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voters who don't already support mccain? and breaking news this hour. a big announcement on the kidnapping and murder of a little florida girl. let's jump into the developing news on a u.s.-russia agreement on arms control. president obama is praising the deal as a restart in russian relations and significant progress in reducing the global danger from nuclear weapons. >> in many ways, nuclear weapons represent the darkest days of the cold war and most troubling times. today, we've taken another step forward in leaving behind the 21st century and billing a more secure future. >> we are expecting news from that somer thompson law enforcement investigation. she was the little florida girl who disappeared and her body was found in a dump. apparently, we're having technical difficulties.

let's see if we can hear what they're saying. >> in the face of such fear and loss, a community's solidarity emerged. as we all wrapped our arms around the family of somer thompson and each other, to grieve. the outpouring of support and generosity and collective resolve to bring somer's killer to justice was the light in the darkness caused by this tragedy. i stand before you today surrounded by this group of law enforcement professionals that we all team somer, to announce to you, that jared harold has been formerly charged with the murder of somer thompson. the filing of these charges would not have been possible without the dedicated and tireless work done by these individuals that you see here

today and countless others who have worked behind the scenes. before i go any further with the details in the case, i'd like to recognize my colleagues who join me here today making this announcement. first, state attorney from the state attorney's office. special agent in charge, jim casey of the fbi. special agent in charge, dominic paint with the florida department of law enforcement. assistant chief deputy mike bunk of the u.s. marshal service. assistant special agent in charge, norm kelly. director steve nelson of the state attorney's office. major jimmy wilson of the clay county sheriff's office. captain david centers, chief of detectives with the clay county sheriff's office. lieutenant joe boochi, robbery

homicide division. dan ma, robbery homicide and detective ken west, the lead detective on the somer thompson case. there are many other agencies and individuals who assisted us in the various stages of the search for somer and the follow-up investigation. some of who are here today. >> this is the law enforcement authorities now announcing that they are charging gerald harold, 24 years old, with the kidnapping and murder of somer thompson. she was last seen walking to her orange park home with her sister and brer brother. her body was found two days later. harold's roommates turned over a computer that had sexual images of children, so they had a lead on this guy in the first place.

now, they are charging him with this little girl's kidnapping and murder. back to that big deal from the white house now, a deal with the united states and russia to reduce the nuclear threat globally and put a stop to the arms control races. let's go to mike viqueira. can you be specific about what agreements the united states and russia have made? >> basically, they're going to reduce their weapons by a third of what they have now. the president appearing something of a surprise in the white house briefing room today, flanked by secretaries clinton and gates as well as mullins to make the announcement. on the russian side, they had already announced they had a deal. now officially comes this word from the white house. we expect president obama to go to prague and the czech republic where he has outlined his

ambition of a world with zero weapons. he says this is a big step in the right direction. the reset, we've heard that time and time again, since the outset of the obama administration, the reset in u.s.-russian relations. to that, secretary clinton said we are back in the business of creating person to person contacts and creating business opportunities abroad for the united states. so, the president making that announcement today. a busy day here at the white house with a lot going on and mortgage refinancing. >> mike, thank you. and the house and senate have finished their work on health care reform. democrats are sending the president a package of changes, including fixes to some of the legislation and an overhaul of the federal student loan program. the senate passed that bill along party lines, moving it back to the house, which approved it last night. nancy pelosi added her signature

a couple of hours ago. >> the legislation we enrolled here today makes this health care reform more affordable for the middle class. it makes it more accessible to many more people. >> so now, democrats are looking to move away from the issue of health care and on to jobs hoping to shore up support by improving the economy and perhaps none to soon. a new report shows 27 states saw a monthly increase in their jobless rates. john harwood joins me. so, what else specifically, john, can congress do to improve the employment situation? >> first of all, it is not a moment too soon if you're a democratic strategist because places like nevada, 13% unemployment rate. record level. harry reid's running for re-election. you've got a house member endangered as well. ohio, more than 10%

unemployment. five house seats on the line. evan bayh, he's retiring. a couple of house seats there. all of those things put imperative on democrats to do two things. one is to talk about it and demonstrate to voters they're focusing on it and the second, to figure out what tangible things they can to to help. you saw some of that with the president and his mortgage modification program today which is targeted twarkd people who have been out of work. you saw that in the tax credit bill, which is targeted to people out of work for 60 days. more to come from the administration and congress on things like green jobs. president obama has talked about that and pushed that issue and you've also got the stand-off over unemployment insurance and extending health benefits where democrats are saying republicans are still trying to block it. all of those kind of discussions as well as financial regulation

