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i can't sleep much past 5:00 a.m. i know why, i'm too big to sleep. >> i don't know what that means. >> here's our third. rick from greeley, kansas, has been e-mailing all week from 4:20 saying the pipe is still lit. >> yes, you have found our third demographic. three days later, wow. do you get your stuff? e-mail us again. "morning joe" starts right now. most people have no idea what the vice president does except for ceremonial things. >> me either. i don't know what -- >> do you have any power? what do you do every day? >> it depends on whether you talk to dick cheney.

>> says he doesn't know what he does. . welcome to "morning joe." joe biden, of course, on fire yesterday. we'll have clips of "the view." he was talking there about what he was does have day. he says, i don't know what i do every day. >> you know joe. >> and then joe gave us insight on what the president of the united states said to him after he said passion health care was such a big cussing deal. >> yes. >> so, we'll play that clip. >> that was fun. it was cute. >> much more. did you see that goldman sachs' problems are for you extending to warren buffett? pat, they're bringing them all in. >> uh-huh. >> i'm not saying warren buffett's in trouble. i'm saying everybody's going to get snarled. >> goldman sachs aren't the only ones to probably think up this outstanding idea here. >> no. the boys at merrill lynch and a couple other bank -- >> getting close to home.

>> it is. i have to say, mika, we got a lot of e-mails yesterday about the tim geithner interview. >> i did, too. >> a fascinating -- >> i watched it again. >> we all did. and i didn't until i kept getting all these e-mails where they said he didn't answer the questions. and i think there was a question about whether he really knew what was contained inside the bill. andrea, does this suggest that maybe this is still a moving target? >> oh, it is. >> negotiations are still going on? tim geithner came on here and wasn't ready to commit on what this bill might be. >> i don't think he wanted to blow up talks between senator shelby, on the republican side, chris dodd and with the negotiations this close, they're talking about a cloture vote at 5:15 or something monday. originally was supposed to be yesterday. so, they pushed it off till monday. they're still talking. >> that's why you talk about putting it on the runway --

>> there was a lot of analysis. he had some metaphors, didn't he? >> the banks should be broken up, please. just tell me how big they should be. >> willie geist, you gave an interesting statistic in "way too early," a fresh new show sweeping the nation. you talked about the percentage that banks controlled capital in the economy. do you have that number off the top of your head? >> yes. the top six banks, six largest banks, 15 years ago it was controlled 17% of the american economy. today, 63% of the american economy controlled by the six largest banks if the u.s. >> that's -- they're bigger than ever. >> here's a problem. bank of america, who of course krugman wanted to nationalize last year, which has come roaring back. i only bring up back of america because it is such a large bank. it's certainly solvent. but i always say, if bank of america went under tomorrow, the same thing that happened on

september 15, 2008, would happen again. i just don't think there's anything in place proposed by republicans or democrats, and this is your ongoing point all week that addresses too big to fail. >> joe, i think you're exactly right. these things are enormous. take a look at what's happening in europe. bank of america is probably as large a sar of the gdp of the u.s. as greece is of the eu. greece is facing a default or something like that. and they're all coming in from the european union, imf, to bail them out. >> you presume that when the day of reckoning comes, andrea, that a population will face up to the facts that we're out of money. we're going under. and yet, in greece, riots are breaking out in the streets bays they don't like that their benefitses are being cut. >> i don't think is anal gas

because of the size and what greece is. greece is, economically, a state -- >> it's 2% of the eu. >> a province of the eu, so it is as though one of our states, california, for instance, which is an eighth or a ninth of our economy -- >> which we'll be bailing out. >> which we'll be bailing out, so just think -- >> a lot of interesting fews this morning. >> i'll tell you what, the untold story about the stimulus package is the fact that it saved a lot of states in the short run. but in the long run, so many states are upside-down. unless this economy starts to grow in the next six months to a year, you'll have bailouts, i think, across the states. >> there are hopefuls. secretary geithner, would be nice if he came back consistently. >> it was nice. >> let's take a look at the teachers being laid off, fired all over the country. >> exactly. let's take a look at today's top

stories. president obama is calling on wall street to stop fighting financial reform. speaking thursday at cooper union college in new jersey, the president touted his proposed overhaul saying the risky practices that led to the crisis must be stopped. >> a free market was never meant to be a free license to take whatever you can get, however you can get it. that's what happened too often in the years leading up to this crisis. some, and let me be clear, not all, but some on wall street forgot that behind every dollar traded or leveraged, there's a family looking to buy a house. or pay for an education. open a business. save for retirement. >> but as the senate moves toward a crucial procedural vote on monday, some republicans remain unconvinced. >> their bill goes so much further than that. it is institutionalizes too big to fail.

it provides for a permanent bailout of big wall street firms. it creates this financial stability control board, all bureaucrats in the administration, that gives them the ability to take over any company in america that they see fit. this is not what the american people want. >> pat, are the republican fears overblown? >> you know, i think the fact they're standing up against obama when obama has the wind at his back tells me they may have a legitimate point -- >> you mean politically? >> politically it takes a little guts to stand up now when obama's winning. i thought the point he was making seemed very valid. the truth is, a lot of this stuff, as you had geithner is, people don't exactly understand what this does and doesn't do. it's not that clear. >> on this whole bailout line, where they say it's going to institutionalize bailouts, the

fact of the matter is, what is there, $500 billion fund? >> $50 billion. >> $50 billion, okay, even worse. and i hate -- >> it's not enough. >> if bank of america, if jpmorg jpmorgan, if citigroup again, $50 billion will be gone through before 8-15, so this concept is going to sit back, smoke cigarettes and say, we didn't pass the bill, so we'll let them fail. it's ludicrous. the federal government is going to step in when these five or six banks go under, regardless of whether there's a bill or not. so i just think this republican line of attack is overblown. >> what i think is happening here, and that was boehner on the house side, they're not negotiations that bill, that bill has passed, republicans are playing, they're in the game. and i think the tone you saw from the president's speech yesterday is that he knows he has won this. that there's going to be a bill. republicans will agree to

something -- >> what, 70 votes, 75 votes? >> by the time they finish, maybe. but he'll have enough votes. the bill itself, as geithner was telling you guys yesterday, it dismantles these firms. they won't be keeping -- >> like gm. >> they will get rid of the board, they'll wipe out the ceos. >> i've got to tell you, mika, at some -- go ahead, pat. i'm sorry. >> look at what we saw yesterday. they're laying off some teachers in the states. >> a lot. >> which they've got to do. if the states are going to be solvent. they did it and fb's weeping over that so we need to bail out -- we need $23 billion or something to keep them. does that suggest a government that's got the, if you will, the intestinal fortitude the guts to bring things back into balance? i don't think it does. >> on this financial bill, i've been critical every day about

the health care bill and said democrats were going to get hammered when they went home to get campaigned. on this financial reform bill, this is a financial reform bill i could take back to my conservative district in northwest florida and sell it by simply saying, look, we had a bust in '97, '98, '2000, 2002, 2003, 2008, this is the conservative thing to do, this will stabilize the markets and most americans will buy into that. i think it's a political winner. >> i've got a couple political stories to get to. marco rubio's campaign for a florida senate seat is picking up steam when the endorsement of a key republican, dick cheney says he is backing rubio because he stands up to the, quote, obama add again da that threatens our freedom. cheney launched a withery attack at charlie crist saying he cannot be trusted to even remain

a republican. cheney then went on and urged cr crist to stay went or drop out. >> i've talked to some florida insiders over the past 24 hours. forget about rubio's problems, which they believe will stay with him. they believe if rubio survives, charlie crist has a great shot of being elected as an independent. >> you know, when crist goes and goes independence, he loses his support. chuck todd thinks if charlie crist is elected he has to take his support from meeks. in other words, rubio will have a conservative republican/base which is solid at a certain level. >> he's going to take a lot of democratic support. >> that's where he'll have to get it. >> and charlie crist is very popular in the south florida jewish community. he's going to take a lot of that

support with him if he goes independent. >> that comes from -- >> and you think he can do it? >> that comes from meeks. i definitely think in a state like florida that charlie crist can go independent and win because he's running against -- meeks, who hasn't excited a lot of people, even in the democratic base, and marco rubio, who has every newspaper in the state of florida finding out something new about his past every day, and so even if rubio is cleared of all charges by the end, it's going to be a messy, messy fall for him. new analysis by the health and human services department is giving president obama's new health care overhaul law a mixed verdict. the report says more americans will be covered but costs are also going up, according to the analysis the law raises projected spending by about 1% over ten years. that increase could get bigger, though, since experts also warned medicare cuts in the law

may be unsustainable. >> here is the problem for democrats out of this hhs study coming out, a government study, that health care for senior citizens may be cut. and i -- and i don't laugh because i want health care for senior citizens to be cut, i laugh because this is, again, the consequences of passing a health care bill, andrea, that nobody really knows what's contained in it. >> just to give you a local example here but a big one. one of the biggest medical practices in d.c. sent letters to all their patient saying that as of april 1st they are no longer accepting patients who are enrolled in medicare. >> and i said on this show -- >> basically firing their patients. >> i said on this show -- >> at least six months ago. >> -- to five different democrats, if you pass this bill you're closing doctors' doors to senior citizens. they said, oh, no, no, no, they wouldn't do that.

i said, i know doctors -- >> he said it repeatedly. >> -- ten years ago doctors were this close to sayinging i'm not doing medicaid, medicare. this is tipping every doctor i talk to, a democratic doctor in chicago came up to me earlier this week and said, i'm 45, 50 years ago old -- >> and private insurance will not pay the cost if a doctor is rejecting medicare. >> and she said, i'm getting out of the practice. my husband said, let's figure out something else to do. people don't realize the unintended consequences of it. i'll tell you what, that's the biggest problem. >> this is the triage. >> what you just said right there, people are going to -- seniors are going to be going to their doctors between now and the fall and tear going to be seeing those signs that i warned democrats would be up on doors and the political reverberations are going to be disastrous. >> real quickly, at the time the economy was collapsing, this story, some of the employees at the agency in charge of

regulating it were allegedly surfing pornographic web sites. according to a memo obtained by the associated press in the past five years 33 employees of the securities and exchange commission spent as many as eight hours a day accessing internet porn from government computers. >> yeah, let's go up right now to our pornographic surfing desk in new york city. >> i knew you were going to come to me for this. >> i know. we don't talk to you. we let you give a bank quote and then the porn story -- >> senior staffers, willie, can and an accountant who tried to access the x-rated sites 16,000 times in one month. >> willie geist, can you explain to me what drives a man to try to access the same site 16,000 times in a month? >> 16,000. >> willie geist, over to you. >> even i cannot defend this. the numbers are staggering. those numbers are absolutely staggering. 16,000 in a month suggests to me

that there's a deeper problem at the s.e.c. that needs to be addressed, perhaps, professionally outside the government. >> i think i understand that bernie madoff story. >> no wonder bernie madoff slipped through. >> yeah. >> nobody was looking. >> they didn't have -- >> i mean, seriously. we have a big show this morning. dr. jeffrey saks will be joining us here. congressman elijah cummings and moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. we'll get an exclusive first look inside the "politico playbook," and willie's "week in review" and find out which stories make the review. first, bill karins with a check of the forecast. >> mika, severe weather will be the big story over the next three days. sunday will be the rainy, wet day for everyone in new england. have that in back of your mind. today is a gorgeous day. cool, crisp start, a fantastic

afternoon. temperature up around 70 degrees in philly, new york, hartford, same for you. buffalo, pittsburgh and d.c., enjoy a fant friday. now let's talk about the bad stuff. 30 tornadoes yesterday. we're on the middle of a four-day tornado outbreak. arkansas, mississippi, louisiana and east texas, that will be the worst of it. forecast, middle of the country, significant problems and a lot of airport delays. you're watching "morning joe" brewed on a gorgeous sunrise by starbucks. national car rental knows i'm picky. so, at national, i go right past the counter... and you get to choose any car in the aisle. choose any car? you cannot be serious! okay. seriously, you choose. go national. go like a pro.

the president was in new york asking stock market officials and executives from the major banks to stop resisting financial reforms, but i tell you what, didn't seem like these guys were listening. >> some, let me be clear not all, but some on wall street forgot that -- >> la la la la la la la.

