this maybe a little controversi controversial. president obama is opening the entire east coast to offshore drilling. now, the west coast will be taken care of by jesse james. but the east coast -- >> all right, top of the hour. good morning. it's thursday, april fool's day. so mike barnicle is here with us, of course. >> i got you a new ipad. >> no, you didn't. >> april fool's. >> you should get me a new ipad for the pain and suffering you put me through. >> she can get you one. she just did the deal with iphone. >> we have a great new iphone app. a very handsome thing. you can download -- >> wind her up. editor and keefe of "the daily beast," tina brown joins us. the app. >> the app. >> when mike goes to the apple store after the show today and get pe my -- >> i'll get two. >> get in line. >> yeah, get two. actually, that would be good, if you could.

joe is off, getting a little much needed rest. and look at this headline. beyond offshore oil drilling, which we'll get to, which is a big story. front page of "usa today" -- usa fumes over politics. let me read you one line from this. we'll get into the polls a little more. the favorable ratings of the democratic party has fallen to its lowest level since gallup began asking the question in 1992 it's standing has dropped 14 percentage points since president obama's election. there's a lot of talk on both sides about exactly who is suffering from the health care reform battle. and some would argue the democrats are going to have a hard time in the next election as well. so, we'll look at those numbers. also, clinton pollster coming out with his own ideas as to what would happen if the election were held today. he sees a repeat, perhaps, of 1994, if it were. >> do you need a poll to answer that question? what would happen today? >> i don't.

i think people are very nervous about jobs. that's just the bottom line here. >> but the election isn't today. there is time. >> it isn't. that's what he says as well. let's get to the news. there are new -- hi, willie. >> hi, mika. >> there are new polls that show america is not happy with obama administration. 46% of registered voters approve of the job the president is doing, while 43% disapprove. 41% approve of how obama is managing health care while 5 # 3% don't. as for the latest "usa today"/gallup poll, 50% of those say he deserves to be re-elected while 46% oppose that idea. 26% say obama deserves a great deal of the blame for the nation's economic problems. this is interesting. nearly double the number who felt that way last summer. 42% say his predecessor, george w. bush, deserves the blame. clearly, the crisis happened

before he came into office, but perhaps, tina brown, what that reflects is people perhaps isn't dealing with it head-on. >> i think the trouble was they felt for the last year and a half the only think they talked about was health care while the only thing they were concerned about is jobs. now, presumably, he is going to address what they care about most next. but it has been a very unfortunate process because this whole sort of agonizing health care thing, which has been such a gridlock and all people feel is stasis and what about me. >> well, because a lot of people are sitting at home without jobs. >> absolutely. >> they have been for months. >> absolutely. i think he lacks some sort of craggy spokesman who seems to be on the case. you know, he's always on tv, obama, always, but never really talking about the things that anybody's caring about, it seems. it's one of the problems we have. >> i think there's also the

sense among people that no one could operate in their daily lives the way they operate in congress. no one could operate on their job, if their home. you couldn't do it. you couldn't be as dysfunctional as they appear to be every day on our tv screens. and people say, please, enough of all of them. >> absolutely. >> don't you think it's also there is a fallacy that you can do multiple things at the same time when you're in the presidency? we can focus on 50 thing at once, but just as any big company, they can't, they actually can't. they can only railroad through what they have to railroad through, which in this case was health care, and every else fell into abance. >> when unemployment was all-time high, when americans' wallets and homes are on the line, it's that hard to think of anything else, whether it's morally right or wrong, health care. james carville are warning a

fragile economy is a big threat to democrats in this fall's election. stan greenberg, who ran clinton's polls back in 1994 say if the elections were held today, it could be a repeat of 16 years ago when the republicans took control of the house and senate. greenbergs, quote, if the election were now, we would have a change election. we would have a 1994. i have to say, i'm not surprised by that, are you? >> no, but i think we're constantly having this alarmist polling coming out rye now. we've just gone through this agony, everybody's sick of it. also, people are incredibly confused because of media onslaught between the advertising, negative advertising and the right wing talk show hosts and the tv. this is great melody it people's heads and i think people honestly feel they're vibrating with confusion over the whole thing and they just feel, as you said, jobless. they just feel miserable. >> miserable on both sides, with both parties. >> yeah, but i do think there is going to be some kind of change. i do think the sense of a

president being decisive, whether you like it or not, is still more appealing than a sense of a president being stuck, unable to do anything. at least it looks like he got his mojo back. >> yes. i would think the frustration for some republicans, joe's not here so let's try to get balance here, is they've been painted as the party of no completely, angry and vit r angry, and while this is historic, it may not be what people in democratic districts necessarily want, health care reform. it is historic, but it may not be necessarily what people completely had their arms around. >> to mike's point, i mean, as you say, people -- what we see on tv every day about the impossible way they all behave. by the way, the republican party, the party of the big tent is running a circus, as far as i can see. i mean, what the heck is going on? with all this crazy spending and -- >> i read your piece on sarah

palin, by the way. wow. >> that was a sad time. >> one of the things that's going on is that everyone in washington be, on both sides of the aisle, specifically the democratic side of the aisle, have badly underestimated the concern that average people have. not tea party people, have about the cost of this health care program. >> yes. >> they are truly concerned about the cost. because, you know, they can't fathom those kind of numbers. they just wonder about, you know, what will-r our kids going to have to pay? what are our grandchildren going to have to pay? when they say that, they have the feeling they might get lumped in, you know, with tea party people. if you say that in polite company, you know, i want health care reform. i'm glad it was passed. but i'm really concerned about the cost. some people, you know, what are you, one of those nuts? no, i'm not one of those nuts. >> hutaree. >> exactly. no bounds for the president right now.

probably won't get a bounce until one or two or three of these benefits that are going to accrue to people as a result of health care reform, begin to kick in later in the summer. >> if they do effectively, along with job growth, that's just -- it comes back to that. >> i just wish that we in the media would stop running these daily tracking polls about his popularity. >> i agree. >> i do, i do, although these today really give us a snapshot. >> that's not a practicaling poll. >> i think it's interesting, the polls we're looking at. but, yes, the daily pulse is ridiculous. >> the other problem in unemployment is people are just not addressing how people today have to have multiple jobs to make the same amount of money they did before. that's really sort of not showing up. >> look at me. >> i mean, you know, i -- people have gigs rather than jobs. >> let's get to our other big story of the day. president obama yesterday characterized his new offshore drilling plan as just one of many steps necessary to achieve

energy independence. obama says the move will also sustain economic growth and produce jobs. but it's getting mixed reviews on capitol hill. the president, speaking at andrews air force base yesterday, said his drilling plan was not an easy decision. >> this is not a decision that i've made lightly. ultimately, we need to move beyond the tired debates of the left and the right, between business leaders and environmentalists, between those who would claim drilling as a cure-all and those who claim it would have no place, because this issue's just too important to allow our progress to languish while we fight the same old battles over and over again. >> i think this is interesting, mike barnicle. a move here that doesn't please members of either party completely. and flying in the face of some of the things he had said during in the campaign, correct? >> surprise, surprise. >> the stage craft, he's standing in front of a green fighter jet. it's a little bit of a reach. but you're right, environmental groups, one came out and said this is a pattern now from the

president, promising one thing on the campaign trail and doing something else once he gets in office. >> the argument is, we have to look at job creation, the economic picture. >> that's the -- >> i think it's really brilliant. >> how does he lose? how does he lose? >> he's just drilling for votes on the climate bill. >> framing up the -- frame it up as a national security issue. >> exactly. >> and jobs. >> we've got to wean ourselves off oil from the middle east. we have to do it. so, why not start doing it this way? >> well, environmentalists say -- >> in front of the hybrid missile launcher. >> -- would say kill baby kill instead of drill baby drill. >> now, deal with this. >> you know, he even had newt gingrich came out and said, this is good, this is good. >> light at the end of the tunnel. a federal judge say they illegally wiretapped phone conversations between an islamic

charity and two american lawyers without a search warrant. the lawsuit was the last active case pending that challenged the so-called wiretapping program that ended back in 2007. it involved a conversation between a foundation member and the two lawyers about a recent treasury department declaration that the group supported terrorism. legal experts say the judge's ruling focused narrowly on this specific case, touching vaguely on the larger question of the program's legality. that didn't top defense attorneys from claiming the judge found the entire program unlawful. for the first time in more than 40 years, a calendar month has gone by without a single murder in newark, new jersey. >> woo hoo! >> that's amazing. >> is that an april's joke? >> no, it's not. >> in 32 days it's been since a homicide there. officials are looking to best a 43-day total streak from march to april back in 2008 as the

last hour's of march ticked away, new york mayor cory booker talked about the accomplishment on facebook and twitter, saying we continue to set public safety records in our city. thank you all for being a part of our progress. congratulations to him. >> mayor booker was in here last week when you were down in tampa, and he was so excited about this. he said, i don't want to jinx anything. i've got seven days to go. if i can get this, it would be huge for our city. it's been a big priority for him. he's the ultimate hands-on mayor. he goes on patrol at night with cops, goes up to guys on the street saying, what are you doing out at this hour? he's very committed. >> he has been effective. we'll have to have him back in. let's just see how this goes. follow this positive story. it's good. >> snd him a tweet. >> i am. i'm going to follow him on twitter. >> tweet, baby, tweet. still ahead, an exclusive first look inside the politico play book, including fallout for michael steele. another sign the global

recall isn't hurting toyota in the showroom. and at the bottom of the hour, rand paul, son of republican congressman ron paul, he's running for u.s. senate in kentucky. he's also a doctor. he'll tell us why he rejects obama care. first, todd santos with a check of the weather. >> hello there, mika. good morning, guys. looks like a much better morning across the east coast, especially the northeast where the last few days we've been talking about the flooding, which is still ongoing. many rivers still, again, well out of their banks, especially the patuxet river in rhode island. at least this morning looking at cool temperatures giving way to clear skies in and around the new york city area. a few thin clouds heading for sunshine this afternoon. a pretty nice picture. d.c. making a run at the 8 80-degree mark. this afternoon, beautiful all the way down to central and southern florida. we'll be back with more. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by star bucks. ♪