reform are ways democrats can push the economic issue and they need to because republicans are still likely to gain seats, maybe a lot of them, contessa. >> we'll be watching for action and movement on that front. thank you. ♪ happy birthday dear speaker >> can you imagine a more important birthday privilege than to be signing health care for all -- >> nancy pelosi celebrating a landmark milestone. not just the health care system, but her birthday. she turned 70 years old and we'd like to wish her a happy birthday. sarah palin is lending a hand to the man who helped launch her political career. she's reuniting with him in arizona to give his campaign a political surge to withstand a tough challenge from j.d. hey

worth. >> hey, there, contessa. john mccain and sarah palin reunited today. john mccain is fending off a very tough challenge from another republican. he's facing his toughest re-election in 24 hour, so he's bringing back sarah palin. she's going to come here to tucson and then tomorrow in phoenix to do two rallies and a fund-raiser. the idea is that sarah palin can vouch for him with conservative voters who may not trust john mccain. sources say the big problems john mccain has are immigration. voters don't like he has suggested there should be a pathway for citizenship. number two, they don't like that he voted for the t.a.r.p. and they don't trust him. he did not vote for the bush tax cuts and so there's been a

distrust with john mccain. he hopes that with sarah palin coming and campaigning for him, that is going to shore up his base in the state. he's facing a republican challenge from j.d. hayworth, who has a lot of support from the tea party movement. the tea party has not endorsed in this race. newt gingrich is not going to endorse, club for growth is not going to endorse. that's good news for john mccain. for now, he's hoping sarah palin can share some of that star power in these two rallies in arizona. and then sarah palin, she's then headed to nevada where she's going to host a big tea party rally there with ann coulter. >> thank you. my big question today, how much can sarah palin really help john mccain? give me a shout on twitter or on facebook or e-mail me. looking at the horrific scene on an interstate in

southeastern kentucky, 11 people killed after a tractor trailer crossed the median and slammed head-on into a passenger van this morning. the truck's driver was also killed. transportation investigators say the interstate could be closed for the next eight hours. a fire destroys an historic courthouse in north carolina. we'll tell you what it has to do with an affair and john edwards. making strides when it comes to fighting poverty. nicholas kristof weighs in on why there is reason to hope. plus, the salahis are soon going to crash a tv set near you. we'll tell you where you can get perhaps a weekly dose of the white house party crashers. hole, the way triscuit does, you always end up with something delicious. ♪ triscuit. weave some goodness.

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welcome back to msnbc. i'm contessa brewer. covering stories far and wide today. in pittsboro, north carolina, a fire damaged a historic court horse. the clock tower there collapsed. the same where a battle has been playing out over the john edwards' sex tape. no word on how the flames started, but renovations began about two months ago. to chicago, police say effectively they've shut down an identity theft ring. authorities say a janitor stole the i.d.s from an unlocked medical records at northwestern memorial hospital. with the information, others in the ring would get credit cards and go shopping. police arrested seven young women for their roles in the

thefts. the sheriff also blames credit card companies. in oregon, the coast guard rescued four surfers. they got caught in a rip tide so yesterday, rescuers hoisted the four by helicopter, delivered them safely to land where medics treated them. the third case of surfers in trouble there in the past 24 hours. the final numbers are in on economic growth in the last quarter of 2009. the gross domestic product climbed, but the commerce department warns it may be a while before we see that kind of growth again. the dow jones, looking good. s&p up and nasdaq has risen eight. today, the white house unveiled new initiatives to help troubled homeowners. the plan targets unemployed homeowners by temporarily

lowering their monthly payments. it may help a few more people hold on until the jobs market begins to recover. but what about the vast number of chronically unemployed or underemployed americans for whom poverty is a way of life? in this week's "new york times," nicholas kristof writes about what he calls the secrets of fighting poverty -- nicholas kristof joins me now. i thought it was interesting that you were talking about the difference between having economists compare programs as opposed to people with just good intentions. explain the difference. >> over the years, there have been a lot of effort to address poverty and they haven't always been very effective.

