turning into a political entity is deeply concerning, i think, to all women and men in america who are concerned about breast cancer. >> on youtube, the founder of susan g. komen for the cure denies caving into conservative pressure. >> we will never bow to political pressure. we will always stand firm, and our goal to end breast cancer forever. the scurrilous accusations being hurled at this organization are profoundly hurtful to so many of us, who put our heart, soul, and lives into this organization. >> coming up, ambassador nancy brinker joins us right here to answer questions for the first time since the decision was announced. and more fallout from mitt romney's poor choice of words about the poor. democrats already launching a new ad, a web ad, using romney's words against him, while president obama takes aim at romney during this morning's national prayer breakfast. >> it's also about the biblical call to care for the least of

these, for the poor, for those at the margins of our society. >> to answer the responsibility we're given in proverbs to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. >> could romney's gaffes even lead the party to turn elsewhere? with us this hour, indiana governor, mitch daniels, his first interview since leading the republican response to the state of the union, as he prepares to host the super bowl. and he's back! nbc confirms donald trump will endorse mitt romney later today in vegas, not newt gingrich, as others had reported. what do the donald and romney possibly have in common? plus, is the longest war in american history coming to an end sooner than expected? and first lady michelle obama gets down with ellen. >> how many was that for her? >> 25.

>> i just stopped. >> all right. good day, i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. in our daily fix today, donald trump, who has been coy about his own presidential ambitions, to say the least, is officially throwing his support behind mitt romney this afternoon, endorsing romney in las vegas. michael duffy is washington bureau chief for "time" magazine. i've gone almost this entire election cycle, so far, without having to mention donald trump. i think today, i've run out of -- >> you broke down. >> i've run out of rope. >> you finally broke down. >> i broke down. but michael, what does he bring to mitt romney? is this the time to re-emphasize romney's wealth? hardly. is there any support base? >> i think with donald trump, there's always a negotiation somewhere. he was negotiating with a network when he was trying to decide whether to run for president. last fall you'll remember that mitt romney actually was kind of in talks with trump about whether to -- he went to new york, i think, a couple times to see him, about whether to have an endorsement then where he was farther down in the polls than

he is today. and now they've actually done some kind of a deal to have trump come out and endorse soon. and i suspect there'll be some kind of -- something in this for donald trump, in the way of appearances. >> for one thing, it's almost just taking from out of action on gingrich's behalf, because as joe scarborough pointed out on the "today" show this morning, if newt gingrich had now amassed a number of conservative endorsements or high-profile sbo endorsements, it might have slowed romney down, especially after his gaffes. let's talk about nevada. here you have at the trump establishment, donald trump, billionaire, and mitt romney, millionaire, multi-millionaire, not the greatest image. >> no, it's not, but not necessarily a bad thing in nevada to be associated with trump. it's a funky state. obviously, it's only two big cities. really just one big city. it's a caucus state, so organization matters. sometimes these organizations really are just based in las

vegas, in the republican caucuses. and he's leading there. he's doing very well, at least in the polls. so -- >> a big mormon population. >> right next door to utah, all through the intermountain states, which is an advantage for romney. looks like this is not going to be a difficult state for him, and the whole month of february, generally, works to his favor. but who knows, we may see them both together on a stage. and you asked the question, what do they have in common, they both have good hair. >> but one is real and one is not, who knows? >> i think it's another way to consolidate his position in the party as he moves through february. >> michael duffy, "time" magazine, and we should point out the new -- where is it? where's my new cover? the cover of "time" magazine is "this man is busting wall street." >> and he is the big player. we look forward to reading this, just hot off the presses. thanks so much. and it took less than 24 hours for the democratic national committee to turn mitt romney's flub about the poor into a new web ad.

