy was fired on as well. shia rebels laid siege to the city since last september. the honolulu star advertiser. pro golfer robert alan 3 buylenby is recovering after being robbed and kidnapped friday night. missed qualifying at the sony open in hawaii. later that night at a wine bar with friends he claims he may

have been drupggged before being assaulted. closing up. your buddies downstairs -- you come out the lift and you go out into the park and that's where someone hit me, and -- two hours, two and a half hours later i woke up on the street in the gutter thrown out of the trunk of a car. i'd been robbed and -- so -- the only reason why i know that part is because a homeless lady told me says she saw a watch taken, and it's kind of like a spinning image. but -- you know i'm just very thankful that i'm alive. >> horrible. allenby says his wallet around phone were taken. he didn't think he's survive. so far no arrests reported in the case. thomas? >> injuries pretty severe.

>> yeah. the miami herald. something as innocent at a selfie sparked international in-fighting among miss universe contestants. miss lebanon facing backlash after miss israel post as selfie of them together on her instagram account. after reportedly catching heat for posing with her, miss lebanon reposted that photo, cropped out miss israel in the caption wrote she had been careful not to be photographed with miss israel but that miss israel had tried several times to take a photo, wrote, i was having a photo with miss japan, and suddenly miss israel jumped in, took a selfie and uploaded it. miss israel denies she photo bombed anyone and hopes for change and peace between us and even just for three week just between me and her. >> what? >> how far away from the pageant are we? >> what is going on here? >> on sunday. >> what just happened? >> donald trump, owns the pageant in a joint venture with

nbc university says sad to see long-standing political an animosity animosity. >> i need you to explain what happened? somebody photo bombed somebody and they didn't want to be photo bombed? >> miss israel and miss lebanon in a picture together. a selfie together. apparently because of the countries having such issues -- >> under xrict orders not to fraternize with miss israel. >> there are sanctions, they're not allowed to travel. certain import issues. they thought miss lebanon should be stripped of her title? >> as you well know mika brzezinski, im co-hosting that pageant. and joining us next a publishing icon tweet them to my twitter handle @morningmika. >> i love her a. fresh answer. be prepared. be prepared at home. >> might have to separate you

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welcome back to "morning joe." joining us now the executive editor of "harper's bizarre" a magazine. she's here. donny's not. is there a reason? did you avoid him friday? >> if one is in the room does the other explode? sounds like it. >> what you were going through on friday. >> yeah. >> okay. but i'm glad that you're here finally.

>> thank you. >> a lot of stories. lois is here too. hi lois. you cannot fix the icon thing. am i the om one that happens to? e-mails all of a sudden get archived, you can't find them. >> because of the touch screen. >> so huge. >> i don't do that. >> makes me mad. i lost my book cover. we going to pick the here on the air. it's gone. >> surge like one on one. >> i had opinions. >> all right. >> e-mail me. >> then you have opinion, let's talk. pope francis likely has new female fans after remarks he made in the philippines over the weekend. speaking to an audience in manila on the last day of his week-long visit, the pontiff remarked women "have much to tell in today's society, and that they are able to ask questions that men can't grasp." he went on to say, "at times we men are too muchista" a word for male chauvinism. four of the five who posed

questions to him were all male. he told the crowd, when the next pope comes to manila please let's have more women among you. they're there, but don't raise their hand. >> didn't that pope just come from heaven? >> he is. >> firstly, i want to use the word muchista as often as possible today. >> absolutely. >> wonderful. distressing he still has to. >> oh yeah. >> the fact he has to say some things that actually are logical and fair and caring and have people go wow, it's a revolution says so much about where the church has been and where it's going. incredible. >> it's about more actually. him talking about the role of women in the catholic church. might be wishful thinking on my part, but everything with him is a nod. >> very elegant. sort of plants these seeds in a way it sounds positive affirmation, no controversy. everyone says that's great, and then he goes one more step along. >> women don't have elevated roles in this institution. my family had dinner with pope john paul ii millions of years

ago, and my mom sat down next to him and immediately start the taking him on about the role of women in the catholic church. >> what did he say? >> it was awkward. he didn't say what this pope said. >> somebody tell me. while on the topic of women. former arkansas senator, mike huckabee, our guest tomorrow. >> wish i were here. >> could be. we could tape something. weighed in on this presidential bid and facing questions about running against woman differently than a man. >> you said something in a new republican interview that caught my eye. run twice against women opponents and it's a very different kind of approach for those who have chivalry left a level of respect to treat some things as special treasure you treat other things as common. what do you mean specifically by that? >> well i just mean that you always want to be respectful. you want to treat everyone with

respect, but in the culture of the south, the culture that i grew up with, i think chivalry is still alive. there's a sense of that you pay a great deal of respect and you don't come across as a bully. >> so you'd run differently thens joe biden -- >> it's not my nature to be a bully. >> you'd run differently than joe biden or a hillary clinton? >> i don't know. depends on what kind of campaign they were running. it's not an issue of sexism. it's an issue of simply understanding every opponent whether a male a female whether they're from the northeast or from the southwest, everybody has different nuances, and you always have to -- i've been in a lot of races. i've been in politics for 25 years. i've run a lot of races as lieutenant governor for u.s. senate, for governor. two different times. and for president. so -- in every race you have to assess, what are the dynamics of this race? >> okay. laura brown? >> oh, to be a special treasure.