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joe." 18 past the hour. time now to take a look at the morning papers. obama's proposal for offshore drilling making lots of headline this is morning. we'll start with "the miami herald." obama drilling plans in south florida, administration pledges to protect national security. "new york times" -- no shortcuts when the military moves a war and moving 30,000 reinforcement into afghanistan and reducing numbers in iraq. u.s. military has to orchestrate one of the largest movements of supplies and men since world war ii. ceos see their pay fall once again. 200 major u.s. companies slipped about 1% in 2009. "the washington post" -- a herald of springtime. the picture shows cherry blossoms in bloom. it's going to be 80 degrees in d.c. today. >> it's going to be beautiful. >> we know john harris will be

sunbathing on the mall, as he always does in springtime. the editor and chief of politico, with a look at the play book. >> good morning. >> good morning. let's talk about these lawsuits from the attorneys general about the individual mandate for health care. we've heard about 13 or 14 of them. what kind of trouble is this causing? >> well, it's causing political trouble for democratics in the state. we'll get to some smut later. mika has to be patient. substance first. these republican -- these lawsuits by republican attorneys general are kind of the last gasp by health care opponents saying the law that has just been passed on health care reform is unconstitutional because it takes power away from the state. most legal scholars say that isn't going anywhere. some have dismissed it as a political stunt. but it's a real political reality for some democratic attorneys general in southern -- mostly southern states where they're having to basically take the consequences for this position. they're not signing onto the

lawsuits, but they're really getting hit in their home states as being sort of hand-maidens. it's complicated because many of these attorneys general, jack conway in kentucky is planning to run for an open senate seat, baker in georgia is planning on running for governor. it's becoming a prickly political problem. >> they're roped into a fight they didn't have anything to do with it. >> all of a sudden health care is landing on their front step. >> this week the indiana state attorney general said indiana would join that lawsuit being put forth by 14 state. now we get to the smut. more fallout from the republican national committee spending spree at the bondage club in west hollywood. >> not more? >> what now? >> the fallout continues. tony perkins, we saw late yesterday, very influential social conservative, he's sending an e-mail, jonathan martin had this on his blog, he's sending an e-mail to his

donors saying, look, do not give to the republican national committee, we don't are any confidence they share our values. give directly to candidates or causes you support. that's a big problem for the rnc. the rnc sent out their own e-mail saying the young eagles program for younger donors, which is where the bondage flap grew out of efforts to court these donors is putting as many of those events on hold. and so just continues to be a real headache for michael steele. >> how much of this, john, is genuine outrage and how much of it is people seeing an opportunity, perhaps, to unseat a guy they don't think is doing the job? >> well, i think there is genuine outrage about michael steele's effectiveness and about his sort of continued pension for getting in political flaps that take the spotlight away from the republican message. before there was any -- the flap over the bondage there was a lot of criticism about his own personal spending, which many donors thought was too lavish.

you know, he's had a foot-in-mouth disease occasionally in his tenure as rnc chairman. i think most people think he's going to finish out his term but not great clammer for a second term for him. >> john harris, you delivered the smut very policily this morning for us. >> yes. >> off to the mall to sunbathe. >> excellent. thanks a lot. we'll be checking you out at politico.com today. coming up next -- what are you laughing about? >> please, all the comment you could have said about sunbathing and you kept them to yourself. >> i was just thinking, what would your reaction be if one of your kids came home and said, dad, i've joined the young eagles club. what? >> as long as there's no bondage involved, fine with me. >> michael steele is a walking -- i mean, he cannot get out of his own way. there is this moment for republicans and they can't stop being like the phantom -- >> oh. the rnc dug into the dnc's

records. there's a lot of lavish spending on the other side. no voyeur club. >> let's see. >> this is over an 18-month period here. >> but fenway park, that's legitimate. >> that's legitimate. >> how do you spend 26 grand at fenway? >> you can bond away. >> he bought david ortiz lunch. >> that might have been lunch with the red sox. >> not as much graphic. >> why would you put the fenway in there? no, that was a good point to a little balance there. >> coming up -- >> what's coming up? >> we have like father like son case here. rand paul and his run in the senate, rising star in the party. (jennifer garner) there's a lot of beautiful makeup out there

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that's great. >> another psychic star. welcome back to "morning joe." live look at times square. don't you celebrate easter monday? >> tell them what you just told us. >> we all throw water on top of each other. they do it in poland. >> polish tradition. >> another psychic star for mika. >> yes. once my dad brought the hose in the house. i'm serious. it's just before 6:30 on the east coast. time for a look at some of today's top stories. a chechen militant is claiming responsibility for this week's deadly attacks that killed 39 people on the subway in moscow. he took credit in an internet message. it came just hours after two more suicide bombers struck in southern russia, killing a dozen people, including nine police officers. yesterday, russian prime minister vladimir putin said put those behind monday's bombings

must be, quote, scraped from the bottom of the sue ewers and exposed. toyota's sales rose 40% after offering discounts. aggressive incentive programs included zero% financing on recalled modelings and remaintenance for return customers. incentives were scheduled to stop on april 15th but they said some will continue through the spring. new video through australia. where a tire on a airplane burst on a landing from singapore to sydney. the video was taken by one of the passengers. none of the 244 people on board were hurt. qantas has six of these a-380 planes in their fleet. they say this is a rare occurrence. investigators are looking into what caused that tire to burst. that's a quick look at the news. now to willie with sports. >> a little masters tiger woods

news. it just goes to the lengths they're going to protect tiger, not make a spectacle of him. the masters, augusta national golf club telling espn which has coverage on thursday and friday. on thursday espn has rights from 4:00 to 7:30 p.m. saying if tiger woods goes out earlier than that, say he tees off at 11:00 in the morning, they cannot show his round live. >> of course not. >> they can't follow tiger all over the place. they can break in and show his first shot at 11:00 in the morning, but that's it. he tees off, looks down the fareway, they cut off. >> is that a change from the way they used to do things? >> no, no, but you would expect with the elevated interest in tiger you would want to follow him to every hole. augusta national does not allow for that kind of thing. so the club is looking out for tiger woods in this case. >> they've been following him from every hole for a long time. >> what about helicopters? >> you said it, tina brown. i'm glad you did. >> i don't want to see any more

of following him around. >> fair enough. let's move right along to a heart-warming story. i have a heart-warming story about a son and his mother. spring training baseball. denard got his mom front row seats. watch what happens. he slaps a line drive in her grille. >> what? >> fouls hit. hits his mother with a line drive. she has front row seats. just crushes one right in her direction. >> oh, no. >> good news is, he was over there for a couple minutes, making sure his mother was okay. the medical technicians came on the scene. she's going to be fine. she wasn't hit directly, apparently. although she would have been hit directly. >> got hit in the shoulder. >> that's right. >> that's too bad. >> those are mike barnicle seats when you're in the front row, next to the dugout. glad denard span's mother is okay. wild scene in salt lake city. the american women's soccer team

playing mexico. >> in the snow? >> in a snowstorm in salt lake city. amy wombach scored the final goal and this is how she celebrate. snow angels. advantage united states against mexico in a snowstorm. there you have it. >> very good. coming up -- ll cool j versus sarah palin. >> who's that? >> who's l.l.? come on. >> come on. >> you know. >> get down with us. >> there's a lot to say. >> i'm sorry. >> one of the pioneers of hip-hop and rap. >> okay. >> and a "morning joe" guest. >> a true american story. >> that's right. >> so is l.l. giving sarah palin the cold shoulder? we'll tell you about that in news you can't use. first, rand paul on rejecting obama care. also, the must read opinion pages with mika. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

>> is it me or is president obama foably more confide notic since passing health care? remember, he was slumped down, dragging -- not down, but just not up, you know? i saw him today enter the white house briefing room. so different after they passed health care. show him coming in today. >> president obama is just beyond the door. he should be in here in a second. ♪ y'all ready for this ♪ ♪

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well, i think that we should do it faster, but i think that the core position, which is it can be done safely, it can be done in an environmentally sensitive way, it will help america economically by having jobs here at home, it will help america by keeping the cost of energy down and it will help america by taking us away from depe dependence on venezuela or saudi arabia. i think that's a win-win. >> interesting, newt gingrich on the offshore drilling plan. tina brown is with us. rand paul is with us. thanks for joining us. you're doing quite well in the polls against your challenger. we'll talk about that as well as your push for repeal of the health care bill. but first, i'd like toe a ask y about offshore oil drilling. what do you think about the president's move to move forward with that? >> i think it's a good move.

you look at england and england is virtually independent because they've been drilling in the north sea. i think that's a good thing. we need to be drilling there. we need to be drilling in anwar. we need to be drilling around the country and encouraging our own energy protection. >> let's get to the op-eds. i'm taking it from the los angeles times. oil drilling, a nasty national habit, he calls it. he says this, tina, if the arguments you hear in the coming days for expanded drilling sounds familiar, it's because they've been repeated for generations. we've been hearing promises about safer drilling technology since before union oil began drilling in the santa barbara channel. if you don't remember what happened that time, you should. soon after the wells were bored one blew out in january of 1969, causing a massive oil slick that slimed beaches and killed birds, fish and marine mammals. resulting catastrophe helped spark the modern environmental movement. you think the president could pay a price on his side of the aisle for this? >> he could certainly pay a

price. i think there was a huge amount of anger, but i think that his side is beginning to understand this is who obama is, in a sense. i mean, he's a guy who takes the pragmatic solution on the table. and i think that he's in such a political box, he's making very judicious political decisions right now, this is one of them. jobs is a number one priority. that seems, for him, to be the right thing to do. i think he's definitely going to create a huge amount of anger in his own party. >> mr. paul, let me ask you -- give me the principle points of opposition you have to the president's health care reform bill as it was passed. >> well, there are a lot of things i don't like about it. i would prefer to have more capitalism and less government. the whole program is more government involvement. and i think that's a mistake. we're already short of money in medicare. medicare's chronically short of money for one simple reason. there's not as many workers as there are -- used to be. there used to be seven workers

for of retiree. now it's one to one. the demographics of medicare all point to a shortfall. that's with the existing program. you add 30 million people to the system and i think you're going to be short of money again. and i think ultimately that will lead to government having to ration the care. >> so, what do you do about -- let's say i live in paducah, kentucky, i don't have health care. what do you do for people in your state not exactly among the most affluent states in the country. what do you do about getting people coverage who are not now covered? what can you do? >> what i've been promoting is that i think we need to make health insurance more like term life insurance. for example, if my health insurance f i have a heart attack because of your grilling me this will morning, my health insurance expires, they could triple my rates. but my term life insurance doesn't expire because it's a 20-year contract. because of that, preexisting conditions don't concern me. portability doesn't concern me because it's not attached to my

employment. so, i think if we made health insurance more like term life insurance, then we would allow a marketplace to develop. high deductibles, then the patients would care about the price. the problem we have now is, is that nobody cares about the price. the patient doesn't care about the price. and the doctor doesn't care about the price. so there is no real market or price competition in health care. >> let's look at the race. you are right now leading by double digits in at least two recent polls over your republican challenger trey grayson. you have the solid slid backing of the tea party movement. i want to ask you about that. and also the president's agenda, do you think that will actually help get you elected, even though you haven served a day in office, in political office? >> yeah, i think the tea party movement is huge. i give them great credit for my momentum. the largest event i've been to in kentucky have all been tea party events. 3,000 or 4,000 people gathered

in louisville, over 1,000 in lexington, over 1,000 in paducah, nearly 1,000 here in bowling green where i live. they've all been huge. there's a great momentum. and i think what people misunderstand about the tea party movement is, it's a bipartisan chastisement of the system. if you go to these meetings, these equal chastisement to the republicans and to the democrats for failure on the deficit. now, they are all conservative. they're people who think government's out of control, spending's out of control. but i guarantee you, at the tea party, there's bipartisan blame to go around for the debt. >> interesting. >> what's -- >> mike and then tina. >> what's the reaction, if you can gauge it, among your constituents, among -- well, they're not your constituents yet, but how did you get so lucky to have dick cheney and mitch mcconnell endorse your opponent? how did that happen? >> i would say it's the perfect storm. it's the perfect constellation

of everything coming together at once. the tea party movement is as big as the republican hierarchy. so the republican hierarchy may not all want me but the tea party equals if not outnumbers them in numbers, enthusiasm and even in organizational ability. it just amazes me. people say, are you surprised? i say, no, i'm astounded at what's going on here. and, you know, it also helps that being related to someone famous, i don't run away from that. that's helped me get started, never having run before. i think also i have to present the message and i think i can present that message and i have across this state in over 300 speeches. >> tina brown has a question. >> the tea party movement is so much about generic anger, rand. you know, it's so much about a diffused rage without a focus. what can actually anyone deliver to the tea party? i mean, for you, you're glad at their enthusiasm, but what can you deliver to that tea party? >> well, i would respectfully disagree that it's anger. i would say the perfect

description is worry or concern. when i go to these meetings, i don't see angry people with steam coming out of their ears. i see people who are truly worried about the direction of our country. they're worried about the debt consuming us. i would say there is a direction. the things i talk about, term limits, reading the bills, not bailing out rich bankers who failed us and failed their companies, pointing to where the bills have justification in the constitution. that's get to what we're talking about today with the interstate commerce clause in health care. let's reexamine what we've been doing as a country and allowing the interstate commerce to mean that big government can do anything it wants. >> how much are you on the at moth months featmosphere of ? let's put up u.s. "today," usa fumes over politics and they say the favorable rating for the democratic party has fallen since the lowest level since