>> i'm not concerned about the very poor. >> romney supporter, republican senator john thune of south dakota joins us now? there's been a lot of talk in the party, republicans upset about mitt romney. you've heard from rush limbaugh, we've heard from, you know, "the wall street journal," and "the weekly standard." people asking, what is going on here? and is he a weak front-runner? >> no, i don't think so, andrea. look, this is a long campaign. these candidates have been through somewhere on the order of 25 debates. lots of things get said, lots of things get pulled out of context, and lots of attacks are going to be made by the democrats before this campaign is over with. and i think the romney campaign is prepared for that. they're ready for the long haul. his focus is on going to be on getting the economy growing

again, getting people back to work, and reversing many of the policies that the president has put in place, that have really hurt the middle class. >> at the same time, when you have "the wall street journal" suggesting, you know, that there should perhaps be a truth squad to go out of republicans, to explain what mitt romney is talking about, doesn't he have to worry about these unforced errors? >> look, again, i think anybody who is in a campaign like this, where you're, you know, constantly being asked to make statements to the media, constantly being in debates, clearly, over time, there are going to be some things that you say that people are going to use against you. but i think what's important to remember here is the context of what governor romney was talking about. and that is to the president's policies have hurt the middle class in this country, and he's going to focus on reversing those policies and putting policies in place that will help the economy grow and that will benefit the middle class in this country. so, this is a speed bump.

it's one of those things that happens in a campaign, but it's certainly, in the long run, not going to be consequential in terms of what this race is about. >> and one of the things that this race is about is the budget and cuts and defense spending and you and a number of other senators, senators kyle and mccain, among others, are trying to get rid of the automatic triggers that would reduce military spending. senator reid has said that this is the law. the law is in place and should keep -- that you should all keep your word. how do you retract or retreat from the defense cuts that are part of that bargain that was agreed to? >> well, i think what you try to do is you figure out how to redistribute those cuts. there are many of us who believe, and frankly, that view is echoed by defense secretary leon pa thnettpanetta, that cute as deep as proposed by the sequester would be incredibly dangerous and harmful to our national security interests. so what is being proposed by senator mccain and others is a one-year freeze on federal pay and some attrition in the

federal employee workforce, that would substitute for the amount of cuts that would take place in 2013. so the military, which is already going to be cut back significantly by the round of cuts that was put in place last summer, would at least have that year in order to plan for what's ahead, and basically, prevent what would be some very deep and dangerous cuts from occurring to the military budget. and i think that's a fair way of doing it. it's a pay for, it's offset, it looks for the reductions in spending in other areas. and that's what we ought to be doing, is figuring out how to redistribute the cuts that are going to be so dangerous to our military budget. >> senator john thune, thanks very much. thanks for joining us from capitol hill. >> thanks, andrea. and cia director general petraeus says that the u.s. began transferring combat control to afghan forces nearly a year ago, according to his testimony today, and that defense secretary panetta's recent statements about an accelerated withdrawal schedule are being overanalyzed. nbc's atia abawi is live for us

in kabul today. oh, my gosh, what a beautiful setting there, although it looks far colder than here in washington, d.c. atia, thanks for joining us. they're trying to bat clean up a little bit on what the defense secretary is quoted as saying on his trip in europe. but what is the reality on the ground? are the afghan forces already taking over combat roles, and is this part of the normal progression? >> reporter: well, many people within nato and the afghan government will want to tell you that the afghan forces are on their way to being ready to take on the role of protecting afghanistan on their own. and it's been a process that's really been going on since this past summer, as general petraeus actually mentioned. it was while he was the general and the commander here in afghanistan, where they started transitioning certain parts of afghanistan into afghan hands. that transition has continued through the fall and the winter time, but this doesn't mean that it's fully in afghan control. what we need to remember is that although certain places have been transferred and will

continue to transfer through 2013, it still means that the nato and u.s. forces are still there in those provinces, districts, and villages to provide support for the afghans and come and fight when the afghans ask them to engage. >> and, of course, as jim miklaszewski has been pointing out, atia, just because combat troops are being withdrawn does not mean that it's any less dangerous for the nato and the u.s. mission, because so many fatalities occurred during the withdrawal from iraq. atia, thank you very much. stay safe there in kabul. and up next year, indiana governor mitch daniels on the republican race and that big party that's about to take place in indianapolis this sunday. plus, the controversy over the susan g. komen for the cure's decision to stop funding planned parenthood, with founder and ceo, ambassador nancy brinker right here. do you have a question you want me to answer? join me every monday for a live web chat between 2:15 and 2:45 eastern online at