>> la la la la la. >> see what i mean? it's like they're almost intentionally trying to not hear what he's saying. >> no way? >> yes. that was the second -- >> those were your s.a.t. scores. i didn't know you could do double digit s.a.t. scores. what's 47 plus 49? >> i'm going to my high school anniversary today. i don't want to be embarrassed. members of my class will be there. i wouldn't like them to know my s.a.t. scores. "los angeles times" -- pace quickens. a regulatory overhaul vote on monday would be a test for obama and also for bipartisanship. >> san francisco chronically -- california gubernatorial candidate continues her barrage of tv ads. >> she's got the money. >> a 30 minute tv infomercial and video on demand spots to

reach voters at their remote controls. the former ebay ceo is doing very well in the polls. miami herald -- home sales surge, a sign of recovery in miami-dade. sales rose 17% in march driven by drop-dead prices on foreclosures and a looming deadline for federal tax credits. i'll tell you something, in florida, the housing market's going to pick up. >> housing market has already started to pick up. generation "y," says "usa today," facing steep financial hurdles, weighed down by debt, lack of savings. first in the century to end up better off financially than her parents. that is one of those headlines we'll look back on 30 years from now and laugh because things are going to be fine. >> i'm excited about this. >> we're going to straighten up. buchanan, the most negative man ever, believes we're headed over a cliff. >> now, pat. >> i wonder how somebody stayed

around ronald reagan as much as you did and got none of that sunny optimism. >> well, i thought -- quite frankly, when we came in, everybody was pessimistic about carter. on the personal level, republican level, they're going to have a great year in 2010, could win in 2011, but the long-term trajectory of western civilization is not good. >> it's not good. it's great. we're going to be fine, pat buchanan. >> god, pat. >> i just want to say, mika and andrew, you know this because we were at a dinner the other night and the brzezinskis always make fun of mika's academics. >> i can't imagine why because she's smarter than the rest of them. >> she's the member of the family that goes back and gets all these awards. >> but that's the joke of the family. >> and she's going back and giving the keynotes. williams gave you remarkable award -- >> and my family laughs because it's not necessarily --

>> pure jealousy. >> no, no. >> it's gender. >> do you think so? >> absolutely. >> there's some professors there holding their head when you are getting these -- >> i have to apologize to each and every one of them for giving them the worst years of their lives. >> this is one of the happiest moments of our week, when we can go to politico's mike allen and i'm going to cue it up to say -- >> happy friday. >> happy friday, mike allen. what are you looking at today in the playbook? >> we have an exclusive that new york financial firms who are convinced that financial reform is going to pass, that we're going to have wall street reform. so now they're doing the next best thing to killing it, which is they are turning to their members, customer employees to try to get changes. yesterday jpmorgan chase e-mailed 30,000 new york employees, asked them to contact senators gillibrand and schumer to try to get some changes. usaa, the military family

insurance company, sent a mass e-mail to their customers urging them to go to a website that lets them automatically e-mail their senators. there's a really sea change in conventional wisdom in terms of wall street reform. john harwood said on cnbc's "closing bell" with the conversations currently going on, there could be 20 republican votes, a huge win on this. >> wow. that would be a huge win. of course, the front page of "the new york times" talking about chuck schumer, a man who was once very close to wall street. now brush back, not only from wall street but also from mike bloomberg. >> taert. the mayor is convinced that this will hurt the city's budget. he's convinced that it's going too far in effort for them just to say they've done something. he's looking at this as a jobs question. he's looking at it as a question

of new york. what is-s a fat cat bonus to somebody else is a tax payment to mim. >> that's jobs. mike allen, the star of this sunday's -- >> oh, check it out. >> -- new york times magazine, very, very exciting for you, mike. i can't wait to wake up to my sunday "new york times" and read that story about mike allen. >> love it. up next, the big headlines from last night's nfl draft. who's taking a chance on tim tebow? that's next in sports. also, blago versus obama. how the former illinois governor is hoping to drag the president into his federal corruption trial. keep it right here on "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ female announcer ] it's rollback time at walmart.

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♪ okay. i'll show you later. >> welcome back to "morning joe." >> i'm trying to convince pat to getten an ipad. i think i've got a hard, hard sell. >> do you want to know what was cute in the car? the driver was saying that pat calls -- is it the gps or what was -- >> no, no, no, he calls computers -- >> yeah. computers in general machines. >> that's right, machines. that's old school, baby. >> this is a great machine. >> that's right. time for a look at some of today's top stories. we will start with the coast guard continuing to search the

waters off louisiana on the slim chances of finding 11 workers still missing after a massive oil explosion. the burning platform sank into the gulf of mexico raising fears that 300,000 gallons of crude could spill into the water every day. that could pose a serious environmental threat, especially if the oil slick reaches the louisiana coast, some 50 miles away. >> the great concern there is the loss of life. and it is a real personal tragedy for those people. >> just weeks before his corruption trial is start to set, lawyers for former governor blagojevich has asked president obama to testify. they claim he played a larger role in selecting someone to relace him in the u.s. senate that obama has acknowledged. legal experts say trying to subpoena a sitting president is a rare tactic and is likely to fail, but will get you a lot of attention. the white house declined to comment on the request. and the justice department says it will appeal a federal

judge's ruling that a national day of prayer is unconstitutional. the judge likened the day to, quote, encouraging citizens to practice magic. meanwhile, the usa army has uninvited billy graham's son, evangelist franklin graham, from leading a pentagon prayer service because of graham's recent comments on islam being evil. quote, evil. there's a lot going on there. >> a couple of really interesting stories that we need to dig into. >> absolutely. >> and we will. try to get franklin graham on as well. let's go to willie geist right now. willie, tebow got selected but not by the team i was expecting. >> i don't think it was by the team anybody was expecting. nfl draft was held last night. we'll get to tebow in a second. first pick, no surprise. >> with the first pick in the 2010 nfl drafts, the st. louis

rams select sam bradford, quarterback, oklahoma. >> oh, sam. it's going to be a long season in st. louis but he is the number one overall pick out of oklahoma. the eighth quarterback to go number one since 2001. the first oklahoma player selected number one since 1980. the lions took suh out of nebraska. and then the third and fourth picks, two more oklahoma players. all big 12 for the first four picks. that was broken by eric berry of tennessee with the fifth pick. the bed big headline of the draft, tim tebow. everyone was waiting to see if someone would take a chance on him in the first round and the denver broncos did, taking florida's heisman trophy winner as the 25th pick overall. the broncos already have kyle or ton, who had a good season last year. they just picked up brady quinn from cleveland. he was the second quarterback taken off the board. very interesting because notre

dame's jimmy clausen, the quarterback there, was perhaps thought to be a tom ten or at least an early first round pick by a lot of people. tim tebow headed to denver. yes, he was taken in the first round. >> jimmy clausen had an absolutely horrific day. leaves notre dame a year early, thinking he would be first-round pick. i just never thought he was really a top-flight quarterback. apparently, a lot of nfl teams feeling the same way now. he lost a lot of money leaving notre dame early. >> he did. he lost a lot of money by now going on the second day. first round to second round money is a huge jump. they say jimmy clausen is the pro prototypical pro style quarterback and tim tebow is is not. the people in denver thought tebow will be okay. fabulous last night, looked like lebron james and the cavs

were going to steamroll the bulls but bulls stole one. not by much perform anthony parker down by two. a chance to win the game. just comes up a little short. so, the bulls survive to see another day. lebron had 39, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. they'll get one more chance to beat the bulls if chicago. great play from baseball. new york yankees turning a triple play against the oakland a's. you don't see this very often. in fact, not from the yankees in 42 years. a-rod, steps on second, throws to second, over to first. i'm sorry, you have to beat that out. a 5-4-3 triple play. yankees did lose the game 4-2. coming up next, joe biden's f-bomb, the vice president goes on "the view" to explain and to give you the president's reaction afterward when they were in private. you might be surprised. up next "the new york times'" mark leibovich helps us look at today's must read opinion pages and takes us deep

inside the head of mad mike allen. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ cellphone rings ] [ katie ] hey. hey katie. how are you? [ katie ] should i get a perm? oh, that's an interesting question... [ katie ] she's always talking over me in meetings. i mean it's just so rude. mm-hmm. when did you video me dancing? [ katie ] posting it. do not post this! i'm not gonna grow a beard because then i'll look ridicu-- ah! where am i? by the way, katie. tillamook is beautiful this time of year.

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♪ i was just thankful my mother couldn't hear. and it was a little embarrassing. >> did you realize there was a microphone -- >> no, i realized there was a microphone but i had no idea it was that sensitive. after it was over we walked out and we got in the limo to go

over to another event, and he was laughing like the devil. i said, what's so funny? i don't see anything funny about this. he said, well, katie, my secretary told me when you said that to me, everybody could hear it. oh, god. >> a great man. a great man. willie geist, a great man, greatest vice president in the history of mankind. >> and he personalizes everything. let's make it clear. >> he did crystallize that health care vote. >> he did. i think he summed it up nicely. i like the fact the president kept a stern face in front of the cameras and fell out laughing when they got in private. >> what else are you going to do? with us now, columnist for "the new york times" magazine, mark leibovich, his new article is the cover story for this week's issue "the man the white house wakes up to," he writes this about politico's mike allen. i'll read from it, if i can. you can spot him from far away, his shiny head darting up and

often straight down into his blackberry. he says he gets 2,000 e-mail messages a day, tries to answer all that are addressed to him personally. some while walking. he's always bumping into things. >> mark leibovich, thanks for being back. bob woodward, every time he comes on this set, and he does it regularly, wants to talk about one person, mike allen. he says he is a force of nature in the future of journalism. >> he is. i don't know if he's the future of journalism but he is a very big part of the present of journalism in washington. i mean, there is a really disturbing number of people in this town who readily admit to reading him in bed. >> oh, really? >> meaning they will like -- katie couric, actually, said that she rolls over, flips on her lamp, grabs her blackberry and just reads the thing. that's a lot of information, but it's also -- it's indicative of how entrenched -- >> and how he broke through, being able to get people to do that when there's so many sites offering that opportunity. >> how did he break through?