1992. republican party faring no better. 3 of 4 americans say they are dissatisfied with the country's direction. that on top of the headline that clinton pollster stan greenber s says if the presidential election were held today, we would have a change election. things don't look good for this president. >> right. well, i think what it is is what i do bring is honesty to it. i go into every city in kentucky and tell them honestly, i will not bring you a federal project. most republicans don't even do that. most republicans go in and say, i'll cut your taxes but i'll also bring you the pork barrel spending. i go to louisville and i say, we're out of money. i can't bring you a project. i can try to leave the money in louisville. i can try to leave the money in kentucky but i can't just bring it home because the pig has been picked clean. and we're out of money. >> so, let's look at what is the product of the atmosphere of the moment and that would be some of the tactics that candidates are using, trying to get re-election

or get elected in sdriblgts and states across the country. here is a web ad that's been put out by your opponent. >> they get motivated because we're there and their country. >> they are in our face as we are in their country. >> the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back into our own front yards. >> okay. the ad compares you to jeremiah wright. remember him? >> oh, my goodness. you know, my opponent also stands up and says i'm to the left of obama. and so when i get up in the lincoln day crowds i just chuckle and say, you know what, it's hard to believe sarah palin has endorsed someone who's supposedly to the left of obama. so we approach some of it with ridicule but we're also upset he's politicizing 9/11. we've had to respond to it and we've responded to it by calling

it out as being intellectually dishonest what he's doing. >> rand paul, thank you very much for being on the show. nice to meet you. we'll see you soon. >> nice to meet you. what's coming up next? >> "news you can't use." this nice woman won herself $43 million in a slot machine. >> amazing. >> can you believe that? must have been a great ceremony when she gets all the money. casino said, there's a problem. we don't have $43 million. >> no. >> that terrible story coming up next. if we don't know how big our community is, how do we know how big our hospitals need to be? the census helps us know exactly what we need, so everyone can get their fair share of funding. we can't move forward until you mail it back. 2010 census.

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oh, yeah. it's time. >> it is time for news you can't use. sarah palin has a new show on the fox news channel called "real america". >> is this the alaska thing? >> soon, don't ask me specifics. stories, real-life tales of overcoming adversity on the american landscape. it's been advertised and promoted as having big name guests like toby keith and rap superstar l.l. cool j on sarah palin's first show. cool j says there was a problem,

they lifted an interview i gave to someone else in order to promote sarah palin's show. wow. they were going to pull the interview and run it on her show. she didn't interview ll cool j. >> that would save a lot of time and money. >> toby keith came out and said the same thing. >> did rand paul know he was on our show? >> it's an old interview. fox fought back strongly saying, well, it appears mr. smith, ll cool j's real name, does not want to be associated with a program that could serve as an inspiration for others. we're cutting his interview from the special and wish him best with his fledgling acting career. >> why did they want to use him if he's fledgling? >> well, now he is. so no ll cool j in the new sarah palin show. jay leno now back talking about the month-old situation with conan. joy behar was on the leno show

and she did her own inte view in the green room. she and leno back talking, getting back to the issue of him and conan. >> do you feel upset by conan? do you feel bad by conan? >> conan got screwed. i got screwed. this tv. the reason show business pays a lot more is because someone gets screwed. conan was treated terribly. i was treated terribly. i think conan will come back and he'll be strong. we're all competing against one another. me against leno and conan and -- you see who wins. >> all right. >> look, he's a great guy, okay? >> but, pine -- >> he has to get a grip. you got $15 million. how did you get screwed? >> because i think we have to go through this whole fire drill of going -- >> he would go back to say he was forced out when he had to sign that deal saying he'd leave in five years. >> right. he's got to zip it now. >> yeah. people have bigger problems. interesting. one more story.

out of colorado, boy, what an exciting day it was for one woman when she pulled the lef other a slot machine. >> wonderful story. >> $43.9 million in a slot machine. >> and she needs the money, too. >> gambling is ridiculous. >> she goes to collect the money, jumping up and down, hugging perfect strangers. the casino said, there is a problem, ma'am. >> what is it? >> we don't have this kind of money. >> here she is on cbs. >> they told me, wow, $42 million? we can't pay you that. our casino is not even worth that much. we would have to hand over the keys to you. fair resolution is i should get the money that was shown on the machine. >> the $42 # million? >> the $42 million. >> the casino says it was posted that the top prize was $251,000. it was a machine malfunction. the colorado gaming authorities say the casino has no legal obligation to pay her the $43 million. >> she gets $251,000.

>> take the $251,000 and walk away. >> it's not $43 million. >> it's not. tina brown, great to see you. >> wow. thank you. >> tina, thank you. >> "the daily beast". >> don't forget to download your new beast iphone app. coming up, maria bartiromo and sa vvannah guthrie. ever wish you knew a retirement expert? let's meet some. retirement's a journey and, we know the territory. we're chartered retirement planning counselors at td ameritrade. we're trained. we're seasoned. experienced. we'll help you with rollovers. consolidating old accounts. opening new ones. guiding you through paperwork. we're like retirement co-pilots.

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♪ can't help it, can't help it ♪ ♪ can't help it, no no no... ♪ come on. ♪ can't help it, can't help it, no no no ♪ ♪ you drive me crazy ♪ and i just can't stop myself, uh! ♪ ♪ can't help it, can't help it, can't help it. ♪

tiger woods. oh, i just don't know what to tell you about this guy. now they're saying the reason he was running around with, you know, women and, frankly, there was not much running around, because he got into bad habits because he was hanging around with michael jordan and charles barkley. exactly what happened to me. >> oh, gracious top of the hour. look at the sun coming up. the shot from the top of the rock. pretty side of new york city. >> that's pretty. >> we come, everyone, to "morning joe." i'm mika brzezinski. joe's off this week taking a little rest. and relaxation. mike barnicle is here.

he doesn't work fridays and perhaps he's a little angry this morning because i've ruined his easter. sorry. >> i'll get over it. >> you will? >> yeah. >> i'll see you sunday at fenway. how's that? >> i'll get over it on polish easter monday when you throw water on me. >> i'm going to run into the house with a hose like my father did when i was growing up and spray water in your face. >> a window into your childhood. >> willie, are you headed to -- >> happy easter. >> easter monday. >> you are headed to cover -- >> augusta. going down there next week. >> good. >> will be monitoring the situation. >> you do that. i can't wait to hear the reports. >> michael jordan's defense is one of the weakest. >> it's better than sex rehab. a couple of interesting headlines. front page of "usa today," let's put that up, really gives you a sense of the atmosphere and how people are feeling. usa fumes over politics. talks about the favorability rating for the democratic party

being at all time lows and republican party faring not much better. it's an interesting mood especially heading into midterm elections. i love this story on the front page of the new york post. >> what is that story? >> this mother, who's a screen writer for that shopaholic movie, confessions of a shopaholic, she talks about how she raised a spoil child, spent too much money on her. the daughter was living a lavish life so she made a documentary. she took her daughter to india for three weeks. it's called "lucky ducks" and she wanted to teach her child a thing or two about life. i think it's very interesting on a number of levels. >> i know a lot of those girls in manhattan. more should go to india. >> i applaud this mother for sort of facing. >> what did she do? >> i'm going to -- i would like her to be on the show. >> shop. >> they did not shop. >> i'm sorry, i misunderstood the story. >> listen to what mika told you. she took her daughter to india to show her some poverty --

>> oh, i thought it was a shopping spree. >> get a sense of perspective on life, willie. >> got ya. >> let's get to the news. try to do a good thing. new polls out that indicate americans are not happy with the obama administration. according to the latest poll, 46% approve of the yob the president is doing, 41% approve of how obama is managing health care while 53% don't. that's very interesting. especially heading into the midterms and looking at who wins or who loses as a result of health care reform. as for the latest "usa today"/gallup poll, 50% of those say he deserves to be re-elected while 46% oppose that idea. 26% say obama deserves a great deal of the blame for the nation's economic problems. nearly double the number who felt that way last summer. this is really interesting. 42% say his predecessor, george w. bush, deserves the blame. let's talk about this.

obviously, the problem started before obama came into office, but this must reflect, mike barnicle, a sense that people don't feel that he is addressing the economic turmoil that our country is in. >> well, the first thing s he cannot go to the country this fall and mention george w. bush's name. this is all on him now. the economy is all on him. it's his economy. it's his -- unfortunately, it's his war in afghanistan. it's his health care plan. >> i don't think he's -- >> now, what's going to happen, you know, can he tell us that there is an improvement in the war in afghanistan? probably. will people have received some benefits out of the health care plan by november? probably. the amazing thing that's happened over the last year, the external conflict in congress, both houses fighting each other, people witnessing a bunch of people they sent to washington, seemingly unable to get anything done, the fact that barack obama is at 50% in that poll you just showed, is kind of amazing.

