the billionaire behind newt gingrich who says he has some change to spare. and how a single word is leading to a federal lawsuit and a teacher who says he's just trying to help out his students. hi, everybody. a lot to talk about this morning. i'm thomas roberts. here's the agenda for today. tick tock, rick santorum is now running the clock and leading in the polls. mitt romney, having just one week to bring the air of inevitability back to his campaign and stop the conservative backlash that's keeping him from a clear path to the nomination. carrying the gop flags, building a far right base that could carry him to defining wins in next week's michigan and arizona primaries. now, romney's first step in getting 2012 mo jo back starts right now at a town hall taking place in shelby township, michigan. that's where we're going to find our peter alexander standing by for us. so, peter, mitt romney and rick

santorum are two different sides of this public coin and it's mitt romney who has the most to lose when we focus on michigan and arizona. explain the candidates' mindsets right now. >> reporter: you make a very good point. i had conversations earlier this morning with seniors in the romney campaign. they make it very clear that despite rick santorum having all this momentum they feel strongly they'll do well in this state. it's been said -- this has been said by many political advisers to be the most significant of mitt romney's career. he's going to come here in about 15 minutes. you can see the sign behind us as they try to deliver their message very clearly today. it reads "cut the spending." while rick santorum has been creating a controversy a day since this weekend with words like phony, ideology, phony ideology and theology and questioning the very existence of public schools in this country, they say they are on message, focused on jobs, on the

economy, and on stopping or at least reducing spending in this country. they want that to be very clear. they're going to be here for this event alone today before they head off to arizona to try to get their strategy in place tomorrow night. critical debate. for the santorum campaign, they acknowledge the importance of tomorrow night's campaign, but they say, thomas, it's not the end all, be all. and they feel strongly about their underdog as they put sniet is the energy a little bit different? >> i thi >> reporter: i think that's an interesting question. yesterday in cincinnati we noticed a different energy. there's always been an enthusiasm for the romney campaign, they don't have the fervent backing that ron paul supporters give their candidates or rick santorum supporters have given theirs. in this event most were weak by

comparison. they're trying to put this to bed. they were out here early. they have a gigantic flag. the music has been blaring for hours. twhamt to make this the one image that they have today, a very strong one to show their candidate. >> nbc's peter alexander, peter, nice to see you. thank you, sir. we're going to get more from our experts. it's great to see you guys. i want to tell everybody that's watching if we can take up the numbers for the market report where we're looking at right now. the mindset of wall street, guys, because we're looking at almost 13,000. we're only nine points way from the dow jones reaching that market anne, let's start with this. he's pushing a core part of his platform and when we talk about faith and mitt romney, there might be a little bit of a difference when it comes to how christians consider mitt romney the more mom. here's franklin graham on

"morning joe" this morning. take a listen. >> what about mitt romney. >> i like him. >> is he a christian? >> he's a mormon. most christians would not recognize mormonism as part of the christian faith. >> so he's not christian. i e-mail saying most christians would not recognize mormonism. >> anne, when i was watching that this morning, i thought, wow, this is a really, real conversation on our air right now coming from the graham family. so is rick santorum tapping into to a group of conservatives? >> he certainly would have that wind at his back if that turns out to be a really prevalent sentiment. i think what's seen is it's probably more prevalent in some of the southern states, states that will vote on super tuesday and even south carolina which rick santorum didn't win than it will be in other states. so it's a strike that he doesn't have. but mitt romney has already suffered other strikes against

him thats have jts had anything to do with his religion, questions about the passion element and being too moderate. i don't think religion has on its own ben the negative that it could be. >> jim, when you look at that and see what franklin graham is saying and speaking for the, you know, the nation as a thought leader for the religious right of this country, is that the conversation that people are having behind closed doors? isn't reaching the national level that people aren't publicly having? >> it's a good question. i'm not sure how big of an i affect it actually has on the campaign. i don't trust polls that ask the question whether or not they think that his faith. there's no doubt you're going to hear from christians like franklin graham that they don't consider mormonism to be a christian faith. does that disqualify romney from getting their vote?