is it the playbook? >> yeah, all playbook. playbook is this document that's a synopsis of maybe the ten stories mike thinks you can read every morning. so, he sort of gathers these overnight. he apparently doesn't sleep. he says he does but it's hard to do the math here. and people just sort of have maybe ten minute in the car, on the metro, on the way to work, before they get their kids off to school, and this is what they read. i mean, it's sort of a -- all your nutrition in one tablet news capsule that people are using to suffice for a longer news -- >> in a business platform that's collapsing in many areas, politico is making really good money, aren't they? >> unclear. i mean, they say they're profitable. i didn't see their books. they're a private company. i mean, there's a big debate over whether they're actually sustaining themselves largely by the old method, which is selling ads to their print edition which circulates free in washington,

d.c. certainly in terms of the afemoral buzz factor, i mean, this is something that -- mike's playbook is certainly something that generates a lot of conversation throughout the morning, starting here. >> they figured up -- what he has done is basic shoe leather. he reports. >> right. >> and that -- you know, it is a very smart assessment. obviously, he is a really strong editor in figuring out what people want to know, weights going to be the topic of conversation. but the fact is, he breaks a lot of fews. >> oh, he absolutely does. >> you talk about friend sources a lot in this. what is that? >> a friend source is a very, very common creature in washington. that is, someone who is your friend and your source. it's self-explanatory. >> i didn't understand that because i've got to friend. >> oh, now, of course you do. >> i'll be your friend source, your friend, your source -- >> bff. hey, let's go -- oh, wait, pat buchanan, you have a quick question? >> look, what he's got here is what "the washington post" used to have back in the '70s, he

kroeld controls what people think about, talk about first thing in the morning. he controls an in box, he's competitive for it, which teddy white said was real power in the world of communication these days. >> how interesting in the early '70s had you to get out, walk out, get your fup. but now you roll over in bed, grab your blackberry -- >> and there are winners and losers. the losers are, frankly, "the new york times" and some of these other publications which everybody used to read first. >> come on, defend "the times." >> no, they would control what people talked about on tv. >> "the times," i guess, just collapsing right under your feet. >> i think we reported higher than expected -- >> oh, listen to the company man. >> i would say this. what "the new york times" does is very, very different from what mike allen does. "the new york times," you know, is trying to, you know, reach a very different audience. we're actually writing a very different style of story than politico is. frankly, i mean, mike, i think,

they're a big argument over this thing, some say mike is subplanting us -- >> don't you have to do something diven because of the mike allenes? >> not because of the mike allenes, because the world is changing. >> if i wake up and read something and he says leibovich has written an article, i put down the blackberry, walk across the street to the starbucks and get my "new york times." >> or logon to "the new york times" site. >> he helps get me there. you can bet that "the new york times," "the washington post," the people investigating government stories, are going to always end up in the playbook. actually, sometimes will get me to cross the street to get my "new york times" on days where i wouldn't normally do it. >> absolutely. i would emphasize this, i mean, mike dominating an incredibly powerful niche. it is a niche. we're talking about 30,000, since this story came up, several hundred thousand -- several thousand more, readers. these are readers who book cable

shows. these are readers who write editorials in the next day's newspapers. these are network -- >> these are readers that walk into the oval office with the morning brief. >> similar to our audience you. >> may see a "new york times" headlines or other headlines and cease ort of guiding you into what you're reading during the day. that's power. >> yes. that's a good way of putting it. >> you just said something, not to talk too much about ourselves, because you know i'm a humble guy and i don't like to talk about myself at all. >> so embarrassing. >> we found very early on this show, we didn't have the biggest numbers. a lot of the evening newscasts would have millions, millions and millions more. but, people would go on those newscasts and they wouldn't hear from this group of people in washington and new york. they would come on our show and they would say they would get e-mails or phone calls from their friends. then they would want to come back on. it is -- in a sense, it's like

politico in that it's a smaller audience but it's the audience you want. >> right. and i think the larger philosophical question is, does this reinforce the echo chamber people really, frankly, don't like about washington? there are a lot of people out in the country that don't like washington, the idea the same usual suspects are talking to the same usual suspects every day. you know, it creates conventional wisdom that feeds on itself and, frankly, can be very out of touch with america. whether it's the perception that, you know, hillary clinton will lose new hampshire or, you know, america's not ready for an african-american president or john mccain is dead. >> right. >> so, there are -- >> john mccain's dead? >> well, dead in the republican primary. i should complete that sentence. >> i didn't hear that one. >> no, no, i didn't -- >> speaking of the usual suspects, let's go to the segment of our show where we focus exclusively on the usual suspects. mika's must read op-eds. >> we just have a few moments

left but i was thinking david brooks, his piece in the new york tooimentz, the government war. one of the odd features of democratic party is its inability to learn what politics is about. it's not about winning arguments. it's about deciding which arguments are you going to have. in the first year of the obama administration the democrats either wittingly or unwittingly decided to put big government to small government debate at the center of american life. actually, you predicted -- >> no doubt about it. pat buchanan, that's just an argument they're not going to wib right now. a new pew poll out talks about distrust of the government at record levels. only 22% of americans trust the federal government. but obama and the democrats have set this fight up. i just -- i want to expand really quickly and then throw to you, you do pick what fights you want to fight. when i was in congress, if i did something i thought i went a little too far right, because i had an environmental flavor to me, the next day i'd focus on an

environmental fight. you pass back and forth by what you choose. they have chosen one big government fight after another. >> why do they do that? that is the philosophical base of the democratic party that it powers wealth and power from the private sector to the government sector -- >> not bill clinton? >> you're right. bill clinton moved away from that because he saw politically it wasn't working. >> bill clinton was able to tact in such a way he kept his base and also kept his friends on wall street. >> well, i think that obama was trying to do that yesterday. i think that was a very down the middle speech. >> i just -- >> what they pass, actually, what it does. >> mark, what do you think? >> i think that the white house wouldn't say we're picking a big government v. small government fight. they would say we're picking a health care fight. >> but they inherited each other. >> even this wall street thing, it's all about more government power. >> if it has teeth.

mark leibovich, thank you very much. >> can we not leave him here for a while? i wanted to ask him about another story we wrote. >> can we keep mark leibovich? pete, pete? he said no. does pete say that to me? >> who's next? >> we have willie's week in review coming up next. playing ) ♪ 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. ♪

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oh, yes, happy friday. >> happy friday. oh, willie. >> i like that, mika, very nice. it is time for the "week in review." we told you blago want to subpoena president obama in his corruption trial. it's bold moves like that that put him in our list of top three stories of the week. >> they're now hitting below the belt and attacking my wife.

they are cowards and they are liars. >> at number three, blago's underdog fight for justice. >> i challenge mr. fitzgerald, why don't you show up in court tomorrow? >> reporter: rocket rod blagojevich, the persecuted former governor of the great state of illinois issued an angry challenge to the prosecutor in his federal corruption case. >> i'll be in court tomorrow. i hope you're man enough to be there tomorrow, too. >> reporter: indeed, blago showed up for his hearing but the prosecutor was nowhere to be found. proving, of course, that blago has been framed and should be returned to the governor's mansion immediately. >> one of the cowboys said, let's hang 'em. >> reporter: as blago fights the good fight, he keeps at his side, fellow heroes of the movement. >> i thought about mandela, dr. king, ghandi. >> reporter: number two, the music stops for america's sweetheart. >> i was scared to death most of the time, to be out there. >> reporter: kate gosselin has danced into our hearts over the

last few weeks. unfortunately, she has done so very, very poorly. >> when i watch you dance it's kind of like the charlie brown teacher. >> it wasn't really a dance. it was a strol. >> reporter: and a an atrocious performance on "dancing with the stars" this week was more than the voting public could bear. >> leaving right now is kate and tony. >> reporter: kate will see on down the road, on your next self-promotional, exploitive venture. >> thank you for believing in me. >> reporter: the number one story of the week. [ speaking forei eyjafjallajokull. >> eyjafjallajokull. >> eyjafjallajokull. >> reporter: that icelandic volcano which, for the record is pronounced roethlisberger.

>> hey, you want to see something cool? >> reporter: the bibb lickal cloud hung over europe for well over a week, stranding thousands of restless travelers and causing anti-iceland iic sentiment. >> i hate iceland. i hate iceland. >> reporter: the relentless spewing of ash reminded some of europe's most famous encounter of an angry volcano. >> it's the worst volcano i've seen since i spent the summer in pompeii. >> reporter: the volcano backed down this week after a direct challenge from one brave man who simply had had enough. >> i'll be in court tomorrow. i hope you're man enough to be there, too. >> blago challenging the volcano. unbelievable. we'll be back with dr. jeffrey sachs and we go behind the scene with a day in the life of senator scott brown. all that and more when "morning

joe" brewed by starbucks comes right back.

welcome back to "morning joe." top of the hour. nice, live look at the monuments in washington, d.c. this morning, where we are today. here with us now, cnbc chief washington correspondent and political writer for "the new york times," john harwood. and in new york, the director of the earth institute at columbia

university and special adviser to the u.n. secretary-general, dr. jeffrey sachs. good to have you back on the show. >> thanks a lot. >> also with us here in d.c., mark leibovich and pat buchanan. >> jeffrey sachs, we just, of course, celebrated earth day. willie and i, it's one of the most special days of the year for us. how did you spend yourette day? and give us the state of the earth in 2010. >> had a wonderful day yesterday. earth is still here, fortunately, despite our best efforts to do it in. we're not making too much progress on all the things we've been talking about, joe, in the last couple of years on, you know, turning things around. we're still stuck. >> we're still stuck. >> still stuck in the mud, which is kind of like where willie and i are waking up early every morning. we're still -- >> no, you two are more like the people at the s.e.c. we'll get to that later. shall we -- >> yeah, after we get home, but,

i peen, mean, we don't do it at. >> okay. >> we have the guy that hangs out with the president more than michelle obama. >> you don't do what at work? >> you'll see. i have a story about the s.e.c. and -- >> s.e.c., yeah. >> it's quite stunning. it explains the whole bernie madoff situation and all the other problems there. it just crystallizes it. just pares it down. >> what was your takeaway with your time from president obama? >> i think he's feeling president confident on where he is with financial reform. the headline that came out of the thing was him knocking down the idea that he completed -- or that he interfered with the goldman sachs s.e.c. investigation. >> that that was politically timed. he said, absolutely not. he learned about it on cnbc. >> yeah. it's hard to tell whether -- how -- exactly how serious he was about that, but it was a nice line and a good promo. >> i was going to say, doesn't matter if he was serious or not, it is on the promo reel now for cnbc. let's go to news and then we'll

go around with our cast of a thousand stars. >> yes, we really do have a thousand stars this morning. time for a look at today's top stories. president obama is calling on wall street to stop fighting financial reform. speaking thursday at cooper union college in new york city, just two miles from wall street, the president touted his proposed overall saying the risky practices that led to the economic crisis must be stopped. >> a free market was never meant to be a free license to take whatever you can get, however you can get it. that's what happened too often in the years leading up to this crisis. some, and let me be clear, not all, but some on wall street forgot that behind every dollar traded or leveraged, there's a family looking to buy a house. or pay for an education, open a business, save for retirement. >> but as the senate moves toward a crucial procedural vote on monday, some republicans remain unconvinced.