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they're having a party. the city of indianapolis is the place to be this weekend, preparing for what could be the biggest super bowl event ever, given the home team and the fan base of these two teams, hosting this crush of athletes. . governor, thank you very much sister being with us. >> what is the security and how intrusive is it going to be for the fans? >> i think it's going to be very comprehensive, but not intrusive. so far, every record has been broken for attendance at the preliminary activities, that include, for instance, the so-called nfl experience has blown away all previous projections and records, and no problems at all, so i know there's been great cooperation

teen our people, the cities, and secretary napolitano's team from the federal government. and so far, so good. >> now, how many people do you expect in indianapolis? >> i've heard all kinds of numbers, and so far everything's turned up on the low side. you know, one reason people have a great time is because it's all in one place, it's all downtown. you spend all your time having fun. you don't lose have the day getting from point "a" to point "b," so the downtown is one big party, one big village. and i'm not sure everyone will ever know how many people ultimately took part. >> now, while you've been focusing on the super bowl, there's this little republican primary election going on, and mitt romney, a big victory in florida. are you prepared to endorse him yet? >> no, i think i'll, you know, continue to just theory all the candidates on. i think a good competition has probably been, as competition usually is, a good thing. and there's also, andrea, the

prospect of something that doesn't happen here very often at all, and that's a meaningful indiana primary. we haven't had one in decades, and then the democratic side last time, that race was still alive when may got here, and it was a great thing for our state. it brought a lot of people in to participate, a lot of attention and action. i'm hoping -- >> it wasn't such a great thing for hillary clinton, but it was a great thing. we all love the indiana primary, as a political story. it was great. some think this could be when mitt romney really needs you to help buttress him because of the gaffes. let me just show you some of them. the most recent, only, after florida, but they're certainly not a first-time event for mitt romney. let's watch. >> i should also tell my story. i'm also unemployed. we could raise taxes on people -- >> corporations! >> corporations are people, my friend. rick, i'll tell you what, 10,000 bucks? a $10,000 bet?

>> i'm not in the betting business. >> okay. i know what it's like to worry if you're going to get fired. there were a couple times i wondered if i was going to get a pink slip. if you don't like what they do, you can fire them. i like firing people who provide services to them. i'm not concerned about the very poor, there's a safety net there. i'm not concerned about the very rich. they're doing just fine. >> governor, this could be the time that he needs you most. >> he seems to be doing fine. he's getting stronger. if you do this for a living, as i have for seven years, andrea, you develop a little sense of charity about folks who, particularly in this presidential brutal process that we have, every one of these folks have had to say literally millions of words, and nobody is going to get every one of them exactly right. so these things, i think, tend to flare up on the day they happen, and shortly thereafter,

but that's not what this election will be about. it's about what direction america should go, what kind of people we should be as americans, and if he's our nominee, i'll be enthusiastic about supporting him. >> well, i mean, if you endorsed him today, you could get in ahead of donald trump, but i don't want to put too much pressure on you. >> well, once again, since we might be hosting, might be hosting a real primary, it's another reason, i think, for me to -- it's like the super bowl. i wouldn't want to make the mistake of coming out for either team. >> well, "the wall street journal" and others have spoken out, written today, in fact, "the wall street journal" said today, "as the republican front-runner, he has an obligation to explain how conservative principles and policies can address america's current problems. we'll be happy to translate for him in these columns, but it would be less politically painful if mr. come romny sat down for a week-long tutorial, say, paul ryan, mitch daniels, jeb bush, and others who can help him avoid such obviously

liberal traps." are you prepared to spend the weekend coaching mitt romney? >> i don't know if i'm fit to coach anybody, but i've got some views on it, and i've tried to play some very small constructive role in the campaign. i wrote a book. i came out a few months ago, last week, accepted the assignment to speak for our party, after the president gave his state of the union, so my thoughts about how to present principles that i know governor romney and i share, it's out there if he wants to borrow from it. >> well, for one thing, you said in the state of the union, let me just play a little bit of that speech, where you talked about the balancing act that has to be required of everyone, given the economic challenges that we face. do we have that tape? >> everyone should contribute to our national recovery, including, of course, the most affluent among us. stop sending the wealthy benefits they do not need and stop providing them so many tax preferences that distort our

economy and do little or nothing to foster growth. >> i mean, it was basically, and i say this without any criticism, it was an eat your spinach speech, saying we've got to do some tough things on the entitlement side, spending side, tax cuts, tax side. you were one of the few republican leaders saying all of the above. do you think -- i mean, cuff an influence on mitt romney being more realistic about taxes and what kind of taxes that he, himself, might have to give um? >> maybe. again, i think we have, generally, the same view about these things. maybe a slightly different way of saying it. my own intent, at least, was to give an optimistic speech. we've got huge problems, very dangerous ones, andrea, and you're well aware of the immensity of them. our debt, the stagnation of our economy. but there are practical steps we can take that will address them and, really, if we would get busy about these measures, the

