courthouse near the entrance of this courthouse. this is jefferson county, texas, not very far from houston. beaumont, texas is, specifically. you see a little activity. what we know right now is that this alleged gunman is in custody. we've not been able to get any new information. again, this is video. this is not live but this is only just a few minutes ago. some of the images coming to us. you see one person there injured being taken away via ambulance. as we have been told at least at this hour, one person killed, at least four other people injured in this incident that played out outside the courthouse near the entrance of this courthouse in beaumont, texas. we're working to get more details. we'll keep you up to date. we're following another big story, as well. president obama and prime minister david cameron just wrapped up a major joint news conference at the white house where they presented a united front over afghanistan. the president and the prime minister said thetd are committed to the transition plan

they agreed to. >> i don't anticipate at this stage that we're going to be making any sudden additional changes to the plan that we currently have. >> we will not give up on this mission because afghanistan must never again be a safe haven for al qaeda to launch attacks against us. >> now, that news conference comes amid tense moments today on the tarmac where defense secretary leon panetta made a surprise visit into afghanistan. a man driving a stolen pickup truck drove on to that runway as panetta's plane was touching down. joining us now from kabul, nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel. tell me more details what we know regarding this incident on the runway. >> reporter: we know that the defense secretary is safe. we've been told that he was never actually in any physical danger. but it is a bizarre incident as

it happened, we were told, the defense secretary was coming in to land on the runway. his plane had just apparently touched down on the runway when an afghan man driving a stolen truck was able to get onto the runway. he was driving at high speed along the runway, drove into a ditch. that stopped the car. he got out of this truck and then set himself on fire. he may have been covered in fuel or some other kind of accelerant to use the military's term. he survived is the incident, was taken into custody and is now being treated for severe burns on much of his body as u.s. investigators are trying to determine what his motivation may have been. the defense secretary who was fairly close by, close enough that they had to find an alternate location to taxi his plane apparently did not see this incident, was unaware of it. and then went on to address u.s.

troops and has now arrived here in kabul. >> obviously on the minds of those troops as well as the defense secretary is this massacre allegedly at the hands of the u.s. soldier. richard, we are getting more information about how this all played out, including perhaps some video of the surrender of this soldier? >> reporter: we're unlikely to see that video. it hasn't been released. but we have been told that will several afghan officials wrshs shown the video. they were shown the video taken by a surveillance blimp that will many bases have around the perimeter. they were shown it in order to convince the afghan officials that there was only one person involved. there were reports initially that a group of soldiers went on a shooting rampage. and the video, according to afghan officials, shows this of staff sergeant as he was approaching the base. he will stopped, he was walking. he put his weapon on the ground,

put his hands in the air and then we have also been told by u.s. officials when he was specifically asked about the shooting, he told u.s. troops "i did it." >> can you tell me more what the defense secretary said to those troops today? >> very similar to the president's message. one of staying the course, that terrible incidents happen, that war is hell, but that the -- these terrible incidents should not disrupt the strategy. so a message that the current plan will stay in place and that plan is to reduce the u.s. footprint here by about 23,000 troops by the end of the summer and then pull out the remaining almost 70,000 by the end of 2014. >> richard engel, live for us in kabul. the "news nation" is following the mounting pressure on mitt romney and newt gingrich after rick santorum's sweep of alabama and mississippi primaries. right now santorum is scheduled to start hosting a town hall. he's in san juan is, puerto

rico, ahead of the primary there sunday. he met earlier with the governor. meantime, mitt romney has not said a word publicly since his losses in the south. his campaign did issue a statement congratulating santorum. romney, by the way, is in new york for fund-raisers and attempting to fight the perception problem as he struggles against the underfinanced and underorganized santorum. newt gingrich campaigns later today in illinois which holds the next big republican contest next week. he's carrying on despite heavy pressure from santorum and many others for him to drop out. >> the time is now for conservatives to pull together. the best chance to win this election is to nominate a conservative to go up against barack obama who can take him on on every issue. >> this is proportional representation. we're going to leave alabama and mississippi with a substantial number of delegates increasing our total going towards tampa. >> let me bring in our "news nation" political panel, radio

talk show host michael smerconish, radio talk show host steve deace who looks like he's on twitter or something with us and "washington post" deputy national political editor anne kornbluth. michael, you've been talking to the people on the radio all day long. what are they saying about last night? >> well, if you're waiting for a moment where there's going to be a day after and we're going to say holy smokes, mitt romney really cleaned up last night, that day is never going to happen. it just is a reflection of the current composition of the republican party where there has been an exodus of those who are moderates. and so you know, he's winning ugly. and that's the way he's going to continue to win. i don't happen to subscribe to the theory that if newt gingrich gets out, rick santorum can necessarily overtake him because i think the math is now on romney's side. >> yeah, but ann, listen, we had the headline the last vote winning ugly. we've heard this before.

