i learned president clinton said you have found your calling. you are a car salesman. >> thanks for being with us this morning. we'll see you back here on monday. stick around for "the daily run down ". mitt romney picks up key endorsements. rick santorum walks back some of his most controversial statements and newt gingrich digs in his heels. we are with the republican race as it takes a southern lap. brace yourselves. the house pass as jobs bill with support from both sides of the aisle. is this the beginning of a new partisanship?

this is "the daily run down." developing news out of the labor department. the february report shows strong job growth for a third straight month but not enough to bring down the unemployment rate. it remained at 8.3% despite the addition of 227,000 jobs. the chief economist for moody's and probably the most often quoted economist on capitol hill. thank you for being on the program today. we saw about 8.3% growth. 200,000 jobs added. this is the fifth straight month of declining unemployment. the third straight month of job growth over 200,000. the last time we saw this run of consecutive growth was in early 2011 and that led to summer stagnation. is this going to continue on for the rest of the year or could we see a drop off? >> good point. i suspect it will not be a straight line for the job market.

if you told me in the spring summer and we start getting 150 k or 175 k i wouldn't be too surprised. in part that is because the economy is being hit by higher gasoline and oil prices. that is going to slow growth. also the weather has been fantastic. warm weather has juiced up the economic data. there will be payback. the ups and downs i think it is fair to say the job market is moving in the right direction. >> how much of these numbers are due to the fact that a lot of people have stopped looking for jobs? that is one of the main arguments from republicans on capitol hill, they say people have given up. do you see that in these number snz. >> increasingly less so. we have seeing increased growth in the labor force. you saw that in february, a big increase in the labor force. increasingly the decline in the unemployment rate is due to more jobs. it is not due to a weakening in

the labor force. that obviously is good news. >> we saw some growth in this report amongst business services, health care and construction gains -- construction went down. manufacturing and leisure and hospitality. manufacturing how does it look in this? seeing growth in the last few months. >> manufacturing very good. a lot of it is auto related. the vehicle sector has really come back quite strongly. vehicle sales are back to prerecession levels and that is reflected in a lot of job growth in vehicle assembly. the auto industry uses a lot of other manufactured product, steel, fabricated metals, textiles. everything produced across manufacturing base goes into a car. manufacturing broadly is benefitting from strong export growth. u.s. manufacturers, if they survive what we went through they have to be doing something

right. they have to have a low cost structure and a market niche. we are taking advantage of that. we are seeing good solid consistent job growth. >> here in washington the president will say this shows that my policies are working. republicans will say this is not enough. how much do these job numbers have to do with policies coming out of washington, d.c. or are they just typical? are they just part of the economy as is? >> it is part cyclical. you can't keep our economy down for long. there is a lot of entrepreneurs in our economy and that ultim e ultimately will shine through. it is also fair to say that policy played a key role here. in a normal time i don't think economic policy makes a large difference one way or another but in times of chris s it makes all the difference in the world. i think the policy response is a very important to explaining why

the recession ended as quickly as it did. >> the stimulus worked a little bit you think here? >> i think it was a success. it ended the recession. it jump started a recovery. it is not a source of long term economic growth. it was never intended to be but it did what it was supposed to do. >> thanks for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. turning to politics the republican race is heading south and mitt romney is down playing expectations for winning dixie. >> i realize that it is a bit of an away game but i think we are going to pick up some support in the states that remain this month. i'm confident we are going to get some delegates. that's, of course, what this is all about. >> newt gingrich has called tuesday's deep south primaries in alabama and mississippi must wins. can rick santorum put him away? >> i think we can win a victory

of extraordinary proportions. this is without any question the most important primary that mississippi has had for the presidency. mississippi matters. >> we feel very confident that we are going to win kansas on saturday. we come into alabama and mississippi and this race should come down to two people. >> nbc news senior political editor mark murray joins me now. thanks for being here. >> good morning luke. >> mitt romney playing an away game. did we think mitt romney would have to worry about alabama and mississippi. >> it wasn't friendly territory for him in 2008 in southern states. we saw south carolina wasn't good. we saw super tuesday that oklahoma and tennessee weren't good states for him. there aren't the voters that normally make up for a winning romney coalition. luke, importantly for romney they see this as a delegate

game. a second place finish in mississippi and alabama nets you important delegates. they want to be able to when they are not playing on wa to s along at a slow and steady pace. you have a lot of calls from some saying you are the reason we can't catch up to romney and have a conservative run for president. >> i was either in first place or i was in second place. senator santorum declined to leave. he is in better shape. he would like me to leave. this is all a game. i think this is going to go on probably into june. >> we both know that newt gingrich and rick santorum will not get out to the last second where they have to. how much is there truth in the statement that if newt gingrich were to get out of the race rick santorum could take mitt romney?