>> their bill goes so much further than that. it institutionalizes too big to fail. it provides for a permanent bailout of big wall street firms. it creates this financial stability control board, all bureaucrats in the administration, that gives them the ability to take over any company in america that they see fit. this is not what the american people want. >> you know, mika, there seems to be a disconnect between the reporting we hear every morning on this set over the past two, three days that it's becoming a bipartisan effort with 70, 75 votes possibly supporting the president's bill and what we hear from john boehner and the battle yesterday over the cloture vote. john harwood, tell us -- help us reconcile this split. >> what's really going on? >> i was talking with someone with the republican leadership this morning and it seems what's happening is democrats don't

want this party to end too quickly -- >>ist a good party. >> so they want to hit the pinata one more time. so, while they're negotiating, they're making progress. they have this cloture vote. then they come out and say, well, look, republicans are filibustering and then the deal gets made later. if they wait a little longer they might have a deal without having to go to that step. but this is a great issue for democrats, a great issue for president obama. once they know that -- you know, once you get to the part of the negotiation where you know the other guy wants to buy your house, then you take a tougher line on what the price is. >> pat, were you the one that said on our show a couple weeks ago that lyndon johnson never wanted to win by 75 votes? he wanted to win by two or three. >> we said, we got 90 votes. what have you guys done wrong? you didn't get enough. you didn't get enough. >> do you agree with that? >> nick weaver desperate to get 50. >> any time they could get it. >> let's go to new york and willie geist.

>> dr. sachs, we were just talking about the president's proposed reforms. if he gets what he wants here, how far does it get us from stopping what happened 18 months ago? >> it puts crucial things in place, especially getting the derivatives a bit under control. what we've seen from the s.e.c. suit against goldman is how much incredible abuse there was through the derivatives. this is really the big story of this collapse, which is, you had $60 trillion of these credit default swaps completely unregulated. ironically a lot of people in the administration are exactly those who argued for their deregulation ten years ago. nobody is clean. but for boehner to say the american people don't want this, he's completely wrong and it's completely right this is going to pass because it's absolutely vital. now they only go a little bit of the way. actually, with all the tough talk, the bankers are still getting off very well in all of

this. they took home more than $20 billion of bonuses this christmas. and the administration didn't blink. they're still financing. the democrats -- you know, this is still a pretty cozy relationship. >> what's the one thing that's missing, though? what would you like to see in a bill that's not in there right now? >> well, i think there are still lots of soft spots on the derivatives, lots of lack of clarity. i think that the control of executive compensation where we see every year $20 billion, $30 billion go home to these guys go home to these guys that did what they've done is inappropriate. they're not going after that because that would start to pinch. they're not going that far. >> joe, it was interesting to hear republicans going on that line about the bailouts, that this bill would allow for more taxpayer-funded bailouts. >> of course, that's obviously, mika, something we'll keep

hearing through the fall. so democrats can get used to it for you. whether there's a basis for it, in fact, or not, and i don't think there's a great basis for it, it's still a line and going to be effective. florida continues to heat up. >> this race is dynamic and is taking interesting turns. the latest, republican marco rubio's campaign for a florida senate seat is picking up steam with the endorsement of a key republican. in a statement yesterday, former vice president dick cheney said he's backing rubio because he stands up to, quote, the obama agenda that threatens our freedom. cheney also launched a withering attack at rubio's primary opponent charlie crist saying crist cannot be trusted to stay a republican. then he urged crist to stay in the republican primary or drop out ail together. >> mark leibovich, my home state, once again, a red hot mess. that's what florida does.

you were down there for a good while, including my hometown, my beloved pensacola, and you studied this race and it's getting more fascinating, isn't it? >> it's utterly fascinating but it's getting fascinating at the time rubio has passed this inevitably threshold, you had romney, cantor, cheney coming out for him. i haven't talked to a political observer in florida in the last two months who think crist can win this thing. i think obviously the intrigue is behind the scene, where thissist investigation is going to go on -- >> and whether it will bubble over. >> whether it will bubble over and whether charlie crist will run as an independent or not, which is a fascinating question. >> pat buchanan, does he get to such an inevitable state that regardless of what the investigations churn up, rubio is a republican candidate? >> i don't see how crist, after

you take a hit like that from vice president cheney, i don't see crist winning the republican nomination. i don't think he can. when you said you thought he would go independent, i think if he wants to be the senator, that's the only shot he's got. i'll tell you, when you leave the republican party, joe, i can speak from experience, a lot of republicans who are with you, they say good-bye, we have to stay with the party. that looks like crist may have to compete with meeks, frankly, if he want the to be -- >> polled votes -- >> you were mentioning, ft. lauderdale area, the jewish folk, but he'll have to take that away from meeks which will be tough. >> charlie and john harwood, charlie is a very interesting politician. of course, he is loathed by his base, the republican party. but not loathed in the i-4 corridor. not loathed in south florida. stronger in some of these areas than republicans usually are. they call broward county, republicans do, the killing fields because they usually lose

200,000 votes just coming out of broward. charlie crist does well there. >> i think this is fascinating because a couple weeks ago i was checking in with the crist campaign because rubio was so far ahead and said, do you have any shot of winning the primary? the answer was, yes, we have a shot because there's all sorts of ethics stuff around rubio. we're going to hit that really hard. now you see this bubbling up, this credit card thing at the same sometime crist may leave the party. how does that figure in in a three-way race? >> and if charlie crist is running against kendrick meek, not well known in his district in south florida and doesn't inspire the base as much as national leaders would like, against a week against marco rubio as republican -- >> when is the deadline to -- it's next friday? wouldn't the strategy be if there was something coming outta you knew about to wait, wait, wait so kendrick meek doesn't

have a chance to become any more well known? >> take connecticut, what happened there. the reason lieberman could win is you took the republican candidate and reduced him to a dozen points or ten points. you cannot reduce the democratic candidate, if it's meek, to ten points. >> do either of you think crist win as an independent? >> i do. >> i don't. >> i think it's critical. >> meek, for me, would be too strong. he would lock up enough of that liberal democratic, you know, broward county vote -- >> there's not enough independent votes left. >> democrat don't think meek will win and we know that power abhors a vacuum, i say just wait, just wait for the next week. i think the story is going to be a democrat saying, i want to be u.s. senator. i've got a republican who may be popular with the base but he's facing irs investigations. i've got an independent with low approval ratings.

and i've got kendrick meek who can't win. you watch a democrat may jump into this race. >> wow. >> is there a republican with who could jump in? jeb bush, people look at him. but put him aside. is there a republican congressman down if florida or -- >> there's not one that will jump in against rubio right now because rubio is a rock star with the base. >> rubio's solid with the base. >> but he surged -- >> i think a self-financing democrat may jump in. >> against meek? >> against meek. >> he'll have a ethic problem inside the democratic party if somebody steps in to take this awhy from meek, in my opinion. >> that happened to cuomo in new york state but if you're the national democratic party and you see meek can't win, in any scenario, if you -- do you want to win the seat or lose the seat? >> i know, but that's -- look, you take it away from meek after he's been out there -- >> it is a chest game. >> we'll see. >> that's tough stuff. >> that will be tough stuff.

a new analysis by the health and human services department is giving president obama's new health care overhaul law a mixed verdict. the report says more americans will be covered but costs are also going up. according to the analysis, the law raises projected spending by about 1% over ten years. that increase could get bigger, though, since experts also warned medicare cuts and the law may be unsustainable. i know someone who's said that. at the very time the economy was collapsing, this will be heartening to know, apparently some employees at the agency in charge of regulating it were allegedly surfing pornographic web sites. according to a memo obtained by the associated press, in the past five years, 33 employees at the securities and exchange commission, those folks who were supposed to be looking into bernie mad off, yeah. apparently they spent up to eight hours a day, eight hours a day, eight hours a day, accessing internet porn on government computers.

the shocking finings named senior staffers -- >> is that bad? willie, is that bad, eight hours a day? i mean, i'm not exactly sure -- >> i have one fact here. >> is that a little high? >> the great economist dr. sachs and i have been crunching the numbers. 16,000 in one month. only 30 days in a month. 16,000 simply doesn't add up. >> has congressman richard kelly said in abscam, maybe they were conducting their own investigation? >> that's exactly what they were doing. >> apparently a senior staffer and an accountant tried to access x-rated sites 16,000 times in one month. >> okay. i don't -- well, i'll explain after -- >> no. >> -- after the show, willie. >> it's a little redundant, joe. >> i have to say, itwwq require great deal of discipline and focus. we're going to be talking to dr. sachs about much more important things when we come back, as well as david gregory,

he is, of course, the moderator of "meet the press." john harwood, thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you, john. >> great reporting as swlz. >> good morning. >> chuck todd from the north lawn of the white house. and later, a day in the life of senator scott brown. nbc takes us behind the scenes with the rising star of the republican party. first, let's go to bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> how's it going, david? >> good morning, everyone. we are looking at ideal conditions for eastern sea board for friday. this is the easy part of the forecast. sunshine, cold morning, warm afternoon, no problems. this is yesterday near amarillo, that one was heading for that farm. did lift if time. that's going to be the big story of the day. we'll be watching a tornado outbreak throughout the day. the problem area, arkansas, louisiana into mississippi and eastern texas. that area in red is a moderate risk of severe weather.

areas of yellow still have a chance of getting severe storms. this will be the biggest severe weather outbreak of the spring taking place this afternoon and into tonight. possibly significant and possibly destructive tornadoes. west coast, you're doing okay. traveling at the airports today, the middle of the country, dallas, kansas city, little rock, make sure you check with your air carriers and see if those storms will cause you any problems. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks.

♪ most people have no idea what the vice president does, except for ceremonial things -- >> me either. >> do you have any power? what do do you every day? >> well, it depends on whether you talk to dick cheney. >> with us now in washington, d.c., moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. live from the white house, nbc news's chief white house

correspondent and political director chuck todd, also the co-host of msnbc's "the daily rundown," also in new york dr. jeffrey sachs, director of earth institute, columbia university. david gregory, let's begin with you. a big showdown on capitol hill regarding this finance bill this weekend. >> is it? >> "meet the press," you'll have shelby and dodd. is it going to be a big fat nothing burger or are you going to get them to fight? >> i think it's actually getting close to being resolved. what's interesting here, we can talk about derivatives and some of the fine points. the bigger piece of this is the fight over the role of government because, you know, you have the excesses of the financial system, kind of unfettered capitalism. and then a bigger government role of regulation and oversight and the potential for getting taxpayers backs involved. i mean, this is still really what this fight is about. and, yet this anti-establishment mood in the country is such that i think there's going to be more

bipartisan agreement to hold wall street in check because if you're republicans and you want to get tea partiers in the mix, nobody's happy with big institutions. you know, these charges against goldman sachs, people -- what's interesting about goldman sachs, they are the symbol of what people dislike about wall street. people don't understand -- a lot of people don't understand what goldman sachs does, but they just know they dislike them. >> they know they make a lot of money and this year it's bad because they're on wall street. chuck todd, the white house was on the defensive for so many months over health care. can you tell us right now, take us behind the scenes, do they feel like they're sitting pretty right now and leaning forward on this finance recovery fight? >> reporter: they do a lot. i actually do feel like they're going to win this fight, that they basically finished this off, the president's speech yesterday being viewed as a way to put a bow on the story. look, the debate ends now. now we just finish up negotiations. that said, the partisan back and forth yesterday, which in some

ways was led by senate democrats, harry reid, chuck schumer hold this press conference, where they brought out videotape of mitch mcconnell saying, we want to show you where he's been lying about this bill, andññ)& played clips of mcconnell and kyl. the whole thing didn't please folks at the white house because they're saying, wait a minute, we're really close. shelby and dodd are close. corker, looks like he's ready to stay on board. judd greg. you know, they have this palt of 65, 70 votes on this, and then the worry is, if it looks like a partisan fight again. well, then you lose a chuck -- you know, some of these guys that look like they want to come over say, well, no, no, no, i've got to stick with the team here. i've got to stick -- this is going to be back and forth. >> so the view from the other side of pennsylvania avenue amongst senator democrats is, oh, really, you're upset at the white house? well, we're to longer taking direction from you. >> we don't care. >> because we have to go out and get the 60.