the bottom line is, mitt romney got the heck out of done, he moved from the south. his internal polling obviously showed him something here. he can talk about delegates. his campaign can talk about delegates. we know the importance there, but the -- his feet is certainly to the fire right now. >> that's right. and michael's exactly right. the narrative, the big picture is not working in romney's favor. he's not able to declare any great victories week after week. he's had some wins here and there, but no big away games as they put it. so the they're going to talk about the math. that's what they've been doing and talking about the delegate count. and it is in their favor. now, that's not necessarily where he wanted to be, certainly not when you talk about heading into the general election. he doesn't look like a winner. and the wind obviously not at his back. he's doing the best he can working with what he's got. i think at this point, that's why they're going to look forward. the terrain, we've written, gets much better for him after this.

>> i want to play the what john heilemann said this morning on cnbc regarding this argument that the romney camp is putting up. let's play, john. >> romney is making a math argument when the best overwhelming number of the base does not want him. and they're rebelling against that argument. like don't tell us the math's on your side. this is about conviction, about ideology. >> so ann, what's your thoughts to you what heilemann said, this is about ideology, conviction. you've got mitt romney in new yorking with fund-raisers today, silent last night. >> i don't know what other choice romney has. what's he going to do, drop out? he's making the best case he's got which is that he's got more delegates and he's got a trajectory to win more than the others. it's not where they would want to be, not the story fin would want to be telling. that's the story he has. what we've seen in a lot of the exit polling and it was less true last night than in previous races but nonetheless, people said if they wanted to beat obama, if that was their top

priority that romney was the one they wanted to vote for. that's what they're going to hold on to as hard as they can. >> steve, i meant to say you were joining us via skype, i said twitter. i know you're no fan of mitt romney. no love lost. you are a staunch conservative. what happened to newt gingrich last night? you and others were hoping he could win at least one of those southern primaries. he did not. >> i think what's happened, tamron, is newt gingrich other than mitt romney is the only candidate in this race who's had a chance to control his own destiny. he's been the national front-runner twice. he failed in the end to close the sale. it's pretty clear after last night that conservatives are not willing to find out en masse if the third time is the charm. it is now a two-man race the rest of the way. >> so you think it's time for the person you endorse, newt gingrich to drop out of this race? >> i think it's a decision that newt has to make. >> what do you think? you're very opinionated. you don't ever hold back. >> i think it's not as simple --

michael is correct. the delegate math is not as simple as if newt drops out, that increases santorum's chances because we're dealing here with a fine night number of delegates, 22086. any delegate that would have gone to newt or santorum wasn't going to go to romney anyway. the real question is, can romney get to 1144. i did more of the math again this morning. i find if santorum wins pennsylvania, it is mathematically impossible for romney to get to 1144 before june 5th. i have him going all the way to the final flaerm utah on june 26th before he can get to 1145. so i think this is more where whether or not the base wants enough of romney to let him get the nomination before the convention than what happens was newt gingrich now the rest of the way. if you were newt, i would try to find a way to make my influence felt one last time by backing santorum. lest he find himself in the position ron paul is in where maybe voters and the media find him increasingly irrelevant.

>> michael, you just heard steve deace talk about the possibilities of a big outcome for rick santorum. the early polling, quinnipiac shows he has a wide lead in pennsylvania. 36%. romney with 282%. you nope pennsylvania. that's your home turf. what do you make of those numbers an how this certainly could solidify strum as the front-runner? >> well, i think steve and i are a couple of geeks because most guys are filling out ncaa brackets. instead, we're sitting there doing the path on what's going to happen on the delegates. in pennsylvania, here's the bottom line. if favors rick santorum for a primary, but not for a general. he's the favorite to defeat romney in the primary but in the general election, i maintain than romney is a far stronger candidate against barack obama. >> well, ann, let me bring you in. you already filled out your brackets. you're far ahead of these fellows. with that said, you know, when you look at pennsylvania, we look at after each contest no