>> i think rick santorum if newt gingrich got out would be able to do better in a lot of the remaining contests and maybe pick off a few states. mitt romney has a very big lead in the delegate race. the race is far from over, luke. the thing is mitt romney has a pretty sizable lead and it would be difficult for santorum to catch up even if newt gingrich is out of the race. this is why this week is so important in these contests in alabama and mississippi and the caucuses in kansas on saturday is that if rick santorum is able to win all three that does put pressure on gingrich to leave. we have been seeing that rick santorum wants gingrich out of the race. >> rick santorum having to apologize very much so for things he said weeks ago. listen to what he said about college snob. >> usually the phone rings quickly. if she isn't there in person to say you shouldn't have said

that, the snob comment did not go ever well. she reminded me it was snobbish but don't call them a snob. i said i made a mistake. >> rick santorum having to talk about that. he also had to talk about the jfk speech on religion that made him throw up. still an elex con on this race. how much does it hurt rick santorum to talk about these issues? >> i think it hurt him in the michigan race where it seemed like he had a lot of momentum to upset mitt romney and rick santorum was not able to win. the issues were all about social issues. they weren't talking about the economy. you see rick santorum. in a way he came across pretty well in that interview on cnn. he is admitting i went too far. my wife says put on the brakes a little bit on some of that rhetoric. we are talking about it but maybe not as much as super

tuesday. the story has changed a little bit where it has become more of a story about math and who remains in that race as we are talking about does gingrich get out. >> one of the interesting things i saw and hear is that mitt romney is sending his son to guam this weekend. does that show the breadth and organization of the romney campaign. it is almost like with hillary and obama. >> leave no delegate behind. a person who lives in guam can't vote in the united states election but they do matter as far as some delegates go in this republican primary race. you are seeing that the romney campaign wants to build this inevitablealty. on some of those island territory tlz is a sizable number of mormons. they are going to be able to bank some of these folks. you are not seeing rick santorum

sending anyone -- >> you never would think getting to guam would play a role. >> it shows that they have to turn this into a math game that every delegate does matter isn't something that is incredibly strong, the argument i'm the winner. it is more we have to get the 1144 delegates. >> texas filing deadline today. no new candidates. >> i think the candidates in the race will end up getting the nomination. >> signed, sealed and delivered. thanks for joining us. we appreciate it. romney starts his day in mississippi where he picked up a surprise endorsement from the state's governor and introduced himself as an adopted son of the south. >> he is turning me into an unofficial southerner and i'm learning to say "y'all" and i like grits. strange things are happening to me. >> peter alexander is in

jackson, mississippi, where he is traveling with the romney campaign. is he connecting there in the south with his new dixie brethren? >> not exactly born on the bayou is mitt romney. he is trying to sell himself as an adopted son of the south. he is hosting his event here in jackson, mississippi. a place where he could do pretty well. having conversations with people here and having just heard with mark murray, they are sort of playing along with this under dog narrative right now. they say we don't expect to win here. we want to do well. they are following their plan as they describe it saying to me you will see us successfully executing even if we don't finish first place. they are, though, again trying to focus on the present today reacting to job numbers. i spoke to a senior advisor for

the romney campaign who says 37 straight months of 8% plus unemployment is nothing to cheer about. the real focus is what will happen on tuesday where mitt romney, rick santorum and newt gingrich battle out for this state as well as alabama. speaking to a young woman who brought her sons here said i am very conservative. one of the people most people would assume wouldn't vote for mitt romney but i think he is the guy to beat barack obama. they believe that is a message that can sell here. >> peter, something i found interesting, was mitt romney not going on the campaign trail this weekend. why is that? >> he has been on the road almost nonstop. only his second day at campaign head quarters. he is going to be off the road on saturday and sunday relaxing in the sun i believe in florida.

have some fundraisers planned. while newt gingrich will be hammering away here in alabama and mississippi and will make note of the fact that he is not in this state. the challenge is the second place strategy isn't terrible. they get the delegates. a second place finish won't knock them away for the path towards the nomination but does bolden the competitors. >> peter alexander the race looks like it continues to go on and on. we'll see you reporting from the american simowen no time soon. still ahead we will get team obama's take on the brand new february jobs report. plus we'll be joined by one of the most outspoken conservative freshman. pain at the pump and we'll hear from the head of exxon about what can push gas above $5

