we raise labrador retrooefrz for the blind. one of our baby girls gives birth and your show calms down the mother. >> good job. we want to give you a push over the top that we're sure will ensure delivery. show the puppy this picture. there it is. larry and snoop in the horse and buggy. "morning joe" starts right now. i'm sure you heard about joe biden and he had to put the vice in vice president. he said the "f" word in a press conference with the president the other day. did you see what happened yesterday when he tried this? take a look. >> my personal honor and pleasure to introduce the vice president of the united states, joseph r. biden. >> thank you very much.

>> oh, now. >> poor joe. welcome to "morning joe." beautiful shot of early morning washington, d.c. where the debate continues to simmer over health care reform. white house, congress, republicans, democrats alike. >> look at times square. >> we've got claire mccassel coming up and also the doctors are in. dade gregory, chuck todd, norah o'donnell, dylan ratigan. we have a huge show ahead. and a shot of cold and rainy new york. >> we're in tampa. we'll be doing weather and traffic on the 1s now. >> exactly. we have pat buchanan in washington, d.c. pat, i know you're very excited about this. fidel castro has come out and he's given his stash of approval

on health care reform. i'm sure the white house just cheered when fidel decided to pitch in his two cents. >> that's the endorsement they've been looking for for a long time, joe. i think fidel had some nasty things to say about the rest of the program. >> yeah, i think so. >> we can't get it all right. >> no, i guess not. maybe they'll go back and the house will want to do some more reconciliation work. >> hey, wasn't that a great show here yesterday? we're still here because of the education special. >> yeah. >> we got a lot done. >> we really did. mika, it really had a great impact. we had a wonderful outpouring of support from across the country. a lot of people saying a lot of positive things about where this country's moving in education reform. with washington divided on health care, like we've been for the past year and divided in so many ways, i think this may be an issue that brings people

together. >> absolutely. >> yesterday, willie geist, as you know, we had people like john legend, mayor bloomberg -- >> blair taylor. >> blair taylor with the urban league in los angeles. and everybody came together, had the same goal. that is, put the future of our children above the interests of adults. >> yeah. you know, joe, we were having the same conversation up here. mayor cory booker of newark and joel stein, the superintendent in new york city, got off the air and we stood over here for 30 -- excuse me, joel klein. it was a great conversation. and one that people are so anxious to have and to hear about. i think we started something good. >> again, it's very positive, bipartisan. let us hope the president and congress can come together and they're going to have to stand up some very powerful special interests. the overwhelming majority of america will be with them. willie, let's talk quickly. and let's not talk about

syracuse for chris's sake. >> that was bad. >> take us through what happened last night in the ncaa tournament. i didn't get to see a lot of it because we were actually having dinner with my one friend in the world, mark mclaughlin and his wife cindy. what happened? >> well, they lost. do we need to say anymore? number one seed syracuse lost to butler? >> to duke, to ken? they had to lose to a good team. >> butler. a scrappy bunch out of indianapolis. they were up pretty billing big in the first half. syracuse came back -- >> the coach is 12 years old. >> he is. he is. he's a kid. it was one of those games syracuse came back and you said, syracuse is going to win by 15. butler came back, took the lead, went on a big run in the last minute of the game and finished off syracuse. now we have kansas and syracuse both out of the tournament. kentucky rolled over cornell last night. >> was it ever close?

>> cornell took a 10-2 lead early. you said, wow, this is going to be great. from that point on kentucky went on a 30-6 run to end the half. they never looked back. they were up 16 in the first. one of those cases where they're too big, too fast, too strong. cornell, what a great run for the sweet 16. kentucky plays west virginia. west virginia won big last night. butler -- who did butler beat last night? >> they beat syracuse. >> no, kansas state in double overtime. butler plays kansas state in the other regional. >> i'm sorry, i thought you said who butler beat. >> syracuse. >> isn't that terrible? >> the big east. i thought the big east was going to be so great. >> a big flop. >> the big losers. i just did that off the top of my head, willie. big losers. mika, let's go to news. >> a time for today's top stories. health care, a divided congress is preparing for the next stage

of the health care fight after the house passed a final package of fixes to the reform bill last night. the house was forced to vote on the bill a second time after the senate republicans found 20 words that violated procedural rules. this morning speaker nancy pelosi will provide over the bill's enrollment before it heads back to the president's desk to be signed into law early next week. the president is working to rally members of his party against republican attacks come midterm elections. speaking in iowa yesterday, the president says it's a fight he's ready to have. >> now that we passed it, they're already promising to repeal it. they're actually going to run on a platform of repeal in november. you've been hearing that. and my attitude is, go for it. if they want to have that fight, we can have it. because i don't believe the american people are going to put the insurance industry back in the driver's seat.

we've already been there. we're not going back. this country's moving forward. >> pat, this is why the president's going to lose this debate in november. it's why he lost the debate up in massachusetts. why martha coakley lost. why republicans won that seat for the first time since the 1950s because what the president is saying does not square up with the realities. everybody knows -- and i can get you a list of liberals who have written articles saying that the health care insurance industry has been made stronger than ever before by barack obama, who is now forcing you and me and everybody in america to buy health care insurance products or else face fines and penalties from the irs. i'm serious about this, pat. does barack obama and nancy pelosi think we're stupid? >> well, i think what they -- what he's -- he's doing what he has to do, joe. i think you're correct.

i think, and howard dean himself says this is a giveaway to the insurance companies. he was against it for a while for that reason. but i think this idea of repeal and reform, i think, is an idea that's got the support of a majority of americans. clearly, a majority did not favor this bill. if you say you're going to repeal it and change the aspects of it, we all dislike, i think that's a powerful republican message. i say to the president, bring it on. >> so if the president going -- i talked about martha coakley because he went up there saying, we're standing up against special interests. but he wasn't. nothing to big pharma, big unions, big health insurance. americans are smart. they figure this out, the president's not telling the truth. so if that doesn't work for the president, i actually think -- i think democrats are too cynical to follow this advice, i think they should just talk the

morality of it. we have 31 million people on the rolls. they got health insurance. it's the right thing to do. the cbo says, we can do that. we can ensure 30 million americans without driving up the deficit. instead of lying about health insurance companies. tell the truth about what you've done morally. >> i think that's right. and there are aspects of this bill that clearly virtually everybody supported. preexisting conditions, take care of folks who can't afford it but want it badly. but with you're talking about somebody who says, look, you know, i'm 22 or 23 years old, i want to wait, save my money, get married, buy a house. i don't want to buy that right now. and then you say, if you don't buy this product, you're basically going to be fined and theist is coming after you. i think you're going at the whole idea of the freedom of the individual to do or not do things in this society, so i think the republicans ought to stick along this line. if president obama wants to

fight on this front, let him. >> the thing is, mika, there are so many things to debate. is this the largest tax increase ever? we can have that debate. dick durbin can come on here and say, this is the largest tax cuter. can is a preposterous argument, at the same time you can make it. come on and make that argument. there are some things that are great. i will tell you, though, when nancy pelosi says we're standing up to health care insurance companies, when barack obama says, we're standing up, that is certifiably false. they've got a lot of great arguments to make. that is a false argument. they need to get off it. even their most ardent supporters know it's not true. >> is it okay to be excited about parts of a bill, is it okay to say this will help small businesses right away and that there are some tax cuts there for the middle class? i know you see it differently as some things kick in later. >> this is what i would say. pat buchanan, i would talk about the morality of this. i would say we've got 31 million

americans that deserve health insurance now. if i were a democrat, a progressive, if i were the president, and i would also talk about the small business tax cuts. mika brings up a great point. there are things that barack obama can sell to his base that some people in the middle will like preexisting, keeping your kids until they're 26. >> a big deal. >> a lot of different things. >> sure. the idea -- >> but, again. this is what disturbs me about it, pat. they know they're not telling the truth. i wish they would get off this as they know it's not true. >> you know, joe, i agree 100%. look, it is not true. it makes the president after his victory look petty and this is not sense cical. the insurance companies can go into states and sell to people.

there are a lot positive here. the republicans, some said, you know, 60%, 70% of this is really good. we can stay with that. when they said start over, they wanted to keep the good aspects of it and take out some of these clunkers. and i think they're going to focus on the clunkers and i think if obama goes down this road, i think they will welcome this debate. they've already started it and they're already engaged. >> yeah, you know, mika, it is -- again, i want to repeat this. i know there are a lot of democrats that don't have the courage to do this. there are a lot that do have the courage to do this. if i were running and if i were a democrat, i don't care where i was, i would talk about the morality of putting 31 million americans on health care insurance and forget all this other ba loney that's not true. you force you republican opponent in swing districts to say 31 million people don't deserve health care insurance, even though we figured out a way -- even though we democrats figured out a way to give it to them without raising the deficit.

so you tell me, republican, why don't these 31 million americans deserve the same insurance that your kids get? that you get? and you put them in a defensive position. that's much better than not telling the truth. because they -- we talked about it the other day. glenn greenwald said, barack obama, he's one of the most influential bloggers out there, he said barack obama bribes special interests. and a lot of the most progressive thinkers out there said the same thing. again, talk about what's good about this bill if you're a democrat. stay away from the false arguments. >> i think you could also argue this president made history. like it or not, he made history. did something other presidents couldn't do. and he did something good for americans that need health coverage. >> if you're a democrat, if you're a progressive, you certainly can. there are a lot of good arguments to make out of this. you need to focus on what will

sell. what's going to sell with the american people in november? >> yes, please twitter joe -- >> people are a lot smarter than people -- did you say don't twitter saying i'm a democrat? >> yeah. you were strategizing if you're a democrat, this is what you should say. >> i'm going to get -- >> i know that blackberry is going to explode and i'm going to have to watch that. >> and republicans will say, why does joe scarborough support the health care bill? socialism, a left wing marksism. how is it a former bush speech writer is the first casualty of the health care reform? have you shredded your bracket yet? more on the big upset in the college basketball tournament plus an overtime thriller. who needs nasa. how a british guy used a balloon, a camera, duct tape to get these images. first bill karins with the forecast. >> it's cold and nasty in the northeast.

rain is turning over to snow in some areas. windchill this morning's 39 in philly and new york. temperatures will plummet during the day today. it's rainy and drizzly out there this morning. an ugly friday morning. this will be gone by later this afternoon. don't be surprised if you see some snowflakes today in even d.c., philly and boston by the time it's all said and done. today's kind of, you know, we'll endure today. let's get to saturday. sunny and still chilly in the east. florida, watching showers and storms around miami. except for that, it should be just fine in all areas of the east. middle of the country, you're also looking nice on this friday. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by star bungz. (announcer) we believe in giving every investor a lot more for a lot less. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 that's why, at schwab,