future, i believe, for america, is limitless, as it always has been. >> and one more question about endorsements. should we interpret or infer from your not endorsing until after the indiana primary that you might still keep the door open a little bit in case somebody falters to a request from the party to step in? >> no, really, not. i've just, honestly, been a little bit bemused by these questions, as they've come. i don't know who in the world would care much what i thought. others who i consider bigger figures than i have endorsed and i don't think it's made much difference. we've seen at least one or two governors endorse a candidate in their own state, and then have that candidate lose. so i don't think most voters pay that much attention to such things. and i guess maybe that's one reason i haven't stirred myself to do it ain any direction.

>> and you would not consider are upping? >> no, we crossed that bridge a long time ago, it was really never anything i ever thought of doing. and when asked to consider, i did, but we made a family decision to stay with the plan i had always had, which was try to do right by indiana for eight years and then go back to private life. >> governor daniels, have a great super bowl, we'll all be watching. >> as we say out here, andrea, have a super day. >> thank you very much, you too. and up next, the politico briefing, frenemies. the republican leadership, burying the hatchet, into each other? you're watching "andrea mitchell reports," only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] to the 5:00 a.m. scholar.

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even president obama joked about it. according to the white house release, the president quipped, "mr. speaker, it's good to the see you at the head table. i know how badly eric cantor wanted your seat." boehner was asked about that relationship with cantor today. >> we are teammates and have been teammates. and i can tell you, i don't think there's been a disagreement between eric and i over the course of the last year. as you're clearly aware, there's been a couple of staff rumbles from time to time, but you know, that's to be expected when you're doing big things. >> joining us now is politico's editor in chief, john harris. you've got a story today in politico about this tense relationship. it's not a staff relationship, this is a relationship between the principles and everyone who is on that payroll tax call in the house caucus reported out of that that there was some noticeable friction. >> well, right, and my colleagues, jake sherman and john do have great story on

politico this morning, detailing the efforts of the two sides to say, look, we've got to move past this, it's becoming corrosive, it's becoming a big distraction, it's hobbling the republican agenda in the house because of it. and it clearly is long-standing. the staff to date are not even on speaking terms, there's so much mistrust. and what the president and sherman's story is tried to do is look at the effort to try to get past this. this two sides are acknowledging there's a problem and trying to open up lines of communication to move past it. >> it's really hard, though to do sort of to get past it, isn't it, on the staff level, when there's clearly ambition in play here, and deep-seated resentment. how do you overcome that when you're trying to put together a rather fractious caucus? >> well, i think what this reflects is a recognition by both speaker boehner and eric

cantor that both their ambitions will be set back and the larger cause of house republicans will be set back if they don't move past this. to me the storage read a little like marriage counseling, you know, you never say thanks, well, you're always out late. it's not uncommon for these kind of divisions to take place, as you know, andrea, having covered the hill. these kind of divisions within parties, you've got ambitious people jostling for power take place. and it seems like instead of pretending it doesn't exist, they have decided to confront it directly. there are some real grievances and we've got to get along in spite of those grievance. >> and we should point out there are plenty of divisions and jealousies on the democratic side as well. >> kind of reminds me of a newsroom, andrea, if this rings true. >> not here at msnbc or nbc. >> of course not. >> up next, the planned parenthood funding controversy

with susan g. komen for the ceo brinker, and barbara boxer and patty murray. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. wait! it's morning in china! ♪ [ male announcer ] it's sweet, it's nutty... it's absolutely delicious. kellogg's crunchy nut. it's morning somewhere. ♪ it's nice to be here ♪ it's nice to see you in my bed ♪ ♪ ♪ there are diamonds... [ male announcer ] this is your moment. ♪ ♪ and they sparkle in the night ♪ [ male announcer ] this is zales, the diamond store. take an extra 10 percent off storewide now through sunday.