we won't know. i do agree with anne that his biggest problem is people are not enthusiastic about him, whether or not it's his faith or economic policy or how he carries himself on stage. for whatever reason there's a big chunk of the party that doesn't like him, doesn't trust him. that's why michigan is so important. if he were to lose in michigan, it would be a devastating to me indictment of mitt romney. it is a state he should win given his family roots. he has superior organization, spent more time there. has a great network of republicans inside that state that should give him a decisive advantage. if it doesn't materialize, the story line is going to be awful for him. it's going to be he couldn't win a state he should have won after losing three a few weeks earlier. this will be a long protracted race. stories that are whispers, mumbles, gossip, those would only intensify. >> as we look at the fund raising, though, jim, romney is

far ahead when it comes to cash on hand. let's look at the markets. nine points away. if the markets continue to soar, the economy stays strong. the people fighting in the gop primary right now, how are they going to go up against president obama if the numbers stay like this? >> we asked this question when there was a good jobs report. it changes the dynamic, especially for mitt romney who has been running as a ceo kpaenlts, somebody who's competent, going to turn the economy around. if there isn't the economy to run against then it's hard to see what justification he does have. they, of course, say it's bigger than that. it's about people's bigger trajectory, not just one thing in the economy, or just about jobs or the market. it's about how people feel. if people are all around feeling good and their portfolio is up and their job security seems to be in a good place or getting better, it will be a tough sell

for them. i don't see it having a really big effect on the republican primary at this point. they're all fighting around the margins about taxes and that kind of thing. >> psychological benchmark, seven points away. we continue to watch it for everybody. great to see you. most of the headlines surround the fight to win michigan. but tomorrow the center of the political world is in arizona and recent polls indicate that it's a position that romney shouldn't take for granted. rick santorum is there campaigning today, hoping to build on the momentum hoping to ride toward it on super tuesday. tom, it's nice to see you. it seems like the santorum surge has made its way to your state. how close of a race is it in arizona and what does it say for a state that seemed so strong for mitt romney could now potentially be up for grabs? >> this has been very interesti

interesting. it's changing literally from hour to hour. if won't say minute to minute but hour to hour. that gives it a dynamic that i think strengthens the process and all of the argument. the thing here is i believe all four of these gentlemen, even though you hear rick santorum and romney, those two names mentioned, all four have the same ends in sight. it's a different mean. this thing changing back and forth is not -- i'm not surprised at this. i never thought that it was going to be a done deal by the time we even got to our primary. >> all right. so it's not a done deal until all the votes are counted. and we know that arizona is going to be home to this first debate we receive seen in a while. is this the last chance for

romney to draw the natural distinctions before voting next week. >> well, it's a threshold. it's the last debate before the super tuesday. it's -- before our primary. i think that what's going to come out of even out of our primary, maybe out of this debate is an even clearer distinction between what seems to be governor romney and non-governor romney. whoever emerges, be it a gingrich poll or santorum, that seems the way this seems to be setting up. but the -- i would say like the banner keeps investigated passed on what's called the conservative side. now, i argue against the concept that governor romney is not a conservative. he is a conservative. i think what we're talking about here is mekts oddology. and i think any one of these four gentlemen is going to be

way better than what we have. that's the thinking of the republican party. we want the strongest candidate. we feel that this primary process is strengthening -- is like exercise for muscle and these campaigns are the muscle. as we go through this and the dynamic changes and the -- it shifts from one to the other, but this is far from over, and this is going to go on for quite a while. remember what happened in '08 with hillary and president obama. >> sure. >> they went into june, you know? so this is -- this is going to go on and get even more interesting as it does. >> as it does, as you say, if it's a fitness contest, these guys are going to be ripped by the time this is over. tom moore icy. good to see you this morning. we're following breaking news on msnbc. the supreme court will once again confront the issue of race at the university admissions. they'll take up the action at the university of texas.