one seems to be able to follow the momentum. they come out strong that night. they've got a big speech and then sure enough, the next contest comes around and the steam is let out of the building or steam is let out of that campaign that seemed to be on top. what is your prediction as we move forward, illinois, pennsylvania, for santorum especially? >> well, i mean, i degree with michael certainly that santorum has a better shot with pennsylvania in the primary than in the general though that's a completely different can of worms. you're right. there has been no momentum for anybody. it's hard to see now which states would actually provide it if you couldn't get it on super tuesday or coming out of the south. each state has been one by one. as a print reporter i'm relieved because i hate it every four years when somebody has joementum. we're skipping that this time. we have two different story lines here. one story is about the effect of

each race on the next set of races and then there's the delegate count. they're two different stories about the campaign sometimes at odds. >> steve, one last time from the bubble literally that we've got you in, tell me what mitt romney needs to say. he's in new york fund-raising. you are, as i love to point out, the die-hard conservative here. what does he need to say, if anything? >> i don't think there's anything he can say. i think the die is cast. i think that they realize this. he's tried every form of pandering, tamron, that there is. he is just not wanted by his base. his best hope really is in the end, if he wins the nomination, if you can't be with the one you love, honey, love the one you're with. that sort of lack of enthusiasm didn't help gerry ford in '76 or hert ber walker bush in 92, bob dole in '96, john mccain in 2008. we've seen this movie before and we know how it ends. when the conservative base is not energized, republicans lose presidential elections. >> the love the one you're with

never works for anything, politics or relationships. so, that's a little bit of advice for you all. thank you, steve, ann, greatly appreciate it. michael, thank you, as well. coming up, what's newt gingrich's next move? >> what state coming up do you think you can win? >> i don't know yet. >> doesn't note yet? what's the plan? well, i'll talking with vince haley, the policy director for gingrich's campaign. and in a rare and stunning decision this story is getting so much attention. u.s. wildlife officials give a native american tribe permission to kill not one, but two bald eagles for religious purposes. we'll get the details on what's happening there plus, can we call it spring fever? it certainly feels like may in much of the country. record high temperatures. join the conversation on twitter. find my twitter page@tamron hall. ♪

i'm michael bazinet, president of creative digital imaging of bangor, maine. we have customers all over the united states. we rely on the postal service for everything that we do. the eastern maine processing facility is vital to our operation and our success. if we lose this processing facility we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times. we would have to consider layoffs as a result of that. closure of this plant will affect all of us. ♪ the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be. ♪ because your moment is now.

let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu.

back to politics now. how about this, rick santorum newt gingrich ticket. the idea is the purportedly being floated by a senior advisor to gingrich. is it true or perhaps an effort for gingrich to keep attention as the steam seems to be let out of his campaign. joining us now to talk more about it, the policy director for the gingrich campaign, vince haily. thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> so as i understand it, we were just told that rick santorum was speaking in puerto rico where he said he did not ask the speaker to get in the race so he's not going to tell him to get out of the race. however, we know that the santorum super pac made comments even last week regarding gingrich getting out so there could be a two-man race here. what do you say to this. >> that's not going to happen.

we're continuing on to tampa. it's very clear none of these candidates can sew up this nomination before tampa. we would have liked to have won last night. congratulations to the risk santorum campaign. we came in a close second. the fact is, mitt romney can't force this nomination. that's one of the big story line items of last night is that mitt romney is supposed to be the front-runner, supposed to be is the establishment nominee. and that's not going to happen. as the psychology sets in, as he goes to try to win in tampa that two out of three delegates do not want him, he's not going to be the nominee of the republican party. >> and the numbers certainly show the mitt romney cannot secure the support of the base, the most conservative in the party. but those people are not going to newt gingrich, they are going to rick santorum. i want to quickly read with politico. a couple things we should watch for. with apologies to gingrich and his supporters, santorum now has the claim on the title of the conservative alternative to mitt romney. you only need one. you don't need two.