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lean over here for a second. further, further. stick your hand out. it's time to get your pinch. >> what was that? let's take a look at the morning papers. "new york times," front page photo show be obama making a surprise visit to a local bookstore. president was shopping for his two daughters and cameras captured this moment. president holding books written by mitt romney and karl rove. washington post -- obama plans to fight for cho foreclosures. one is to slash or eliminate mortgages for those unemployed. san francisco krchronicle - personal income fell for the first time since the great depression. works out to 1500 fewer dollars

for every man, woman and child in that state. good news in houston chronicle -- employers in the area added more than 10,000 jobs in january, dropping the city's jobless rate to 8.5%. "usa today" -- cigarette taxes continue to be a gold rush for states. utah and new mexico have already raised their cigarette tax and a half dozen other states also considering new increases. research shows for every 10% increase, cigarette consumption drops by 3% to 4% among adults and double that number among youth. let's go down to washington and check in with chief political correspondent with politico with "the politico playbook." >> happy friday. >> the former speech writer of president bush, was he let go or did he resign? >> well, he clearly was let go.

david is one of the most known conservative writers. he blew up the blogosphere this week with that post saying the loss on health care bill was waterloo for wenz. there was a generational setback for republicans for this big visit, for president obama, they had no part, no contribution. so maybe total coincidence? the head of aei takes david frum to lunch saying we're paying you $100,000 a year, you may be on radio and television six times a week, writing 300,000 words a year for your various gigs but the mail, the packages are piling up outside your office. you're seldom in the office. you know what, david, how would you like to just work for us for free? how would you work for us on a piecemeal basis? we're not going to pay you your big salary? now, david frum tells us in an

interview last night that he believes this is because of pressure from donors that it's another symptom of the tea partization of the conservative movement that the elites -- he likes the aei folks -- aren't in charge. they're getting so much pressure from below. >> you know, though, i'm sorry, i keep hearing about everything that goes bad for democrats now is blamed on the tea party. and it's getting really old. david frum said that the passage of a bill that should be to every conservative, small government, republican in america was our waterloo, was the conservative movement's waterloo. we should have somehow just let the federal government take over half of the funding mechanism for health care. >> no, that isn't what he said. >> no, no, no, no. he said we should have -- we should have compromised and we should have gotten a lot more involved in this process. >> right, right.

>> but, i'm sorry, i don't want to re-debate these issues, but i have to say politically if you're a small government conservative, far from being your waterloo, it actually gives you an opportunity to tell you why barack obama is so different from you. i just think -- i think david frum has a constituency of one right for you. i don't think the tea party has anything to do with conservatives rolling their eyes, wondering what he's saying, what he stands for. >> he has a constituency of a lot of squishy, right of centrist. >> but, pat buchanan, what are your thoughts? let me ask you this -- >> well, look, this bill, joe, could not get the support of olympia snowe, for pete's sakes. every single republican in the house and senate went against him. it's define the differences between the two parties. politically it looks like a

winner to me. with due respect, david frum is a neocon. es not a conservative. the thought that the republican party should have collaborated in this kind of takeover, that would have been fatal for the gop or anybody who got into it. >> there are a lot of democrats. i'll i just say, before we blame the tea party movement, which people like david frum like to do, blanche lincoln opposed it and joe lieberman was against it for the longest time. the democrats, president's biggest problems came from democrats. they had a 79% vote majority in the house of representatives. they this came down to the wire. i find it hard to believe that americans are going to see what happened as a huge rejection of the republican party as the republican party's waterloo. >> politico's mike allen, thank you very much. happy friday. senator claire mccaskill

coming out of missouri, republic ron paul. who needs nasa when a british guy took these pictures for a few hundred books? keep it right here on "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. somewhere in america... there's a home by the sea powered by the wind on the plains. there's a hospital where technology has a healing touch. there's a factory giving old industries new life. and there's a train that got a whole city moving again. somewhere in america, the toughest questions are answered every day. because somewhere in america, more than sixty thousand people spend every day answering them. siemens. answers.

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♪ just about 29 past the hour. look at new york city just before the sun comes up. good morning, everyone. welcome back to "morning joe." just about 6:30 on the east coast. time for a look at some of today's top stories. the vatican is under intense pressure this morning as pope benedict faces new questions about why a milwaukee area priest was not punished back in the 1990s amid allegations of past sexual misconduct. lawrence murphy who died in 1998, molested as many as 200 boys at a school for the deef from 1950 to 1974. newly revealed documents show murray was spared formal punishment by the office of cardinal ratzinger, who is now

the pope. rather than punish murphy, he was ordered to repent. "the new york times" is reporting governor david paterson personally helped draft a statement last month. according to the report, paterson told his press secretary the report should suggest the breakup was friendly. he wanted the woman to say the charges related to the alter indication was dropped. the report claims the woman refused to go along and that paterson was disappointed she would not endorse his statement. and there are some new amazing images of earth, but they're not from nasa. instead, they were shot by an english space enthusiast who rigged up a simple $100 digital camera with duct tape and sent it up in a balloon. it's a far cry from photos taken by nasa, which cost about $400 million when taken by the space shuttle. wow.

>> i want to talk to pat about that pope story, after sports here. >> horrible. just ridiculous. >> a tragic story. i want to know what that means for the pope. >> and the catholic church. >> let's go to willie with sports. >> the vatican's response to that yesterday was fascinating, too. we'll talk about that later. let's get into the ncaa tournament. as we told you at the top of the show, only two number one seeds left now. kansas lost last week to northern iowa. last night, sorry, chris, it was syracuse, knocked off by the fifth seed butler. let's take a look at how it happened last night in the west regional. everything going right down the stretch. as i said, they took a big lead early. syracuse came back and took the lead. boy, butler hung in there. they got a nice bounce there. butler up four in the final minutes. willie veesley with a nice putback. butler goes to final eight for the first time in school's

history. who's their opponent? a great game that ended late last night. xavi xavier/kansas state. xavier was down three points. fouled while shooting a three-pointer. you don't foul a guy shooting a three. he made both free throws. watch this shot at the end in the first overtime. crawford lets it fly from deep, draining the deep. double overtime. seesaw battle ended it. pullen of kansas state puts them up for good. kansas state wins 109-96. kansas state and butler tomorrow for a trip to the final four on the line. east bracket, number one seed kentucky. a game a lot were curious about, playing cornell. cornell got out to a 10-2 lead. it was all downhill from there. kentucky just had too much running up and down the court. dunks, layups all night long. cornell, frankly, having a tough time getting shots off on the offensive end. their run ends in the sweet 16.

kentucky wins. who do they play? they get number two west virginia. no problem with 11th seed washington. the rout was on. they outscored washington by 15 in the second half, winning 69-56. they advance now to play top-seeded kentucky in the east regional final. tonight, midwest regional goes. first game, tennessee against ohio state. the later game has the one a lot are excited about, northern iowa, can they keep it going? they beat kansas. they play michigan state. good team but michigan state playing without its best player, lucas, out for the season. in the south region, tenth seeded st. mary's takes on beryl. the last game of the night, big ten versus acc purdue. top-seeded duke, duke now with kentucky, the only number ones left in the tournament. still ahead, joe biden's big deal comment, a good way to button up a year's worth of debate on health care and gives us an opportunity to look back at some of the vice president's greatest spoken moments.

you don't want to miss this one. plus, we'll talk more about the scandal surrounding the pope. when we come back, ron brownstein helps us look at the must read opinion pages. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

♪orn from the map of michigan ♪ ♪ i am carrying this scra of paper ♪ when it's people who do the right thi, they call it being responble. when it's an insurance company, they call it liberty mutual. responsibility. what'sour policy? liberty mutual.

♪ that's not in it. >> why not? >> because we couldn't get it through congress. that's why. so they -- let's -- but -- let's -- there's no need to shout, young man. no need to shout. 32 people -- 32 million people

are going to have health insurance because of this legislation. that's what this is about. >> yeah, and -- >> that's true. that's good. >> the president's talking there. what he was saying -- ow! why did you kick me? >> the white house asked me to. >> do you do everything the -- you kicked me! i was about to -- ow! >> it's fun. >> what, does it say in your talking points to kick me? >> yes, it does. then it goes on to say -- >> what am i -- you can't kick me because the white house is telling you to kick me. >> well, yes, i can. i can do it again, too. >> ow. >> it's really fun. >> if she does that again, chris, i'm walking off the set. >> why would they hire an army of lobbyists who spend tens of millions of dollars to stop a bill they love. the legislation passed last night reins in the excess abuses

with consumer protections this country has ever known -- >> i have a weekend coming up. i may be able to see liverpool. >> keep premiums down, prevent denials, including preexisting conditions. there's a lot that's good about this. >> serious. don't kick me again. >> okay. all right. >> buchanan, did halderman kick you under the table? serious, i'm going to have bruises all weekend here. >> kicked me everywhere, joe. >> real quickly, we're going to ron brownstein -- >> political director of the atlanta media. >> first, pat, i want to talk to you about the catholic church. this does sound -- if there's a guy that sexually abused 200 little kids, and the pope knew about it and just gave him a slap on the wrist, i've got to believe this is actually a growing problem for the vatican. what do you think? >> well, certainly we need a lot more answers. one thing, joe, apparently this started 50 years ago and 200 kids were abused, these deaf

kids, the next 15 years. why did it say the archdiocese of milwaukee, the arch bishop there, a very controversial figure, a modernist, why didn't they defrock this individual, turn him over to the authorities back in the 1970s? why do you have to wait and send a letter to the vatican to ask whether you can punish him when weekland is the archbishop there, a controversial figure? joe, there's a lot more here. there's a modernist traditional clash on the church. pope is on one side, weekland on the other side. where is this coming from? why is it coming out now? i think we need a lot more answers and i think there's a lot more to come out. >> it's horrible. >> if the church transfers, willie, one, one pedophile priest, i mean, that's -- that's too much. but it seems like this is an ongoing problem. you actually have a response from the vatican, willie.