and msnbc correspondent joins us. >> reporter: they'll hear arguments right in the final days of the campaign. probably in early october or possibly the first week in november. now, it involves a challenge brought by a white high school student from the university of texas who didn't get in under the program that texas has that admits the top 10% of all high school class. but the program that uses -- that texas uses to fill out the rest of the freshman class does take race into account and she claims that's unconstitutional. she says that her academic credentials were actually better than some minority students who were admitted and she says that's discriminatory against her. it was eight years ago the supreme court said colleges could take race into account in order to achieve a more diverse student body. two things have changed since then. number one, sandra day o'connor who wrote that decision is gone,

replaced by a conservative samuel oh lito, and the second that it will not be on this case. elena kagan is sitting this one out, recused herself because she was working on this case before she was conferred to the supreme court. high stakes case here. it could be that the supreme court will look at this again and take away the ability to use affirmative action which advocates for racial diversity claim which would be a big blow. >> pete williams outside the supreme court. thank you. i want to show everybody the numbers once again, keeping a very close eye on wall street. the dow jones now seven points away. six points away from reaching that psychological benchmark of 13,000. it hasn't been that high since may of 2008 before the financial crisis. we're going to keep our eye on that one for you in a moment. plus a teachable moment.

a chicago teacher suspended for using the "n" word in a classroom. now he's suing the school. he's going to be here to tell us why. today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper.

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look at this. about to make live history together. the dow jones industrial average making this run at 13,000, just less than three points away right now. this powered by a higher and long awaited bailout deal for greece, stronger corporate earning reports here at home, but, again, we've been watching this hover right around the 13,000 mark. we haven't seen anything like this since the spring of '08 before the financial crisis. we're going to watch that. welcome back, everybody. a war of words over a single word. a chicago teacher suing for the right to use the "n" word in the classroom.

now, he was given a five-day suspension for using a student's use of the racial slur as a teachable moment. and joining me this morning from chicago is that teacher, lincoln brown. mr. brown, thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> absolutely. so let's start and explain to everybody the very beginning. can you tell us more about the incident that prompted you to construct this lesson around the use of the "n" word in your sixth grate grade classroom? >> there was a note being passed around causing a disturbance among the kids. i could see they were getting riled u. i found it was a written rap song that was written by one of the students. i read it and realized quickly it was about a student in the classroom and i stopped. we started to have a discussion about many things about rap in my own personal experience are very negative and we were

talking about the discussion of the fact that, you know, it's used -- that word is used continuously in many different venues, whether it be public, and i was trying to teach them that, you know, it really hurts if they don't understand the historical context of what they're saying. >> mr. brown, the school system issue add response of your use of the "n" world improper saying your lawsuit now has no merit but you have been quoted saying you feel your character has been assassinated by all this. tell us why you've decided to sue the school, bringing more overall attention to begin with? >> well, think that, you know, character assassination is important. i also wanted to point out that this lawsuit is really not about me. i don't want people to thing that i'm a victim. i'm not a victim. i believe that the children are the victims because if we don't have an open discussion about

the historical negativity of words such as that one as well as the fact that, you know, i, being the history teacher, teaching my children about our history of racism and bigotry and how, you know, the civil rights movement help some greatly to overcome so much of that, if we -- you know, if we just assume that the students are going to understand that on their own without us being able to explain it to them, then that's -- i find that completely preposterous. >> is it appropriate for sixth graders to be having this conversation? obviously if they're using that word, writing it, they're aware of it. but the historical context you're talking about, when do you think it's appropriate to have those hard conversations? >> well, from literature that i've read from law professors both african-american and also from the literature that is sent out by the southern poverty law