>> well, i dispute that claim. we're not even halfway point here. louisiana on march 24th is the halfway point. take a step back here. newt gingrich stopped romney in south carolina. they went on to florida, newt endured millions of dollars of attack ads and came in second to mitt romney. we had the surprise where santorum won three states. i think it was a blunt instrument to vote against mitt romney. >> tell me what happened last night. >> you had two out of three folks voting in alabama and mississippi for the conservative wing of the party. and you had rick santorum and newt gingrich fighting neck and neck. what's going to happen, rick santorum will come underneath more and more scrutiny if he is perceived as the front-runner, the conservative alternative. in a head to head match-up, people will look at newt gingrich and rick santorum and newt gingriching is clearly going to outshine santorum on those comparisons. >> when you look at the exit

polling from last night, even though people voted for santorum, they still believe romney, not gingrich has the best ability to beat president obama, not gingrich here. >> well, again, more scrutiny on santorum as a person who may be the nominee. rick santorum was a leader in the senate. he was the third most powerful person in the senate. it was the risk santorum republicans that led the republican party to the worst defeat in the 2006 they suffered since watergate. he was partially responsible for that. we lost the congress. nancy pelosi, harry reid were the result. it set the stage for the election of president obama. in 2012, he is basically asking the republican party for a mulligan on losing the congressional majorities. they took balanced budgets and didn't produce a single budget. they took a shrinking national debt and increased it. these are contrasts that will come out with new scrutiny on rick santorum. >> we know that mirror shines both ways and the scrutiny that

the former speaker has endured and will continue to with his record as well which is what the santorum campaign would retort here. we'll see what happens next as we move forward to illinois next week. thank you so much. the republican candidates are gearing up for four more contests. missouri holds caucuses saturday, puerto rico on sunday. but certainly as i mentioned, illinois primary is next tuesday. that's what a lot of people are watching. louisiana will hold its primary sated. let's bring in msnbc contributor jimmy williams. you do not bite into bs. i'm not going to say anyone is bsin' us. what do you make of gingrich's campaign and their rationale? >> i was reading the campaign memo that was sent out by the policy folks and the press people to the gingrich surrogates all across the nation yesterday. and what vick just said is exactly what had he sent out. listen, they are inherent lit strong because mitt romney is

inherently weak. and they feel like that at the end of the day, republican conservatives are either going to having to make a decision, where do the romney voters go when they realize, a, conservatives are never going to vote for ta guy on the convention floor and b, santorum is going to let his mouth overload his butt as my grandmother used to say. that is the thing. their math, their psychology is that will the republican conservatives will then go to the gingrich camp. >> the odds of that happening in your opinion? >> well, i'm the guy that predicted that newt gingrich was going to win last night by a very narrow margin. >> so i should end this segment now because you were wrong? >> no, i was talking to the gingrich campaign and they wering me internal polls showed em up two to five and even in mississippi. one or two points off that, and they were right but guess what, you lose you lose. do i think gingrich -- gingrich has a big problem.

he is larger than life. everybody knows him. he's a serial polygamist as people like to call him per se. he did also do some great things. did he balance the budget. he did do the republican revolution, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. he is a mixed bag of results. whereas rick santorum, you know, and by the way, newt gingrich never lost a race in his life. rick santorum lost by 18 points in his own home state that he can't carry in the general. so then mitt romney's people or the moderates, people making above $100,000 a year and the country club republicans as we like to call them, where will they go if they realize that a majority of republicans in this country i ep caucusgoers and conservative voters aren't going to support mitt romney on the floor of the convention? the question is will they go to gingrich, will they go to santorum. i think the only reason mitt romney is doing as well as he is today is because rick santorum

continues to make gaffes. he continues to do dumb things and say dumb things that his wife he admits so has to reel him back in on and say enough. you've got to stop saying these kinds of things. that was his career in the senate. he's going do it over and over again. that's why romney is doing as well as he is today in my opinion. the base does not like romney. the base does like rick santorum although they're scared of him and look at newt gingrich and think you're a larger than life figure. it's a weak field. >> that is the line of the day a lot of people are repeating. it is according to all of the analysts and the numbers out there and enthusiasm gap with the gop. it's a weak field even according to those within the party. thank you very much, jimmy. i appreciate it. >> anytime. >> still ahead is, democratic congressman steve israel has a message he says for republican who's want to take on medicare and tax breaks for millionaires, "bring it on." plus, we have details on the new

poll that shows just how many people answered this question -- should rush limbaugh be fired. how many said yes? we've got that new poll number out there. first here's a look at the markets in today's money mine.