>> i think the bottom line, though, as we move forward, and as our next story will indicate as well, right now if the election were held today and we'll talk about this, i'm not sure what would happen. i don't think it would go well. >> bye-bye democrats. but there's parts on both house, don't you think? >> yes. both sides. there's this window opening potentially for an independent candidate. who knows if the time has come but it certainly is opening because of the disgust across the board. anyone trying to demonize the republicans or democrat alone is crazy. the way people view president obama on personal qualities, it's interesting, including being a decisive leader and understanding americans' problems has also dipped. now to the story about stan greenberg. two of former clinton's top advisers, including james carville, is warning a low

economy. stan greenberg says if the elections were held today, it could be a repeat of 16 years ago, when the republicans took control of the house and senate. greenberg says, quote, if the election were now, we would have a change election. we would have a 1994. i don't find that surprising. he also says, there's time for things to turn around. meanwhile, president obama is characterizing his new offshore drilling plan as just one of many steps necessary to achieve energy independence. obama says the move will also sustain economic growth and produce jobs. but it's getting mixed reviews on capitol hill. speaking at andrews air force base yesterday, said his drilling plan was not an easy decision. >> this is not a decision that i've made lightly. ultimately, we need to move beyond the tired debates of the left and the right. between business leaders and environmentalists, between those who would claim drilling as a cure-all and those who would claim it has no place.

because this issue's just too important to allow our progress to languish while we fight the same old battles over and over again. >> just looking at this "usa today" poll, i think we showed it backwards, 50% think president obama deserves re-electi re-election. interesting. they don't think president obama deserves re-election. they don't think he does. marie bartiromo just jumped on set here. how are you doing? >> great. >> what do you think about the president's decision on offshore oil drilling? >> well, i think there are a lot of alternatives out there. i think it has a hit a tipping point that america, obviously the president leading the charge that we need to have less dependency on foreign oil. so offshore drilling is an option. i think nuclear is becoming increasingly viable in terms of an option. i think, you know, other alternatives, wind and solar, is also being looked at. it's an idea, i think, that

is -- offshore drilling is something that has been talked about for some time. and there is oil in this country offshore. >> absolutely. >> you aunderstand the world economy better than we do. sin it a fallacy to say a little drilling off the coast of north carolina is going to get us off saudi arabian oil? >> well, you know, we don't know, because we haven't drilled. i mean, that's the point. you know, there is oil there, we think. and, of course, people are worried that the environment and the animals there are going to get impacted. but we haven't done it. so we really don't know. i mean, i don't necessarily know that it's enough to get us off foreign oil. given the fact that transportation requires oil or natural gas. but, you know, how will we really know what kind of a dent we can put into that independence that we could have if we don't actually try? >> what are the executives at

these energy companies that, you know, that you deal with, that you have on your program, what do they think about this administration or any administration, past administrations, energy plan for the next ten years? we're going to do this? we're going to wean ourselves off saudi arabian oil, we're going to have nuclear, coal, and nothing seems to get done. >> we don't have an energy plan. that's the issue. we haven't for a long time, really, had specific, you know, plans that have been invested in for a long-term time frame to actually wean us off. look, i think shale is becoming increasingly important. we're seeing technology improve, getting to the oil and gas as a result. and that is probably going to help as well. it takes time. tease are not overnight projects. it is a 10 or 20-year project. but we need to actually begin in order to see if there's actual potential here. >> do you know anything or have

you heard anything about clean technology in terms of getting -- you know, using coal, using what we have as natural resources? >> absolutely. that's something we should be talking more about, using other alternatives to oil, whether it's coal or, you know, shale. you know, we should be -- natural gas, which of course is very plentiful in this country. we should be looking at all sources. and i think that that's what we are doing now. >> yeah, we're going to talk about this a little more coming up. we want to get to some other news stories. you want to know who my new hero is? >> cory booker. >> i've been in his corner forever. i think he's terrific. >> why is he your new hero? >> for the first time in 40 years a calendar month has gone by without a single murder in newark, new jersey. >> wow. >> in all -- >> that's big. >> it's huge. in all it's been 32 days since a homicide. newark's longest streak is 43 days from march to april back in 2008. this is a city that's been

suffering from blight and murders and gang violence for years. it seemed almost impossible. anyone taking on this town, so to speak, you'd think is crazy. you know, making an attempt. as the last hours of march ticked away, cory booker wrote about the accomplishment on facebook and twitter saying, quote, we continue to set public safety records in our city. thank you all for being a part of our progress. >> you know what's particularly poignant about that story and those stats, is that this was the month where a couple of weeks ago there was the big story in all the papers about i think a 25-year-old multiple murder of three or four young people killed. their bodies never found. and the cold case squad police department finally solved that murder. >> wow. >> 30 years later. >> yeah, just a couple of weeks ago. >> incredible. >> if you grew up in new jersey as i did, newark was the symbol of crime and corruption.

not to say the problems have been solved but cory booker is off to a great start. >> the people deserve a leader like this and it looks like they may have had him. >> can you imagine the bounce he'll have in his step knowing you selected him as his hero. >> i don't think he cares about that at all. you know, i mean, i've been following the story of newark and bridgeport and a lot of these cities for years as a local reporter as well. it's almost impossible, sometimes, to turn these places around. and he's doing it. it's great. i mean, sometimes there is good news to report on. moving on, though, a chechen militant is claiming responsibility for this week's deadly attacks that killed 39 people on the subway in moscow. he took credit in an internet message. it came just hours after two more suicide bombers struck in southern russia, killing a dozen people, including nine police officers. yesterday russian prime minister vladimir putin said those behind monday's bombings, quote, must be scraped from the bottom of the sewers and exposed.

not guilty pleas have been entered in a detroit federal court on behalf of eight militia members plotting to kill police officers as part of a revoflt against the federal government. a prosecutor says an undercover agent infiltrated the group. none of the eight defendants spoke and the case is on recess until later today. a ninth suspect is being held in indiana and will be arraigned later in michigan. and there is new video in overnight from australia where a tile on a qantas a-380 airplane burst on a landing from singapore to sydney. this video was taken by one of the passengers. none of the 244 people on board were hurt. qantas has six of these a-380 planes in their fleet. they say this is a rare occurrence. investigators are looking into what caused the tire to burst. coming up, the rich list. a look at those who made millions of dollars while most americans were pinching pennies. plus, more on the new polls

about the president's handling of health care. savannah guthrie will join us with this morning's headlines out of the white house. first, let's go to todd santos with a check on the forecast. todd, give us good news. >> plenty of good news, especially across the east coast. still in flood recovery across the northeast. increasing sunshine, temperatures pushing up to the 70s today, especially in and around new york. boston still on the cool side of things. want to take you toward the west coast where we're dealing with the latest trough. showers into southern california today. some snowfall, especially up into the mountains, some bigger winners will be western colorado and the wasatch in northern utah. there's a look at some temps as you head out the door this morning with mild numbers from kansas city back to dallas. chicago, 80 degrees. the last day we had, september 15 #, 2009, so, chicago, enjoy that one. same story here in new york. we'll be back with more. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. tdd# 1-800-345-2550

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you know, when you see louis next time, willie, will you beat him up? >> i do every time i see him. >> that picture with him posing in the door. live look at the white house -- put that picture back up. i just want to -- louis, he should be ashameded of himself. look at him in the door. he's like cheesy. >> we cut off his head there. >> give him a wedgy when you see him. let's talk politics go to nbc news white house correspondent and co-host of msnbc's "the daily rundown," savannah guthrie joining us. >> reporter: good morning. >> looking good today in green. >> oh, very nice. >> very nice. >> reporter: the fashion segment first always, i know.

>> they were obsessed with your pleather yesterday. >> reporter: tragically, i only have one pleather coat, willie and barnicle. >> they can't control themselves. >> i didn't say a word about it. >> savannah, interested on your take on the polls and what you might be hearing out of the white house? the latest marist poll, 46% approve of the job the president's doing, 43% disapprove. 41% agree with how he's managing health care and 43% don't. let's look at those numbers. as we look at politicians, congressmen going into the midterm elections. is there any concern about that? >> reporter: no question about it because, remember, that appeal the president made to some of these members of congress, this time you've got me. i'm going to be out there advocating for you. to the extent president's approval rating is not what it's going to be, that's going to flow to any members of congress who were hoping to ride on his

coat tails. what's disturbing from the white house's perspective and these numbers, what we're not seeing yet is any kind of bounce from health care. inside this building, they're feeling good. they feel like they've got this huge legislative achievement under their belt, so there's definitely more of a spring in the steps around here. but it hasn't yet turned up in the polls. so, that's really a concern. >> the health care bounce, or lack thereof, let's look at these next numbers, which perhaps could be much more important, as we look ahead. as for the latest "usa today"/gallup poll, 46% say he deserves to be re-elected while 50% oppose that idea. and then this, savannah, 26% say obama deserves a great deal of blame for the nation's economic problems. that's nearly double the number who felt that way last summer. give me your read on that and how the white house is translating these numbers. >> reporter: you know, i think that the poll you just read is the most potentially problematic for this administration.

because up till now, most americans polled really understood that this economy, the great recession, was something that the president inherited. by the way, that was a word we heard on the president's lips so much in the first year of his administration. almost to the point where some of us questioned, wait, does the statute of limitations run out on blaming the former president on economic troubles. i think youed the number was 26%, which is relatively low. the fact that it's doubled, that now people are -- on the other hand, maybe, you know, that's just to be expected. he's now been in office 14 months. so, he does own this economy. >> well, he owns the economy. and many would argue that he's been spending the past year, working on health care. there are those that feel the issue of jobs, whether or not it's reality-based, the issue of jobs has not been addressed. they don't feel like their number one issue, maria, has been addressed.

>> well, at some point it's going to get very difficult to continue saying, i inherited this, because at some point it's like, okay, you've been in the job 14 months. what have you done about the problem? i think it's going to get real interesting as this list continues to increase of the companies that have to take charges, have to eat profits and have to report lower profitability and lower revenue as a result of the cost of health care. boeing, of course, yesterday becoming the latest company to talk about lower than expected numbers that it was going to be looking at as a result of the cost of health care. why is that important? because business is going to see lower profits. no. it's important because it's an add the expense for business which will mean they're not going to add any heads to the payroll. once again we get back to the issue of jobs, which is most important. and the president said that it was, which we're actually not addressing. >> look at these -- holistly at these numbers, savannah. when you look at the number of

people that don't support health care reform, how much window does the president have to address health care reform now that people are showing up in the numbers being worried this president is perhaps behind the problem. >> reporter: well, he has a challenge here. it's a challenge he's had up to this point to talk about health care, because he has to see those numbers improve. in fact, he's going on the road again today to maine, to sell health care reform. less about -- it was good for the country. obviously, he'll talk about that. but he want to talk about a very specific thing and that is small business tax credits that kick in immediately. this is something they want to highlight and say, it's potentially a job creator because small businesses can unveil themselves immediately of these tax credits that help them with the cost of premiums, which is a gripe we hear from small businesses all the time. >> but, savannah, they don't -- >> reporter: try to frame it as a jobs issue. >> they don't initially -- they have to buy the health insurance, right? i mean, it's not necessarily that you automatically get a tax

credit. you first have to buy into the plan. so, you're actually putting money out there. it sort of sound like a fee to me, not tax cut. >> savannah? >> reporter: they're saying it will help defray the cost of premiums and is available -- i'm holding a fact sheet right here -- available january 1, 2010. you know, they're saying this is a benefit that will actually become greater as the years go on. i think they can take up to 35% of their premium costs now, but it's going to phase in up to 50%. >> see, so here we are, picking apart, figuring out how health care is going to work. this is a sell the white house needs to make, obviously, savannah. if you look at these numbers -- i want to go back to the economy. 26% say he deserves a great deal of blame for the nation's economic problems. and then there's another number, i think it's about 50%, chris, am i right? less than 50% who -- high 40s who think he's moderately to blame for the nation's economic problems. i mean, that is -- there's a