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. february's job report showed the economy adding 227,000 jobs. freshman republican congressman bill of michigan joins me now. thanks for being on the program. >> thanks, luke. >> let's get your initial reaction to the job number. 8.3% unemployment. it's the fifth straight month of

declining unemployment. third straight over 200,000 jobs added. we just had mark zandy on. he said this is evidence that the stimulus is working. do you see this as the stimulus working? >> a couple of things. i'm not as convinced it is because of washington, rather despite washington. states like mine in michigan with governor snyder who have really changed the atmosphere there. and certainly my family is in construction. i'm a small business owner dealing with ready mix concrete and sand and gravel. we have seen a slight uptick. the cliff that we went off back a few years ago is dramatic. it is going to take time to come back on that. if you dig into the numbers there is another line that the department of labor releases which is those people who have either voluntary removed themselves from that search or are under employed.

we see that as 13 or 14 or 15% rather than 8%. it is positive and good steps forward but certainly not enough yet. >> congress had a bipartisan victory yesterday at least in the half, passed the jobs bill on a smaller scale. if you see numbers such as this, 8.3% that seems to be moving in the right direction you have been an outspoken critic of the president. would this inspire you guys to try to come together in more bipartisan ways or are we looking at what happened yesterday as a one and done deal to try to change the narrative that you guys needed a win. >> i hope it is not a one and done. i'm not here for my party and my president and his party. i'm here for the second district of michigan and the american people. we have put a tremendous number of things on the table, everything from positive energy

exploration ideas in keystone and others to smaller things like this coming out of financial services. this is the republican idea, the republican plan. we are seeing the holdup really in the senate. i think this was positive yesterday. some smaller steps but we need those small steps because there is no magic bullet. >> i want to talk to you a little bit about the transportation bill. this is something that has sort of ping-ponged between the house and senate on capitol hill. listen to marry reed and john boehner yesterday. >> we have had enough of this. the american people have had enough of this. i hope the speaker will spare the american people another unnecessary battle and pass the jobs bill. >> we are going to continue to have conversations with members about a longer term approach which most of our members want. at this point in time the plan is to bring up the senate bill. >> you're a member of the gop

caucus. as you know there has been a lot of disagreement about the size and scope of the legislation there. do you think that you as a house gop member, are you guys risking not having your imprint on this legislation? speaker boehner, was that at threat from him do you feel? >> i don't feel that it is a threat. there are a lot of us trying to get to yes on this. we think the senate has a very narrow short view. we would rather see a longer term solution to this. but i think ultimately the american people are looking at it and saying we have to start spending money differently. one, spend less. two, spend it smarter. and that i think is what people are really looking for. for me personally i would like to see more of that decision making back at the state level to ensure that those projects that are moving forward have the support of the local governments and local businesses. >> as you know if the

transportation bill is not passed by march 31 the federal government will not be able to collect the federal gas tax on gasoline and diesel. would that be good for the federal government not to be able to collect that tax? >> certainly the system isn't just going to be able to fall off the cliff like that. we have to see a transition, a ramp down and a different way of doing that. i don't think that is going to happen. i think you are going to see something pass to ensure that we don't have that happen because there are legitimate national needs for that whether it is our harbors, interstate transportation via highways and those kinds of things. people are looking for no more bridges to nowhere. no more bee hive museums jammed into a transportation bill. those are the things we need to make sure. >> do you support the federal gas tax? >> sure. i think there is a portion of it. here is the question. how do we deal with it and how do we collect it?

my preference is collect it at the state level and instead of all of it shifting to washington, d.c. where we have to have the battle where it has gone up from 88 cents to 94 cents and we call those victories somehow, rather than having that power reside in washington, d.c. i would rather have it stay in the states and have the states send a portion to washington, a penny or two to really trulry work on the national initiatives that should be there. it is constitutional that we have the federal involved in making sure we are promoting interstate trade. >> we thank you for joining us this morning. take care. >> how will wall street react to the new jobs numbers? the market run down is next. plus what got a newly elected mayor in new mexico banned from city hall? and nearly a year after the earthquake and tsunami in japan

we are back for aook at the ongoing recovery. first today's trivia question, who holds the record for representing the most states as a senator? first correct answer will get a follow friday for us. the answer and more coming up on the daily run down. it is very difficult. pull out your history books. it's a tough one. [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition? ♪