>> yeah. it just seems they don't quite get it. this is from a cardinal, a top aide to the pope. he said, this is a pretext talking about "new york times" pieces. pretext for attacking the church. a well organized plan with a clear clear aim. we should not be scandalized if some priests knew about it and kept it secret. this is what happens in every family. you don't wash your dirty laundry in public. they accuse some accusers of being in it for the money. insensitive is an understatement. >> that is an understatement. this isn't about dirty laundry. this is about kids' lives being abused over 20 years. >> joe, you really have to ask, why didn't the milwaukee archdioces -- this is being done in 1960, why do you have to wait to write a letter in the 1970s to the vatican? why wasn't he defrocked -- >> i don't understand. >> the vatican is suggesting

that there's a real battle going on, an anti-papal battle coming out of milwaukee. that's why i say there's a lot more here. >> okay, we'll keep following it. let's go to ron brownstein with atlantic media. a series of new polls out. cnn polling takes a look at where the voters will stand in the next presidential election after health care -- the 2020 elections were held today, 47% would back obama, another 47% would back an unnamed challenger. 44% say they think the president will win a second term. 54% say he doesn't. of course, ron, this doesn't matter because it's not 2012 but the battle though for public perception, though s really heating up. you almost sense the white house knows they have a couple weeks to sell this. >> i'm reminded of the last gallup poll before 9/11 in 2001 had al gore and george bush at

48/48. it reverts back to the 50 slaib 50 nation we saw before the election, with the polarizing alodge ideological lines, as we saw in many ways in the bush years. health care is a critical battlefield for the democrats. because while the polling is kind of varied, it's bounced around on whether people think it's a good idea. the one thing that has been constant, the one hurdle they have never really crossed at the white house, is convincing the white middle class they will personally benefit from this. if you look at the polling post-passa post-passage, you see a very stark divide. the minority community, now a quarter of the elector rat and growing, this is very popular. three-quarters say it's a good thing. in the white, they see it as something to benefit the lower income and uninsured. >> how do they change that, ron? >> well, i think -- look, i think they have some ammunition here. and i think you arp lewding to some of it before.

they have a series of insurance reforms that will benefit people with coverage. the irony here, and you know this, having lived through the other one, compared to previous presidents, obama tried to put more emphasis on controlling costs and helping the insured than he did on expanding coverage to the uninsured. but i think the insured by and large see this as something aimed at people without coverage. things like ending the denial of preexisting conditions, ending rescissions, ending lifetime limits on benefits, allowing kids to stay on their parents' policies until their 26, providing more aid for seniors to close the doughnut hole. those are the weapons they have. >> let me ask you this, ron, because in the end, what people don't realize, these national polls mean absolutely nothing, whether good or bad for the president. what matters is, what's happening to those 40 to 50 house districts, that are up, that could go either way right now. does the president help by going

into a district in the south, into a district of the midwest where a group of polls came out showing the democrats are in bad shape, and if the president hurts by going into this district, what does the white house do to help these people, without being too visible? >> yeah. two points. first, i think there are districts where he obviously does not help. 48 democrats in districts john mccain carried by very large margins and at least half are seriously in danger. that's not where he's going to help. democrats have to draw the line in the places where obama still has popularity. you have about 208 house democrats in districts he carried in 2008. that's where he has to focus his efforts. if you think about essentially if you're looking at an overall number that is right around 50%, sometimes just above, sometimes just below in his approval, you can expect in the places where he had trouble to begin with, especially with a lot of these white noncollege voters, i keep coming back to that theme, he's going to be weaker today than he was in 2008.

he's going to be a differential asset. if they can draw the line in places where he's had strength and maintain strength. his base -- he still has a solid base and energized by health care, he can do good for them. not for the guys out beyond the last fort in places very difficult for democrats to hold normal conditions. >> you know, pat buchanan, last night i had a conservative say, why do you keep saying stay calm? everybody's hair's on fire. i say, you do what you can do. you can look at the 48 -- ron just brought it up. if you're a conservative, look at the 48 seats john mccain carried. that's where you need to focus. that's what you can control. isn't that the game now, between now and november, those 48 seats that mccain carried that a democrat's in where a lot of those people voted for health care? >> that's where the house of representatives will be decided. whether or not the republicans win the house, joe, whichcy-s a real reach and a real stretch.

let me ask ron this question, are these not the same folks you wrote about earlier, these white middle class folks, who, a, distrust the government, b. a lot of them dislike it and some even ate the government right now? >> yeah. >> and is there anything obama can do to turn around that deep pool of distrukt out there about the entire government of the united states? >> yeah, here's the challenge, pat, they have with a lot of these white working class and even college-educated voters. in 2009 by and large they faced the perception, fanned by republicans, but certainly indigenous in itself that the activities they took to repair the economy, primarily benefitted the people who broke the economy. wall street, banks, wealthy. they were accused of transferring income up the income ladder. now with health care they have the risk that a lot of voters will believe they're transferring income from middle class down the income ladder to the uninsured. on your political point, 190 democrats are in districts obama

ran at or above his national average. 186 voted for the bill. all votes were in districts he either lost or was below his national average. that's really where it was concentrated. >> ron brownstein, thank you very much. >> by the way, i have to say, ron just gave republicans talking points here. because he's exactly right. there are people with the wall street bailouts believe you transferred income up out of the middle class and now with health care they believe that you transfer it down. out of the middle class. it brings that resentment buchanan talks about. >> thank you very much, ron. we appreciate it. willie, what's up next? >> we will have a special "week in review" coming up here. all joe biden all the time. we think the man deserves it. it's the very least we can do. he made the statement that launched 1,000 t-shirts this week. we'll have a full recap of his glorious career. don't forget, this weekend the book signing for "all things at once" "new york times" best seller, mika will be at books

and books in coral gables, florida, tomorrow at 2:00. go meet mika and pick up a copy of her great book. "morning joe" will be right back. at&t covers 97% of all americans. that's right, 97%. which means you can talk, text, email or go online from almost anywhere. so whether you're in portland, oregon, or portland, maine... washington, d.c., or seattle, washington, or somewhere in between, at&t has the coverage you need. hopefully that sheds a little light on the subject. ♪

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oh, yes, is it time? >> prerecorded version of mika. a lot of us struggled this week when the health care bill passed to find the right word to sum it up. was it historic? monumental? ground breaking? then joe biden came along and put a nice bow on the whole thing, calling it a big blanking deal. so that inspired us here. instead of doing the week in review, we wanted to give you the glorious, glorious joe biden in review. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states of america, barack obama. >> this is a big [ bleep ] deal. >> it's a quote school children will be reading in history books for generations to come. just as fdr had his new deal, barack obama now has his big [ bleep ] deal. >> that was a great f-ing

report. >> it's a big f-ing deal. >> big f-ing deal. >> the vice president's bold declaration inspired a line of merchandise overnight and added another layer to the legend of joe biden. >> can you reassure voters in this country that you would have the discipline you would need on the world stage, senator? >> yes. >> a man who will be the next president of the united states, barack america. >> god rest your soul -- wait, your mom's still alive. >> as president says, three-letter word, j-o-b-s, jobs. >> my memory isn't that great. >> this new program that i looked tat and wished i was seeing it in 3d and you sit there and you watch this science

fiction thing unfold in front of you. >> "avatar." >> "avatar." >> how are you? >> an hour late, give me a f-ing break. >> thin air of colorado springs. and the windy air. what am i going to tell the president when i tell him his te teleprompter is broken? what will he do then? >> if we do everything right, with uncertainty, there's still a 30% chance we can get it wrong. >> i would tell members of my family, and i have, i wouldn't go anywhere and confined places now. >> hillary clinton is as qualified or more qualified than i am. quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me. >> oh, but we're so glad it was you, mr. vice president. just to be clear, that was not a c credit teak, that was a tribute to joe biden. coming up, ron paul will get his take on health care when "morning joe" comes right back. it's a rule of nature.

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♪ i have deep concerns that some chris van hollen and tim kaine are dangerously fanning the flames by suggesting that

these incidents be used as a political weapon. >> that's eric cantor talking about the madness going on on capitol hill. cantor claiming his office was shot at. obviously, we've had a series of incidences on capitol hill over the past few days. it is sad. >> that is. i mean, it's not what it's supposed to be about. >> it's really sad. and it really disconnects washington from america even more. but that's why wha we keep saying, people need to keep calm. have the debate with people with whom you disagree. you know, i told katrina vanden heuvel earlier this week that i liked her. she flinched. >> she recoiled in disgust. >> but you have to be able to have kvgss with people with whom you disagree. sometimes they're going to be heated. >> exactly. they don't have to be hateful. >> they don't have to be

hateful. it's just -- it's a real shame with what's going on out there. i think republicans need to relax. they've got their jobs ahead of them. focus on the 46, 47, 48 seats mccain won where you have democrats in there in the house right now. and that's what you focus on. you don't focus on all the crazy conspiracy stuff. democrats, i think, need to do the same thing. >> no, don't focus on the anger. with us now from washington, we have republican representative from texas and member of the house financial services committee, congressman ron paul is with us. >> and we're going to get to him right after news. also we have pat buchanan in washington, willie geist is up in new york and let's do news. first, a happy 70th birthday to the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi. she's 70 years young. >> she's celebrating her birthday in quite a way this week. >> for nancy pelosi, she really accomplished a life-long dream right before her 70th birthday.

i suspecting she's enjoying it today. >> our congratulations to her. time for a look at some of today's top stories. a divided congress is preparing for the next stage of the health care fight after the house passed a final package of fixes to the reform bill last night. the house was forced to vote on the bill a second time after senate republicans found 20 words that violated procedural rules. this morning speaker nancy pelosi will preside over the bill's enrollment before it heads to the president's desk to be signed into law early next week. the president is working to rally members of his own party against republican attacks come the midterm elections. speaking in iowa yesterday, the president says, it's a fight he is ready to have. >> now that we passed it, they're already promising to repeal it. they're actually going to run on a platform of repeal in november. you've been hearing that. and my attitude is, go for it. if they want to have that fight, question have it.

because i don't believe that the american people are going to put the insurance industry back in the driver's seat. we've already been there. we're not going back. this country's moving forward. >> all right. a new cnn poll taking an early snapshot of where voters stand ahead of the next presidential election if the 2012 election were held today, 47% say they would back president obama. an equal number would support an unnamed republican challenger. is that interesting? >> that is interesting. >> unnamed. >> this is also interesting by ten percentage point more americans think the president's going to lose than win. let's bring in ron paul right now. i don't think that matters a whole heck of a lot right now. obviously, the 2012 election, far off. ron paul, how will this health care debate shape the election coming up in november in 2010? >> well, i think it certainly will.