co-nco conundrum, is it not? >> reporter: no question. i think it really underscores how much of a failure it's been in items of selling the recovery act. i mean, here's this humongous stimulus plan, almost $1 trillion, in effect for more than a year now. it was supposed to be a job creator. people feel like f you look at the polls, it's not having an impact. they don't see it as a major effort on behalf of them in terms of the economy and unemployment. and i mean, it's $800 billion in spending doesn't convince people, you wonder what will. that, you know, falls at feet of the white house in terms of selling that and explaining to people that, look, it's creating jobs. i mean, it's not for lack of trying. they do these recovery act events, so on, so forth. the other problem, we talked about it a lot here, is that

people tend to conflate the bailout and wall street. they think it's one in the same. they don't approve. >> on the jobs question, president yesterday in the announcement about drilling tried to tie it to jobs. very interesting politically because he made people on the left upset, environmental groups, some republicans said he didn't go far enough, although many like the move. what are the politics behind that announcement yesterday? >> reporter: he's trying to stake out this middle ground. he certainly angered some on the left. i can tell you, a lot of environmental activists didn't see this coming. not in the breadth that we saw this potential expansion of offshore drilling. so, he's angered some of his base supporters on the left. on the other hand, on the right, many were saying, doesn't go far enough or a good first small step. when i asked that very question at the white house briefing yesterday, bill burton, deputy pret press secretary said go

back to health care reform when they said, we're going to stop him, it's his waterloo. he said, if it's luke warm statements, we're making progress. we'll take it. >> savannah guthrie, thank you so much. we'll watch you this morning on "the daily rundown" coming up right after "morning joe." he we'll 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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welcome back to "morning joe." live shot of times square in new york city. it is 7:30 on the east coast. time for a quick look at some of today's top stories. a federal judge has ruled government investigators illegally wiretapped phone conversations between an islamic charity and two american lawyers without a search warrant. the lawsuit challenged the warrantless wiretapping program which ended in 2007. legal expert say the judge's ruling focused vaguely on the question of the program's legality but that didn't stop defense attorneys from claiming the judge found the entire program unlawful. toyota's sales surged in march by 40% from last year after offering some of its

deepest discounts ever to cope with the fallout from the millions of recalls. toyota's aggressive incentive programs included zero% financing on recalled models, low price leasing and free maintenance for return customers. the incentives were scheduled to end on april 5th but toyota is saying some will continue into the spring. and today is census take. happy census day, everybody. also april fool's day. the day the census bureau hopes americans will mail back their completed forms. officials say, mike barnicle, have you done your form? >> i filled it out. willie and i filled it out together. >> yeah, right. >> okay. >> i'm going to do it, though, because it's important. >> it is. officials say 52% of the people in the united states have already sent in their census forms. mar maria? >> i have not sent mine in yet. >> come on. >> i will say this, the census hired a lot of jobs this last month. and that's why we're going to see a temporary bump up in job creation. and people are looking for a

pretty good number on friday when we get the unemployment report out because of the census. >> the sugar high? those jobs will go away? >> yeah, yeah. >> census day. also april fool's day and i'm waiting to see what willie and mike barnicle are cook up today. >> we've already done it. we showed up. >> it's an april fool's joke on yourself. coming up next, your exclusive first look at this week's cover of "time" magazine. also, the hedge fund managers who had a record year while many americans were struggling. nbc's lisa meyer shows us what some did with all of their money. national car rental? that's my choice.

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♪ i don't trust this economy. i mean, wall street is doing great, but, you know, we're still slicing and dicing, selling debt. that's how this economy lives. this economy is like a girl with low self-esteem. you know, it's okay now but one person tells her she's ugly and the dow drops 1,000 points. >> and she is ugly. welcome back to "morning joe." while many americans struggled in a recession in 2009, a fuel hedge fund managers had their best year ever. nbc's lisa myers has the details on who came out on top and what exactly they did with all that money. >> reporter: they are the whales of wall street. hedge fund managers operate with few rules and handle investments for the super rich.

and while 2009 was a tough year for millions of magazines "ar" magazine reports the recession was over early for hedge fund managers, who had a record year. get this, the top 25 managers made over $25 billion. profits driven at least in part by the government's bailout of big bank. >> they saw that the government was not going to let most of these big banks fail. and they went in and boit the stocks at very low levels. and they -- those stocks just continued to go up all year long. >> reporter: at the top of the heap, david teper, who earned a staggering $4 billion. >> tepper was the bravest of the hedge fund managers. he was willing to go in at the bottom and say, i don't think armageddon is around the corner. >> reporter: tepper is not your stereotypical master of the universe. he's lived in this new jersey home for 20 years and appears to have no vacation homes. he says he plans to spend less time in the office this year.

>> he likes to call himself a typical middle class guy that makes billions of dollars. >> reporter: also in the top five, george soros, ranked the 35th richest man in the world at $3.3 billion. james simons, a mathematician, $2.5 billion. john paulson, $2.5 billion which makes the 41 $million he paid for the estate in the hamptons seem like chump change. steven cohen, $1.4(0uágbillion. >> he is the quintessential living large hedge fund manager with his mngs ansion in greenwi >> reporter: a 35,000 square foot mansion with an indoor pool, an outdoor ice rink, and an extra garage for the zamboni. not long ago, cohen got permission to expand the house, in part, to add to his dressing room. as for his art, cohen recently

snapped up an early version of jasper john's signature flag painting for an estimated $110 million. conspicuous consumption in a banner year for the heavyweights of wall street. lisa myers, nbc news, washington. >> marimaria, what's the big de? we all have zamboni garages. mike has a zamboni garage. are the numbers are shocking, the garage is shocking. isn't this what these guys do? >> that's exactly what they do. john paulson, the famous hedge fund manager who made all that money on subprime, when we were in the middle of the housing boom he was betting against it because they did all this research about the data that told them that when housing prices decline or housing prices increase by a small amount, foreclosures -- i mean, they had all this data about what went on when the market starts slowing down. they made an enormous amount of money on it. the bottom line is, let's look at 2008 for a minute.

so many hedge funds liquidated. a lot of hedge funds also got in a lot of trouble because of the bets they had to make. they closed shop. you couldn't get your money out. there is a mixed story within the hedge fund world. you can't say all these guys are geniuses but this is what they did and they did it obviously well last year. >> quite well. who needs an ice rink and a zamboni? >> who's to judge how you're spending your money. >> it's ridiculous. >> it's a free market system. >> free market, okay. it just seems a little silly, doesn't it? time to unveil this week's issue of "time" magazine, the new cover. joining us the deputy manager of "time," michael elliott. nice to meet you and have you on the set. we usually have a drum roll for this. but what will be on the next

issue of "time"? >> steve jobs, inside steve's pad. we sent a tech geek over to coop coopertino to have a look at it. that's our cover. >> that's interesting. perfect timing because mike barnicle said he was going to buy me one day. >> he's getting me one. you know the ten laws of enduring success, so you don't need one. we'll get to that. we're doing a segment on maria's new book coming up later in the show. what is it before the ipad and steve jobs that makes this the cover of "time"? >> he's a compelling figure and the ipad is an incredibly compelling product. there's enormous back and guard about how it's going to change computing. technology writers think it will because you'll carry this thing around with you in a way you haven't done before. you'll move from the study, living room, bedroom, bathroom, you'll pass it around. you'll be able to do all sorts

of things on it. i guess we're all going to know in the next few weeks what people use it for, what people do with it. >> how much is it? do you know? >> well, there are a number of different varieties. >> different levels. >> oh okay. >> depending on how much memory. i'm going to get you the top of the line. >> thank you. >> how much is is the top level? >> my birthday's coming up. i would like to know. >> i don't know the price point. >> i'll look it up. >> you like that word, price point. even though he's on the kov of "time" magazine, he still is one of the most uncovered individuals in terms -- >> i know what you mean. >> -- in terms of his impact. if you walk down any street in this country, the ipod. you know, the earphones. everyone wears -- it's amazing the influence that that company and he in particular has had on us culturally. >> absolutely. one of the great things about this package is to get steven frye, a wonderful guy, wonderful writer, but who has been using

apple products for like 25 years. they talk to the people who design it. and then to talk to this remarkable man, steve jobs and the dialogue between the two is great. >> the other thing about apple, don't know how many of you have been in apple stores. i go into apple stores -- >> maybe once or twice. >> the consumer experience -- >> unbelievable. >> -- is the best you can have of any company in america. >> unbelievable. >> what do you say about apple as a consumer brand? can you think of anything else where the minute it comes out, there's this anticipation, you have to have it. has to be the strongest in the world. >> it's wonderful. and the products are great. i remember at one time there was an issue about the battery for the ipod, but for the most part, these are -- and that's why people are in such awe of him. he doesn't do interviews also. that's why people are wondering what happens, you know, if steve jobs is not in that position that he's in. >> you know, the brand is built up, fan loyalty, consumer

loyalty to an extent that is quite extraordinary, over whatever it is now, 25, 30 years. remarkably long time. >> in the similar issue you are doing a special report on the environment with takes on added peeng after the announcement yesterday. >> absolutely. our focus is mainly on plastics. this is sort of the end of the graduate, you know, where mrs. robinson said, young man, plastics. >> one word, plastics. >> we've looked at the extent to which sort have overuse of plastics and underregulation of plastics in all our household goods are possibly raising health risks. as you say, that kind of dove-tails with the sort of concerns when the president made this announcement yesterday. >> are talking about the water bottles we throw away? >> exactly. >> which we shouldn't do. buy one and fill it up with tap for the entire year and wash it. i'm sorry, it's ridiculous.

can i tell you something, how stupid we are to be buying water in plastic bottles? >> that's a good point. >> actually here in new york. >> yes. >> come on. >> best water in the world. >> much water we must spend every year on water. >> i mean, there's a water shortage in the world. that's probably going to continue. >> on so many levels. you also have a piece on the vatican cover-up. the new issue of "time" magazine. michael elliott, deputy managing editor of "time." thank you very much. nice to meet you. come back soon. still ahead, more from marae about her new book of the ten laws of enduring success. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. ♪