what a lovely sentiment. i think it was funny you were talking about archiving your e-mail so of that is archival. i don't want to bully someone leads to the inference women can automatically be bullied because we have less -- >> interesting point. >> chivalry how great to have a door opened. lovely, but i don't think that should weigh into a political campaign. >> interesting. i agree with what you're saying but what he's saying is politically astute because when you are in a debate running against a woman is a lot harder than -- >> remember rick lazio getting in hillary clinton's space during the debate. you're right. lig things come off bad. >> and sarah palin with a smile. exactly. >> i'm going to smile. i get it comes off bad but i think -- acknowledge -- i think what bothers me there is the word "bully." that we are more easily bullied than a man s. i will ask him about that from you, tomorrow.

>> yes, please. >> okay. >> sir. >> and this from "harper's bizarre." zap your hunger away there is goes. >> could be groundbreaking for people who struggle with obesity. the device is designed to block communication between the stomach around brain when someone becomes hungry. it's a pacemaker-like device implanted through a minimally invasive procedure generating electrical pulses in the nerve responsible for between the brain and stomach. the first fda device approved in eight years. >> if it helps people and a less procedure so many people have not to lose weight all for it. just because a girl can't stop eating ice cream, that's a different situation, but eight years. hard to imagine it's actually been that long with all the developments in tech. if that manages to suppress that organically, and the healthy and safe, why not? >> i actually think incredible, because i think the obesity crisis is not about discipline.

you know as i studied and wrote a book i put out called "obsessed," i think the salt sugar and fat we are seeing is being proven now as truly addictive. >> and the craving for it. a way to suppress a craving, food, alcohol, drugs, whatever it is, away to modify that to lead a healthier life why wouldn't you? >> absolutely. still ahead, not just a good weekend for "american sniper," it shattered box office records and louis has special angles on this story coming up straight ahead on "morning joe." your eyes really are unique. in fact, they depend on a unique set of nutrients. that's why there's ocuvite to help protect your eye health. as you age your eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients.

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we come by almost every day to deliver your mail so if you have any packages you want to return you should just give them to us i mean, we're going to be there anyway why don't you just leave it for us to pick up? or you could always get in your car and take it back yourself yeah, us picking it up is probably your easiest option it's kind of a no brainer ok, well, good talk i did not know you guys did

that. are you okay? >> e-mail address in there. >> something happened i'd be very very careful about sexting. all right, moviegoers across the country showed up in droves for "american sniper" at the box office overed weekend. i knew it was an amazing movie. the clint eastwood film featuring bradley cooper at navy s.e.a.l. chris kyle broke several records as it expanded into white release. nbc's lester holt has the details. >> fry if you're wrong. >> reporter: a box office blowout for "american sniper." raking in a whopping $90.2 million in its debut weekend. toppling previous january records. the r-rated war drama is the true story of navy s.e.a.l. sharp shooter chris kyle. war movies of typically big moneymakers, but critics say "american sniper" is in a category of its own. a story light on politics but heavy on humanity, translating

into a commercial cash cow. >> i can't imagine that anybody ever could have possibly predicted it. this is a brutal and very violent and action-packed war film. it was not a feel-good film and yet did the kind of box office numbers of a huge crowd pleaser. >> reporter: star bradley cooper is getting high praise for his performance. >> let me ask you a question, chris. would you be surprised if i told you that the navy has credited you with over 160 kills? >> reporter: cooper never met kyle but spoke to him on the phone when he prepared for the role. >> did he have any skepticism bradley, about hollywood, tackling his story? >> yeah. i think he was trepidatious i would say. why i wanted to call let him know i want to get to know you and go on this journey. >> reporter: humility from the u.s. military's most lethal sniper came through loud and clear when i sat down with chris kyle in 2012. >> i could care less about the number, and -- you know everyone says i'm the most lethal. wet i may have the most number of kills but i'm not the best

sniper. if i could figure out a number i saved, that's something i would brag about. >> this movie is so good. i want you -- in fact why don't i set up your first date laura and thomas. i'm going to allow you all -- >> oh my god, honey, let's go see "american sniper" together. >> can i bring my husband? >> yes, you can. >> so modern. >> a modern family. >> you were on the red carpet for the opening and met all the different players? >> yeah. >> i actually met chris' wife and asked what this movie means for her and other military families and i think we have a clip of that. take a look. >> the movie focuses on how much a family goes through when a husband or a wife goes to war. >> yes. >> do you think it's important that people know that struggle? because i don't think it's normally told in most war movies. >> it's true. so we've come so far since the