i think a lot is yet to happen because more people are going to understand this bill and how bad it really is. i think 2010 seems to be so long a way off. i think, you know, a lot more can happen. but i definitely think it's going to make a difference. i think it's going to help the republicans and they're going to come close to taking over the house. but to me the whole thing is a huge mess. you know, they went and -- they had this big excitement over 20 words? well, it was good they're trying to follow the rules. but coming from my view point where i don't even -- i can't find out where there's authority in the constitution for running medical care, over 2,000 pages, and now they're going to worry about 20 words? i guess it's good they're worried about 20 words. i would like them to worry about 2,000 pages. >> let's talk about both of the parties. when i go out and talk, it's not just people concerned about the democratic party -- they'll say, yes, we're concerned with how the democratic party is expanding the government's

footprint in our life when it comes to health care. but you republicans, they will say to me, you republicans passed a medicare drug benefit plan that had a cost of $7 trillion. if you look out there right now, ron, it doesn't look like americans have a real good choice if their small government can serve them. they're getting it from both parties. they got it from bush. now they're getting it from obama. >> and thank goodness the people are waking up. you know, the people can have an influence when they finally wake up, and they are on this issue. you make a very important point, because when republicans were in charge, they were doing the same thing, running up deficits, expanding the roll of government. and expanding the department of education. and the whole mess. so, the people are catching on. but the reason they're catching on is they're realizing our government and our country's bankrupt. nobody believes they can give 30 million new people medical care and not charge them and lower the deficit. i mean, it is astounding that they do this with a straight

face. everything is just so much partisan bickering. like you point out, they're saying the same thing but it's partisanship. it's who gets to favor their friends the most. who's going to run it. who gets the power. >> and that's what's so fascinating to me is the harsh partisanship in washington, d.c. when you look at the arc of the federal government over the past decade, there's just not a lot. this drives partisans on both sides crazy when i say it, but when it comes to the size of government, there's just not a real difference between republicans and democrats, how republicans acted over eight years when they're in power and how democrats are acting now. they're both spending money we don't have. pat buchanan, do you have a question for ron paul? >> sure. you're right, joe, george w. bush was a great society republican. let me ask ron this. ron, let me ask you, repeal and reform sounds like a good message to run on. and i think it's got good credibility with the american people. there's some aspects of that

bill they may like, others they detest. as a practical matter, president's got a veto pen. you'd have to have two-thirds to override his veto. as a practical matter, you can't repeal and reform, can you? >> no, no, no, no, not these circumstances. maybe some day when the country is bankrupt and we rebuilt the whole society we'll have to reform. right now, there's no chance of this happening. i would like to preserve and save something. you know, this whole medical debate, you know, they talked about the public option for a long time. i wondered why they never said, why can't we preserve a private option? this, to me -- one of the worst things they've done with this bill is take away a private choice. they undermine the health savings accounts so given a person to opt out, but they don't want to you opt out. as a matter of fact, this time they're forcing everybody to go in and buy government mandated insurance. so, they're moving in the wrong direction. at least in education. as bad as it is with public

education and what they've done to it. you know, you could opt out. you could teach your kids at home and you could still go to private school. but now in medicine, you can't opt out. and that is why the medical care quality is going to deteriorate and why the cost is going to escalate and eventually everybody's going to be a lot more unhappy. >> pat buchanan, i want to go to your point, though, about repealing this bill, our portions of it if republicans take control of the house of representatives. the one thing we knew in 1994 when we got elected is, even if the liberal republicans in the senate didn't go along with us, even if bill clinton didn't go along with us, you look at the constitution and the house of representatives has the checkbook. nothing gets paid for unless the house of representatives says it gets paid for. so, you have a lot of programs that could be defunded by a conservative house in 2011 and

2012. nothing passes. nothing gets done unless the house says it does. and that seems to me, ron paul, like an opportunity. if you ask me, do you want republicans to take over the house or the senate, i'd say, let them take over the house because you can't spend a dime unless the house says, can you spend a dime. >> that's the way it's supposed to be. that's not the way it happens. congress for decades now have given up their prerogatives to the executive branch. we've had republicans who loved the strong executives. still today, the executive can go to war without a declaration, the federal reserve can spend $2 trillion without appropriation. the other day, what did obama do when the congress couldn't do something? oh, write an executive order. it has the force of law. so the executive branch writes laws constantly. the judicial system writes laws constantly. you're absolutely right about what the house should do, but we have strayed so far from that

responsibility. the house should be able to control the whole -- the whole process through the perks, but they give up on it too easily. it's astounding to me that congress has given up so much of their authority and their responsibilities. >> let me ask you this, ron n 2006 and 2008, a lot of small government conservatives that helped reagan get elected in '80, that helped me get elected in 1994 that said, why do i want to make phone calls for the republicans? why do i want to knock on doors for the republicans because if they win, they're not going to be conservative? can you tell small government conservatives today in 2010 that if republicans take control of the house next year, that they have learned their lessons? that they'll be any different than they were the last eight years they controlled the house? will it be different this time? >> oh, i don't think so, unless you get a new crop up here. you have to have more -- different people here. and i think the frustration that

you're expressing is the fact that the two parties are very similar. therefore, there aren't any choices. we don't really have a democratic process here because if you try to do it as a third party, all the rules are biased against you. you can't get on ballots, in debates you're dismissed by the media. so we do have one party. all they fight over is power and influence. but they don't fight over philosophy. so, if you want that, if you want to see a change, republicans have to change their image. right now they've gained a whole lot. not because people are convinced they're republican but they are convinced democrats are so bad and they actually are, you know, now worse than what they remember the republicans to be. so, we have a lot way to go to straighten this mess out. >> pat buchanan? >> quick question, ron. look, ron paul, sarah palin, mitt romney agree 100%, bill shouldn't have passed health care, on foreign policy, afghanistan, iraq, iran, ron paul, sarah palin are on opposite sides completely.

any chance your point of view can prevail in the republican party on foreign policy, or is that hopeless? >> no, it's not hopeless. we're making progress. and this is where i'm excited. not on the house floor yet, but the people's minds are being changed. tomorrow night i'll be at boise state university in idaho. believe me, we'll have a large crowd and they are going to endorse the views of nonintervention, coming to our senses, we're bankrupt and we can't police the world. we're broke here in this country. why are we spending a trillion dollars a year managing an empire that's unmanageable and only get us in trouble? that attitude is changing. the next generation will know we have to change that policy. >> congressman ron paul echoing what you said at your speech at k cato. >> ron's exactly right. there's a lot of people saying we're bankrupt. what are we doing trying to rebuild countries a decade after we went into afghanistan. and how much longer are we going

to be there? we have got to narrow our focus, show -- we have to show restraint abroad, restrained at home, and the party that does that, i think, is going to start winning elections. >> yep, that's it. we need the influence of these independent-minded people. unfortunately, they don't have another party so they'll have to influence both parties. >> he says we need a new crop. congressman ron paul, thank you very much. >> thanks, ron. >> good to have you back on the show. coming up next, senator john mccain is now in the political fight of his career, so he's bringing back a familiar face in his effort to win re-election. we'll talk about that. and up next -- the moderator of "meet the press" david gregory meets us and chuck todd with developing stories out of the white house. first, a check on the weekend weather with bill karins. >> thanks. not a bad view, the front lawn of the white house. airport delays, only one, philadelphia, 30-minute delays. it is cold and windy in the east today. be prepared as you step out the door.

windchill is 35 in new york. we haven't talked about windchill in three or four weeks. if you looked outside the window, from boston to d.c. and philly, that's not the case today. sun may come out but it will be windy. temperature will struggle 40, 45 all day. compare that to the 60s yesterday. rest of the country today, not many problem areas. watch out in denver, more snow on the way later tonight. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. national car rental? that's my choice. because with national, i roll past the counter... and choose any car in the aisle. choosing your own car?

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♪ it's the end of the world as we know it ♪ ♪ it's the end of the world as we know it ♪ leaders of the republican party, they call the passage of this bill armageddon.

so after i signed the bill, i looked around to see if there were any asteroids falling or -- some cracks opening up in the earth. turned out it was a nice day. bir birds were chirping, folks were stroling down the mall. >> live look at the white house for you. the sun up. lights have been on for quite some time here. >> you know, actually, the republicans play into that and allow the president to get a big laugh at -- have a joke at their expense. when you have congressmen talking about how freedom died tonight and people setting their hair on fire. that's why i've been saying all along.

they need to relax. they need to argue their issues. they need to debate the issues. if they're true conservative, they can win this debate out on the stump. if not, they'll lose. it's that simple. from washington, the moderator of nbc's "meet the press," david gregory. from the white house, nbc political director, chuck todd, also the co-host of msnbc's "the daily rundown". >> david gregory, you're shaping your debate for the weekend on "meet the press" on sunday. talk about the week that was and what it means. >> let me pick up where you left off. i think that's important. i spoke to a democrat yesterday that said, look, we've been down this road of trying to demonize legislation. we did it with the prescription drug bill that president bush signed and, you know, we talked about how this was going to hurt seniors and hurt their access to care, prescription drugs. you know, ultimately it didn't work that well. the result of that, the impact of that was more benign. yes, there are fixes to that very prescription drug bill and there was a legacy of a lot of

spending that hurt president bush even among conservatives, but the impact overall was more benign. i think that that's what certainly the white house is counting on at the very least, or that there's much more upside to arguing health care. i think there's little doubt that the health care reform bill that has been passed now is going to be changed as we move forward by republicans and democrats. but i think that you're right. in other words, to suggest that this is the end of freedom, that this is ushering in of socialism and totalitarian is real hyperbo hyperbole. they'll whip up small donors to republican party. but it doesn't get to the heart of the issue i think republicans will use in hotly contested seats p seats, congressional seats up for re-election in november. >> chuck todd, let's talk about the top issue on a lot of people's minds. you predicted it.

you called it. and nobody else did in all of washington, d.c. butler over chris's syracuse. tell us what you saw with the little engine that you could taking down butler. >> how did you call that? >> reporter: i don't want to gloat yet. i have butler in my final four. before i gloat, they have to win one more game against a tough kansas state team. no, this is is about syracuse, when they're a one seed, they always fall flat in the tournament, one. two, they were down a starter. it's not fair -- look, it was a valiant effort. and if i had known this was about chris -- >> i'm sorry, chuck todd. chris just said, we're out of time. maybe we're out of time on the butler questions. but what -- is the president happy? obviously, he's elated with the vote, what happened earlier this week. but does the white house feel -- does david axelrod feel they've

got the message they need moving forward? republicans bhafing badly, a historic health care bill and the president, he's on the campaign trail. >> reporter: i think what they feel good about is they feel like they delivered something to democratic voters and to the base. you know, there has been this massive enthusiasm gap. we've seen it in our polls where when you match up -- when you match up, for instance, generic congressional ballot, democrats will be up a point or two, but then you say on those with -- who are most interested in the 2010 elections, republicans have a double-digit lead. there was all this republican enthusiasm. that's not going to go away. just just because the president got his health care plan, doesn't mean conservatives will stay home. they're just as fired up. what it does do is fire up the democratic base. if they can even things out, well, that gives them a fighter's chance in the election. look, history shows in all of the seats they won in '06 and