buying this juicer online was unbelievable. what a bargain! [ female announcer ] sometimes a good deal turns out to be not such a good deal. but new bounty gives you value you can see. in this lab demo, one sheet of new bounty leaves this surface cleaner than two sheets of the leading ordinary brand. so you can clean this mess with half as many sheets. bounty has trap and lock technology to soak up big spills and lock them in. why use more when you can use less? new bounty. the clean picker upper. i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. [ horse neighs ] hold up partner. prilosec isn't for fast relief. try alka-seltzer. it kills heartburn fast. yeehaw!

coming up, new york congressman peter king is under fire after he tweets video of himself taking part in an undercover raid with u.s. marshals. why the u.s. marshals service is now investigating. plus, calls for justice after an unarmed african-american teenager is shot to death by a neighborhood watch captain. the watch captain says he shot in self defense. get the latest on this story. of life with the prius c! ♪ oh, my maltipoo's depressed. but my affordable prius c means i can pay for his acupuncture. whew. i love my pooch.

oh no! my homemade sushi... turned p-ushi! use estimated 53 mpg to find a gluten-free alternative. look, this means i'm a chef. [ male announcer ] be a winner with the all-new prius c from toyota. ♪ why? i thought jill was your soul mate. no, no it's her dad. the general's your soul mate? dude what? no, no, no. he's, he's on my back about providing for his little girl. hey don't worry. e-trade's got a totally new investing dashboard. everything is on one page, your investments, quotes, research... it's like the buffet last night. whatever helps you understand man. i'm watching you. oh yeah? well i'm watching you, watching him. [ male announcer ] try the new 360 investing dashboard at e-trade.

when we were determined to see it through. well i'm watching you, watching him. here's an update on the progress. we're paying for all spill related clean-up costs. bp findings supports independent scientists studying the gulf's environment. thousands of environmental samples have been tested and all beaches and waters are open. and the tourists are back. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. nation" is following right now. bring it on. that's the message congressman

steve interest israel is sending to republicans who want to cut medicare and give tax breaks he says to millionaires. and should rush limbaugh be canned? a new poll shows how many americans feel it's time to say good-bye. and license to kill. u.s. wildlife officials give a rare permit to a native american tribe that will allow them to kill two bald eagles for a religious ceremony. plus, today's "news nation" gut check. niking is apologizing after the unofficial name of its new sneaker offends people in ireland. we'll tell you the name and why they're upset. we begin with the u.s. marshals investigation of peter king during a fugitive raid. the video in the question shows the congressman, this is it, with marshals. it all came light when the congressman tweeted a link of the video. officials are looking into whether the video violates federal policy that prohibits

nonu.s. marshals from filming inside someone's home. we're joined by nick martin, investigative be reporter from the website talking points memo. thank you very much for joining us. so the congressman tweeted out the video and then he attempted to delete it or what happened here? >> yeah, he actually attempted to delete the video from youtube that he had already put up. and by that time, we had already grabbed the video from youtube and had our own copy of it. >> who alerted you to the video? >> his tweet. he put out this tweet a little bit after noon yesterday saying he had been on a ride along with a u.s. marshal service in new york and they had been essentially fugitive hunting. >> his office released a statement saying he was invited by a u.s. marshal to accompany them to a series of raids and was proud to take part. everything was done in come bloins with their procedure. if that's true, why is this being looked into? >> that's a good question.

area hearing conflicting statements between king's office and what the u.s. marshal service is saying. they say they've never had a policy where they allow people to videotape these raids and videotape especially inside residences on these raids. >> i was looking at the video. was he being followed by his own camera crew? >> yeah, that's another question that we're trying to find out. what is he being followed by his own camera crew, was there some other camera crew there. there was a person with the marshall's service who had actually been part of a tv show that isn't on the air anymore called "manhunters is." >> steve seagal rides around on one of those programs. >> he did it. shaquille o'neal has been on ride alongs with police departments. anytime you have a high profile person doing police action with video cameras involved, the chances are good it's going to get unusual. >> your report also indicates the congressman was wearing a police coat and a badge while on this ride along.