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good job numbers today but spiking gas and oil prices are renewing fears the economic recovery could still falter. matt lauer sat down and asked about fears there. >> i would not expect prices to reach that lechbl. the unknown in here is if the markets view of the political

risk, if the rhetoric gets more heated, if there is a problem someplace else in the world that flares up that it could certainly drive prices up further. >> said an attack on iran could have an immediate but not necessarily long term consequences on gas prices. aaa has the price up nearly 30 cents in the past month. the opening bell is ringing on wall street. it is time for the market run down. becky quick is here joining me. how are you? >> i'm good. we watched the jobs numbers coming out. up 227,000. that was a little better than the market was expecting. the consensus was for 210,000 or 213,000 depending on the services you watched. because we got slightly better numbers it looks like the dow will be opening up about 30 points. numbers have been coming in just

about in line with expectations. the market has not seen any radical moves. we are seeing higher expectations ratcheting up as we get closer to the number. we have had an adp report. two months with strong numbers. at this point a lot of market watchers saying it would take a serious surprise to really move the number. they were talking north of 250,000 in gains. the good news is we didn't see dropoff either. it would take about 100,000 or below that to cause real concern. at this point we are motoring along. you will see the dow industrials up by about 30 points. >> slow and steady wins the race. coming up, we'll hear from the white house on the jobs numbers. "the daily rundown" will be back in about 30 seconds.

welcome back to "the daily rundown." other stories making headlines. today marks the filing deadline for texas for candidates to get on the real presidential primary ballot. candidates have until the close of business today to file the necessary paperwork. texas will hold the primary on may 29 and has 155 delegates available. senate democrats defeated a republican proposal to revise a keystone pipeline on thursday.

it would have taken approval authority away from president obama and given it to congress and have allowed for construction to start immediately. the amendment failed to meet the 60 vote threshold getting only 56 votes. the mississippi supreme court is upholding pardons granted by then governor haley barbour during his final days in office. the court said it has no authorities to overturn the pardons. he issued nearly 200 pardons before leaving office earlier this year. the newly elected mayor of sunland mark, new mexico can't get into his office. he is barred after being indicted on charges relating to a blackmail scheme. a documentary about alleged african war criminal has been

viewed nearly 50 million times in just four days. the 30 minute film was released by the nonprofit group, invisible children, and is trying to make kony famous. sunday marks the one year anniversary of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hitting the western coast of japan that killed 19,000 people and caused the shut down ofthal nuclear reactors at the fukushima power plant. >> reporter: good morning, luke. all along this battered coast communities devastated by last year's tsunami are remembering that terrible day with sadness but also with the determination to rebuild their lives. entire towns were oblit rated when the raging water swept in following a 9.0 earthquake.

one year later much of the mangled wreckage that littered the coast has been cleared and former towns have become barren wastelands. most has been piled into vast mountains of debris. some of it feared toxic. that is equivalent to 19 years worth of trash in the worst effected area. more than half a million buildings were destroyed. there is still no idea of how to get rid of it all. while there has been plenty of talk there is no blueprint for rebuilding. thousands still live in temporary homes. there are signs of hope, though. we filmed with a group of sea weed farmers harvesting for the first time since the disaster wiped out most of the region's fishing fleet. they have been supported by the u.s. charity, mercy corp. what there is no shortage of is

spirit. the people are resilient. that is the most important asset as they look to the future. our friday political panel will be here next to wrap up the week. this sunday on "meet the press" an exclusive interview with republican presidential candidate rick santorum. and a debate boo tween o maly and mcdonnell of virginia. the white house soup of the day, ragen gau in' cajun gumbo. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc.

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is. i'll tell you what i would like on my tomb stone. i'd like to be here reading it. >> this day in 1996 legendary comedian george burns died at the ripe old age of 100. burns credited his longevity to cigars and martinis and living his job. god bless george burns. the republican establishment isn't saying much openly when it comes out to this long process. listen to canter's response when i asked him yesterday whether or not candidates should drop out, the ones who aren't mitt romney. >> we are about a system in this country. everyone can speak their will. they are free to conduct their lives in a legal way. we are a party of ideas.