'08, it would be virtually impossible for democrats to not lose seats. the question s they don't want to get crushed in november. and if the enthusiasm levels are even, then, by the way, the president can move and start talking to the middle of the country. there's a lot of ifs before now and then. getting that enthusiasm up is a big deal. >> one thing we know, he was right. sir kushgs you put them number one, they're going to collapse. >> exactly. >> david, what about the fact they could spend -- the white house could spend a great deal of time trying to sell this, trying to get ready for 2010, trying to sort of get the narrative right on health care? it is controversial and there are some overlaps and opinions on this. again, then we wouldn't be talking about jobs. i mean, are we going to find ourselves in the same situation? >> well, you know, what chuck eludes to is that democrats are still going to be accountable

for jobs. that's a big factor that's driving a lot of this anti-incumbent sentiment around the country. so that does spell a lot of losses. even if you can compare the climate from 2010 in the fall, when we get there to say, '06, where republicans lost nearly 30 seats, you know, it was horrible back in '06 between the aftermath of katrina and the iraq war and, you know, six years of the bush presidency, and still they didn't get 40 seats. i mean, taking back the majority will be very difficult. i think the challenge for the white house here is that health care -- they may won the vote but health care is still confusing. how does it actually work? how do exchanges get set up? you're going to have -- if the republicans are successful at all, they're at least going to keep a lot of these arguments front and center in terms of government expansion, you know, 10,000 more irs agents and all the rest that is going to make this a real contest for the middle, for more independent

voters who may or may not come out in large numbers in these -- in the primary battles this fall, but also on general election day. >> david, who do you have on "meet the press" this weekend? >> we'll have a debate on economic consequences and the fallout with chuck schumer and lindsey graham. >> chuck, who do you have winning it all in your brackets? >> reporter: well, they're not in the tournament anymore, so that's my big problem. >> so who is it now? who's your pick? >> reporter: hey, i had kansas, like every other -- >> so, who do you like now? >> reporter: i had butler, baylor, kentucky. how do you not go with kentucky? >> you have to go with kentucky. david, who do you like? >> i like uk all the way. >> go big blue! all right, guys, thank you so much. >> senator john mccain is back on the campaign trail today with his former running mate, sarah palin. when we come back, we'll go live to phoenix where they're holding a rally later today. keep it right here on "morning joe." brewed by starbucks. here, kitty! here, kitty!

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joe." sarah palin hit the campaign trail again today. this time on behalf of her old running mate john mccain. and she has a new gig on tv. nbc's norah o'donnell is traveling with palin in tucson, arizona. norah, i want to make it clear to our viewers the music we're playing is not pertaining to you and me but to governor palin and senator mccain. that's very important. >> reporter: love the tune. good morning to you, willie. you know, john mccain is putting up this strong challenge from the right, so palin will come here today, she's going to stump for her old running mate. it will actually be the first time we see john mccain and sarah palin together since they lost the 2008 presidential race. less than two years after john mccain plucked sarah palin from obscurity in alaska, palin is now returning the favor. in arizona to lend him her star power. >> he needs a conservative to tell those voters in arizona, john mccain's okay. he's one of us. >> reporter: mccain faces his

toughest re-election battle ever. >> although john mccain was the republic presidential nominee in 2008, he's never been a true favorite of conservatives. >> reporter: that's why he's facing a primary challenge from another republican, former congressman hayworth. >> conservatives view mccain as someone in arizona as a conservative and returns to washington and legislates either moderately or in some cases takes up the liberal banner. >> reporter: palin, a darling of the anti-government conservatives, could boost mccain with the very voters who distrust him. >> left me fired up and energized and invigorated and we're going to do all we can to take the country back. >> reporter: as a prominent fox news contributor, she's rallying against what she calls obama care and gunning for the democrats who voted for health care reform, marking their districts with targets. on facebook and twitter, she

rallied supporters with the words, don't retreat, reload. on "today" mccain defended her ramped up rhetoric. >> to say someone is in a battleground state offensive is, simply, i'm sorry. >> reporter: just as she re-unites with the man who made her a star, the former governor is set to star in her own tv star, sarah palin's alaska will air on tlc, the same channel that made kate gosselin and the duggar family celebrities. don't mrab for a behind the scenes look at palin's colorful family. rather, it's a travel show in which palin promises to bring the wonder and majesty of alaska to all americans. the show will be produced by mark burnett, who created such tv hits as nbc's "celebrity apprentice" now featuring rod blagojevich. unlike blagojevich, this former governor will fetch a cool $1

million an episode. palin today and tomorrow will headline two rallies and a fund-raiser for mccain. then she's headed to nevada where she is going to speak at a tea party rally. a very big rally where ann coulter is also expected to be there. willie? >> that will be fascinating to watch sarah palin with the guy who was the top of the ticket. appreciate it. pat buchanan, your dear friend, beloved sarah palin, she went into virginia, new jersey, to help campaign in the governor races a little bit. that didn't get-g to well. >> virginia and new jersey went just fine. she's going out there to searchlight, arizona, harry reid and ann coulter, that's too much. too good. >> a perfect storm for pat buchanan. we appreciate it. coming up next, how does rahm see his role in the white house? we'll hear his -- >> i'm sorry, let me ask pat. i'm sorry, willie. what about john mccain? what do you think about john

mccain going back and getting sarah palin when these two -- my god, you read about how that campaign ended. it was terrible. >> disastrous. >> well, you know, look, john mccain -- >> i'm talking about the night they lost and they were trying to push their way on the stage to speed and mccain's people were elbowing them out of the way. it was ugly. >> i'll tell you this, john mccain is bringing her back a second time tells me j.d., who i thought was pretty far behind, is a lot closer than people thought. >> pat buchanan, thanks a lot. >> thank you. >> sorry about that, willie. still ahead, we have senator claire mccaskill going to be with us coming up straight head on "morning joe." right now you can get a great deal on any volkswagen. wow, the tiguan's great. mm. and the routan has everything we're looking for. plus, every volkswagen includes

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♪ all right now ♪ baby it's all right now i didn't do this so i would get thanked at the signing or anything else. let me say this, if that's the question, you should know the night that it passed or the day it passed, he and i -- he came by, gave me a high five. i have no doubt my role in this and i feel quite good about that sense of it. >> okay. no doubt of his role in this. let's talk about this with democratic senator from missouri, senator claire mccaskill joining us on the show this morning. senator, good to have you back on. >> great to be with you. >> we just heard from rahm emanuel. how much do we attribute rahm to this the success of this bill and the obama administration, or lack thereof, because there are some parts of it that aren't so -- aren't actually what you started out trying to get? >> well, they pushed at the right time. the process had gotten so ugly.

we lost a lot of independent voters. frankly, scott brown benefitted from a lot of independent voters saying, you know, this process is so ugly. and because of that, it was definitely stalled out. and i think the president kind of doubled down and said, i'm not giving up. frankly, his ability to push at that moment, i think, is what probably saved the day for this health care bill. >> there's still a lot of debate over the positives and negatives of the bill, the middle class tax cut or lack thereof, and other things, the impact on the insurance industry and the white house making it very clear, this bill clamps down and keeps them from abusing their power in any way. having said that, there is debate over it. let me ask you this, a two-part question. first of all, are they still going to have to work for quite some time now to sell this bill to the american people? >> well, you know, here's what's happened with this bill. both sides have been guilty.

the side in which i'm on that voted for the bill probably is overpromising, not being clear enough about the fact that this is going to be an incremental approach over time, the benefits aren't going to be felt by most americans immediately. on the other hand, the republicans have really gone over the top. i mean, they have so far pushed the rhetoric on this that when the sky doesn't fall, i mean, chick little is running the republic party right now, and when the sky doesn't fall, then all the independent voters out there go, gosh, they sure told us it was going to be terrible and this isn't so bad. so the truth is always somewhere in the middle. >> yes. but i guess my concern -- or question for you would be about how much time this white house, democrats try to sell the benefits of the bill, try to explain that what we did was a good thing and here is why? and there are ways to argue that. at the same time, elections in 2010, what kind of impact could that have especially if our eye is not on the ball when it comes

to jobs? >> well, watch those job numbers. i think that's going to be very, very important. if we start net adding jobs this month or next month, and if that continues until november, then all of a sudden the big bold things that the republicans have demonized and that has really taken their party far to the right, all of a sudden those independent voters out there are going to go, wait a minute, we have pulled back from the brink of a very difficult economic situation. that stimulus did help us get back to a place where we're net adding jobs in this country. and then on top of that, there are some benefit, especially the way we're cracking down on shurn companies. i don't think i've ever heard folks talk very much on your show about the medical loss ratios that are in this bill. where for the first time insurance companies are not going to keep spending money on hiring more people to figure out a way not to pay you. they're going to have to spend up to 90 cents of every dollar they take in on health care.

not on fat cat salaries, not on more claims adjusters to say, i'm sorry, this claim's not allowed. and so those are the kinds of things that as people begin to feel that over years, this bill will become more and more popular. >> you know, joe has got some concerns with it, but i have the other side of that for you. have you heard what fidel castro has to say about health reform in america? claire, he applauds it. we says we consider health reform to have been an important battle and a success of his government, obama's. it's really incredible that 234 years after the declaration of independence the government of that country has approved medical attention for the majority of its citizens. something that cuba was able to do half a century ago. your reaction, senator mccaskill, to his stamp of approval? >> it would be better if he kept his mouth shut. i don't think any cheering from fidel castro is -- frankly, this bill -- i mean, these are

private insurance companies that are going to be available to mernsz. americans. this is not -- this is not like medicare, which is a mandatory health insurance program where you must pay in to the government for a single payer system. that's what medicare is. >> you bring up medicare. explain to me, though, how something's not going to have to give when all these costs start -- and a lot are defearrr. we have people arguing legitimately that we're bankrupting our country with all have this spending. how is the math going to add up or break down? >> the good news is unlike the last medicare entitlement program that was passed, this one we have paid for. now, you can argue about some of the numbers, but overall, over 20 years, the cbo says $1.2 trillion. let's assume they got it wrong by half. we're still reducing the deficit by half a billion dollars if

they overestimate it by two. that's good news. as to medicare, mika, what people keep forgetting, a lot of these cuts are in the medicare advantage program. that was a program that the insurance company sold to congress. let us do medicare. it's been much more expensive. we are doing it by just transferring taxpayer dollars right to the profits of those insurance companies. we're not cutting the medicare benefits in this bill. what we're cutting out is $20 billion a year of taxpayer money going straight to the profit line of those medicare advantage insurance companies. that's why they've lobbied so hard against it. >> but do you see how, perhaps, republicans getting ready for their next election could have an argument here that they could campaign on and do democrats who are seeking re-election in the fall koos fall, could they have a problem here? >> i don't think there's been any question that this has been a very difficult time for our country. there's a lot of distrust and

cynicism about the government. i completely understand that. i'm from a state where there's a lot of people who don't trust the government, so i'm -- it's where i live. on the other hand, what you really have in elections is you have two things. the passion and the enthusiasm of the people who are for you and what independent voters think. and i do think that we have amped up the enthusiasm on our side and the other problem they've got in the other party is, they're taking their party to a place that independent voters don't relate to. they are going so far -- when you look at what's going on to charlie crist in florida, what's going on to john mccain in arizona, what's going on to bob bennett with bob bennett out in utah, the right wing of the republican party is really throwing some elbows right now. and if they're successful, then their narrative going forward is going to be more and more difficult for independent voters to swallow. >> all right. senator claire mccaskill, always good to see you. >> thank you very much. >> get you in the studio in washington some time soon.