center, i believe very strongly that as a parent, you know, i began to teach -- or talk to my son about it a long time ago, and he's 14 now. as students, i feel that the earlier, the better, because, you know, they notice color, okay? in our society, we talk about pink being a girl color, although that's not really true. about 10, 15 years ago it would be considered that and blue is boy. we don't teach about black and white. we just assume that the children are going to understand it. and so the earlier the better. but, again, you know, you have to be careful in terms of how you address it. in this case, it was something that i had never planned to do. but i saw it as a teachable moment because we're supposed to be teaching character education to our students, no matter what the color of my skin. >> mr. brown, thanks so much for joining me this morning. we're going to continue to follow your story and we'll e

have you back on to see how this comes to a close. again, lincoln brown. thank you, sir, i appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> absolutely. i want to take everybody back to the markets now as we've been talking about watching the dow jones hovering right under 13,000. we haven't seen the dow this close or this high since may of '08. that's before the financial crisis really brought this country to its knees. we're watching that for you and a whole lot more. back after this. follow the wings.

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as you're seeing green arrows across the board with the s&p up by five points right now, the nasdaq up by ten. but, again, the biggest news of the day, the dow breaking 13,000. well, amid tensions and rising tengs, iran is threatening to take preemptive action against anyone it considers a threat against national efforts. now, while iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad is touting his country's advancements in uranium enrichment, the red cross is calling for a daily two-hour cease-fire so aid can be delivered to the wounded and sick there. this follows 16 reported death this morning after heavy shelling from government forces in the central city of homs, a larger military offensive is expected to take back rebel-controlled neighborhoods.

nbc foreign correspondent richard engel has more. is there any indication that this cease fooer, wish for two hours of peace will be granted? >> reporter: at this stage, no, and without any serious diplomatic pressure it seems very unlikely. the syrian government is not acknowledging that there is a rebel movement. the syrian government is calling the opposition gangs of terrorists, and without the syrian government's wishes, then there will be no cease-fire. there's also a much more ambitious plan that is being talked about for a humanitarian corridor that would allow supplies to get into some of the conflict zones. we saw some pretty heavy conflict overnight in the city of homs, and that is an area where rebels have been able to hold onto one particular neighborhood, and for about two hours overnight u.s. time, the

syrian arm which has been surrounding this area and the entire city of homs for 18 days started to unleash a heavy bombardment and 16 people have been killed including two children. and toactivists we've been speaking to has described this area held by armed syrian members of the opposition that the situation is very dire indeed and they would like either a humanitarian corridor or less ambitiously this red cross cease-fire. >> richard, what are the biggest fears when they talk about the fact they want to step up this larger military offensive to reclaim the rebel-controlled territory? how much worse is it going to get? >> reporter: well, it could get a lot worse. if you picture the city of homs, the city of homs has been surrounded for a long time. it has been really surrounded and had the noose tightened for the last 18 days. in this one neighborhood,

bobalamar, there have been probably 300, perhaps even several thousand -- it's hard to know -- members of the armed opposition to free the syrian army, and they've been able to hold off syrian troops using rpgs, using light weapons, tharnld big fear is the syrian regular army will decide do a major sweep through that neighborhood, and there could be a massacre if that takes place, and that is the immediate concern. there would also be high casualties inside. it is not easy to fight in urban areas. the free syrian army has rpgs, and rpgs have been able to take out tanks in the past. so it's a tough calculation on both sides. >> nc chief correspondent richard engel. the billionaire behind newt gingrich's super pac, how much he's willing to spend on gingrich or whoever.

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welcome back, everybody. the last several minutes, the breaking news that the dow broke 13,000, now hovering right below that psychological benchmark. we haven't seen the dow trading at that level since may of 2008. that's before the financial crisis that we've been struggling to recover from in this current economy. but today, break 13g,000 on the dow. green arrows across the board. in other areas. as we talk about money today, republican rick santorum has more than doubled, more than doubled his fund-raising numbers