every group thinks its own intervention has been successful, but they haven't had much impact. what you're seeing now is really riggous analysis, where you go in, you have a control group, a treatment group. you measure beforehand, you measure afterward and as a result, we're really finding out much better what is more cost effective. >> here's what you write about what works. let's start with high u quality, early childhood programs. can you compare the difference between head start and programs like harlem children's zone here in manhattan, that have really made a difference in their community. >> head start has been something of a disappointment and it has real effects, but they tend not to last a long time. it seems to be partly that's a problem with scaling up. that we're good at sending out checks. we're not good at scaling up programs and partly that it

wasn't as intensive. some of the program, they keep kid ins class a long time, have shorter summer breaks. >> and children's zone intervenes even when parents are expecting babies. you also talk about programs in the ninth grade and career academies. >> yeah, one of the clearer problems in past strategies is that we haven't tried hard enough to get people into the labor force. these career academies and various other strategy, they aim to really teach kids not only the skills to get them jobs, but also how to apply for a job. how to convey your eagerness, your enthusiasm, to a potential employer. >> i find this interesting when you have these cross disciplined, tech high schools when what they're learning in

math gets applied to computer which gets applied to shop. last, i want to talk about jobs programs for adults who are already struggling in poverty. >> yeah. clearly, this is a huge problem and there tends sometimes to be -- a bit of a culture, if you will. a sense of resignation, that people aren't going to hire me and so what we need is a combination of skills training so that people have those initial skills to get in. some kind of greater incentive. it can be cash payments to match payments when they get a first job. once you get people in a job, then idealy, they manage to hold on to those jobs and it has real impact on their families, including their children. it's that first push that tends to be most difficult. >> i appreciate the concise column you wrote. i thought it was a really

interesting idea. who thought, based on research. rather than great ideas. >> it's pretty amazing and mexico has been transformtive and they used this kind of approach an dropped their old program for one that is much, much more effective. we can do the same. >> thank you. from a single lady to mom? we'll get the latest on the rumors that beyonce and jay-z maybe expecting a little bundle of joy. most viewed stories -- you know, these warnings happen all the time, so the governments are reacting calmly. florida international university's running back was stabbed to death on campus last night. reportedly, it was an argument that sparked it outside the rec

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i discovered how to wake up feeling great. there's so much to discover in the accu-chek aviva system. why not start your discovery today? all: i did. an earthquake rattled parts of chile. the quake was centered 47 miles south of copeaco. hundreds were killed and parts of south central chile lie in ruins from an earthquake on february 27th from a quake that measured 7.0. tiger woods and nike still have a strong relationship. tmz caught the golf great in practice. in this video, they are reporting woods just shot a new commercial for nike in his neighborhood in florida

yesterday. the white house party crashers are getting what they apparently wanted all along, which was a reality show on bravo. but there's a catch. they definitely won't be signed on to do the real housewives of d.c. unless they're cleared of all charges. the couple is being investigated for attending a white house state dinner in november without an invitation. there are reports this morning beyonce is expecting a baby. >> yeah, baby, yeah. >> well, the website mediatakeout.com says the star of that movie is expecting a baby with her husband. reps won't comment, but the website quotes a friend who says they're extremely happy to be having his first child. sandra bullock may emerge

from hiding this weekend by attending the kids choice awards tomorrow night. she won best oscar for "the blindside," but she's been hiding out since it has come out that her husband has been having numerous affairs. well, with health care under his belt, president obama is now moving on to the housing crisis. how new proposals could help families. and we'll take a look at the losers in the health care fight. are the american people the real loosers here? [ female announcer ] sometimes you need tomorrow to finish what you started today.

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maine. he will travel there on april 1st. the president visited iowa city, iowa just yesterday, a place where he had launched his plans for health care reform. today, the white house unveiled new action to rescue families facing foreclosure. under the program, people who owe more than their home is worth could have part of their principle erased to get a lower payment. incentives are being expanded to lenders and at-risk homeowners could refinance through the federal housing administration. these steps are being taken because the original program has fallen short of his goal to help 4 million troubled homeowners. rick newman, when we're looking at this new plan, will it work? >> who knows. it's really hard to tell. this is now the third effort to

try to solve this problem. the first didn't go anywhere. obama came in and said, we're going to try a new approach. that hasn't worked. an now, we're hearing a third effort. what's different this time is they're now talking about reducing the principle amount that some owe. it's like saying we're going to give you free real estate, in a sense. that's what people think it's going to take to fix this problem. >> here's what i don't get and i have family members who have been foreclosed on. they couldn't refinance and their hands are tied. they said their banks are not working with them so they would call and call and say, there's got to be an amount of money that makes it worthwhile for the bank to reduce the principle and not foreclosure because foreclosure costs banks a lot of money. >> it's just very complicated. the bank is looking at your loan, but saying if we create a

precedent here, then how many other lenders are going to say, by the way, i can't pay my mortgage either and give me free money. >> it's not mandatory, is it? >> this is voluntary on the part of the banks so the government is going to offer new incentives. the banks have to decide. we think it's better for us, we're going to get more money back by dealing with everybody who qualifies. >> it was voluntary even before the administration put this on. just create new incentives to do it. how many families are already out of the homes they probably spent live savings to invest in and then save. is it too late? >> this is part of why this is so controversial because there's a long line of people who can say, what about me, why don't i qualify. what is the dividing line? again, it's up to the banks.