thank you. will y what's up next? >> we're going to look inside the water cooler and take a look at march madness. last night a big upset. a lot of new york city people watching this show right now, a lot of them went to syracuse, waking up in tears this morning. we'll help you relive it. plus, the british man who spent $100 doing something that cost nasa $400 million. we'll explain when "morning joe" comes right back. ♪

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>> and joining us is the authority of the big black [ bleep ] how i learned the truth about democracy. >> i owe a lot of people an apology. my friends, my colleagues, the public, kids who looked up to me. >> i'm at home most when i'm on stage with a [ bleep ] in my mouth. >> [ bleep ]. >> this was is the room where president obama [ bleep ] you. >> it was pretty exciting for both of us. >> the fight is not over. people are [ bleep ] up and people are [ bleep ] up. >> most people never want to [ bleep ]. you said obvious reasons the porcupine. >> a whole person. >> hey [ bleep ] face. can't you read? ♪ ♪ it's ladies night

>> i hope the kids are at school. write your letters your e-mails to our executive producer. what a horrible producing decision that was. let's talk about -- let's change the subject a little to march madness, last week we had kansas get knocked out. the number one overall seed at the tournament. last night we lost another number one. this morning we mourn syracuse. they took on fifth seeded butler. syracuse went back ahead in the second half. il i beasley a friendly bounce to put butler up four. in the final minute -- veasley with a little tip-in here. butler in the elite eight for the first time ever beating syracuse. in the final seconds of regulation, terrell holloway was fouled while shooting a three-pointer. it's exciting.

this is who knows what this is but it's something very exciting. this is the guy getting fouled at the end of regulation. he made all three clutch free throws. all three of them. forced overtime. in the end of the first overtime is, jordan crawford lets one go from deep draining an incredible three-pointer to tie the game again. we go to a double overtime. kansas state had it here. jacob pullen, double overtime, kansas state wins a great game. it's k state and butler tomorrow with a trip to the final four on the line. in the east, number one seed kentucky rolling over 12 seeded cornell out of the ivy league. we had high hopes for this one. kentucky was just too much for big red. kentucky wins, 62-45, will play second seeded is west virginia. they won last night in the east. in the midwest tonight, tennessee against ohio state. then the later game has northern iowa looking to keep its run going. they play michigan state.

michigan state playing without its best player. in the south region, st. mary's taking on bay lore. the final game as big 10 acc, purdue against top seeded duke. did you hear the story about the guy with the weather balloon in his backyard in great britain who did exactly what nasa does for about $400 million less? robert harrison had a helium balloon, launch it had up 20 miles in the air. he put a $100 camera like the camera you got for christmas from your mom, drops it in a box, attaches it to a balloon with a parachute and took beautiful pictures of planet earth that you just saw. a mission like that cost nasa about $400 million. money well spent. when we come back, is "the washington post" eugene robinson and dylan ratigan is in the studio with me. keep it on "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. right now you can get a great deal on any volkswagen.

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veasley. i'm sure you heard about joe biden, the man who put the advice in vice president. yes. he said the f word during a press conference with the president the other day. well, the white house is not taking any more chances. you see what happened yesterday when he tried to speak? take a look. >> it is my personal honor and pleasure to introduce the vice president of the united states joseph r. biden junior.

>> thank you very much. >> welcome back to "morning joe." two minutes before the top of the hour. one minute before the top of the hour. live look there at times square. beautiful rainy shot there. >> yeah, also, it's sort of nasty in the northeast but mickka, you're very lucky. you're going to be in miami for a book signing and your kids are coming with you. >> we are going to have so much fun. >> are they going to get -- books and books. >> get out of the rain. >> we did something for my book at books and books. you wonder how many marketing executive boards did they have to get to come up with the title. >> books and books? >> i have no idea where that one came from. we've got msnbc's dylan rat gan with us right now in washington. we've got associate editor and

pu list ser prize winning columnist for the "washington post" eugene robinson. >> scrumptious. >> that's the name he gave himself. >> that is not appropriate. thank you for being with us. so, did i lan, i was sort of 6:00, i'm tired. >> he's very tired. >> and i kind of blew my top. >> yes, did he. >> the president, mika's kicked me for it several times at the request of white house officials. sources high in the white house. >> rahm. >> it was not rahm. >> no? >> rahm would have asked -- >> it was a far morel gant player. >> yeah, and anyway. you can't put a middle finger on e-mail. so it wasn't rahm. but anyway, i kind of went off when i heard the president saying what nancy pelosi said last week, which is we stood up for against those big bad insurance companies, and what bothers me is, it's just not true. if you want to talk about the

morality. we're going to put 31, 32 million people on the roll. we can debate about that. if you want to say we're getting rid of existing conditions, fine, that's legitimate. that's debate that. if you want to talk about we're going to make it easier for small business to get health care insurance, that's legitimate, too. but because i watch is your show every day, i know the truth. >> you know it? >> no, i watch it every day at 4:00. and i know nobody's followed this more closely and that you. the special interests own the republican party. the special interests own the democratic party. and the special interests got away with murder in this health care reform bill, didn't they. >> stunning. this was the perfect health care bill for the uninsured most importantly. and i want to say that before. everything you're saying is absolutely true, joe. i'll get into it momentarily as i do almost every time i open my mouth. and the reason i say this is the perfect bill politically is because once achieve the goal

and you have to give the president incredible credit for moving the mark and saying i'm going to set a new mark, you have to cover everybody. you're not allowed to cover some of the people. impressive task. >> i've already said -- but now. >> but the way they did it, let me finish. >> the president said yesterday, dylan, we stood up to the health care insurance companies which nancy pelosi says they're villains. those bad republicans like health insurance companies but we stuck it to them. is that true or false? >> no, not since george w. bush delivered a trillion dollars to the drug companies with medicare part d have the health companies received such an incredibly beneficial treatment from the u.s. government and its legislation, most notably the health insurance companies and the drug companies, quite simply because the politicians -- and i understand they're so dependent on the money whether it's the bank money or health care money, those jobs are predicated on raising money to keep your job.

if you actually effect reform, the disruptive technologies that would render the health care deployment in the this country far more efficient and less profitable for a monopoly in the health insurance industry or the banking industry, you cut off the money supply. so the key if you're a politician is to figure out how to achieve the politically attainable, cover the uninsured, appear to offer. but do not do something even if it's appropriate like a national exchange for everybody with tax credits. there's lots of things that could happen. healthy americans act. you lose your job as a politician if you do the right thing. we end up where we are. >> if you stand up to the health insurance companies, if you strip the anti-trust exemption, if you make them compete across state lines, if you stop them from price fixing on the phones, then i guess you just get voted out in washington because you

don't get the money. >> that's the problem. that's why we're in the situation we're in. >> gene, i like to think of myself as being a tough political analyst. but i'm going to sound really kneeive here. why is it that instead of barack obama and nancy pelosi pushing a narrative that's not true, why don't think they focus on the moral side of this argument which is we just put 32 million people on the rolls, and we did it the cbo says without raising the deficit. so don't -- don't tell untruths. tell the truth. you just did something democrats have wanted for 50 years. >> joe, we're going to all agree on this. and in our outdoor voices, as well. you know, it is really -- i have said all along that this is a moral question. i thought that was the best

argument that the democrats had for passing health care reform. i thought it was a moral imperative. and i think it is an amazing achievement to move that -- move the bar as dylan said to look, you've got to cover everybody. that's where we ought to be. but to say that we really stuck it to the insurance companies is objectively not true. the decision was made early on that you couldn't do that. and actually, the deal sweetened for the insurance companies basically as we went on. >> so the insurance companies win big. pharma wins, the unions win. >> and the uninsured wins. >> does the bill not, as the white house will tell you, rein in some of the worst excesses and abuses by the insurance industry with some of the toughest consumer protections ever? >> yes, it's -- one thing you have to say about this bill beyond the obvious which is that

the president deserves the immense credit for moving the mark to where it ought to be, cover everybody, but the other thing is this is a phenomenal patients' bill of rights. this is a much better empowerment for patients relative to some of the worst practices and the democrats deserve tremendous credit for that, as well. >> doesn't that cost them? doesn't that punish them if they can't carry out. >> no. >> hold on a second. >> mika, what if they told us on haddish show instead of going three hours we either going three hours and 15 minutes but they would mandate it as a matter of law that you have to watch "morning joe" or the irs will fine you 2.6% of your salary. chris just said in my ear, i like it. insurance companies. >> it's modern capitalism. >> okay, pre-existing that's fine because they've just made it a crime against the federal government and we've got the health insurance companies have the power of the irs enforcement

arm behind them now. you buy their product or the feds are coming after you, right, dylan. >> yes. the only issue is how much they're going to fund the irs. so the language is there. the irs is the enforcer. it will come down to how aggressive the government wants to be in actually pursuing that. will they actually get agents looking and watching to do this. but the framing of the law is there now to allow the pursuit of exactly that. so again, they accommodate the special interests by virtue of protecting them from being forced to enter into any real competitive pressures, but they do protect, mickka, individuals by definition of the mandate. you cannot have a pre-existing condition, right? >> earlier today, i read gene robinson's article. >> right. stopping the health care madness. >> stopping the health care madness. why don't you read the first news story because it is goes to what gene's talking about. >> sure, leaders of both parties are condemning the threats of violence and vandal six aimed at

members of congress following the passage of the health care bill. while some democrats have criticized the gop for being slow to speak out against the incidentses, republicans are accusing democrats of fanning the flames. >> it is reckless to use these incidents as media vehicles for political gain. security threats against members of congress is not a partisan issue. and they should never be treated that way. to use such threats as political weapons is reprehensible by ratcheting up the rhetoric, some will only inflame these situations to dangerous levels. enough is enough. it has to stop. >> and, of course, gene, eric cantor's office according to eric cantor shot at. there's been a number of incidents of democratic congressmen also facing some

terrible situations. what's going on right now, and what needs to be done? >> hold on. there was apparently a bullet fire into the air. i just want to be careful about -- chris, what's the exact information. >> the bullet was fired in the air and came down. so they're saying it wasn't directed at the office. >> okay. go ahead, eugene. >> i mean, what is happening is that the temperature was turned way up on this issue. i was at the capitol on sunday. i kind of wandered around and passed the big tea party protest outside and you know, it's true. the republican members of the house came out onto the balcony and kind of whipped them up with the don't tread on me flag and everything like that. look, this was an issue on which people have -- still have very strong feelings, but once you kind of turn up the heat under the atmosphere sufficiently, you kind of empower the crazies.