days of vietnam as far as appreciating our veterans and i think that's such an amazing blessing and i think the next step sundaysing even a deeper level of what they do. so they not only do all of this sacrifice and personal service to our country, but they have to manage their home life. they have to manage their relationships at the same time and i hope that it at least opens the door for more people to have that conversation, whether they're in the military or know somebody in the military or just not in the military have no association but really think about that. these guys have huge hearts. they're not warmongers. they don't love to fight. they actually just love this country and they're willing to fight if they're asked. and in doing that there's always another battle at home. it's almost inevitable, really. not in a horrible way, just in a very human way. you know? it's very very difficult to be scared for somebody you love and to have them choose to keep doing that and -- to understand

it on some level but at some point say, but, wait. you know what about us? kind of thing. so -- i think in that way it's a real blessing, too, that the military families i know that have watched it totally relate. >> yeah. lewis, thanks. you know to echo that paul rykoff of the iraq-afghanistan he saw the movie says bradley nails it. fills that void of misunderstanding between veterans what they do and some in positions like that and people here at home. >> what an incredible woman and how beautifully she spoke. >> incredible. >> having gone through that in the last couple of years, incredible. >> i'm so glad people are going to this movie in droves. thank you, bradley for that. coming up does mark wahlberg deserve a rewrite for crimes committed as a teenager? the "new york times" frank rooney looks at what possible pardon could do for his career and life but what would it also say about our criminal justice system? we'll be right back.

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build on a company that's built for it. so louis' phone, look at this. look at this guy, our editor. his pocket face timed louis. say hi. okay, louis. hue here you go. go have a talk 23if you want. not sure what's going on here. that's weird. you have ever been pocket -- >> kind of has the hair. >> what's going on there? >> joining us now op-ed calmist frank rooney. looking at mark wahlberg's push to be pardoned for a series of

aults when he was 16 and what it could say about our criminal justice system. you got to know him from a piece, a tidbit an his glasses struck you? >> year's ago when "boogie nights" was about to come out pap good movie. >> i saw it. fantastic. >> he was great in that. i wrote about that when he was doing a kind of image pivot. that's one thing, my point was a pard sn a much bigger thing. >> we all need an image pivot, but a pardon? >> the problem with pardons, we don't grant nearly enough. we should grant nearly enough of them. talking about somebody who served his or her sentence. >> it's a 16 years old, it's widely documented he was politely a business of a rascal when young. >> a little more than that. >> he would say a rascal but basically assaulted somebody. >> assaulted two different vietnamese men. beat one unconscious with a stick, punched another in the eye and did 45 days in prison. >> wants to be pardoned for this? >> his argument is he was 16 at

the time. >> yeah. i mean an argument i'm sure many people make who are in their 40s who beharchved badly, prosecuted at 16. i'm a better man now and by all accounts he is. >> also involved in two incidents of using racial slurs physically threatening black kids. >> a pattern of behavior. >> he's changed. he has a charity organization. >> does a lot of good. >> gave back. >> a stellar reputation in hollywood. >> everybody says he's a great person to work with upstanding guy. easy to give back money when you make that much. if we factor financial contributions into pardons, that's income inequality to criminal justice. >> what's your gut on this? >> my gut is we can't give him a pardon because we give so few of them. if we do that, the message -- he says young kids will say a great sign. turn my life around. the message, white, rich and a celebrity you go to the head of the line. >>s precedent it sets. exactly. if you're all of those things you get to go to the head of the

line. >> a fact like mark wahlberg who has a background can grow up to be mark wahlberg? isn't that redemption in and of itself? >> exactly but the whole point of pardons remove restrictions that keep people from rebuilding productive lives. that's had no effect on mark wahlberg. >> po leshtentially trying to open more outlets of the wahlburger chain and having a felony can impede that. there's many brothers. a chain of brothers as long as -- maybe -- should not impact them as a family getting these licenses, if it's his -- >> he wants the world to say to him you're a different man and probably is a different man. >> sure. >> but being a different man is its own reward. you don't need the criminal justice system to expunge what was a vicious racial hate crime. >> luckily, we talk about bad news. luckily good news than front. that's actually starting to

happen bit by bit in the state of illinois started granting a lot more pardons. states are reforming their laws but we're right at the beginning of thatened a a lot of people are still walking around who did prison time for minor drug offenses dealing with thousands of restrictions for the rest of their lives. before we deal with them we can't let mark wahlberg go to the head of the line. >> seems forgiveness is important to him on many levels. not just from the public but the social just it point of view? >> 16 years old. to your point, arrested for pot. 20 years later impacts your employment ability. >> sure. >> exactly. the scale needs to be looked at. >> frank rooney, thank you so much. looking for your piece in the "new york times." another good one. laura brown, thank you as well. the new issue of "harper's bazaar" is out now. that does it for us this morning. stay with msnbc for "the rundown" after a quick break.

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