over the past month. the former senator hat a million in the bank. now it's the millionaires and billionaires behind the candidates' super pacs who have become the real power players in the gop race. none as much as sheldon adelson who's on the latest issue of the "forbes" magazine. steven is here. did i say it right? adelson. >> adelson. >> it's like tomato, tomato. if gingrich has gotten the bulk of this money and the bulk of the headlines out of this money, do we have an accurate figure of really how much he's invested in newt gingrich? >> he's given 11 million and there's rumors that he's going to put another 10 million on top of it. 10 million bucks for him is

nothing. it's like me going to get a few beers. it's nothing to him. he says he's prepared to give another 100 million plus to gingrich or someone else. it depends on, you know, who is going to beat obama. >> he's said this of super pax. i'm against wealthy people attempting to influence elections but as long as it's doable, i'm going to be doing it. >> yeah. >> so it's basically do as i say, not as i do kind of theology here, but this is a guy who really wants to be a part of the process. and as you say, he's got the money to do it where thrilling around 10 million bucks is a simple thing. >> he didn't think the rule is right but as long as it's in the rule book, he's going to play the game. he says people on the left, george soros, they give millions of dollars and i'm going to give millions on the right. it's like a cold war of money. they're going to be pairing off each other. in tend it's going to be -- kind

of a money cold war. >> so, again, he's against negative campaigning and said, quote, i believe in saying my moments are very good people and i'm confident a lot of them would do a good job but i would do a better job and here's why. >> that would be a way of trademarking himself publicly. why is he so invested in newt gingrich and not mitt romney? if he wants someone to win, why doesn't he go after someone who's inevitably going to win? >> he and newt go way back. he likes newt for two reasons. a, strong support of israel, and number two, he likes his conservative politics frp he likes romney -- i'm sorry, he likes gingrich, but he told me i like rick santorum and mitt romney to. but he wouldn't have give it to ron paul. he doesn't like his isolationist

policies. >> who he's going on date with next, we don't know if it's romney or rick santorum? >> as long as it's not paul, he's going put all his chips behind that person to try to beat obama who he's calling a soci socialist these days. >> thank you. appreciate it. mitt romney has left the 2012 door cracked for his republican competitors and his inability to lock up the nomination has conservatives daydreaming about another alternative out there. if that's the case, the biggest names passed on 22 months ago but that hasn't stopped behind-the-scenes push to get a fresh face into the race. you're look at some of the names being kicked around right there. eric holcomb is here with us from the indiana party. it's nice to see you. you made a comment about whispers regarding mitch daniels. how inundated is he with calls to insert himself into these

calls, to become the fresh face for the 2012 primary? >> good morning, thomas. any time you accept an assignment as seen as a state of a union response, you're going to hear. that's why people have been attracted to governor daniels for so long. he seems to have a way of articulating a vision and then having the courage to attack big problems, one after another and see them through, and he has a record of results. so i think any candidates that republicans have in the field right now can and ultimately will win come november. but it's really the style of mitch that has attracted so much attention. >> okay. so let's talk about the realities of who is in the race right now. so the feedback of rick santorum, mitt romney, what do they get among the voters that you speak with in indiana? and just to remind everybody, that's a state that went for obama in '08. >> that's right.

i would point out that president obama in 2008 earned it the old-fashioned way. he visited it 48 times. what i hear is they hope the candidates in the republican column will follow suit and visit the state early and often. so we're encouraging our candidates to come here, make a connection with hoosiers, and build out their base of support, and i think they'll realize the fruits of their labor come the may primary. >> when we talk about the race and certain voices calling for governor mitch daniels. what do you think about his decision not to run is based on racial issues? is there a feeling his marital past becomes part of his political future. >> no, not at all. the governor says he wants to be part of the conversation. he wrote a book about saving and keeping the republican. he's answered the call when folks have asked him to step and pitch in. doesn't mean he thoos be the

actual candidate. geevget candidates running right now putting in the sweat and all the labor that goes with traveling the country nonstop. so he'll do his part to pch in, and i expect him to continue to do that. >> eric holcomb with the indiana republican party. eric, nice to see you this morning. thank you, sir. >> thank you, thomas. >> absolutely. here's other stories topping the news light now starting in los angeles where a former school teacher charged with molesting more than 20 young students is being arraigned in kofrmt police say they found about 600 lewd photographs taken by mark bernts showing some children as young as 5 years old blind folded with their mouths taped shut. he's being held on $23 million bail. burns has not enter add plea yet. to save greece from catastrophic default, the eurozone partners pieced together a $170 billion emergency bailout package. oil prices are edging closer to