we saw what happened to us in august and you didn't manage the pr fight the right way so we'll take this into our own hands. an interesting die familiaric. >> reporter: it is interesting because you have the white house trying to set one tone. on the other hand, basically senate democrats saying, we're going to do this our way this time. >> interesting. >> i want to get to dr. jeffrey sachs and the rest of our panel about this. we had secretary geithner on the show yesterday. we asked him repeatedly about the size of the six biggest banks that basically take up about 63% of the nation's gross domestic product. and i kept asking them, are they too big? he said, yes, they are. and he talked about, dr. sachs, an overall cap on the size of banks, but then would not clarify whether or not these would be pared down. is it possible to control the size of these banks? is it possible to pass

something, as we see this showdown on capitol hill, that will actually stop too big to fail? >> it is possible to pare them down. indeed, you know, for decades we had glass/steagall which kept the banks' size limited because it said certain banks could do certain things. those were the commercial banks that took deposits. the investment banks could do other things. you couldn't do them together. all of that was eliminated in the 1980s and 1990s. both parties in a way bought off by wall street. the complete collapse has come. we have to put those kind of boundaries back on. that's what this so-called volcker rule is about, to start to say you have to separate the normal commercial banking from this trading on one's own account, and you see what goldman has done, really, completely unethical from moi point of view. whether it's illegal or not, it's going to be determined in the courts. but unethical is absolutely

clear. and this is because of conflict of interest rampant in what the banks are doing on their own account and what they're selling to their clients. >> dr. sachs, you've been very concerned about the influence of money in politics. you talk about it an awful lot. of course, nobody's ever gotten more money from wall street than barack obama. nobody's ever gotten more money from the hedge fund companies than barack obama, from goldman sachs and barack obama, from all the banks and barack obama. how has the president done standing up to these special interests on wall street? how would you grade him on this bill? >> this is interest. for the first year, the knock on the administration was that they were so cozy with wall street they couldn't see what was happening and how the public had gone wild, for the proper reason. you look at the administration. it's filled with goldman sachs and citigroup and other wall street leaders in this classic resolving door. it's only now that they're

finding their legs on the right side of this. i think the republicans will just dig themselves deeper into a mess if they continue this approach because the public's furious for the right reason. wall street baifd miserably. they bought off congress. they bought their way to deregulation which wrecked the economy. now the administration is finally getting on the right side of this. it will, you know, cost them something. i want to see them go farther because it's the right thing for the economy, obviously. >> i want to see them go farther, too, dr. sachs. and i guess the question is, the opportunity, joe, is certainly there. but do either leaders on both sides and this administration have the guts to really do did in. >> the question is, to do what? i think part of -- part of this debate, there is -- >> let me clarify quickly and then you answer whether it's possible. the problem s we're talking about it before, they set up this $50 billion fund. whether you want to call it a bailout fund or not. it's a laughable number, as you know, because let's say bank of america or citi goes up, they

went through that before 8:05 a.m. so -- >> that's the question -- >> so, can you break up these banks so when they collapse they're not holding a gun to taxpayers' heads saying, give us a trillion dollars or we ruin the economy? >> in theory, part of what you do like anybody, you keep enough money in your bank account to make sure you don't get in trouble. so you keep bigger capital. there are banks that did that and didn't get any trouble. that's what -- >> jpmorgan. >> a big capital push. >> and jamie dimon as well. >> canadian banks did that. the difficulty for any administration is there is a desire, an anti-establishment position. banks are still driving the financial sector. they are providing credit to people, so they are interconnected to main street in a way that's essential. so the notion of sort of teaching people lessons, even if it's undesirable, even if you don't like the pay packages, wall street still serves an essential function in items of economic growth.

>> pat, it's tough to go too far, correct me, on wall street because in the end -- >> i tell you -- >> political -- >> i agree with dr. sachs. i think you get the goldman sachs, a different kind of bank and separate it out. go back to glass/steagall, get the casinos here, banks over here separate. let me ask chuck, though. chuck, in the administration, do they feel they've gone far enough toward the so-called volcker rules where there's certain things, you know, that are -- that simply banks are not allowed to do? >> well, obviously, they think they've gone far enough. i want to go to this issue of the size of the banks because you've heard, frankly, the criticism of the president's plan is that it doesn't figure out how to sort of constrict the size of the bank. there isn't a mechanism there that would prevent banks from getting bigger. the problem is, if you're the republicans, can you really come after something that restricts the size of anything? that sort of -- it sort of against the principles of the republican party, which is of the idea of government getting

too involved. so, i think that's why you've seen republicans, they to want criticize this issue. they don't deal with too big to fail. they don't deal with the banks. they're not coming out saying, we want even tougher regulation or we want to actually cap. david brought up the canadian issue. canada actually has a specific way that, you know, they only allow specific banks to actually become bankers. you know, they restrict the number of banks that can be there. there were a lot of people asking america to do that, which would have been a very heavy government intervention. >> thank you so much, chuck. greatly appreciate it. by the way, can you believe denver took tebow? >> reporter: i hear you. hey, you know what, in the thin air, in the thin air, maybe his -- >> he can pass 15 yards? >> reporter: maybe the ball will travel farther. i don't know. that's all i've got. somebody else said something else but i'm not going there. >> in that thin air maybe he can do the 15 and out. no, i think tim tebow will

always overperform. david gregory this week, chris dodd had a remarkable speech this week from the house floor. you've got him on "meet the press," as well as richard shelby, who's always the most fascinating guy. >> yeah, it will be interesting. by then maybe we'll have a better sense of whether they're going into the week with an agreement as they go into that vote on monday. >> sunday it's "meet the press." this sunday's going to be a great one. coming up, congressman elijah cummings of maryland joins us. disaster at sea. the latest on the deadly oil rig blast in the gulf of mexico. now an environmental threat. the latest on that when we come back. i'm ed whitacre, from general motors. a lot of americans didn't agree with giving gm a second chance.

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♪ we are talking florida politics. welcome back to "morning joe," just after 7:30 on the east coast. time for a look at today's top stories. the coast guard continues to search the waters off louisiana on the slim chances of finding 11 workers still missing after a massive oil rig explosion this

week. yesterday the burning platform sank into the gulf of mexico, raising fears that 300,000 gallons of crude could spill into the water every day. earlier this morning, the company that operated the platform said it's doing everything it can to contain the oil. just weeks before his corruption trial is set to start, lawyers for former illinois governor rod blagojevich have asked a judge to force president obama to testify. they claim that president obama played a larger role in selecting someone to replace him in the u.s. senate than obama has acknowledged. still legal experts say trying to subpoena a sitting president is a rare tactic and likely to fail. the white house declined to comment on the request. and last night the state of texas carried out its sixth execution of this year. 31-year-old william j. berkeley died by lethal injection for the murder of 18-year-old sophia martinez back in 2000. an appeal by berkeley's attorneys was turned down by the supreme court yesterday.

that's a quick look at the news. coming up is congress playing games over financial reform? we'll be back with democratic congressman elijah cummings. just a reminder, "morning joe" is now broadcasting live on satellite radio. tune into sirius channel 90 and xm 120. keep it right here on "morning joe." [ diane lane ] when you were 14 you knew exactly where to turn to help your skin get healthy and clear. fast forward a few years... ...and now that your problem is wrinkles we still have the solution dermatologists recommend most. neutrogena anti wrinkle moisturizer with pure retinol sa. in just 1 month it's clinically proven to smooth even the deepest wrinkles. so all you neutrogena girls it's time to become neutrogena women.

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♪ this is very simple. if they are willing to go guard with reform, that's what we'll do. but i'm not going to waste any

more time of the american people until they come up with some agreement. there are ways of doing this, but the games of stalling are over. >> welcome back to "morning joe." we're here in washington. here with us now on the set, democratic representative from maryland and member of the joint economic committee, congressman elijah cummings. still with us, pat buchanan as well. >> elijah, good to see you. of course, we want to talk about financial reform. as is often the case, my home state's political scene is so messy -- >> the great state of florida. >> always goes back to florida, florida, florida. there will be a lot of focus with charlie crist and marco rubio and the irs investigations and the florida party going up in flames. on the democratic side, some have suggested kendrick meek may not be strong enough to win statewide. could the democrats get behind another candidate or would that cause a real concern with african-american voters? >> no way. >> never happen?

>> never happen. i cannot even imagine it. kendrick meek has been running for a good while. he's raising money. african-americans are very proud of him. and i think that he will draw a cross-section. not just african-americans but many others. keep in mind, there's still a democratic party down there in florida. >> that's not under investigation by the irs, the fbi, the u.s. attorney -- >> or thinking of switching parties. >> that's exactly right. this fight between rubio and crist, let's not kid ourselves. i know you're trying to predict this and that, but crist has to go independent. >> he has to, right? he can't win. >> he can't win. >> i feel incredibly naive because i know lieberman did this and it seemed to work -- >> it's a little different now. >> isn't it hypocritical? like, who are you when you switch parties to win? >> everybody says, i didn't leave my party, my party left me. >> two weeks before -- >> but if he really felt that way in 1992 that the republican party had left you.

>> you sort of have a cause, all of these issues and -- >> that's not what this is about. >> no, it's not. this is about charlie crist -- >> trying to win. >> -- trying to win like our friend up there in pennsylvania, mr. specter did. is there a chance there's another senate seat coming up, if charlie crist walks out of the gop, he ain't ever coming back, so this is the last shot for him. >> that's right. >> how about, is ben nelson -- not ben nelson -- bill nelson's seat? could he go for that if he. -- you know, i lost to marco rubio and congratulations, marco, i'll support you in the fall? >> no. no. listen, listen -- >> congressman -- >> charlie crist was on thin ice until last week. and when he voted against the teachers bill that would hold teachers accountable for performance, it was as if somebody put an anvil in his hands and he broke right through that republican ice. he is done in the republican

party. it is over. if he wants to win as an independent or a democrat, that feasible. i've got to say, maybe the better move is for him to get out and wait in line as a democrat because he's popular among a lot of moderate democrats in florida. let's turn to -- i'm sorry, go ahead. >> wait a minute. i've been listening to a lot of discussion. let's not underestimate kendrick meek. he's a brilliant, young man. you know him. >> i like kendrick a lot. >> i think he's in the hunt. i think he's going to do an incredible job and i think he has a pretty good shot of winning. >> let's talk about financial reform. is it a done deal? will you answer all the questions that mika's been asking everybody, irritating everybody this week? >> i'm sorry. i irritated you, apparently. >> no, you didn't. but poor tim geithner came on and she kept going. no, she had a great point. that is, we're afraid the banks that were too big to fail before are even bigger sdmou this financial reform doesn't adequately address that, doesn't

pare them down enough. >> i think we could do better. we've got a problem here. first of all, we've got to have reform. we've got to. i'd like to have more of a bill that does, in fact, pare them down, but just like, in my opinion, does not go far enough, but we have to -- >> why is that? is it too hard to stand up to wall street for members of the white house and congress? >> i think it's extremely -- i think it's difficult, but i don't think it necessarily -- and i think it's very, very complicated. keep in mind, president went up to wall street just yesterday and he says, look, don't fight against us, work with us. we can work this out. and within hours we have the republican -- your friends, saying that we don't even want to discuss it. we don't -- >> i'm sure they're you're friends, too. >> yeah, they're my friend, too. but -- and so, i think -- and i still believe, and i don't -- i think -- i still believe that the republicans don't want

anything to happen. and i hate to say that, but it's true. >> you feel that way. >> congressman -- >> i don't know. >> we've been talking. you you have jpmorgan chase, runs into tremendous crisis. we're not going to let that thing go ahead, sink and die. >> no, we can't. >> we can't. so why are we all saying we're going -- you know, they're not too big to fail, we'll let them fail when we're not going to let them fail. those things would take down the country, take down the world economy. >> but at the same time w very to do something. >> why not go back to glass see it and separate it, the casinos from the bank. >> the $50 billion fund is a good idea. the president disagrees with that. the $50 billion f they get too big to fail, to wind them down. i think that's a good idea. it seems as if we've got to do a little bit more than that, though.