the statement say the policy restrictions which prohibit individuals who are not u.s. marshals employees from filming inside a private residence are intended to be in place during all ride alongs. we are currently investigating this matter who determine exactly what happened in this instance. >> yeah, a criminal defense attorney that i talked to yesterday flagged the fact that he was wearing a police coat and a banl and said you know, that's unusual. >> do you hear members of congress often doing this in their down time? >> this is the first i've heard of it. i don't know about you. >> we'll see what the congressman has to say about this. thank you very much. democrats are gearing up for the next big battle with the gop over familiar heated topics. the budget and medicare reform. paul ryan is set to release his new budget next week but the chairman of the democratic congressional committee has come out swinging threatening to reignite a very bitter and controversial battle. in a new political op-ed, representative steve israel

writes "this republican congress of chronic chaos is dusting off last year's same failed playbook where seniors would lose their medicare while republicans give more tax breaks to millionaires and big oil companies. i have one response, bring it on." thank you so much for joining us. i want to read it like bring it on. your words are very, very strong. as we understand it, there's a compromise in the works between congressman ryan and senator ron wyden on medicare reform. >> there is no compromise. >> there is no compromise. >> there is no compromise when it comes to defending is the right of seniors to get their health care. this is a major dividing line between democrats and republicans. of democrats want to strengthen medicare. we also understand that you have to balance budgets. republicans want to balance budgets by asking seniors to pay an additional $6,000 and put them on an allowance to end medicare as we know it but won't ask oil company executives to sacrifice a nickel of the $40

billion subsidies we pay for them. that is the defining line between us. >> as it's being reported, representative paul is working with democratic senator ron wyden on medicare reform that might propose keeping traditional medicare as an option alongside a privatized system. the conversations are very honest when you talk to folks around the country. it is not something that they want to touch, those who receive medicare. the realities of the situation, the gravity of the situation is something needs to be done. >> there's no question and we have always said we will negotiate improvements to medicare, to strengthen medicare and protect medicare. we will not turning it into an allowance for senior citizens. we will not negotiate reducing benefits on seniors. i don't know what it is about these republicans that every year, it's like groundhog day. every march they wake up and say let's ends medicare as we know it and we're not going to let them get away with it. >> the counter would be with many lawmakers on both sides, when this issue comes up, there's a bad case of fear

factor on both sides in that nothing is done and the problem persists. >> there are things that we can do. if we need to balance our budgets why don't we do cuts where cuts make sense but take a look at the revenue side. this is the dividing line. these house republicans are asking seniors to do without their medicare, to be put on a medicare allowance, we're putting the greatest generation on an allowance to spend an additional $6,000 a year on their medicare. but they're not willing to ask millionaires to spend another nickel. they're not willing to ask oil companies to forego a nickel of subsidies. there are things that can be done. let's make sure it's bold, big and balanced. house republicans refuse to endorse balance. >> with all respect to you, of course, we've heard a lot of these points before. there's nothing here that's breaking from what you've just told me. so the reality of the situation at least from your words and what you've painted here is we're at a dead end again? >> we're at a dead end.

there is nothing new because the republicans continue deja vu all over again. every year, every march, you can mark it off on a calendar they say let's balance the budgets by ending medicare as we know it. for as long as they say that, we're going to fight it as the defining issue in this election. it should be medicare, not millionaires. >> are you willing to fight it with an idea of what to do next here? >> here's where we should start. rather than asking seniors to be the first to sacrifice medicare, let's ask oil company executives to be the first tore sacrifice. that's our starting point. meet us in the middle. talk about how we can ask the richest of the rich to do more rather than saying let's end medicare and ask seniors to dig deep near their pockets. >> thank you so much for joining us. we'll see what fruits bear from this latest round of this. wall street is trying to keep up momentum after closing at its highest level since 2007 yesterday. the dow is now on track for a sixth straight day of gains. this surge comes amid news many of the nation's largest banks are strong enough to withstand

the worst case of economic scenarios. cnbc contributor zachary care ral very joins us. let me get your assessment of the stock market first. >> this market continues to rise even though there's a huge amount of skepticism on the professional investing community about the viability of its continual rise. obviously a lot of americans aren't even involved in markets rights now except maybe indirectly through 401(k) and pension plans which is pretty good news in that you are seeing a lot of last year's losses be recouped and then some this year. right now at least, most people don't quite believe this is going to last even though the markets keep going up every day that the employment reports are a little better and the economic news is either a little bit better or certainly not any worse. >> but some of the better news as you put it comes in the form of bank stress tests. and our nation's banks are looking a little bit better but are they lending to small businesses and people out there?