$105 a barrel after that deal. crude traded above $105 yesterday, its highest in some nine months. let's look at the boards again. the breaking news in this hour, the dow hit above 13,000, now hovering 11 points below that mark. about 2,000 people protested outside a u.s. military base in afghanistan. u.s. helicopters fired flares to break up the crowd, which chanted and threw stones following reports that copies of the koran were burned inside bagram air base. labors reportedly found burnt copies of the holy books in the garage. they say this was not intentional and authoritieses will handle the matter. on a different note, stephen colbert returned to the "colbert report" last night. the popular comedy central host began with a broad message to his 91-year-old moms who recent illness caused him to cancel two tapings of the show last week.

>> i can understand why the machinery of this great nation ground to a halt last week when you were denied this. evidently having 11 children makes you tough as nails, confidential to a lovely lady. >> so colbert is the youngest of 11 children. his father and two brothers were killed in a plane crash in 1974. i want to take you now to the white house. as we told you this morning the president is expected to speak this morning on the payroll tax cut extension that was passed by congress. let's listen in. >> middle-class tax cut back in september as part of my broader jobs plan, and for the typical american family, its is a big deal. it means 40 dollars extra in their paycheck and that 40 dollars helps to pay the rent, the groceries, the rising cost of gas, which is on a lot of people's minds right now. laronda hill, right here, told us how 40 dollars covers the

water bull for a month. so this tax cut makes a difference for a lot of families. you can get back over here, joe. and more people spending more money means more businesses will be able to hire more workers and the entire economy gets another boost just as the recovery is starting to gain some steam. congress did the right thing here. they listened to the voices of the american people. each side made a few compromises. we passed some important reforms to help turn unemployment insurance into reemployment insurance so more people get training and the skills they need to get back in a job. we passed an initiative that will create jobs by expanding wireless broadband and ensuring that first responders have access to the latest life-saving technology, and we've got some first responders here. we're very grateful for the work

they do. [ applause ] >> so in the end, everyone acted in the interest of the middle class and people who are striving to get into the middle class through hard work, and that's how it should be. that's what americans expect, and that's what americans deserve. now my message to congress is don't stop here. keep going. [ applause ] keep taking the anxious that people are calling for to keep this economy growing. this may be an election year but the american people have no patience for gridlock and just the reflexive partisanship and paying attention to poll numbers and the next election instead of the next generation and what we can do to strengthen opportunity for all americans. americans don't have the luxury to put off tough decisions, and neither should we.

there's a lot more we should do and there's plenty of time to do it, if we want to build an economy where every american has a chance to find a good job, pays well, and supports a family. for example, congress needs to pass my plan to help responsible homeowners save about $3,000 a year by refinancing their homes and mortgages at historically low rates. [ applause ] >> we're doing what we can administratively to provide some americans that opportunity. i want always americans to have that opportunity and we need congress to act to do it. congress needs to step up and support america's small businesses, and especially companies that want to export. it's time we stop rewarding businesses that send jobs overseas, start rewarding companies right here that want to create jobs in the united states and sell to other countries as opposed to exporting jobs to other countries. that's what we need to do. congress can act on that. [ applause ]