very complicated. i will say this. if you're in this position, keep pestering your bank. there might be a point when they say it's worth it. >> it's such a long process though. thanks. conservative pundit draifd frum has been ousted from his position. he was accused of pedalling bad history. he was quoted as saying health care would be the gop's waterloo. after more than a year of knock down, drag out frighting over health care, the voting is over. the final piece of this puzzle heading to the president's desk. this morning, house speaker nancy pelosi signed the health care companion bill and who are the winners and losers? let's bring in karen finney, joe

watkins. here's the way i want this to work, you guys. i don't want to hear the arguments for and against. it's signed into law. it's passed. i want to look moving forward, at the impact this will have. let's talk about tea parties first. karen and joe. tea party, winner or loser because of health care. joe? >> i think the tea party will be a winner because they're going to make sure that they don't forget every member of the house and senate that voted for this. all democrats, by the way, not because every measure in the bill is bad. but because of the measures in the bill that will hurt the american economy and people. >> karen? >> i think we don't yet know. there is a component of people who are part of the tea party movement who have legitimate questions and concerns like we saw last summer when talking about health care. that is getting drown out by a more radical fringe.

the concern i have is that there are americans in the tea party movement who have real questions and concerns, who are not getting those questions answered. >> republicans and democrats. joe, i'm going to put those into separate categories. winners or losers? >> democrats for the short-term have won. in the long-term, they lose because i think a lot of voters are going to punish members of the house and senate for their vote this past week. i think republicans in the short-term, some may say they weren't able to overcome the tide, that's true, but they may prove to be winners in the fall. i think americans are going to appreciate the message the republicans send, which is we don't have the money to pay for this bill. >> karen? >> democrats, i think, are going to be in a strong position because they're going to make the case that we kept our promise and we delivered on an

important piece of legislation that will have a dramatic impact on the american people. i think democrats also win because a very strong, progressive movement helped to keep the eye on the ball and the process moving forward and when they didn't get everything they wanted, they continued to mobilize and we were able to make compromises. i think we have shown we can be a big ten party. the republicans are instead focusing on destroying and tearing down. i'm not sure that's a good message to say, i stood against something. >> what about insurance companies and health care providers? seems to me insurance companies put on the black cowboy hat on thiz companies in the whole run-up to the debate. joe? >> absolutely. i mean, insurance companies were made to be the scapegoat and it's not fair. you can't make everybody out the bad guy. doctors were made to be the bad

guy in some regards. they didn't get the relief they wanted. there was just an unwillingness to talk about tort reform. i think the american people will have their say in november. the elections are coming. i think smart politicians are going to make sure the people know where their member of congress stood when it came time to vote on this bill. >> joe, karen, i appreciate both of you. >> thanks. we've been talking online about sarah palin's campaign visit on behalf of john mccain and whether she can coax voters who overwise won't vote for mccain. robin rogers writes -- cabaret artist tweets -- ian kelly responds -- thanks for sharing your

thoughts. we have breaking news from phoenix, anthony a. apparently, sheriff have arrested a dozen people at raids at four mcdonald's. the sheriff says more than 50 employees working at the businesses may be using stolen identities in order to get work. so they raided these restaurants in scottsdale, tempe and mesa. apparently, deputies were serving search warrants at the home of one of the restaurant owners. we'll get you the new information when it comes in. we'll be right back. kids: go grandma, go faster! vo: manage your weight and stay healthy at unbeatable prices. vo: healthy living costs less at walmart. vo: save money. live better. walmart. increase in 6 months. pete, back it up!

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become more common and affect more people. this type of cancer affected the top layers of the skin. keep that sunscreen handy. some disturbing new questions surrounding how much pope benedict new about cases of sex abuse involving priests. today, "the new york times" reports in 1980, the pope who was then arch bishop in munich, was told a priest in treatment would be again working with children. in 1998, top vatican officials including then cardinal r ratzinger did not defrock a priest even though he admitted to molesting boys. >> the vatican is being pretty aggressive, depending the pope's

actions. in a full page editorial today, it quickly responded to one of "the new york times" stories that the pope turned a blind eye in wisconsin and the united states. the vatican calling it a noble intent to hurt benedict and his closest advisers at any cost. the arch decisis in munich issued a statement saying the article offers nothing new in the case and goes on to say that suggesting that then arch bishop ratzinger knew anything about the priest is, i quote, mere speculati speculation. a $600 gps, weather balloon and duct tape yield this. wow. similar images from space that