women and men across the country are expressing anger and outrage over the susan g. komen's foundation's decision to end funding to planned parenthood. that funding provided breast screening and other breast services for low-income men and women. and the backlash has been fierce online and on the streets. planned parenthood president cecile richards spoke earlier today. >> we were very shocked and really surprised. i really hope that they will rethink this decision and that we can become partners again. >> richards was on with alex wagner in the earlier hour. ambassador nancy brinker is the founder and ceo of susan g. komen for the cure and joins me now. well, the storm has exploded and

you've been in this for a long time. you started susan g. komen in 1982 after the death of your sister and in her name and you have raised more money than any other group for breast cancer research, which is why i have to tell you this is shocking for a lot of your supporters. let me tell you what i was confronted with at the gym this morning. a woman came over to me, i had not met her before, gray-haired woman, probably in her 60s, she was wearing a gray t-shirt, and she said, look at my t-shirt. it's inside out. i put it on by accident today. i'm not going to wear it anymore. i've torn the label out. it's a komen t-shirt. these are longtime supporters who have run with you, who have supported you financially and otherwise. so they're asking, how could this have taken place? >> well, andrea, i frankly think, i don't know, it's a mischaracterization, certainly, of our goals, our mission, and everything that we do. in fact, we haven't defunded planned parenthood. we still have three grants that

we've committed to, at least for another year, through the end of the grant cycle. >> but that's just through the end of the grant cycle. let me put out there first of all, i have have been identified, an outspoken supporter and participant in the races over the years, long before i, myself, ended up being diagnosed with breast cancer, so i want to put that out there. we've known each other a long time as well, both when you were a diplomat at the state department, but i come to you today, expressing the anger of a lot of people. >> sure. >> channeling through them, you see it on twitter, you see it everywhere, and the fact is, a lot of people are tracing this back, my colleague, lisa myers, reporting last night on "nightly news," a lot of people are tracing this back to what some found the surprising hiring of karen handel, who ran for governor, who we've seen her statements and her strong support. she said when she was running for office, i am staunchly and unequivocally pro-life. let me be clear, since aim pro-life, i do not support the mission of planned parenthood. the question is, for the

bipartisan organization such as yours, which has a broad-based advisory group, why hire a key staff person who is so strongly, fiercely identified against planned parenthood, one of your grantees? >> well, let me just for the record tell you, karen did not have anything to do with this decision. this was decided at the board level and also by our mission, andrea. everything that we get up and do every day is about the mission, to provide women, vulnerable populations, with care, treatment, and screening. and let me just take a step back for a minute. we are not defunding planned parenthood. we have three grants that will go on this year, and they will probably be eligible for the next grant cycle. >> but you've said that this is the one group out of 2,000 grantees, planned parenthood is the only group that comes under the rubric of this new policy, which is to not fund any organization that is under investigation. and your investigation, from congressman sterns, many believe is trumped up. >> but there are other investigations in states, number

one. >> they're always the target of an investigation. that's the way -- >> the investigation isn't the only issue, andrea. in 2010, we set about creating excellence in our grants, not just in our community grants, but in our science grants, putting metrics, outcomes, and measures to them. so that we can translate all of the science that we funded over 30 years. part of it includes taking these grants into communities and being excellent grant givers. many of the grants we were doing with planned parenthood do not meet new standards of criteria for how we can measure our results and effectiveness in communities. that is not to say that if they did meet those criteria, they would not be -- >> their supporters say they are the only ones that have been singled out among these thousands. >> that's not true. that's not true. >> and that their grants for breast screening have nothing to do with any contraceptive or abortion counseling. >> it's not -- >> that they separate this funding completely. >> the issue -- that's not the issue. because th's not our issue. our issue is grant excellence.

they do pass-through grants with their screening grants. they send people to other facilities. we want to do more direct service grants. you know, we contacted them in the fall, because we've been a longtime partner of planned parenthood, almost 20 years. >> i know. >> we've given them over $9 million. many of our grants worked for a long period of time. this is not -- this is about the restructure of our grant program. now, as an ngo and as a leader in the breast cancer space, we have an obligation to the community we serve, to donors, and to this country to translate cancer care in the way we know how. >> what do you do about the fact that donors are pulling back? some people would say that win mean, the anger that's being expressed is going to hit you in the pocketbook. you have worked so hard to create a bipartisan organization. look at your facebook page. your facebook page has people cutting pink ribbons in half. >> well, andrea -- >> your branding is at take. >> all i can tell you is that the responses we're getting are very, very favorable.