>> congress needs to make the buffett rule a reality. this is common sense. if you make more than a million dollars a year, make more than a million dollars a year, you should pay a tax rate of at least 30%. and if you do that, thal mean t if you make less than $250,000 a year, like 98% of americans do, you shouldn't see your taxes go up, and we won't be adding to the deficit. these are things we can do today. it shouldn't be that difficult. now, whenever congress refuses to act, joe and i, we're going to act. in the months to come --

wherever we are we're going to take steps to keep this economy moving. we have a choice right now. we can either settle in a country where few people are doing well and everybody else is struggling to get by, or we can build an economy where everybody get as fair shot and everybody's doing their fair share, and everybody is taking responsibility ander's playing by the same set of rules, and that's the economy that i want. we still have some struggles out there. we're coming through the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. we've got a long way to go before every person looking for a job can find a job. but where we stand now looks a lot different than where we stood a few years ago. over the last 23 months businesses have createsed 3.7 million new jobs. manufacturers are hiring for the first time since the 1990s. the auto industry is back on top. our recovery is gaining steam.

our economy is getting stronger. we're heading in the right direction. the last thing we should do is turn around and go back to the policies that weren't working in the first place. that's why it's so important for us to stay focused and congress to continue do the things that the american people want to see done in order to improve the economy. we've got build an economy that is built on american manufacturing and american-made energy and is improving the skills and capacity of american workers. we've got to make sure that when we think about energy, that we're fueling america by homegrown and alternative energy sources that make us more secure and nondependent on foreign oil. with geevet to make sure that everybody has an opportunity not only for four-year colleges but two-year colleges, the community colleges that dr. jill biden is doing such a great job of

promoting throughout the country. most of all, we geev tot have a return to some home spun american values, hard work, fair play, shared responsibility. that's who we are as a people. and the reason i'm so confident in our future is because the folks who are standing with me here today, some of the folks who are in the audience, because all the families and workers and small business owners and students and seniors that i've met over the last few weeks and that i've met during the course of my political career, you know, when times are tough, americans don't give up. they push ahead, they do whatever it takes to make their lives better, their communities better, and their countries better. and with or without congress every day i'm going to be continuing fight with them. i do hope congress joins me. instead of spending the coming months in a lot of phony

political debates, focusing on the next election, i hope that we spend some time focusing on middle class americans and those who are struggling to get into the middle class. we've got we have a lot more work to do, let's do it. thanks for the great work that you did. appreciate it. proud of you. >> president obama speaking in the this morning talking about the payroll tax cut extension and the unemployment insurance that the going to be afforded to americans across the country who are unemployed. look at the crowd here, these are all people that have tweeted, i believe, about what it means to them, $40 a paycheck to the average american family and how things have made a difference for them or will make difference for them. we will be back after this. i'm a marathon runner,

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newt gingrich blasted the president on national security. it's time for the sidebar. >> i believe that president obama is the most dangerous president on national security in my lifetime. >> well gingrich said the president is particularly weak when it comes to confronting islamic terrorists, the public seem it is to disagree. the president has high approval ratings on fighting terrorism. the first family took part in a online exampcampaign, the first lady's favorable ratings are sky high.

republicans have not picked their nominee but marco rubio is a front-runner for a second man. and new jersey governor chris christie third, having marked up 47 mentions, and mark kelly, husband of former increase woman giffords is writing a children's book about a mouse that goes into space. he got the idea from his first shuttle trip. all right, that will wrap it up for me today, i'll see you tomorrow, do not go anywhere, "now" with alex wagner comes your way after this. what? pay you? for what? for unloading the dishwasher?! kid, you need to pay me for making this delicious -- whoa. hold on there, mom. kitchen counselor. um, mom, i think what she means is "greasy dishes." yeah. in fact, check it out.

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santorum is talking christian dominionism is genesis 1:28 a winning strategy, this is "now." joining me today, contributor robert traynham, ms. cox and the always daper richard wolfe, the dow is hitting 13,000 and santorum is talking about the reverend jeremiah wright. >> he went to reverend wright's church for 20 years, you can question what kind of theology he has, but it's a christian church and he said he is a christian. he goes to a christian church now. >> we just got out of the president talking about fair play, hard work, american values and then you have this happening in the republican race, is the party