would rival anything from a multi-million dollar space program. robert harrison from england rigged the contraption together. his plan was to have the balloon go into the atmosphere and take pictures. he said he was amazed it even worked. >> i was astounded when i saw the pictures. they speak for themselves. to get images like that showing the earth and blackness of space, i wasn't expecting to see pictures like that. >> how's that for hot shots? a parachute brought it down and then he used gps to find it. strange video from chattanooga, tennessee. a dog decided to eat a police car. the officer felt his car moving. turned out it was a bulldog ripping off the cruiser's front bumper. then the dog starts eating the

tires. that dog would not let go. other dogs got in on the action. animal control officers finally showed up to capture the dogs. today, a nanny in kentucky is being hailed a hero. she ran barefoot through 400-degree flames to save the boy she was watching. the house was on fire, ran over burning carpet and dodged flames to save the 5-year-old. >> was calling for him and he said, alley, i'm in here, in my room, underneath by covers. i said, okay, i ran in there and grabbed him and ran out. it was the only thing i thought about. i didn't think about me getting burned. right after i ran off the carpet, it was like i was walking on goo. all this skin. my feet were just burnt off.

>> wow. still barefoot with her foot badly burned, allison rain with the boy out of the house. he escaped without a strash. a bathroom fan started the fire. new developments in the assault case against ben roethlisberger. we'll talk with a sports analyst after the break. exciting flavor combinations, plus a touch of garden greens make it irresistible. friskies indoor delights. feed the senses. to finish what you started today. for the aches and sleeplessness in between, there's new motrin pm. no other medicine, not even advil pm, is more effective for pain and sleeplessness. new motrin pm.

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couple of special programming notes. on "meet the press," lindsey graham and chuck schumer join david gregory. on tuesday, a "today" exclusive interview with president obama. hooer a look at what we're watching. remember joe the plumber? in an hour, he'll be in phoenix to head an ax the tax rally to propose a temporary tax hike in arizona. it begins at 2:00 p.m. eastern time.

same day sarah palin's there in an hour and a half. gilbert arenas will be sentenced on the felony count. again, with joe the plumber in phoenix, john mccain and sarah palin together in tucson, two hours, the former running mates will appear for a mccain senate rally. the arizona senator hoping to hold on it his seat. gilbert arenas, not the only big sports news today. two other big names. pittsburgh steeler's quarterback ben roethlisberger is accused of assaulting a woman in georgia and she is still cooperating with police. he tells "usa today" she is going to be reinterviewed. the case is complicated with her having a blood alcohol level of more than .20% at the time of the incident. alex rodriguez is meeting

with -- want to know whether the doctor was distributing drugs to people in this country. joining me now, sports analyst, good to see you. is this more trouble or more of the same? >> more of is is same. in the past, he was hiding the fact that he had used steroids in this situation. not that's behind him and he hasn't stunk up the joint, the fact he's now a world series champion and has put that behind him, this is just one of those situations where we don't know whether the doctor had given him anything or not. i think it's much ado about nothing. >> at this point, team rs in spring training, prepping for the new baseball season. the continuing interviews, are they likely to affect a-rod

adversely? >> not at all. he's paid $275 million to perform under extreme diress and he has done that. this was when he knew the kind of baggage he was hiding. now that that's been put out in the public and he still performed in the postseason, him being inconvenienced is not going to affect him. >> let's talk about the news on the ben roethlisberger front. the revelation she had a blood alcohol level of .20. when you look at the other reports that say his attorneys won't give investigators a second interview, does that effect him negatively? >> certainly her blood alcohol level doesn't help her case, however, it doesn't help his case that they're supposed to

have survey lance cameras in the club and you can't find tapes of who he was with. the girl reportedly, that girl, the accuser, she had a friend looking for her. the friend said she was with ben roethlisberger near or inside the bathroom and he was trying to get there and he had somebody in security blocking the girl from going into the bathroom to get her friend. those kind of details and absence of a tape that should have been present does make things a bit suspicious. i think it would be inappropriate to go further than that, but you can sit there and say something smells. >> we'll watch what happens with the local investigates and the steelers. that wraps up this hour for me. i'll see you back here monday at noon. you know what? i am actually back here tomorrow

if you want to get up early and spend a saturday morning with me. up next, "andrea mitchell reports." we'll be right back. getting ready to plant? chances are your soil is like this: compacted, drained of nutrients. it'll hold your plants but it'll also hold 'em back. the solution: miracle-gro garden soil. the perfect mix of rich, organic ingredients, and miracle-gro plant food. just mix it in. and turn bad soil into great soil. helps plants grow twice as big. instead of holding 'em back, they'll leap ahead.

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