people who have bothered to read the material, who have bothered to understand the issues. again, we work for a mission, every day of our lives. and our job now is to translate cancer therapy into usable types of therapies that can be accessible for people -- >> aren't the most vulnerable women going to be affected by this? planned parenthood -- >> we are not giving less money in the communities where we're giving money. let me just set the record straight, where we are giving money in these communities, we are not taking it back. we will with some of them go to direct service providers. but we still have these grants in place with planned parenthood, in places where there aren't direct service providers, and dher good grants and they work with us. but unless we have a way, again, to measure grants, to create metrics, outcomes in ways that we can say, this works in in community, with this vulnerable population, this is what will work. these are the barriers, this is how it works. that is our only mission to cure breast cancer. >> are you going to put out the evidence that you have that there's been anything flawed in the way they've delivered

services to -- >> all we're doing is explaining, again, to our mission, what the criteria for new grants and community-based grants are, for our organization, for the time we are. many of the grants were education oriented. we don't need to do that kind of education anymore. we've done it for 30 years. now we need to translate this care into usable clinical care in communities. that means that if a person's screened, we need to follow. we need to follow-up the screening. did something happen. once they go through the planned parenthood program, they also have to come to us for additional therapy and care. we are trying to advise our community grant program. and we're doing it, and they've been a longtime partner of ours, we've notified them of this change, and frankly, we've been very private about it. and we have not said that we won't accept grants who meet our criteria. >> ambassador nancy brinker, thank you very much. >> thanks, andrea. >> and now we are joined by democratic senators patty murray of washington and barbara boxer

of california. senator murray, can you respond from your information about planned parenthood, what is the flaw in the way they are providing services and what are you planning to do about it? >> well, look, this is really a sad day for many of us who have have been proud supporters of an organization whose mission has been to save women's lives. who also know that planned parenthood's mission is to save lives, and the tremendous work they do across this country in providing preventative services, so women don't miss out on their screenings for mammograms and diseases, cancer that can take their lives. so it's a very sad day. and susan g. komen has put in place a policy that says directly that they will not provide funding for organizations like planned parenthood, because of a partisan witch hunt in the house against planned parenthood, an investigation. i would ask that all the members

of susan g. komen to reconsider that policy, because it's dangerous for women and it's dangerous for organizations. if susan g. komen comes under partisan investigation here in washington, d.c., they're going to be in violation of their own policy. all together. so we're putting out a letter along with senator lautenberg and 22 senators to ask them to reconsider this terrible decision. >> senator boxer, why don't you speak out as well, as to where you think we should go from here? >> sure, i listened to everything ambassador brinker said, and i have to say, this is a complete revisionist comment that she's making about why, suddenly, planned parenthood lost this funding. which, by the way, has served 170,000 women over the past five years. giving them the absolute life-saving screenings that they deserve to have. and you know, if you just go back a day ago, two days ago,

the official spokespeople for that organization, susan g. komen, said the reason was an investigation in the house. well, could i say this? i was not born yesterday, as most of your viewers can tell. and the fact is, i'm reminded of the mccarthy era, where somebody said, oh, i'm a -- a congressman stands up, a senator, i'm investigating this organization, and therefore people should stop funding them. what's next? are they going to the attack the american lung association? the ymca? the ywca? this is so sad, as patty murray has so eloquently stated, because it's about women's health. and we do hope that they will reconsider. but to change the story is not going to work. people know what they said and this means that unwittingly, or wittingly, they've put themselves in the middle of a political witch hunt. and that is very, very sad.

>> well, it's certainly troubling, this whole debate is troubling for people on all sides of it. and nancy brinker is still here. let me just ask you, i know we're out of time, but is there any chance that you would respond to the senators and change the policy? >> well, i'm troubled that it's been labeled as political. this is not a political decision. we operate from one set of standards every day, and it is to our mission. and if we don't advance and revise and make grants that meet the mission and bring real care to vulnerable populations, we won't be doing our job. again, these grants -- >> i think there's a lot of communication -- >> there's a lot of communication that needs to go back and forth, you bet. >> we will follow up with you, the senators, 22 senators have now signed that letter, and we will continue to report this story and there'll be more throughout the day on nbc and msnbc as well. and we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] what's the beat that moves your heart?