so, we'll see. glass, by the way, this by the way, this is a critical moment. we is to have cops on the beat. derivatives have to have tans parency, clear and accountable. >> dr. sachs, it has to be bitterly ironic for you that while we're cleaning up the mess of the past decade on wall street and in our economy, the chinese are using all the money they've been hoarding over the past decade to be investing in the type of technologies that are going to shape the economic winners and losers of the 21st century. they're not bailing out banks because of what happened in the past ten years. they're creating lightrail across china. and investing in new energy technologies that, again, will shape the next century. what does the united states do to catch up?

>> well, look, you know, the first thing is, of course, we put ourselves $2.5 trillion into debt in china's foreign exchange reserves over these huge budget deficits and this reckless borrowing over the last decade. we have -- as everybody knows, we have a budget deficit a mile wide and china's financing it and building up reserves. second, we're going for these phoney solutions. here we have this massive oil spill. president announced last week because he was trying to garner some votes to do something, i suppose, that were going to open up more offshore drilling for a tiny amount of oil out there when what you say, joe, is absolutely right, we have to go for new energy sources. we have massive alternatives of solar, wind, of nuclear, of other things we could do, but, you know, again we're stalemated there. today we're having a meeting here in new york on electric

vehicles. this is something that somethin really transform this country because we could run these vehicles on domestic energy sources, not on imported oil. they're clean, they're state-of-the-art. we could have a lot smarter cars in the future. we've got to get moving in an organized way. when i testified in congress last week on this you see there's no plan still, no coherent framework. this is a big part of the problem. we're just still nibbling around the edges of the things that we need to do. >> dr. jeffrey sachs, let us know how that meeting goes for sure. it's very good to have you back on the show. thank you very much. >> great to have you, jeffrey. we want you to come back very soon and talk about this debt. i fear when we look at california, we're looking at the future of america in five years. when we look at greece, we're looking at our future and ten years if we don't right our course now. would you agree with that? >> absolutely. let's talk about it because it's serious.

>> thanks, dr. saks. up next, sarah palin will testify in court today explaining her personal e-mail account, how it was hacked. we'll get to that. >> it was the chinese i'm sure. >> do you want to stay? >> i'll stay. he's a big sarah palin fellow. somewhere in america... there's a home by the sea powered by the wind on the plains. there's a hospital where technology has a healing touch. there's a factory giving old industries new life.

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welcome back to "morning joe." sarah palin is expected to testify in court today to talk about how her e-mail account was hacked. a 22-year-old knoxville, tennessee, man is expected of breaking into her yahoo! accounts and posting her e-mails online. kerry sanders has the story. >> reporter: 22-year-old david kernel allegedly used generally known information about sarah palin to guess her e-mail password. once in, he allegedly found photos like these, one snapshot was of sarah palin's infant son trigg eating his first bite of solid food. bristol palin then 17 and pregnant testified in court wednesday her cell number was included in the string of e-mails and once it was posted online, she was overwhelmed by

countless phone calls and hundreds of text messages. she told the jury only one call really scared her from a bunch of boys claiming they were outside her door. we live in the middle of nowhere alaska in the middle of the woods, bristol palin told the jury. david kernel's lawyer has said posting the e-mails on facebook was never anything more than a prank. outside the serious courtroom, kernel is quick to joke. >> what did you think about briston palin. >> not my type. >> he faces up to 50 years in prison, the charges identity theft, wire fraud, accessing the account without authorization and obstruct agfbi investigation. kendall coffey if i is a former federal prosecutor. >> plenty of prosecutors would have seen this as a misdemeanor case. instead you've got four serious felonies charged and a huge exposure to prison time if convicted. >> usual prison sentences in a case like this about a year. >> the star power of sarah palin

creates huge message power so that the feds can say that hacking isn't just a computer prank. it's a computer crime. >> kerry sanders. that guy didn't seem tool worried, did he? still ahead, a day in the life of senator scott brown of massachusetts. jamie gang el with a little pick up truck ride along takes us behind the scenes when "morning joe" comes back. industry. energy. her. this. lives. how ? by bringing together... information. ... people ... ... machines ... ... systems ... ideas... verizon helps businesses worldwide... including fortune 500 companies... find and achieve... better. better. better. better.

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>> the president was in new york today asking stock market officials and executive boards from major banks to stop resisting financial reforms but it didn't seem like these guys were listening. >> some, and let me be clear, but some, forgoting that behind every dollar traded -- >> almost intentionally not trying to hear what he's saying. >> top of the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." eugene robinson telling us a story about his volatile high school experience. eugene, you know the rest of america is listening to you too. >> terrific. >> don't go to the reunion. >> talking right now. >> we're on the air. >> didn't you know we were on the air? >> no, i did not know. are we still on the air?

>> my high school experience was a volatile one, as well. we're in sync. i was interviewed by jean harris and then i got accepted and she went to jail. >> doctor? >> it's kind of interesting yes, yes. so we're going to do the show now. >> so this is what we do at the top of every hour. i sit here and mika reads the news and then we talk. >> here with us now associate editor and pulitzer prize-winning couplist who wrote a new column today saying president obama should be thanking wall street. i like that concept. still with us, congressman elijah cummings and pat buchanan and joe getting miked up. let's get to the news. time for a look at some of today's top stories. president obama is calling on wall street speaking thursday at cooper union college in new york

city, the president touted his proposed overhaul saying the risky practices that led to the economic crisis must be stopped. >> a free market was never meant to be a free license to take whatever you can get, however you can get it. that's what happened too often in the years leading up to this crisis. some, and let me be clear, not all, but some on wall street forgot that behind every dollar traded or leveraged, there's a family looking to buy a house or pay for an education, open a business, save for retirement. >> but as the senate moves toward a crucial procedural vote on monday, some republicans remain unconvinced. >> their bill goes so much further than that. it institutionizes too big to fail. it will provides for a permanent bailout of big wall street firms. it creates this financial

stability control board, all bureaucrats in the administration, that gives them the ability to take over any company in america that they see fit. this is not what the american people want. >> all right. so here's eugene robinson's piece in the "washington post" today. a lion in the gambling den and eugene writes this. after regulatory reform passes, wall street is still going to be a gambling den. less highly leveraged, more closely monitored but still essentially a betting house. anyone expecting truly fundamental change is going to be disappointed. what has definitely changed, though, is the political atmosphere. the president is on the offensive now. his opponents are scrambling to decide how to react. obama should thank the misbehaving lords of wall street because they have given him a way to get his mojo back. >> this is a big win for the president. >> look, you know, anti-wall street, you know, this year,

that's a pretty good place to be. that's a pretty good position to be. and when i watched the speech yesterday, i saw barack obama as he must have envisioned his presidency. you know, he goes up there. he is on the offensive. he's got a solution to a problem, he explains it to everybody in his kind of prophetorial way. >> i love how how he said we predicted this was going to happen when he did nothing of the kind. that is bold presidential leadership. this is the man who enabled freddie and fannie and anybody else, truth be told. >> however, i don't think it included all the particulars of what happened in the financial meltdown. so i think we have. >> a good political day for him. >> it's a good political day for him, absolutely. and you know, the republicans are saying we're going to stop this and we're united.

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>> welcome back to "morning joe." you know, yesterday, we had richard clarke on talking about. >> yes. >> -- hacking and we believe the chinese because they know that the future of america rests on the shoulders of "morning joe." i think the chinese, willie geist -- >> wow. it happened again. all right. we're having a little, obviously

having some technical trouble. joe in the middle of talking about his cyberattack and it happened there in washington, d.c. we're taking some hits down there. let's run through some of the other headlines for you here. one we've been talking about all morning, marco rubio in florida. are they back in d.c.? >> it's not that easy, willie, to get rid of us. >> i don't know what's going on. i wish i did. i'll sit here in case you need me. >> that's good. all right. and listen. >> and you look cute doing it. >> try the website for the 16,000th time. that's when the i usually find. >> >> very good. so you know, every time we talk about financial reform, i get a thousand e-mails people saying what about fannie and freddie. that's where the fire started. and it spread from there. why is it we're going after wall street but this president and congress won't take care of these two institutions that are most dysfunctional of all. >> the president does not like

the way fannie and freddie operated in the past. i think a lot of times what people do is give them tool much credit for this, the problems that we have. >> that's where subprime started. it was a huge part of the story. >> and again, they -- freddie and fannie caused us to spend more money with regard to this subprime situation. but there's a separate issue. right now, we're dealing with this financial reform. >> why didn't we start where this problem began? why didn't the president go to freddie and fannie first and reform them because we're still losing tens of billions of dollars with them? could it be because president obama when he was a senator got more money from freddie and fannie than anybody else but chris dodd? >> no, i don't agree with that. everybody keeps talking about the money that comes into congress. i would love to have campaign finance reform, joe. i'm sure you would too. >> no, not really. i want to lift all limits.

>> when you look at the way we are approaching the situation, that is democrats are approaching the situation supposed to republicans, the whole financial reform situation, what you find is that the republicans are basically blocking the democrats are trying to make reform. you know, we'll deal with freddie and fannie. >> will you deal with them? >>, of course, we will. >> they stop draining taxpayers of billions of dollars every year? >> of course, we will, joe. you asked the question a little bit earlier. can republicans stand in the way? and the answer is no. >> no way. >> the american people are saying this is a critical moment. if we don't get this done now, i don't know when we're going to get it done. with the recent goldman situation, with the s.e.c. >> you wrote a letter and want the government to be even tougher. >> we want them to spread this investigation. there were 25 deals similar to this, a group called the abacus group.

what's going to happen is we will -- 56 members of congress have now written to mary schapiro, head of s.e.c. saying look, don't just investigate one deal. investigate all 25. and if there was something that was done wrong on the part of goldman, if there was fraud and again, that's up to the s.e.c. >> right. >> we want you to look into it and we want you to, if aig has paid out money in this deal, we want our money back. and if anybody committed a crime weergent want you to refer it to the justice department. >> so gene, this is a big, if your column today you talk about how this is a big political win for the president. i wonder, though, when the next crash comes, if a citi goes down. you're talking about a $50 billion bailout fund which republicans are complaining about. that's paltry. if they crash at 8:00 a.m., they're through $50 billion a day. these banks keep getting bigger. >> there's a bit of fiction about this whole thing.