that's what i'm really worried about. not the law-abiding people who simply disagreed with the policy and thought it was wrong. of course, they should come out and protest and let their representatives know. but there's a fringe and there are crazies. they are, unfortunately, heavily armed, and it's something that i think we, you know, we really need to worry about and call out when we see it happening. >> yeah, call it out but also i think we have to be careful along the way. i think this happened during the campaign. i think this happened during the final hours of the health care debate where certain fringe really minute members of it were highlighted. then it's inject nooltd conversation and becomes ridiculous. i mean, the conversation and the debate that we're having, dylan, you me, eugene, about you know, whether or not parts of this bill really make sense, whether they really come down hard on

the insurance industry. that's what we should be talking about, not a bunch of crazies or one or two saying potentially something that wasn't caught on camera. >> what complicates matters with all of this is because of the mixed nature of the legislation, i shouldn't say because of it, but the mixed nature of the legislation and the fact it's become so transparent that our political process is so entirely dependent on accommodations to those who give money to politicians, you want to keep your job, you've got to raise money all day, everybody gets that. now you see the legislation so accommodative to whether it's monopolies or overly subsidized special interests or subsidized special interests whether it's the banks or anybody else adds to the temperature in the atmosphere that eugene was just talking about. the fringe especially but people in general looking for what is the healthiest way to address the things that are irritating me that may actually be validly irritating but people feel so

powerless in many cases to act on that. that's where i think we run into a lot of the tension and the opportunity also is to find a way to encourage the democratic engagement that is only possible in this country and not possible in many other countries where they have much worse conflicts than the kind that i talk about at 4:00 or you guys are talking about in the morning. >> let's look at new cnn polling taking an early snapshot where voters stand ahead of the next presidential election, if the election were held today, 47% say they would back president obama. an equal number would support an unnamed republican challenger. and 44% say the president would win a second term if he runs for re-election in 2012. 54% say obama will lose. >> gene, if you look at the gallup tracking poll it's at 51% right now. gallup is at 51%. the president taking a big jump over the past week. either poll, quinnipiac had him at 45. he's still between 45 and 50.

but i've been asking this question all morning. how long do you think the president has before americans' sentiments on health care reform kind of set in cement and then it's hard to change their mind? >> that's a very good question. the fact that he is out i think out in iowa or heading out there to make a push for the public push for the legislation indicates that at the white house, they want to work on that public opinion right now. it's not an unlimited amount of time. i mean, you're not going to change people's minds, i think, six months, nine months from now. i think you really over the next month as we talk about what's actually in the act, what's not in the act, and how it's going to be implemented and

everything, i think that's extremely important. >> all right. i agree. >> eugene robinson, thank you very much. coming up, a look inside. >> can i say to gene, gene, you've got -- i had mika after the town hall meeting meet my friend mark mclaughlin who's in town just to prove that i do have one friend. >> there was one. >> and they only wanted to talk about gene robinson, how much they love gene. >> mindy was like oh, gene is so cute. >> and mika said i know. i think he's scrumptious. so cute, scrumptious. pulitzer prize winner. you mix it up, you've got a winning combination. >> and later, i've got a t-shirt for you. >> great to have you there. >> a t-shirt. >> i've got a t-shirt for you. yes, you're going to wear it. biden's big deal comment was a good way to button up a year's worth of debate on health care. we'll look back at his greatest spoken moments. you can get a t-shirt that says

big deal. first a check on the weather with bill karen. >> i know you can feel in the blank there. you've done it before. >> bill, just do the weather. >> i won't cause trouble today. airports looking okay. 45-minute delays considering it's cloudy and rainy out there. it will get better later this afternoon. laguardia and dulles both with 45-minute delays. the rain showers and snow showers this morning will be gone by about noon. rest of the countries looking okay in the middle of the nation. florida is looking all right. miami a little soggy there morning. your weekend forecast, east coast, a sunny day saturday. but on sunday, the east coast is rainy. the middle of the countries is dry. see if you have plans there weekend, saturday is the day for anyone on the eastern sea board. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. pollen.

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♪ >> lean over here just for a second. it's time to get your -- >> i think the sports guy actually pulled her chair out as a cruel joke. let's look at the morning papers right now. the new york times showing is president obama making a surprise visit to a local

bookstore in iowa city yesterday. he was shopping for his two daughters when he was caught holding books by mitt romney and karl rove. "the washington post" plans to announce aggressive steps to fight foreclosures eliminating monthly mortgage payments for many borrowers currently unemployed. >> better late and that never. >> san francisco conical" personal income in california fell last year for the first time since the great depression. works out to 1500 fewer dollars for every man, woman, and child in that state. some good news in the houston chronicle". employers in the area added more that be 10,000 jobs in january dropping the city's jobless rate to 8.5%. the u.s. "today" sbret taxes continue to be a gold rush for states. this year utah and new mexico raised their cigarette tax and a half dozen other states considering new increases.

legalize marijuana? i'm waiting. cigarette consumption drops by 3 to 4% among adults and double that among youth when you jack the cigarette tax up 10%. >> i think that's great. >> it causes you to be dead. >> it does. >> exactly. >> eventually it does. >> it's an issue. >> as well does fatty food and soda pop. >> i'm thinking about picking up smoking actually. i want to go against a trend. >> i used to enjoy smoking. >> then you realized. then the whole death thing got in there. >> really? okay. >> i just figure if i eat a lot of stuff, you say fatty foods, it will make me fat. i hear smoking makes you thin. doesn't it balance each other out. >> no, it doesn't. >> we have some e-mails. >> it's better than the south beach diet. a pack of marlboros a day, you'll be skinny as a rail. >> we've got some e-mails. >> this one from florida says i find mika's actions of kicking

joe outrageous. kick her off the show. >> no. >> come on. >> no, you know, i think willie and willie is the one that he has this up on the wall in his office. of course, he's got bible scriptures all over. but the one that i think willie lives by is pray for those who persecute you. people say ugly things to me and he says, yesterday, he just said joe, even the sinners, they pray for their friends. are you to pray for your enemies. pray for people who persecute you. willie, i got to tell you when she was kicking me, the lord's words that you always tell me. i agree with you. we need to just -- we need to. >> it was a request from the white house. >> the lord smiles upon you this morning, joe scarborough. but the premise of what you just said sumz i have an office which is an untruth that you just told. it's very depressing. >> ireverantent around here. >> you deserve it had.

>> let's see what politico is up to. why don't we do that. patrick with a look at the playbook. good morning. >> good morning. >> i understand our friend mike allen sat down with the health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius. she's got a lot of work to do after obama's victory on health care. what's her role going to be like going forward. >> mike actually asked what's been the most different thing about going from being the governor to heading up hhs for the obama administration. and she said i had to get used to having a boss again. when you think about this bill and look at the bill and crunch the numbers to see what words get mentioned the most, the word secretary is mentioned over 3,000 times. the president of the united states only gets mentioned 50 times. in so many ways, her job because of this enormous bill has just been -- is going to explode into a very, very large responsible job. one of the things she's going to now focus on is she now has to obviously sell this. called it one of the most state-friendly pieces of

legislation she's ever seen. some states are going to disagree with that. she knows because she's the secretary in charge of this bill mentioned 3,000 times in this bill, is t is not only the president's job but her job to not only sell this bill but to make sure she can keep her job because the bill is her doing shoo she says we need to be the face of competent government. >> can i ask dylan a quick question? i hate to keep getting bogged down with facts here. as lawrence o'donnell told us on this set and did he tell us this. >> he did. >> this is one of the greatest burdens on state governments ever. >> he did say that. >> if you look what's going to happen in medicaid down the road, the unfunded mandate, lawrence says and others say, a lot of governors say will cripple state governments and yet they say this is the best thing that will ever happen to states. more of the same here, right? >>. i think the end game is this. because the president has set the mark to cover everybody,

expand coverage and manage costs we're now going to go to the cost side of this and see all of the inefficiencies in the way this is set up that are accommodative to pick your favorite special interest and who it hurts, whether it's the states, whether it's medicaid, whether it's middle class taxpayers or anybody else. i think the debate about health care will shift over the next couple of years to getting the cost efficiencies that people like myself may have hoped they put in the original bill but didn't but will now be hugely exposed because of the burden of covering everybody. >> patrick, joe scarborough, the former congressman will tell you behind every good congressman is a bunch of stafrs. >> amen. >> i know you guys looked into how these people are paid up on the hill. what did you find. >> a lot of folks do get paid $30,000 or less. we found out over 2,000 capitol hill salaries are getting paid in the six figures, about 50 folks are getting paid around 17

$,000 right near where congressmen and congress women get paid. most interesting is people in the top 3%, the number of folks in that percentage, has grown 40% in four years. a lot of folks in capitol hill are doing quite well. >> they're doing well up at the top. thanks so much. we'll be checking you out at politico.com. next, the vatican is on the defensive as new questions emerge about pope benedict and what he knew about a priest caught up in a sex scandal. we'll have that story when we come back. here, kitty! here, kitty!

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or any choice hotel and earn a free night. book at choicehotels.com. you know who that is, right? you're a big fan of alternative music, right? >> absolutely. >> who is that. >> there's a shot of times square for you. >> guess where they're from.