>> our panel today, msnbc contributor perry bacon, the washington post's ruben and editor and chief of think progress.org. jennifer, you heard it from eric cantor, it is every american's legal right to stay in the race for president. that is a republican conservative writer, does this elongated primary hurt romney? >> this is a system that set up. national journal has a couple of pieces out explaining it is not the weakness of romney but the way the delegates are set up. there are a lot of proportional delegates awarded. even if he was winning them all it wouldn't be enough to win the race. it is a slow process viewers saw. he is building delegates one

after the other. so he is probably not going to do very well in kansas but he is perhaps not going to win in alabama but perhaps pick up votes there. a bunch of island primaries, guam, hawaii, people say that's kind of small beans. those delegates add up. there are about 70 delegates in those island primaries. he is probably going to do well because he has a big organization and can go up in the air with ads. it is a long process but a steady process. i would suspect that unless newt gingrich is able to win mississippi or alabama there will be a lot of pressure on him. >> you have followed politics for a long time. mitt romney did not think he was going to have to seriously contest in alabama and mississippi. he said it is onway game. >> i think it is accurate. i was in alabama with huckabee

in '08. hard to imagine mitt romney is going to do well in alabama and mississippi. the establishment wants to push santorum and gingrich out of the race. the problem is the reason to have them stay in is they are going to win primaries. it is hard to imagine kansas, mississippi. it is hard to think of romney of winning those. >> if you look at the general demographics here mitt romney doesn't do well with people who make less than $100,000. he does well with people who make over $200,000. he is losing states with a lower median income and suggests he has an inability to connect with the broad american public. these are red states. he is the leading republican. he should be winning the state. >> he is going to win those with his hands tied behind his back. he did win the under $30,000

house hold income in ohio. he is beginning to broaden this out. >> part of this is a media sensation. is barack obama going to win alabama? >> it's irrelevant. >> are alabamaens and mississippians excited about romney? >> they are excited about barack obama. >> not about romney. >> he should be able to make an affirmative case. jennifer is excited about him but a lot of republicans are not. >> i want to talk about this related to what rick santorum said about this becoming a two person race and how much more it can excite the race. let's take a look at that video? >> when it becomes a two person race for the republican nomination the conservative will win that nomination and we will defeat barack obama in the general election. >> before i throw it to you guys. how much does gingrich hurt

santorum now? >> he hurts him in terms of accumulating delegates. santorum will gelt more delegates in alabama if gingrich is out. we have already had a two person race at times in michigan and ohio. santorum when it gets down to it can't seem to beat romney when it counts. in illinois another matchup. i'm sure santorum will say i'm outspent. you have to win the race. >> the play for romney campaign is to try to help gingrich to see how much they can help. for gingrich the question is after these states do you think romney or santorum is the better conservative and the better representative for your party? i think if he is true to his principles he would back santorum. >> i think romney is going to put these wins together. santorum had a pitch that he was the blue collar voter and going to get it. it is a matter of time and

romney will eventually wrap things up. we'll be back to get more of this discussion. we asked who holds the report for representing the most states as a senator. the answer james shields, the distinguished senator from illinois, minnesota and missouri. he was first elected to represent illinois in 1849. he became one of the first two senators from minnesota in 1858. in 1879 he became missouri senator. we'll be right back. you you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc to tell me you're giving me the silent treatment? ummm, yeah. jen, this is like the eighth time you've called... no, it's fine, my family has free unlimited mobile-to-any-mobile minutes -- i can call all i want. i don't think you understand how the silent treatment works. hello? [ male announcer ] buy unlimited messaging and get free unlimited calling to any mobile phone on any network. at&t.

february's jobs report completed the best three month showing in years. on average nearly 250,000 jobs have been added each month since december. allen kruger joins us from the white house. thanks for being on the program, sir. >> my pleasure. >> john boehner the house speaker reacted immediately to

the jobs numbers this morning saying "it is a testament to the hard work and entrepreneurship of the american people". what specifically from the administration's policies have helped spur this job growth. >> i think there are a number of actions that the president has taken that have helped going back to the recovery act which put the brakes on the recession. the economy was sliding at an alarming rate when the president took office. and then the payroll tax cut, proposals from the american jobs act that the president made such as extending unemployment benefits which are helping unemployed people to pay rent and buy groceries. >> how much of this do you feel is relate today the faedjob?