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welcome back to "morning joe." a beautiful picture of new york city. supposed to be about 72 degrees here, 80 and sunny down in

washington. finally good weather here. we have some new developments today in that shocking case of bullying at a massachusetts high school. three of the teenagers charged in connection with the suicide of teenager phoebe prince, a 15-year-old, are due in court today. nbc's jeff rossen has the story of parents and the community demanding to know what the school knew and when. >> and until somebody stands up and admits there has been failure here, complete failure, we have nowhere to go. >> reporter: outrage is growing in this small massachusetts town. did school administrators ignore repeated complaints of bullying? 15-year-old phoebe prince couldn't take it anymore and killed herself. she was allegedly bullied in the hallways of south hadley high school for months, physically and emotionally. what were the bullies doing to her in school? >> called her names, followed her home, smart remarks, dirty

looks. >> reporter: what would they call her? >> a slut and irish whore. >> reporter: when were the school administrators? >> prior to phoebe's death, her mother spoke with at least two school staff members about the harassment phoebe had reported to her. >> there are charges against the kids. there should be charges against those administrators. >> reporter: why? >> because they knew what was going on and they didn't take action. they were in charge. >> reporter: while the d.a. says charges against the school officials are unlikely, some parents are demanding action. >> they should resign or step aside. if they don't, we will be asking for their contracts not to be renewed on may 1st. >> reporter: school officials say they only knew about the bullying a week before phoebe's death in january. but this morning we're getting new details about the kind of pain phoebe endured. friends say the bullies threw things at her, knocked books out of her hands, and sent her

threatening text messages, not to mention the torment on twitter and facebook. in school, the bullies were dubbed the mean girls, just like the movie. >> so pathetic. >> reporter: but prosecutors say this went far beyond the usual high school antics. in fact, on the day phoebe committed suicide, friends say there was one final episode as she walked home from school. >> you've got a car with a couple kids in it, chucks a drink out the window at her, called her a slut and an irish whore, why don't you kill yourself, and she did. >> reporter: she dated a football player at school. now he's charged with statutory rape along with another boy, and the so-called mean girls are charged with harassment and violating phoebe's civil rights. >> even though she had such pain, she would always tell people to keep their chin high and just keep on walk if they ever had problems and --

>> jeff rossen reporting there. so the school saying they only knew about it a week before she took her own life in january. we had reports in the boston papers, mike, her hoown mother d gone to the school a couple times herself. >> her own mother went to the school in the fall to complain. this young woman was particularly vulnerable. not only was she in a new school, south hadley, she was in a new country. she and her family had arrived here from ireland early last summer. her mistake was to mistake the affection that she felt toward a senior in the school. she was a freshman. she had no idea the components in the school. she had no idea of the relationships in the school. she went out with a senior football player. that started it. that was the spark among the girls, juniors and seniors, who took their own resentment, jealousy, whatever, out on phoebe prince. >> so sad.

>> and she hung herself in january. this goes on, bullying, we've talked about it all week long, in so many schools across the country every single day. >> i would add that -- i mean, there are so many issues that jeff touched on some of the stuff that was seen on facebook pages in light of this, looking back. and i would -- i don't -- teenagers, they may -- you may think they deserve privacy. i would have your child's pass word and i would check everything they do on the internet, everything. >> that, mika, gets to another aspect of this story and every other bullying story. it's one thing and a legitimate. you should know. i don't know. there's a lot to be learned from this for sure. coming up next, half of americans say they wouldn't re-elect the president. more on the new poll numbers out

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did you hear about this? this might be a little controversial. president obama is opening the entire east coast to offshore drilling. the entire east coast they're going to start drilling.

now, the west coast will be -- will be taken care of by jesse james. >> that's good. >> ridiculous. >> that's good. >> just about the top of the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." i'm mika brzezinski. joe's off today. lily and i are joined by contributing editor for "new york" magazine, curt anderson. he's also the author of "reset: how this crisis can restore our values and renew america." maria bartiromo is still with us. we'll talk about her book, "the ten laws of enduring success." i look forward to hearing about that. congratulations. your book just out yesterday. >> thanks so much. >> mike barnicle is with us. i've ruined his easter. he'll be joining me at fenway park this sunday. >> there are worse places to spend easter. >> you know i love it. >> do they do a hunt? >> yes. mika's going to lead us. >> he's introducing me at the fenway author series.

and this there's this great headline in "the new york post." i love this woman. we need to book her. tell me this story. >> front page on "the new york post." wrote "confessions of a shopaholic," about raising a teenaged girl in manhattan, said she was a spoiled brat. she took her daughter for a long trip to the slums of india and they shot a documentary there to get her values back in order. >> and her mother admits she's made mistakes along the way. i think it's a great lesson for everybody, especially for mothers across the country and their spoiled kids. there's some incredible polls out basically showing that the country is fuming over politics and angry with both sides, and some interesting numbers there about the president, as well. so let's begin there. time now for a look at some of today's top stories. there are new polls out that indicate americans are not happy with the obama administration.

according to the latest marist poll, 46% of registered voters approve of the job the president is doing while 43% disapprove. however, just 41% approve of how obama is managing health care with 50% not approving of how he's handling health care. just stopping there for a moment, maria or mike, impact here of these numbers looking into the midterm election. people are not buying this. >> no. i think, you know, that there's a fair amount of worry about there that they're going to lose a lot of seats. and, you know, you've got constituents say, look, i followed you down for cap and trade and i didn't want that, i didn't want health care and now i've got this. so, yeah, i think -- and i think the administration knows that. >> another worry is they have to continue the battle on health care reform, how much time do they spend on that as opposed to the issue at the top of america's list, the economy. as for a gallup poll, 46% say he deserves to be elected and 50%

oppose that idea. fascinating numbers. 26% say obama deserves a great deal of the blame for the nation's economic problems. that's nearly double the number who felt that way last summer. 40% say he deserves some of the blame. 42% say his predecessor, george w. bush, deserves the blame for the economic situation we're in. meanwhile, the way people view president obama on personal qualities including being a decisive leader and understanding america's problems has also dipped. so this fascinating again. mike barnicle, in terms of the economy, are those fair numbers, especially now since -- we're at 14 months in, whether it's afghanistan or the economy, it's on him. and clearly he hasn't spoke to the nation that he's dealing with it. is that what the numbers are saying? >> i don't know if he hasn't sold it. obviously when the economy is in the shape it's in, they're concerned.

250 years ago they were concerned. >> but a growing number feel he's responsible, which may or may not be accurate, but -- >> of course he's responsible. he can't say i inherited this, i inherited that. it's his. he knows that. >> but it's 26% who say he's responsible. 26% of americans believe space aliens run the government. >> i say alone that number, i get it, relatively it looks small but it's doubled in size. >> sure. >> growing numbers. >> we have to start looking at what the president has done. >> yeah. we can look at what the president -- look at offshore. we can look at some of the things that he has going into the future. but this is a sign of how americans are feeling, especially if we're looking at the midterm elections. >> don't we think, though, on the health care thing, in and of itself, we are now the high-water marker, low-water mark of the negative effects of that? it's not going to get worse.

people's taxes are not going to go up. >> yes, they are. >> not before november. >> at the end of the year. >> this is as bad as it's going to get. >> i think some of the headlines along the way have been this is historic. some of these democrats are the most powerful and they've done this amazing thing and it's going to have a positive impact. unless i'm incorrect here, these numbers are not showing that. >> right. well, people have been told for the last year that the coming of totalitarianism and socialism, so we are still coming off that. public sent suspect like a battleship. it takes a while to move. i'm not going to say everybody's going to say it's wonderful and i'm not sure it is. however, i don't think it's going to accrue politically negatively more. >> interesting. >> you know the thing about these polls that we do every day, it's like picking the eventual winner of the world series in april. tomorrow, opening day, they're going to have all the scouting

reports for every team in the payment paper. the yankees win. but the variables you don't know. >> i believe it can be even tiresome, mike, but i think there have been thoughts that the republicans are angry and they are for or against everything or behind the vitriol and the rhetoric and even some of the bad things we've seen. it seems to me that people are pretty disgusted with both parties and that this plan hasn't necessarily been sold. that's all. >> i find it extraordinary that, you know, the dems have had the majority and they still can't get anything done. i mean, frankly, it's really extraordinary what's going on in washington now. nobody calls anybody. everybody's angry. they're not speaking. >> they got health care done. >> they got health care done, but here's the thing. you talk about variables. the one variable that's going to dictate this is jobs and the economy. >> right there. >> if we don't see job creation by the end of the year, of course they're going to lose

seats in november. >> sure. >> you can't keep saying i inherited this and i'm going to save or create this many jobs. let's see sentiment improve, job creation and the economy show some growth. >> that will be the bottom line. bottom line. >> this those numbers out there in la crosse, wisconsin, portland, oregon, gloucester, massachusetts, there is a feeling whether a democrat or independent, everybody says there's no way i could run my life or -- i couldn't go to work in a place where they function the way they do in washington, which is they don't function. everybody senses that. both sides. >> this reflects what we're talking about here. two of former president clinton's top advisers, including james carville, are warning that a fragile economy is a big threat to democrats in this fall's election. sam greenburg, who ran clinton's polls in 1994 said if the elections were held today it could be a repeat of 16 years ago when republicans took a hold

of the house and the senate. greenburg said if we had a change election, we would have a 1994. curt, are you surprised by those comments? i am not. >> not at all. and of course it is james carville who invented the phrase "it's the economy, stupid." we have seven months. beyond what the economy can do between now and then, god knows whack happen in afghanistan, in russia, in north korea. i'll bet you we're not going to be talking about health care and the health care reform bill and its impact on the democrats' fortunes by november. so, but, yeah, if the economy isn't palpably, meaningfully on the uptick by the fall, the democrats are in huge trouble in congress. >> you can bet in moderate states republicans will be talking about health care come the fall and the growth of government. that's -- >> right. and we'll see what kind of -- you know, now that the thing has passed and it is the law of the

land, beyond the angry base, we'll see how much traction they're talking about because it's not a federal takeover. and i think people are going to see their lives and the way they do health care is different and they're not going to a federal doctor or whatever. >> they may make those discoveries, but if the economy doesn't turn around in -- >> yeah. i agree. that's everything. >> by the time the elections are heating up, health care will be an issue, will it not? because they'll say we spend all of our time bickering over health care, over plan that we really don't understand, and we haven't turned the economy around. how can you say it won't be an issue? >> particularly since you're going to have companies increasingly, as it's starting already, to say here's what the expense side of my business looks like next year and here's how much i'm spending on health care as a result of the new reform and here's the reason i can't add new jobs to the payroll. >> now the white house is saying it will have a positive impact on small businesses. >> increasingly we're hearing companies say it's going to cost

us more money. as a result, we're not going to cut back on this. >> again, what people say in these -- at&t saying we have to take these charge of a billion dollars, you know, it depends. is there a sense that jobs are being created and unemployment is going down, that prosperity finally beyond the hedge fund managers is returning? and if that looks like that's the case by the end of the summer, the democratic bosses will be left. but they'll be in congress. that's the expectation. >> there is one thing about the health care bill that the republicans can sell if they frame it up correctly, i would think, and you don't have to be a member of the tea party to buy into this. it's the i think growing concern that a lot of people have -- many democrats, many republicans -- about the cost of the health care plan. >> absolutely. >> how much it's going to cost, the rising deficit in this country. everyone who makes up the grocery list knows about

deficits. they know about bounced checks. and it concerns me. >> and because the only bipartisan effect in washington over health care was people from both parties defeated all the attempts to actually rein in costs, you know. >> so fascinating. >> that was the easy thing to have bipartisan agreement on. let's not do any hard. >> a difficult atmosphere for sure. meanwhile, president obama is characterizing his new offshore drilling plan as just one of many steps necessary to achieve energy independence. obama says the move will also sustain economic growth and produce jobs, but it's getting mixed reviews on capitol hill. the president, speaking at andrews air force base yesterday, said his drilling plan was not an easy decision. >> this is not a decision that i've made lightly. ultimately, we need to move beyond the tired debate of the left and the right, between business leaders and environmentalists, between those who would claim drilling is a cure-all and those who would claim it has no place, because this issue is just too important