>> where are they from. >> where a lot of hot bands are from. in brooklyn. a lot of people may not know this brooklyn has turned into one of the hottest music scenes. athens georgia in the 1970s, but brooklyn, new york, is more great bands are coming out of brooklyn, new york, and that anywhere. it's very exciting. >> very cool. 8:31 on the east coast. time now for a look at some of today's top story snooze don't even care about that. >> i do. i think that's really neat. no, i really do. >> okay. you also say that about tom coburn's haircut. >> no, i need to get to the top stories which is about this. some unemployed people about to temporarily lose their benefits thanks to another one-man protest in the senate. senator tom coburn is balking a $9 billion stopgap bill to extend jobless benefits. the oklahoma republican is single-handedly blocking the agreement by aubtding to unanimous consent to pass an

extension. why is he doing this? coburn argues the cost of the benefits should not be added to the national debt. >> there, you just answered your own question. okay. this out of rome. boy, it's. >> the vatican under intense pressure as pope benedict faces new questions why a milwaukee area priest was not punished in the 1990s amid allegations of past sexual misconduct. reverend lawrence murphy who died in 1998 molested, get this as many as 200 young boys at a school for the deaf. from 1950 to 1974. newly revealed documents show years later murphy was spared formal punishment by the office of cardinal joseph ratzinger who is now the pope rather and that punish murphy, he was ordered to repent. >> i've got to say, this is such a huge issue for the vatican. it's been a difficult issue for them for over the past ten years.

but this case brings home this recurring problem. 200 young boys, according to these reports. >> oh, god. >> molested by a single priest. think of the lives he destroyed. and then the vatican doesn't -- doesn't do anything. i mean, if you find out what he's molested one boy, he should be driven out of the church. >> we're talking 200. >> and 200 and then he's just reassigned? >> that's what we know of. toyota is stopping production in britain and frans france for a total of nine days amid weak demand. it comes after the world's top automaker recalled 8.5 million cars over braking and gad pedal problems with "uss sales dropping 9% in february, toyota has launched a flood of incentives to try and lure buyers back. >> coming up next, will the gop run on repealing is the reform law? we're going to bring in dr. john barassa.

melody joins us for a political roundtable. keep it right here on "morning joe." announcer: wherever the game takes you, transitions is your best playing partner. transitions lenses adapt to changing light to help you stay comfortable and in the zone in all light conditions both on and off the course. kenny perry and trevor immelman have made transitions part of their game. transitions is proud to be the official eyewear of the pga tour and title sponsor of the transitions championship.

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welcome back to "morning joe." joining us from washington is, republican senator from wyoming john barrasso and also here with us the national spokeswoman for the coalition to prevent deep vein trom boes sis. melanie bloom. it's great to see you. in 2003, melanie's husband david blume was reporting from iraq when he died due to complications from deep vein thrombosis. march is dvt awareness month.

she's here to discuss ways to prevent this potentially fatal condition. melanie, i don't think people get dvt very well. it's not something we will hear about often. tell us what it is, how common it is, what the risks are. >> i didn't get it either. i'd never heard of it till the night i got that horrible call. basically what dvt is is a blood clot. it's a clot that usually forms in the leg and it can become dangerous and even fatal as in david's case when that clot or piece of the clot breaks loose and hits the lungs. >> is it very common? because david, who was so beloved around here was a young man. healthy looking from the outside. is this a freak thing or something that's going on a lot. >> especially in the midst of a war to die from something inside of his own body. i've often called that clot the bomb that lied within his body. but it is common. i thought, too, this was a freak thing. but i learned that 2 million americans develop a clot each

year in our nation. and 300,000 people die in our country every year from this condition. that's more and that from aids and breast cancer combined. yet, people still don't know what it is. it's not a common household phrase that people are familiar with. >> it's amazing, dylan. we don't hear about it. >> how much of it is lifestyle-based and how much of it is genetic from what you've seen? >> that's a good question. there are lifestyle risk factors. being over 40, being overweight. sedentary lifestyle and or traveler who's sit for long periods of time on an airplane, in a car, even at our computer. >> like an anchor. >> they're in the highest risk category. if you fijette. so you know, staying active is important. but there are medical risk factors, as well. it's the number one cause of preventable hospital death in our nation and people who have cancer or certain heart and respiratory illnesses are at greater risk. women are at greater risk on the

pill, or hormone replacement therapy. it covers a wide swathe of people. where do you fall in that will spectrum of risk. >> joe, melanie's doing such great work with dvt. anybody who's been to the radio and tv correspondent's dinner know what a great job she's doing as a mother with those beautiful girls of hers. >> they're great. it's good to have you back on the show. >> we are in tampa because we had this amazing special yesterday "great expectations" which worked out well. we had mayor bloomberg here, john legend, al sharpton. >> it's exciting. >> it was the most counterintuitive bunch of people who really packed the most incredible conversation i've had on education in quite some time. senator barrasso joining us. >> he's a doctor, you know. we could talk to him about health care reform. >> perhaps sec treat you for all your ailments.

>> i've got a lot, doctor. but first, talk about how you want to fix this health care bill. do you agree with the republicans it needs to be repealed and then reformed. >> i do. first i want to thank melanie for all these doing to help people with this preventable deep vein thomboes sis. what she's done today in talking about risk factors is going to help save lives. thank you, melanie. >> doing an amazing job. >> thank you. >> in terms of the health care reform, i think we do need to repeal and reform it when you take a look at the november elections. as you know, joe, all elections are local but in a lot of these districts i think the middle class of america is very upset and disturbed. they feel they've been sold out first to bail out the banks and the auto companies and now they believe they've been sold out again to bail out people that don't have insurance and they believe that their own health insurance premiums are going to go up and that the quality of their care is going to go down under this new bill.

>> what about the health insurance companies? we've been krilt sizing the president for giving the insurance companies a mandate for not breaking the anti-trust exemption, for not forcing insurance companies to actually compete for our business. why won't republicans -- it seems to me if republicans wanted to be smart in the senate, they would say we want to reform this bill but they'd go after the health insurance companies and get rid of the mandate. they would also move aggressively to end the anti-trust exemption that health insurance companies had that allows them to price fix. why don't republican dozen that? >> well, we do -- i fought as a doctor for 25 years. i fought insurance company bureaucrats and i fought government brewer crates. insurance company bureaucrats you can appeal those. you can't appeal when you fight the government. we need to empower doctors and patients. joe, you talked about that 14 years ago in congress, empowering patients and doctors to make decisions. absolutely, we should allow people to have insurance to buy

insurance across state lines. i don't want to give special breaks to anybody other merchants american people. this isn't happening with this health care bill. >> we did talk about it 14 years ago about infusing the free market more into health care where people's choices would have economic consequences. instead of continuing to expand this middle man, big insurance, which completely perverts the entire free market system. but now we've thrown the federal government in it, too. it just seems like a total mess. >> i'm curious, dr. barrasso, how you would look at the idea of leaving the market expanded coverage and attempting to address not only the issue of the employer-based health care system and trying to move more toward a national exchange with tax credits for people so that i have a tax credit, everybody's got their $10,000 or whatever it is to go shopping and buy health insurance and how you deal with fee for service which can also create misaligned incentives. >> the incentives really are

misaligned, dylan. you see more and more doctors leaving private practice, leaving it completely. you know, i think we need to have incentives to help keep the cost of care down which is about preventive care, coordinated care, giving incentives to individual who's take responsibility for their own health, not this community rating that we see in the health care bill. the more we can do to empower individuals to make those decisions i think the better it's going to be more america. that's a way to get costs down, no the to put government more in charge. and you even talked about earlier 10,000 new irs agents to look into the lives of the american people to enforce this. i don't think that's helpful. >> instead of repeal and reform, how about amend and reform. so you keep the expanded coverage but move to more freedom for people so you deal with the tax code. we all know what the lists are and that there's plenty there. >> in a perfect world, people would own their own insurance policies and you won't have to worry about portability.

it would be their insurance policy and they would get those same tax benefits that companies get who provide that insurance right now. so i think the more you empower people both letting them own their own insurance policy, giving them the same breaks as companies. >> the frustration i think people feel is whether it was the healthy americans act which was a bipartisan act pushed to the side. that was fronted by ron wyden. didn't happen. paul ryan in the republican party same thing came out and said listen, let's give tax credits to people, let them buy health care themselves opposed to the corporate tax benefit. whether it was from the left or the right, the leadership on both sides of the aisle refused to engage reform on that level. why do you think that was? >> this seemed to be truly a one-party effort, really didn't want a lot of input from others. the only bipartisanship was the opposition with democrats voting against it. >> but there's such an easy case to improve this bill because of

the obvious accommodations. i would think as an opposition party or even internal opposition, it's so easy to go to the people and say listen, this is great. they're expanding coverage but doing it by accommodating special interests. i can expand coverage and blast those accommodations. the cynic in me says all the politicians are so dependent on accommodating special interests whether you're a republican or a democrat that no one honestly has the guts or the capacity to go into the lion's den and effect the reform most efficient for people although it would diminish the revenue for some of these businesses that take advantage of their government benefits. >> well, a lot of us did go to the senate floor to condemn the special deals, the things cut behind closed doors, the sweetheart deals, whether you call it bullying bribes or bought votes to get this bill passed. and so many americans if you weren't at the table when the

door was closed and the deal was cut, you were cut out which is why i think there is so much national opposition and frustration and especially with our seniors. claire mccaskill was on earlier talking about the cuts to medicare. it's not just medicare advantage. it's our hospitalses, nursing homes, home health agencies and even the hospices of this country. >> senator barrasso and melanie blume, thank you very much for being on the show this morning. >> thank you. >> willie, what's coming up next. >> next, joe biden's greatest hits. he gave us the ammo. we put it all together. you'll see his finest moments as the country's number two man. and tomorrow, 2:00, mika will be holding a book signing at books & books in coral gables, florida, for her runway best seller "all things at once"". it's not me, it's the new york times best seller. that's tomorrow at 2:00. we'll be right back on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] when we built our first hybrid,

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♪ i'm just an ordinary average guy ♪ >> this is usually where we bring sut week in review. but as we look back on it, what else was there this week and that joe biden and his big blanking deal. that set us off putting together his all-time greatest moments at the side of barack obama. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states of america, barack obama. this is a big [ bleep ] deal. >> it's a quote school children will be reading in history books for generations to come. just as fdr had his new deal, barack obama now has his big [ bleep ] deal. >> that was a great f-ing

report. >> this is a big f-ing deal. >> it's a big f-ing deal an. >> national television, big f-ing deal. >> he's the f-ing president. >> the vice president's declaration inspired a line of merchandise overnight and added yet another layer to the legend of joe bide. >> and can you reassure voters in this country that you would have the discipline you would need on the world stage, senator? >> yes. >> a man who will be the next president of the united states, barack american. >> god rest her soul and although she's, wait, your mom's still alive. it's your dad passed. >> as barack says a three-letter word, jobs, j-o-b- -- jobs. >> my memory is not as good as justice roberts'. does anyone. >> this new program that i looked at it and wished i were seeing it in 3-d and you sit

there and you watch this science fiction thing unfold in front of. >> you "avatar." >> "avatar." >> mr. chairman, how are you? an hour late, give me a [ bleep ] break. >> what am i going to tell the president when i tell him his tell prompt ser broken. >> i would tell members of my family and i have, i wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now. hillary clinton is as qualified or more qualified and that i am and quite frankly it, might have been a better pick and that me. >> a lot of hits in there. my superfavorite is him playing password with andrea mitchell. science fiction program, "avatar." that's a good one. coming up next, what, if anything, did we learn today? wow, is this... fiber one honey clusters? yes.

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