have you seen that within your numbers or are we finally moving forward where those folks are even looking? >> well, over the last six months, we haven't seen a drop in labor force participation, and, in fact, last month nearly 500,000 additional people were part of the labor force. so what we're seeing over the past 24 months has been job growth in the private sector each month despite headwinds that have been coming from europe or from higher oil prices due to turmoil in the middle east. so the drop in the unemployment rate has primarily been a result of more people finding jobs. >> construction jobs were down about 14,000. how much does that concern you? >> construction was ground zero in the economic and financial crisis, and we've seen pretty weak residential construction, although that has shown some indications of turning around.

the president proposed additional investment in frs infrastructure to put more construction workers back to work. i think if congress were to invest more funds in infrastructure, that will help to put more people back to work. >> when you guys were fighting for the stimulus to be passed, you said that if it, in fact, became law that unemployment would not go above 8%. we're here at 8.3% again. do you see it ever going down to 8% or are we going to be living now for the foreseeable future above the 8% number? >> you know, when those forecasts were made, the economy was contracting at a much greater rate than people had appreciated at the time. at the end of 2008, the initial report was that gdp was falling at a 3.8% annual rate, and that was revised. we learned last year it was falling at an 8.9% rate. so the problems that the economy was facing when the president

walked into office were much, much worse than i think people had appreciated at the time, but i think one can be confident that the economy has been moving in the right direction. 24 straight months of private sector job growth. we've seen the unemployment rate drop by almost a full percentage point over the last year, and it's extremely important that we take the actions we can to sustain the recovery to keep up this momentum. >> can you win an election with 8.3% unemployment? >> no, i leave it to others to comment on the politics. my job is to advise the president -- >> smart man. >> you're the money guy. thank you for joining us, mr. kruger. >> my pleasure. >> let's bring back our panel, perry bacon, jennifer bacon, and faj sa cure. it seemed to be some optimism. >> it's better to be creating 225,000 joobs a month than losing jobs but the fact remains we have a very highing a gra

gath g -- aggregate number of the population that are unemployed. i don't think the president can win with 8.3% unemployment. the notion that they didn't understand how bad the economy was is belie by the facts and the president's own words. talking about the economy being the worst since the great depression, talking about the measures they were going to take. he was asked what's going to be the test for your re-election, and he said it's going to be jobs, going to be the economy. he's going to have to live with this record. he can make whatever excuses he wants -- >> do you like the record here? >> of course, there's two straight years of job growth, private sector job growth. the actual bad news is that public sector declines have been in the range of 650,000 over the past four years, and so that's something i think we've got to look at, and i think that's why we need investments in teachers and cops and firefighters, money to state and local governments so they can continue to hire,

and i think that's what the infrastructure and the jobs bill that president obama has proposed, i feel like that's where the emphasis is going to be. if you want to make this number higher, we have to start looking at hiring teachers, bringing those construction workers back on scale to build schools and bring on cops. >> perry, you were with the capitol hill, and the thing that was the fuel for the house gop and for the senate republicans was these jobs reports, that unemployment is not going down enough, still around 9%. how could the gop pivot? what's the other message here on jobs? >> in terms of the jobs message, i think the overall message is 8.3% is still pretty high unemployment. it's hard to argue when things are getting better. americans tend to evaluate the economy on the trend line and it's going up. the overall rate is still too high and it's higher than when he started being president. >> but you can't be seen as rooting against. >> shameless plugs. >> the university of louisville

cardinals are playing in the big east semi-finals so good luck. >> mitch mcconnell bakts you on that. >> saturday night the madison high school barnd will be playig for their district wide eval waulti wation. >> harvard basketball. >> harvard. i made it a policy never to reference harvard on this show but i will give you credit. congratulations. that other school across the river in boston, congratulations to you guys. that's it for the daily rundown. chuck todd will be back on monday. good luck, chuck. we miss you here. coming up next on msnbc, michael smerconish fills in for chris "jansing & co." have a great weekend. do not go anywhere. [ justin ] my first car by justin l.

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chris jansing. voter suppression or ballot security? the controversy over requiring a photo i.d. to vote is a debate playing itself out across the country. tonight the epicenter is alabama. there's where hundreds are gathering right now for the fifth and final day of the march for civil and voter rights led by the reverend al sharpton. it commemorates the selma to montgomery voting march rates that took place in 1965. the marchers are protesting voter i.d. laws that have passed in 15 states saying they're an attack on hard-won voting rights. 13 states have introduced proposals to strengthen voter i.d. laws. joining me is the reverend al sharpton. i take it you see sconcerted activity, this is not a coincident on the part of all these states. >> not at all. when you look at the fact that according to all of the data