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hi, everyone. i'm tamron hall. coming up at 2:00 p.m. eastern time, viva las vegas. in a short amount of time, donald trump is expected to once again become the center of the universe for the gop candidates when he announces which way his endorsement will fall, romney or gingrich? but what does a trump endorsement do for either of these candidates? it's our "news nation" gut check. you get to tell me what you think. plus, a startling new report finds the number of suspected terrorists on the no-fly list has doubled in the past year. why? and the battle over women's health certainly rages on. planned parenthood says since susan g. komen cut hundreds of thousands of dollars in donat n donations, other people have stepped in. this outrage is going on and it's not going anywhere. congresswoman barbara lee will join me and we'll look at what both sides are saying now. and mitt romney's verbal

gaffes could help keep newt gingrich going. the "national journal's" cover story is "the odd couple." beth reinhart is a political correspondent for the magazine, which comes out tomorrow, and we have its exclusive preview here. so we've had these verbal gaffes, and gingrich has said he's not going to get out of it, and he has really been very adept at quickly taking advantage of the latest from mitt romney about poor people. >> right. i mean, right after, you know, being routed in the florida primary, he conveniently got some fodder to keep himself in the news the next day, jumped all over what mitt romney said, about not being concerned about poor people, and managed to sort of fill, you know, the cable news and the blog sphere with that for a good day and a half, which is exactly what he wants to do. >> at the same time, gingrich has faced some questions, we've raised some issues right here in our reporting about gingrich's claim to be the legitimate air to ronald reagan. and we've gone back and found another piece of tape. this is newt gingrich on the floor of the house in 1986,

speaking out against president reagan. >> the fact is that george will, irving kristol, and jeane kirkpatrick are right in pointing out the enormous gap between president reagan's strong rhetoric, which is accurate, and his administration's weak policies, which are inadequate and will ultimately fail. >> so this gets to the whole downside of newt gingrich, which is the long record on video, in print, the finances, all the rest of it. rig >> right. that's why romney's super pac ran those very effective ads in iowa about his baggage, because there is so much footage like this from the past, about gingrich, that can be dredged up. >> and we expect within the next couple of hours that donald trump will come out. there had been erroneous reports yesterday that he was going to be endorsing gingrich, but he's now going to be endorsing mitt romney and we'll be talking about that in just a moment.

beth reinhart, thank you very much from the "national journal." and what political story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours, that's next on "andrea mitchell reports." or zero dependency on foreign oil. ♪ this is why we at nissan built a car inspired by zero. because zero is worth everything. the zero gas, 100% electric nissan leaf. innovation for the planet. innovation for all. i'm going to own my own restaurant. i want to be a volunteer firefighter. when i grow up, i want to write a novel. i want to go on a road trip. when i grow up, i'm going to go there. i want to fix up old houses. [ female announcer ] at aarp we believe you're never done growing. i want to fall in love again. [ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join

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six more weeks of winter. pennsylvania's punxsutawney phil made its annual prediction. the forecast in front of nearly 20,000 spectators. six more weeks might not be that bad. the mild winter has taken human forecasters by surprise. which political story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours? ann, are we going to have six more weeks of this primary contest? you have donald trump coming out for mitt romney. >> newt gingrich promised six more months, not weeks. we do see another endorsement for mitt romney. there was a little confusion.

some people reporting it was going to be for gingrich. not necessarily good news for mitt romney. it's a tricky endorsement. there's been at lot of theater. his signature line, you're fired, isn't one that the romney folks want to remind voters of. it will be interesting to see how romney handles it. >> i can't figure out why they made the pilgrimage to new york to have pizza or dinner or lunch but why they wanted the blessing of the donald. >> they sure did. he is interestingly now ruling out on independent bid if romney gets the republican nomination. they all went to kiss the ring. perhaps to try to neutralize him. he has had some sharp rhetoric in the past. it's not entirely clear what he

brings other than potentially a viewing audience. >> thank you very much. that does it for us for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." tomorrow on the show, it's job days from the romney campaign, former minnesota governor, tim pawlen pawlenty. we'll talk about the monthly job numbers. remember to follow the show online and on twitter at mitchell reports. tamron hall has a look at what's next on "news nation." viva las vegas. donald trump is expected to be center of the universe. what does a trump endorsement really mean? we'll let you chime in in gut check. also, big startling news to report. the number of suspected terrorists on the no fly list has doubled in the past year.

why? the battle over women's health rages on. planned parenthood donations have spiked all fueled by peek who are outraged over susan g. komen's decision to cut funding from the organization. barbara lee will join "news nation." i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away

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