>> yell. >> the basic fact is that the banks, the big banks are now bigger than. >> thank you. >> and so the one thing you could do to get rid of too big to fail is to break them up. nobody's going to do that. i mean. >> why? >> it's not on the table. >> why? >> it's not on the table. well, it could have something-to-do with the fact that both parties get a whole lot of money from wall street. it could have something to do with the idea that a country as big as ours and an economy as big as ours and is interconnected with the global economy as ours is needs big financial institutions and that this is what we're stuck with. we're stuck with something the size of a goldman or a citi. >> what is the down fall to breaking up the bank. >> here's what my feeling has been. look, if you've got to have big banks, get the casino out of the bank. this is the derivatives, take that out of jpmorgan chase and

put it over here. if you do that, jpmorgan chase ain't going to make its money because it doesn't make it lending like the old s & ls do anymore. it makes it by trading. >> and betting. >> this is what voelker is trying to do, get the casino out. this is where the real fight is coming and bloomberg is battling. if you take the casinos out, all the money is not going to come rolling in for the bonuses and salary. >> here is the problem. if you take the casinos out of the banks, the casinos move, elijah, to london, hong kong, other financial markets. and they're the one oz who make the hundreds of billions of dollars while we're sitting here. >> are we less competitive. >> an interesting side light here, too, which is during the crisis, the europeans always said, oh, those cowboy americans let anything happen. they don't know anything about regulation. but it turns out if you followed

what's going -- if you follow what's been going on in europe, they're not anxious to regulate the casino. they don't want -- as a matter of fact, they in many ways don't want to go as far as we go. >> they think they're going to get our business. >> well -- >> i guess, but they certainly don't want -- but they certainly don't want to do what pat wants to do and what i think would be a great idea. getting the casino out of banking. >> the canadians don't have casinos in banks and their banks did very well in this thing. >> let me say also, not every bank was a casino. you brought up jpmorgan a couple of times. jamie dimon, a name that we're going to hear more and more of because with goldman's problems, he does become the king of wall street. why was jamie dimon the guy taking all the phone calls when dick fuld wanted to borrow $31

billion from him and he had a conference call saying we may have to prepare for all of these bailouts because he acted responsibly. >> he was smarter. >> they had the five basic, goldman sachs, morgan stanley, bear stearns, all these others and even a merrill lynch, they had to get inside a bank to get themselves covered. and meryl, you know, goldman sachs declared itself, can we register as a regular bank. then you get all these federal guarantees for what you got. >> but we've got to have some kind of regulation over these derivatives. i don't care how you look at it. >> you've got to. >> because right now. >> poker game and five card is wild. >> the problem is, you go back to what happened, and the fact is there was no transparency. when you have somebody like the fed chairman, alan greenspan saying, i have the best economic

minds in the world and nobody around here knew what the hell was going on, didn't understand these cdos, didn't understand how they were chopping it up. if greenspan and the fed and most of the people, most of the ceos in these banks didn't know what was happening, there's a serious problem. >> running the show. >> but everyone should have been smart enough to know that if you have a derivatives market that is normally worth $600 trillion, more money than has ever existed and probably will ever exist in the history of the world that something's wrong there, that something's out of whack there. it amazes me that this was allowed to continue and build the way it is. and now it does have a momentum that is very difficult to stop. say no derivatives, you know, get rid of it. i've argued with secretary

geithner on this a couple of times and he says you can't -- i've asked him, is there any exotic derivative that is just so toxic that we should just say no, you can't do this. and his response is, no. that basically, if you will outlaw that one, they will five minutes later come up with something that's five steps beyond. >> in other words, you're saying the american economy is permanently at risk because of what these guys are doing and all this stuff, whereas in the '50s and '60s we had a good economy, it's rolling along. these things didn't exist. this is basically volcker's point. what good are these things in terms of the national economy. "wall street journal" defends all this stuff, but i'll be darned if i see the benefit from it compared to the risk we are taking with everything. >> isn't the financial system supposed to serve the economy, allocating capital to its highest and best use. instead the economy is serving

the financial system. >> playing poker with five cards wild. >> we've got to bring in politico now. patrick gavin who's here with the morning playbook. i guess we're going to start in florida, patrick. >> what are you looking at? >> that's right. we've got a piece up about a very tough spot that senator lemieux is in figuring out who he wants to endorse in the governor's race, charlie crist or marco rubio. the interesting thing issing if charlie crist decides to make an independent bid, senator lemieux is going to have a hard time justifying endorsing them and they expect he will stick with the party winner who might be marco rubio. >> let's explain quickly, george lemieux was charlie crist's chief of staff when charlie was governor and then he appointed lemieux to be u.s. senator and everybody in florida politics knew that lemieux was a place holder for charlie crist but now

things have taken an interesting turn. >> as you point out, lemieux and crist are long-time friends. crist is sort of a meant tore to him. for lemieux not to back him is sort of a personal slight. if lemieux wants a long-term future in the republican party in florida, what he has to back marco rubio. if he were to back crist, you know, there's sort of some assumption that lemieux might face off against senator ben nelson in 2012 and that would hurt his chances there there. senator dodd has talked to lemieux about this because dodd found himself in a similar situation when he backed lamont and not joe lieberman back in the day in connecticut. >> it is going to be so hard for george lemieux not to back charlie crist. they've been tight for years. >> makes the points we were talking about. the pull of the natural republicans when crist departs, a lot of those republicans that are crist republicans say it's a

choice between charlie and the party, i'm going with the party. amazing when lemieux who's his chief of staff is saying i would go with the party rather than my old boss. >> don't know how he does it. >> patrick, apparently there's a lot of buzz about this documentary at the tribeca film festival and who's at the center of this buzz. take it away. >> what's the documentary? >> right, it's about former governor eliot spitzer and about his life both good and bad. and what's interesting about it, it's rumored and perhaps even more than likely that the former governor himself will show up and do the red carpet and attend the movie which means he's going to sit through a movie in which they interview such folks as the woman who an arranged liaisons with the prostitutes. that could be a very tense moment. this is his kind of strategy where he's not hiding, he's coming out and taking questions and hoping that by doing that, he can sort of avoid the typical path which is go underground for three years.

if you see spitzer on the red carpet for this movie, there that is going to be one of the more interesting moments in his maybe or maybe not return to public be life. >> that would be definitely audacious. >> the audacity of elliott. >> an ad campaign maybe for gold toe socks. you'll see him slouch in his seat a few times during that document tritt i think. >> all right. thank you so much. greatly appreciate it. willie geist, hey, that would be quite an interesting red carpet. you, of course, everybody wants willie geist on the red carpet at the tribeca film festival but eliot spitzer may be showing up to a story. this is my life starring elliio spitzer could get interesting. >> i wonder if he's seen the film. he might not be quite as excited once he gets inside the theater but it's in a lot of the new york papers this morning, people wondering if he will show up to

his own film. >> according to politico's reporting friends of spitzer say he's counting on his public embrace of the book and documentary to be as the last word on the sex scandal that ended his career and as proof that he has nothing left to hide. the book and the movie are a great stepping stone. >> yeah. you know, it's so interesting these scandals and pat, you can talk about this, not the sex can scandal part. look how people handle scandals. if you look at gary hart in 1988, he had a scandal, basically got angry. went home. that was the end of his political career. four years later, bill clinton had a scandal every bit as challenging with gennifer flowers and clinton said i'm going to stale here and fight and he fought through it and survived. i wonder if eliot spitzer is not doing what could ensure a return to politics. >> i'm going to head out for the appalachian trail myself. but look what happened with hart

was, it's -- was it 1987. i think there was a real sea change there. let me tell you, he was in the polls. he was top man. he hit the concrete. >> hart would have won. >> he came back a bit and ten he just could not reach a certain amount. but i was in new hampshire when this thing broke on clinton and i'll tell you, i was going to try to get in a debate with him. they said he went home. i said that guy is gone. i was completely wrong. completely wrong. remember sam donaldson said when the thing broke, he's out of here in a week. but the american people, if you go through the scandal and let it go for week after week after week, people come to you and after awhile, they're say they're attacking him because he's our guy. if you can last those first four or five weeks, you can sometimes get through it. >> can eliot spitzer have a second act? >> i don't know because bill clinton is an extraordinary guy.

he just is. he's a u unique politician. i don't know if eliot spitzer -- bill clinton can charm, pardon the expression, the socks off of anybody. and. >> all right. >> and w that -- >> thank you so much. >> i think the problem is there is moral and then legal impropriety. i don't know what is more challenging than the other. >> still ahead a day in the life of senator scott brown. nbc's jamie gangel is going to take us behind the scenes. there's severe weather out there this morning. let's go to bill karins with an update. >> we are in the midst of a severe weather outbreak. yesterday, 30 tornadoes reported. not a lot of damage. today the severe weather in the middle of the country. kansas city is, oklahoma city is, dallas, little rock, shreveport and eventually later tonight into areas of memphis and all of mississippi. areas of red under the greatest rick of strong violent tornadoes that could stay on the ground and create a lot of destruction.

that's going to be arkansas, northern louisiana. by the time we get to saturday we could see an even larger severe weather outbreak. the area of red is much larger. almost all of the tenton valley, alabama, mississippi and a sliver of arkansas. sunday, the storms weaken as they go through the east coast with wind damage the biggest threat. a very destructive weekend for many areas of the southeast. have your tornado plans in place as this is the first one of the season. you're watching "morning joe" on this friday brewed by starbucks. 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,

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♪ >> welcome back to "morning joe." since he rocked the political establishment by winning kennedy's senate seat, scott brown has been getting washington to pay attention. and he sat down for an exclusive interview with today national correspondent jamie gangel and gave her a rare behind the scenes look at senate life for scott brown. nice to have you on the set. >> my dear friend jamie is here. >> we even got a ride in the green pickup truck. >> is it an old truck? >> it is real. it's old. >> it's not that old. >> it's disgusting.

and i will tell you, it has a fons thing about it, remember how he would hit the machine and the soda would come out. we're driving around washington. there's no air conditioning on and he starts reaching down at the bottom of the thing and says, kick underneath the dash board. you kick it, the air conditioning comes on. so that's. >> what year is it? >> you've got me. >> i'm going to have to check. >> i don't know. 2035,000 miles. a '92 or something like that? >> old. >> gmc. right? >> what kind of character is he? >> he really is a regular guy. it's very, very interesting. he casts himself politically as a regular guy. but he seems to be. you'll see. i'm going to show you from his cosmo center field to being spoofed on saturday night live," scott brown has become an instant celebrity and also made waves in washington for crossing party lines. so he told us about his private

conversation with barack obama, most senators won't do that, and what he really thinks of the tea party and sarah palin and whether he might ever run for the white house. >> how you doing? >> mr. brown has come to washington, but insists nothing has changed. >> i'm scott brown. i'm from rantham. and i still drive a truck. >> an obsessive triathlete, he still gets up early and runs. still picks up his own laundry. >> i'm down to my last shirt. >> and yes, he still drives that famous green pickup truck. >> was there any special meaning in bringing the pickup truck to washington? >> that's the only vehicle i have. this isn't a joke. i mean, i have 205,000 miles. i've had it for five years and this is my vehicle. i live in it, sleep in it, eat in it. it's trashed. >> it's all part of the regular guy image.