to allow our progress to languish while we fight the same old battles over and over again. >> interesting. >> i love the aircraft there. he's standing in front of a hybrid missile launcher. >> green. friendly. >> a lot of messages going on there. doing a lot of things at once. >> there it is. nice try. >> canola oil? >> runs on canola oil. >> french fries. >> you'll be glad they're bombing you. >> i don't like it anymore. it's fattening. this is a ridiculous conversation. let's get some positive news. my favorite story of the day. for the first time in 40 years we have a new hero on "morning joe." right, barnacle? >> yes. >> a calendar month has gone by without a single murder in newark, new jersey. it's been 32 days since a homicide there. newark's longest streak was back

in 2008. the mayor is thanking everybody in the city for working together to try and combat the murder rate there and gang violence and drugs that have plagued this city. he's thanking people on twitter and on facebook, and he has done an amazing job. cory booker. >> cory booker. you know, he's the mayor of a large american city, and it's amazing when you get a stat like you just indicated. mayors and governors have to make decisions. you were just talking about congress. let's defer that tax until 2018. mayors and governors can't do that. they have to -- you need a fire hydrant? you get it now. >> the governors wanted health care in their own -- they wanted to be able to decide what was going to happen for their states. that's why the governors were very upset. >> cory booker is a hero, has been a hero of mine for many year, and the rest of america is going to be more aware of cory booker in the next decade. >> inherited a terrible

situation, horrible corruption by his predecessor. >> and turned it around. >> beginning to turn it around. >> looking good. >> as we discussed earlier, the poignancy of this occurring this month, murder free in newark when it was in this month a couple weeks ago the cold case department in new york solved a murder from 33 years ago. people were arrested. >> a new video in overnight from australia, where a tire on an airplane burst during landing of a flight. none of the 244 people on board were hurt. qantas sahas six of these plane in their fleet. they say it's a rare occurrence. >> hope so. >> they're looking into what caused it to burst. >> this happens all the time. relax, everybody. coming up, the rich list. a look at those who made billions of dollars while most americans pinching their pennies. plus, more on the new polls

about the president's handling of health care. nbc's savanna guthrie with the headlines. >> can we talk act maria's book, for heaven's sakes? >> i want to get to maria's book. we're with you when you're saving for your dreams. when you want a bank that travels with you. with you when you're ready for the next move. [ male announcer ] now that wells fargo and wachovia have come together, what's in it for you? unprecedented strength, the stability of the leading community bank in the nation and with 12,000 atms and thousands of branches, we're with you in more ways and places than ever before.

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♪ we've just received a little breaking news in your show, that president obama has just landed in kabul, afghanistan. >> what? even jesus rested on sunday! what are you trying to make jesus look bad now? who is this guy? now we have footage of his arrival in afghanistan that day. [ applause ] i mean, come on, obama! >> ironman? >> ironman is a movie. >> oh, it's a movie. okay. yeah. time now -- it is. okay. time to take a look at the morning papers. 19 after the hour. obama's proposal for offshore drilling making a lot of headlines this morning starting with "the miami herald."

obama's drilling plans spares south florida. the administration pledges to protect areas vital to tourism, the environment, and national security. >> "the new york times." no shortcuts when the military moves a war. reducing troop numbers in iraq. u.s. commanders are having to orchestrate one of the largest movements of soldiers and supplies since world war ii. >> wow. "the wall street journal." ceos see their pay fall once again. total compensation for the chief executives of 200 major u.s. companies slipped about 1% in 2009. >> and "the washington post." a herald of springtime. the picture shows cherry blossoms in bloom all along the national mall. good weather is finally here. >> i love it. i'm ready for spring. >> it's been almost two hours since we talked about the lesbian bondage thing. get back to center and what's important here. the editor in chief of politico, jon harris, with a look at the "playbook." hey, john. >> good morning, willie.

>> this time you'll start with the smut, last time you buried it. >> this segment might be all smut. >> oh, good. >> who's the republican national committee still getting heat for this, of course the $2,000 or so spent at the club in west hollywood. where is that coming from now? >> well, it's really coming from various places within the party. nobody happy, and these donors -- some of the big donors have been unhappy with michael steele for a long time, including before this latest bondage club episode. tony perkins, very influential social conservative, runs the family research council. he sent an e-mail out to his members saying, look, don't give money to the rnc. we can't feel confident that they share our values, urging his followers to give directly to candidates or directly to causes they support. that's one more headache for michael steele at a time when he doesn't need it. he's looking for public expressions of support and so far he's not getting a lot. >> not getting any from sarah palin. i was reading on politico she's kind of given the stiff arm to

the rnc. >> she is. politico had a good story last night. this is not related to the controversy over spending and expenses at the rnc, not directly related, anyway, but it's clear that sarah palin has no particular enthusiasm for linking herself to the rnc. they sent out a fund-raising invitation to an event that's going to be out in new orleans and saying that sarah palin was invited. and she sent them word back, in fact, did it twice because the first time didn't seem to get through, look, you can invite me, but i'm not coming. please take my name off the invite because i'm going nowhere near your event. >> this headline grabbed us on monday obviously because of the voyeur nature of it all. any deep political meanings? does it hurt michael steele? really hurt the republicans or a one-week story? >> it's a clear distraction at a time that they don't need it. i think michael steele has real problems. as i said with willie, he had

his problems with support of the republican establishment and the big fund raisers before this. so this episode -- obviously got kind of the sexy angle -- really crystallizes existing problems. so, yeah, the rnc has problems witness its ranks. whether's larger implications than that, probably not so much. >> jon harris, thanks so much as always. >> thanks, john. >> politico. and democratic national committee certainly not immune to big spending on the hotels and the jets. no voyeur clubs. >> strip clubs. >> not that we've seen yet. >> not this week. >> right. love it. that's where we're going. okay. chris, you've got some e-mails and one pertaining to our conversation about the story out of massachusetts and whether or not i would say you ought to check your kids' facebook pagings even if they're in their teens. know their pass words.

>> gene in wichita agrees with you but as the mother of a 19- and 21-year-old, kids make up fake facebook pages just for their parents. >> isn't that unbelievable? that's incredible. really, it's so hard. the internet has created so many problems for parents and outlets for kids to get drawn in in bad ways and to get involved with awful things. it's a really, really dangerous landscape. god, that's -- i can't even -- that's smart but now we're going to have to worry about that as well. chris, thanks very much. up next, we'll talk to maria about her new book, "ten laws of enduring success," just out. can't wait to hear about it and read it as well. later, dining with al qaeda. a foreign correspondent who spent three decades covering the middle east. he shares some of his experiences there. alaska, everyone awaits

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is president obama noticeably more confident since the passage of this health care bill. a couple months ago, the white house briefing, kind of slumped over, shoulders down, kind of dragging, just -- not down but just not up, you know? i saw him today enter the white house briefing room. so different after they passed the health care bill. show him coming in today. >> president obama is just beyond the door so he should step in here in just a second. ♪ y'all ready for this >> great. welcome back to "morning joe." 29 past the hour. we are back with curt anderson, contributing editor of "new york" magazine, still with us. mike barnicle. and cnbc's maria bartiromo, who

is here also to discuss her new book, "the ten laws of enduring success success." i love number one. we'll start right there. you talk about this list, a motivational book. it has lots of great advice in there from great people, but number one to me, if you don't have this, you don't have anything, especially as a woman trying to succeed. self-knowledge. >> yeah, and this is critical because you need to know yourself, what you're good at, know where you want to go in order to work hard and set the course for your own career. self-knowledge was really important. this was the departure for me because i cover business and the economy and markets. but in this book, i was watching, you know, all of the layoffs happening and this upset that the country was going through during the recession and the financial collapse. and i started to think about how one might be able to think about success and have success, be successful for an enduring time. and so i reached out to successful people that i know

and asked them for their secrets of success. but i didn't really want it to be a compilation of other people's success so i was forced to also talk about my own road and my own career. definitely a departure, but i'm happy with it. >> business we're in, success can be fleeting. >> everywhere it's fleeting by the way. >> yeah, i think i guess publicly so is what i'm talking about. and you look at -- you have been one of i'd say the few women who have really endured on a number of levels, which is why it's perfect for you to write this book, whether or not it's a departure for you. did you take any risks, do you think? >> i think i took a risk just because i never really talk about my own career and my own road and so -- >> isn't it scary? >> yeah, it is scary, actually. >> i know something about that. >> people like jack welsh and joe torre and martin sorrel and others, bill gates sr., were very generous with their time to talk to me about how they got there and how to keep it. i thought it was really interesting that across the board everyone i spoke with said

that the easiest way to lose it once you get it, because it's also, as you said, fleeting, hard to hold on as it is to get there, is hubris. humility is one of the laws of success. right now adaptability is critical because the economy is changing. we all need to look inside and figure out what our skill set is and what the holes are and how we can adapt to thrive and survive in this changing economy. >> so, what happened or when did this happen, this element of self-wareness with you? what was it? do you recall? >> well you know what, when i was at cnn, i was a writer and producer at cnn and that's where i began my career, cnn business news. i love midjob, and i was producing and coming up with story ideas and then giving it to somebody else, who would go on the air with it. when i got promoted at cnn business news. lou dobbs took me out of the field and wanted in toe produce a show. i would be in the control room all day.

while i liked it and had done that and would be in the control room all day, i knew i wanted to be out in the field. i didn't even want to be on camera. so it was then that i was in the ladies' room crying like a baby because i had gotten this promotion i didn't want and i loved cnn and didn't want to leave cnn and i ran into kitty pilgrim, an on-air program. she said ma, maria, you have to look at your life and the next five years and figure out where you would like to see yourself in five years and you need to start moving toward that right now. and that was when i became aware that, you know what, maybe i should take a shot and be on air and maybe i should take a shot and do what i've been doing for other reporters, producing pieces for myself. so, yeah, i did have that self-awareness. that's when i started my own efforts to do something different. >> it's an amazing story, and i think that self-knowledge is something you build on. i will say chris is a little concerned, a little upset. >> why? >> you're saying basically my

take-away is that you were too good to be in the control room. >> no, that's not what i said at all. what i said was i wanted to be out in the field dealing with people, talking to people, getting the story in the field. the control room, i mean, it's like an incredibly exciting job as well. but it's different. you have different skill sets. and i did not have the skill set to be in the control room and help my anchors. >> like that. we're out of time. we're out of time. >> it's not you, it's me. you're great. >> you can't be afraid to fail. i thought i had that job and i feel like i needed the courage -- >> exactly. >> chris. >> chris is a loser. >> look at that, maria. you're good. maria, the book is called "the ten laws of enduring success." i cannot wait to read this. pick one up. stay with us. up next, our political roundtable with republican

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why can't you and the veep kick back for a little bit? this health care thing, you worked hard. enjoy life. you earned it. you don't eve haven't to relax in real time. pack it all into one of those '80s movie montages. ♪

♪ freeze frame >> oh, yeah. >> welcome back to "morning joe." kind of don't get that one, but it looked funny. couple of breaking stories to cover for you here. this is out of nairobi. a u.s. navy frigate exchanges fire with pirates, captured five and confiscates the mother ship. we'll be following this story throughout the morning. and then the jobless claims are out. initial claims for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week as the recovering economy moves closer to generating more hiring. here are the numbers. new jobless benefit claims dropped 6,000 to 439,000. maria, break apart the numbers. what does it mean? >> it's a positive number. it shows you fewer people have

applied for the benefit, meaning that perhaps we are seeing employers slow down the pace of job cuts. the more important number comes out tomorrow even though the markets are closed for good friday, and that is what the unemployment rate is and how many jobs were cut last year. people are expecting growth in jobs because of temporary hiring. >> and that number maybe some who have given up. >> that's why the more important number is the one tomorrow, but by all accounts a positive number. >> republican candidate for the pennsylvania senate seat, pat toomey, the author of "the road to prosperity: how to grow our economy and revive the american dream." welcome. nice to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> here are some interesting numbers we've been looking at all morning in terms of the atmosphere out there, how people are feeling, one pertaining to the economy, which i found especially interesting, and that is the growing number of people who think this president is to blame for our economic problems. where do you stand on that? how would you characterize how people are feeling?