>> yeah, i mean these are two kind of apples and oranges. one is based on the financial crisis of 2008, the federal reserve which has to oversee the system and the treasury department wanted to make sure that banks were sufficiently well capitalized that if everything went to hell in a hand basket and housing prices went down another 25% and employment went back up to 12, 13, or 14% that the nation's banks would at least have enough money not to go under, that's the point of this. no surprise, a lot of the banks with the exception of citigroup passed those tests adequately. that has very little to do with weather banks then will give hone for new mortgages or new business creation and the bank's argument is because we feed so much money for these stress tests, we don't have enough then to give to small business creation and mortgages. that's an extremely controversial point. that's the one they're making. >> i want to fast forward to this new pew research center poll with the president's approval rating. earlier in the week, we saw it below 50.

now you've got this poll saying that the approval is 50% compared to last month 47%. we've heard a lot of talk, zachary, about gas prices affecting the president's popularity, the confidence of voters out there on the president. but this new poll shows 50% how do we factor it into this whole talk of gas prices? >> if gas prices stay high and cease to go up much for the next months, it won't be fuel. pun intended. it will not allow the republicans to make the argument that thing are getting worse. it's the rate of change. i'm not trying to discount the degree to which it's a real issue for people. it's just if it stays at $3.80 a gallon for the next six months, it won't be something people can continually come back to, this is obama's fault. to some degree gas prices haven't gone up much in the past few weeks. the other side of it is the republicans are doing such a good job making themselves look bad, i think there is a degree to which that's creating kind of a negative halo and is positive

for obama. >> zachary, thank you very much. greatly appreciate you joining me. next on "news nation," a native american tribe given permissioning to kill two bald eagles for a religious ceremony. religious reasons. u.s. wildlife officials have not issued that kind of permit in recent history. so what prompted the change this time? but first, there is a lot going on today. here are some things we thought you should know. a new bloomberg poll shows 53% of americans believe rush limbaugh should be fired. 30% of republicans think so. the host still under fire for the comments he made about georgetown law student regarding her testimony before a congressional committee. those are the things we just thought you should know. we always hear about jobs leaving america. here's a chance to create jobs in america. oil sands projects, like kearl, and the keystone pipeline will provide secure and reliable energy to the united states. over the coming years, projects like these could create more than half a million jobs in the us alone.

from the canadian border, through the mid west, to the gulf coast. benefiting hundreds of thousands of families throughout the country. this is just what our economy needs right now. oh! [ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ amen, omen

i worked at the colorado springs mail processing plant for 22 years. we processed on a given day about a million pieces of mail. checks, newspapers, bills. a lot of people get their medications only through the mail. small businesses depend on this processing plant. they want to shut down 3000 post offices, cut 100,000 jobs. they're gonna be putting people out of work everywhere. the american people depend on the postal service.

introducing gold choice. the freedom you can only get from hertz to keep the car you reserved or simply choose another. and it's free. ya know, for whoever you are that day. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. i'm martin bashir. coming up, call him puerto rico rick on the stump in the shining star a day after dominating dixie. so what's it mean for millionaire mitt and how long will newt play his game of

charades? plus, the president and prime minister. one friendship, two very different financial philosophies. now back to tamron. >> is the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old unarmed teenager is being investigated by the florida state attorney's office. that tops our looks at stories around the "news nation." police say trayvon martin was unarmed when he was shot and killed after getting into a fight with a neighborhood watch captain in a gated community outside of orlando. the man george zimmerman told the police he shot him in self defense. martin was carrying a small amount of cash and candy according to authorities. police say they will not charge zimmerman because they cannot disprove his story. after growing outrage from his family, the state's attorney srnls investigating to determine if zimmerman should face charges. >> today a group of clergy demanded justice for trayvon martin and planning to hold a huge rally.

april 30th marks the launch of the first american spacecraft sent to the international space station since nasa assess last launch last july. if successful, it would set the stage for a private space company to fly american astronauts to the space station in three to five years. one of the most viewed stories online today, federal officials are granting a native american tribe a permit to kill two bald eagles. now, the northern arapaho tribe in wyoming filed a lawsuit claiming that refusing the permit violates its religious freedom. joining me now the grio's christopher witherspoon. in the past, there was some kind of arrangement where the tribe would receive bald eagles that had already died. it sounds like this is a strange story. >> the tribe uses these parts as part of a religious ceremony called a sundance ceremony. it provides unity and togetherness for the tribe. but basically in the past

they've gone to the u.s. repository and gotten old carcasses, decayed body parts of bald eagle parts. now they are able to kill two bald eagles. >> why now? what's changed? >> there isn't an exact reason of a change. they just decided to be more lenient. the official statement is the service must comply with other laws and regulation. they issued a modest total of permits for the one-time take of bald eagles to tribes ornatetive american individuals for use as part of religious ceremonies. so this is basically just abiding by other laws they have to abide by to support religious rights. >> what about the status of the bald eagle? one of the articles i saw said that they were protected now and that's why there was an opening here for this. do we know anything about that? >> yeah, so they were endangered but no longer.