>> bagel toasted. >> that helped the 50-year-old lawyer win a shocking upset victory. >> this is the people's seat. >> a victory he still can't quite believe. >> i got out of the car, i'm like whoa. okay. is there a bathroom i can go throw up? >> i don't think it took 24 hours for someone to ask you, would you ever consider running for the white house. and so? >> i've been here what, three months actually today if i can see. and i'm very focused on doing my job. >> so are you ruling it out completely for 2012, but maybe some day? >> absolutely 2012 i'm ruling it out. >> but maybe some day. >> i'm not going to jump at that. nice try. >> your claim to fame was because you were going to vote against health care. in the end, obama won. su lost. were you angry about that vote? >> first of all, i think that's

an improper characterization obama won and i lost. there are some very serious problems with the bill. i wasn't angry. i'm concerned for businesses and my state and throughout this country. i'm concerned about getting a good product if we're going to do it. we did it in massachusetts. let's do it right, not just ram it through. >> the new star of the republican party is enjoying his celebrity status. from jay leno. >> scott, how you doing? >> great jay. >> to a boston musical. >> it's the people's seat. >> to being spoofed onn stat night live." >> are you? >> senator scott brown but you can call me scott. >> i will, scott. >> have you run into nancy pelosi or barbara boxer or. >> i did run into barbara and i said have you seen the "saturday night live" thing? and she said no. i'm saying to myself, i bet she

did. i haven't run into the speaker. barney frank i see. i didn't really want to ask him. >> you didn't wink at him when you saw him? >> i think about it all the time. i think about going up to everybody and going. >> it helps to have a sef deprecating sense of humor especially when you worked is your way through law school as a male model and who can forget his centerfold. it helps to have a family used to being in the spotlight. >> his wife gail is a television reporter. their daughter ayla an "american idol" finalist. and for the record, all is forgiven for this election night gaffe. >> and just in case anybody who's watching throughout the country, yes, they're both available. no, no, no. >> there's a picture over there. >> yeah. >> your daughter with her hands. >> probably before she was about to put them around my neck.

she's like dad, what, are you kidding me? >> did you get in trouble at home over that. >> no, no, no, we still kid about it. like they'll say something, i say hey, i'll get on national tv and say you're available again. you'd better watch it. >> it hasn't all been so sneeze you crossed party lines and voted on the jobs bill with the democrats, on unemployment insurance. >> whether i'm out of step with the republican party, i don't really care. i'm going to be the voter i've always been. >> brown was recently criticized for not attending a tea party rally with sarah palin. >> massachusetts, do you love your freedom? >> he says the senate was in session and it was not a snub. that said, brown revealed he's supporting another republican in 2012. >> do you think sarah palin is qualified to be president? >> yeah, i think she's qualified, sure. >> would you support her? >> well, i'm going to support

governor romney and see who's out there in the field and make my decision. >> as for the current white house occupant, so far scott brown hasn't met him, just a phone call on election night. >> he made fun of your truck. >> he did. he's going to make fun of my votes and my policy but when he makes fun of my truck, that's where i draw the line. i asked him if he wanted to take a spin and also i said i know you play a lot of basketball. if you'd like to -- my daughter and i would love to play. >> so far no invitation. >> i've made a couple inquiries. i think i need to step back. >> maybe when he needs a vote. >> maybe when he needs somebody that can shoot. >> oh. >> that basketball game could happen sooner rather than later. >> really. >> this week barack obama calls him, lobbies him from air force one on immigration, on financial reform. look, whether he you are a republican from massachusetts with what, 13 to 16%

republicans, being independent is being pragmatic. >> right. now vickie kennedy has not ruled out running against scott brown, correct? >> she has not. interestingly election night she was the first person he called. he felt it was the right thing to do, but she is considering in two years. so that will be very interesting. >> that was a great piece. >> thank you. >> impressive politician. >> the truck is a 2005, thanks to someone very nice. >> mine's older. >> pat, impressive. >> very smart guy. he's got to go independent. he can't go party line conservative republican and expect to survive in massachusetts. he clearly is looking at his seat in 2012. and if he's looking at the presidency, it's far down the road. >> right. look, he's the first to say he has a lot to learn. but what surprised me is, he says things in interviews you just wouldn't hear a u.s. senator saying. whether it's endorsing someone this early, people would just

say the politic thing. or saying that he felt like throwing up. you know, they just don't talk like that. so it's refreshing. >> uh-huh. >> does he have the game to play with president obama, reggie love, craig. >> we will see. we will see. >> certainly sounds like he's suggesting that the president surrounds himself with losers who can't play basketball. >> right. >> call me. >> by the way, i love -- i love watching those games. i love watching those games though at the white house where barack obama's playing and everything. he's dribbling down the court and everybody's falling to the side. oh, mr. president. 0mu're so good in basketball. >> wow. >> can you imagine some guy getting up there and jamming the ball in the president's face when he's trying to shoot? >> let's just say that scott brown i think was suggesting

that. >> all right. jamie gangel. >> which may be why they will not let willie geist go over and play the president at the white house. >> i'm urging them to try a different sport and do a bipartisan fun run. we'll all get in shape. jamie, we appreciate it. >> that was an oxymoron, a fun run. i understand a fun buffet, i get that. a fun rib feast. a fun run, no. >> i challenge you to join me and reggie love. in a race around washington. >> whatever. jamie, thank you so much. black one! where? [ vrrroooooomm! ] black one! ow! where? [ male announcer ] the volkswagen tiguan. the only compact suv with a turbocharged engine, standard. [ vrrroooooomm! ] black one! where? there. [ male announcer ] lease the 2010 tiguan for just $269 a month.

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this year, i was pleasantly surprised to see how the usa "today" was celebrating environmental consciousness. by printing a special earth day

bonus pullout. that's right. that's right. suck it, trees. >> boy did, they set themselves up for that one. here with us now adjunct professor bjorn lundberg, the author of "cool it will." here's his take on solving climate change. global warming, though its size and future projections are rather unrealistically pessimistic is almost certainly taking place but the typical cure of radical fossil fuel cutbacks is way worse than the original affliction. you've made waves in the scientific community with some of the things you've said. you're not suggesting there's no problem here. you're suggest wiig go about it differently. >> basically global warming is happening. it's real, manmade. it is a problem we need to fix but we're not fixing it right now. we're doing the wrong thing because we keep promising to cut

carbon emissions but not doing it. we've been doing that since 1992, the first of rio earth summit where we promised to cut carbonen emissions, did no such thing. in kyoto and copenhagen, it was a complete failure into. >> what should we be doing instead? >> the problem is, it's easy to promise but it's really, realliard to hike up the taxes and gasoline and everything else. it's a political killer. so instead of trying to make fossil fuel so expensive, nobody wants them, we should make green energy so cheap that everybody wants it. we should be investing dramatically more into research and development of green energy. imagine if we could make solar panels cheaper than fossil fuels. everyone would want to buy them, the chinese and indians. right now it's ten times as expensive. virtually no one buys them. >> if we know the options are out there and preferable to going after all greenhouse emissions, why aren't we doing

it? >> i think there's two reasons for this. one is that it's much, much easier for politicians to just say, i'm going to solve this whole problem. i'm going to promise. take a look at schwarzenegger in 2005. he got such a great ride for promising that he was going to cut carbon emissions in california ten years after he was out of the governorship. he gets all the applause and somebody else has to fix it which is not going to happen there. tony blair the same thing back in the 1990s. promised great stuff, everybody appla applauds. somebody else has to fix it. it's easy for politicians to pick the promise but not actually deliver a line. if you're going to make great, great subsidies to all these inefficient green technologies right now, of course you also get a lot of lobbyists happy. you can hand out a lot of money to a lot of companies. many people don't know the people who got the richest from the kyoto protoca call in europe was the european energy

companies because we gave them all the permits to pollute and they sold it to us. they made windfall profits. >> you've got a fascinating take on it. it's upset a lot of people in the scientific community because perhaps it's not what they want to hear. "cool it will," the skeptical environmentalist's guide to global warming." at the we come back, the week in review. hey can i play with the toys ? sure, but let me get a little infortion first. for broccoli, say on for toys, say two. ys ! the system can't process your response at this time. what ? please call back between 8 and 5 ceral standard time. he's in control. gobye.

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bad cholesterol but your good cholesterol and triglycerides are still out of line? then you may not be seeing the whole picture. ask your doctor about trilipix. if you're at high risk of heart disease and taking a statin to lower bad cholesterol, along with diet, adding trilipix can lower fatty triglycerides and raise good cholesterol to help improve all three cholesterol numbers. trilipix has not been shown to prevent heart attacks or stroke more than a statin alone. trilipix is not for everyone, including people with liver, gallbladder, or severe kidney disease, or nursing women. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you are pregnant or may become pregnant. blood tests are needed before and during treatment to check for liver problems. contact your doctor if you develop unexplained muscle pain or weakness, as this can be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. this risk may be increased when trilipix is used with a statin.

if you cannot afford your medication, call 1-866-4-trilipix for more information. trilipix. there's more to cholesterol. get the picture. yesterday, attorneys for rocket rod blagojovich announced they would try to subpoena the president of the united states in blago's corruption trial. it's bold moves like that that's got blog blago on our list of the top three stories of the week. >> they're now hitting below the belt and attacking my wife. they are cowards and liars. >> at number three, blago's underdogfight for justice. >> i challenge mr. fitzgerald, why don't you show up in court tomorrow. >> rocket rod blagojovich. the percent executed former governor of the great state of illinois issued an angry challenge this week to the prosecutor in his federal corruption case. >> i'll be in court tomorrow.

i hope you're man enough to be there tomorrow, too. >> indeed, blago showed up for his hearing but the prosecutor was nowhere to be found. proving, of course, that blago has been framed and should be returned to the governor's mansion immediately. >> one of the cowboys said let's hang him. >> as he fights the good fight, he keeps at his side fellow heros of the freedom movement. >> i thought about mandella, dr. king, gandhi. >> at number two, the music stops for america's sweetheart. >> i was scared to death most of the time to be out there. >> kate gosslin has danced into our hearts over the last few weeks. unfortunately, she has done so very, very poorly. >> when i watch you dance, it's kind of like the charlie brown mawa. >> it wasn't really a dance. it was a stroll. >> an controversy performance on "dancing with the stars" this week was more than the american voting public could bear. >> leaving right now is kate and

tony. >> kate will we'll see you on down the road on your next self-promotional exemploy tatetive television adventure. >> thank you for believing me. >> the number one story of the week. >> eyjafjallajokull. >> eyjafjallajokull. >> eyjafjallajokull. >> ef yar-kul. >> eyjafjallajokull. >> that damn volcano which for the record is pronounced roethlisberger. the biblical cloud of ash hung over europe well into the week, stranding thousands of restless travelers and causing an outbreak of irrational anti-- i anti---land. >> i hate-land. >> the spewing of ash reminded

some of europe's most famous encounter with an angry volcano. >> the worst i've seen since i spent the summer in pompeii. >> the volcano finally backed down late this week after a direct challenge from one brave man who simply had had enough. >> i'll be in court tomorrow. i hope you're man enough to be there tomorrow, too. >> you know what? that volcano didn't show up in court either this week. coming up next, what, if anything, did we learn today. [ banker ] mike and brenda found a house that they really wanted.

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