26%, relatively small, but double since last summer, plus the people in the middle on this who moderately think this president deserves the blame, under 50%, between 40% and 50%. >> my own view is that certainly this president came into very, very difficult circumstances. no question about that. he inherited serious problems. but i would argue he's done a lot to make it worse. an agenda that is really -- threatens entrepreneurs, an agenda that's way too aggressive, that really changes the nature of the american economy in a lot of ways. you think about serial bailouts, nationalizing whole industries, spending on a scale that most people never imagine, corresponding deficits and debt, cap and trade, cardshack, this big, giant health care bill. this is not conducive to job growth. >> what's pennsylvania's unemployment rate? >> right around 9%. find out tomorrow. >> take me to downtown altoona. campaigning, walking down main

street, five people come up to you one after the other. >> yes. >> did they mention all that stuff? >> they may not go through the litany but they get the idea this is a huge expansion of the size of the federal government. they know businesses are cutting back, their families are cutting back and the only thing that's growing is government. maria makes a point we might find out there's a little bit of job creation mainly from the census. this isn't sustainable. everybody out working in the private sector has to pay for those jobs. if the government is the only thing that's growing, that's a net negative for our economy long term and i think people get that. >> i think that's the reason that we are seeing upset and a division in terms of the country, in terms of these policies, because some of the policies coming out of washington are not encouraging businesses to create jobs. and we all know that government can't create jobs forever. the private sector has to create jobs in order to get growth in the economy. we're not seeing it.

>> the government creating a lot of jobs in the health insurance industry, certainly, by giving an enormous bonus to them and creating jobs. i wonder when you say nationalize whole industries, do you mean the auto industries? we don't really own the car companies for long run. >> 70% of gm? >> we want to get out. >> well, and it's not just that. it's fannie and fred yay and the entire residential mortgage industry. now it's the student loan industry. >> 80% of aig. >> 80% of aig. 90-something percent of residential mortgage industry. so this is unprecedented in american history. >> right. >> to have this degree of intervention in the economy. >> right. crisis. shouldn't we have let all those companies go? >> i think we would have been better off. >> really. >> i think so. you know, bankruptcy is not a death sentence. it's a reorganization. >> right. >> and the viable assets get bought or restructured and they carry on. americans are still going to buy cars. so i don't think it's right. and i don't think it's good economics to force taxpayers to

bail out failing businesses. >> it was right for the steel industry in pennsylvania to go away. we let it happen. >> the steel industry had a lot of problems, some of which were self-inflicted, some of which came from excessively generous labor contracts. there was a rationalization that had to occur. it's painful when that happens. but if we try to prop up failing business models, we end up losing prosperity because you misallocate capital where it shouldn't be spent. >> do you think today if we had followed that advice or your belief, that if we had allowed general motors to collapse, ford to collapse, aig, gone, a couple banks would have toppled after that, do you think we'd be in as good shape economically today if that happened? >> i think probably better. >> really. >> we would have had a harder down. we would have take an hard down. look at the mortgage industry, look at housing. how many bailouts have we had in various it rations, various forms and yet housing prices still aren't recovering, the housing sector is still weak?

we didn't let it find its bottom. >> would we be in a better situation now or on a more sustainable and strong road to recovery? >> well, i think the latter. i think we would have had probably a tough, you know, road down. i think the markets might have hit lower lows. i think we might have had even a bigger spike in some of the other things but we would have been on the road for a sustainable recovery. it's not clear to me we're on that path yet. remember, the japanese spent at least a decade with sort of this lost period where there was no real economic growth, they propped up banks that just were refusing to cleanse the bad assets and just -- sometimes you need that cleansing to really recover. >> here's what i want to know. in retrospect, we spent $787 billion on a stimulus package. when did that occur? a year ago? >> about. >> about. okay. where's the money? how come only a third of it has gone to work? i mean, what is happening with -- and we talk about a jobs package, the same stimulus

package. $787 billion. >> a lot of jobs from the stimulus money. >> where is it? how come the money hasn't gone to infrastructure, hasn't gone to the states? why? i don't understand this. >> this money has to come from somewhere, so it gets sucked out of the private sector to grow government, and that's what most of it was done. by the way, it wasn't the first stimulus. president bush had a stimulus bill, a subsequent one, and they told us unemployment would never go above 8% if they got their stimulus bill. it's at 10%. this is an illusion that the government can conjure up economic growth by borrowing and spending money. >> pat toomey, we're out of time. you veal to come back. >> great discussion. >> next, dining with al qaeda. a reporter who spent decades working and living among a myriad of cultures in the middle east.

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i kept -- okay. here we go. welcome back to "morning joe." for the past 30 years our next guest has been traveling the middle east, living and working as a journalist in two dozen countries. his new book is "dining with

al qaeda." the title refers to an evening he spent arguing for his life with a member of the terror group. with us from washington, former correspondent for "the wall street journal," hugh pope joining us. thanks for being on the show this morning. >> good morning. >> okay, good. and i've kept pat toomey here because we have a message from the white house we'd like to clarify with you and maria. you two stand by. give us a sense of this book you have written, and i want to hear about that night. >> it was just after september 11th, and there were 15 on those planes. it was a great puzzle to us, who were they, why were they. we knew a bit more about the pilots and the organizers. i went to a country i knew fairly well at that point and i felt i knew saudi arabia was neither particularly bad nor maddens much more than any other country, and at the time it was being demonized in the united states. i wanted to meet someone. i asked a friend who met a

contact who brought me to a house on the edge of riyadh next to a mosque where al qaeda tracks were being distributed. and i was introduced to someone and spent a long time with the members of that suicide commando that hit the united states in the camps in zpaafghanistan. >> willie geist? >> you've been critical of the american involvement in the middle east. what's your specific criticism, and what's your feeling toward the president, the new president, sending 30,000 more troops into afghanistan? >> i think if there is a criticism it's a general one about engagement. as someone who lived there for 30 year, i feel that the middle east is an unusual place and an extraordinary situation but with normal people weather normal reactions. and i think that some empathy and engagement is what's needed and interest. obviously, things have changed a great deal from ten years ago when i was appointed "the wall street journal's" correspondent in the middle east and i was given sole responsibility for a

huge area of 30 countries. and i didn't even have an assistant. now the situation is completely different. for instance, back then, no one wanted to hear about -- particularly about what i had to say and what i was fighting to get stories in about how difficult iraq would be. "the journal "would print them, honestly, but the problem was that they had very little impact. now the situation -- i've written the book explaining what all these countries are really like. and suddenly i have 25 engagements in one week. so i feel there's a real interest, and i think the president has taken the right approach to the middle east. he's not viewing the islamic world as a -- he's talked to the turks, reached out his hands to the iranians. he should have gone to israel and spoke within the israelis, i think, but at the same time he's showing great empathy with the muslim world and all the individual cultures out there. >> you spend a good portion of

the book talking about iraq, looking back now. is that winding down, getting combat troops out of there next year. what's the final analysis there? did we get anything right going into iraq? >> going in, there were some things that were right, like the state department had a plan for how to run the postwar iraqi regime. but unfortunately, the administration in those days chose not to take its own advice. i think no one could have predicted that. and unfortunately, as colin powell said, if you break something in the middle east, you own it, and that's america's problem both in iraq and afghanistan is that it's committed itself and it is holding the umbrella over all those factions in both countries and getting out is a relative term. i think america is going to have to stay engaged very smartly. there's going to be no flipping of anyone. nothing is miraculously going to happen overnight. and it's a long-term process that's going to take time. >> hugh pope, thank you very much. the book is called "dining with

al koo al qaeda." we appreciate you being on the show. before we go to break, i've kept pat toomey and maria, and the white house has commented. they say 1 million jobs saved by the stimulus. can you measure that? >> can you measure 1 million jobs? >> how can you not measure it, though? >> i mean, how do you measure it? >> ask the counties and state who is they would have fired if not for this money. >> you can't say it did nothing. you can't say they flushed the money down the it to. >> government can create a job anytime it wants. the problem is the money to pay for that has to come from somewhere, and it comes from lost opportunities -- that money doesn't grow on trees. it comes from the private sector. >> you can't can ask what has it done. >> i asked where is the money. only a third of the money has gone to work. increase in 6 months. pete, back it up! ( marker squeaking )

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time to what talk about what we learned today. sorry about willie, really i am. >> ancient civilizations, the greeks. i learned maria's got a great new book out, "the ten laws of enduring success." the theme of the book is she is too good to be a producer. >> no. no. >> centerpiece to the book? >> tough economy. >> that's right. >> mr. toomey? >> i learned that the white house listens to every word you say. >> there you go. >> i was going to say the same

thing. i learned mika has the white house right there while we're on set live. >> yes, yes. they're watching you. >> commenting. >> young lady. >> that's good. >> curt? >> i was happy to meet a republican candidate from the senate who walked the walk and was willing to let the economy completely dissolve. >> oh, lord, here we go. thanks, everyone, for joining us. willie, just way too early. >> it is "morning joe." right now it's time for "the daily rundown" with chuck and savannah. >> the unemployment rate is still terribly high and it's going to stay unacceptably high for a long period of time. >> nbc exclusive. treasury secretary tim geithner on the eve of the latest unemployment figures. how bad for how long? but hedge fund managers are raking it in by the billions. some eye-popping numbers coming up. >> and stand up and be counted, or else. seriously, though, what happens if you blow off the census form? the director of the census joins

us live. we will investigate. it's april 1st, 2010. i'm savannah guthrie. good morning. >> i'm chuck todd. no fooling. let's get to the rundown. the main event, president obama takes it on the road to portland, maine, to try to sell health care again, and