>> now protected. >> just protected now. they're no longer a rarity. >> what are people saying online about this. >> some people are saying we have some comments here, despicable. these birdses are a national symbol of freedom. another said these are a native american customs. we don't have to agree or like them, but there should be some mutual respect here. so it comes down to mutual respect. that's what the -- >> for some people. this is an incredible story. a lot of people are talking about it on msnbc.com. thank you so much for joining us with the details. today's "news nation" gut check, did you hear about this one? nike has issue add apology after the unofficial name of its new st. patrick's day themed sneaker apparently offends plenty of people in ireland. why it's causing this controversy. i love the fact that quicken loans provides va loans. quicken loans understood all the details and guided me through every step of the process. i know wherever the military sends me,

i can depend on quicken loans. aflac! ha! isn't major medical enough? huh! no! who's gonna help cover the holes in their plans? aflac! quack! like medical bills they don't pay for? aflac! or help pay the mortgage? quack! or child care? quack! aflaaac! and everyday expenses? huh?! blurlbrlblrlbr!!! [ thlurp! ] aflac! [ male announcer ] help your family stay afloat at aflac.com. plegh! the passat is one of nine volkswagen models named a 2012 iihs top safety pick. not...that... we'd ever brag about it... turn right. come on, nine. turn left. hit the brakes. huh? how did that get there? [ male announcer ] we can't hide how proud we are to have nine top safety picks like the passat and jetta. so we're celebrating with our "safety in numbers" event. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease the 2012 jetta

for $159 a month.

time now for the gut check. nike is apologizing over the unofficial name of its new sb

dunk local sneaker which is arriving just in time for st. patrick's day. the name of the shoe officially black and tan. to americans, a black and tan usually refers to a drink that combines pale ale beer and dark beer. in ireland, it's a derogatory term referring to british force who's violently stopped an uprising in the 1920s. the color of the uniforms, black and tan. a los angeles times story says it would be akin to naming the sneaker the taliban or the nazi. in a statement, nike said this month's nike is scheduled to release a quick strike version of the nike sb dunk low that has been unofficially named by some using a phrase that can be view the as appropriate and insensitive. we apologize. no offense was intended. again, this is the unofficial name of the shoe. it's not what the nike named the shoe but what some retailers referred to it as the color. do you think the unofficial name

of the shoe given the little history we just told you is offensive? go to facebook.com/newsnation to cast your vote. that does it for this edition of "news nation." i'm tamron hall. martin bashir is up next. chocob. the what? half man, half beast. he'll stop at nothing to sink his fangs into people who steal other people's chocolate temptations. but you guys have nothing to worry about, right? [ man ] aah! [ campers screaming ] nice job, chocobeast. thank you. [ male announcer ] six indulgent layered desserts at 150 calories or less. temptations. it's the first jell-o that's just for adults. but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice...

and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

only hertz gives you a carfirmation. hey, this is challenger. i'll be waiting for you in stall 5. it confirms your reservation and the location your car is in, the moment you land. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. this one's for all us lawnsmiths. grass gurus. doers. here's to more saturdays in the sun. and budgets better spent. here's to turning rookies - into experts, and shoppers into savers. here's to picking up. trading up. mixing it up. to well-earned muddy boots. and a lot more - spring per dollar.

more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. lay down a new look - with earthgro mulch, now 3 bags for just 10 bucks. good afternoon. it's wednesday, march 14th. and here's what's happening. ♪ in constant sorrow all through his day ♪ >> mitt. the inevitable? >> senator santorum is at the desperate end of his campaign. >> winner of the republican primary in alabama is rick santorum. >> rick santorum will win the state of alabama. >> rick santorum will win. mississippi. >> rick santorum we now project is the winner. >> we did it. >> mitt romney, the man of constant sorrow. >> strange things are lapping to me. trees are the right height. >> kills himself a bear. >> i love that will music. don't you love that bluegrass. >> my