a sucker for young adult films. all right. we'll see you back here tomorrow. stick around for "the daily rundown." the supreme court hears arguments about the mandate. what does the court's recent history say about how they will vote this time? he stands by his words but as they pounce, a look back at how mike failed from over the years. plus, more than a decade into the war, more that two-thirds of americans think they shouldn't be there. it's tuesday, march 27th. this is the daily rundown. i'm chuck todd. a few more people are outside of the supreme court.

welcome to the main event. in two hours the supreme court will turn to whether congress has the power to require almost all americans to buy health insurance or pay a penalty. the argument about the mandate is the core of the debate over the role of government which may be the most important question that the presidential election decides. and the argument that divides fairly neatly by party. yesterday, senate republicans railed against the requirement. >> it is a monumental, historic insertion of federal power if the government can say that. >> we're asking the government to, please, leave us a shred of freedom. don't make us buy a product that we don't want to buy. >> a funny thing about the health care mandate, nearly all of its early who opposed it at

times are now defenders. why? it was much considered a conservative idea here's newt gingrich in 1993. >> i am for individuals having health insurance and having to require health insurance. >> he says he was just reacting to what he considered a worst option to being proposed. mitt romney was making a similar argument. >> i know some people are saying, gee, your plan is not conservative. i'm saying, yes, it is. because right now in this country people who don't have health insurance go to the hospital if they get a serious illness and get. >> the only ones adjusted the mandate, even president obama once spoke out against it when

he was a candidate against hillary clinton. now the 26 states challenging the health care law say that while the constitution gives the to regulate commerce, it gives no and in other words they can't force people to buy something they don't want to boy. the obama administration says the law regulates the entire health care market, something that eventually everyone is involved in. what did we learn out of day one? nearly all of the justices appear to think the penalty is not a tax. >> congress has nowhere used the word tax. what it says is penalty. and so why is this a tax? >> this is not a revenue-raising measure because if it's successful, nobody will pay the penalty and there will be no revenue to raise. >> nbc news justice correspondent pete williams is about to head into the

courtroom. tell me this, pete whochlt are t who are you most curious to hear question? >> i would say anthony scalia. he would normally be inclined to vote against something like this but he's been willing to give a very broad power to congress when it comes to regulating congress. let me give you an example. a couple of years ago there was a case of a woman who grew marijuana in the backyard of her home. it is legal in this state. the dea came, took her plants down. she sued, she said, you can't do that. i'm using this in my own yard and the court said, no, the government can control it and justice scalia said, first of all, her marijuana is no more than an instant away and someone without insurance is nevermore than an instant away from the emergency room but if you

basically -- congress has the right to regulate even local things that if you aggregate them together nationwide become an interstate issue. so -- and two other things, chuck. two of the most conservative appeals courts scheduled to uphold this law you might say are good friends of justice scalia. jeff sutton, a former scalia clerk in ohio. his running buddies have found this to be constitutional. it's going to be very interesting to watch him, as justice kennedy in play like this. >> very quickly, the action outside, bigger today? >> yes. more organized today. of course, it was cold last night. we're all in our winter clothes today. imagine the people who -- there are people lralready in line to get in today. but there were people camped out overnight to try to get in. they had a very cold night here

last night. >> go get your seat. pete williams, just across the yard from me. let's call it flex-a-sketch. the same overreaction we saw in the romney campaign -- nor noncontroversial truth about politics, greeted president obama's hot mike moment yesterday. political opponents jumped on the comments, tried to take advantage of an apparent slip. >> there are a few things we know. we know that president obama systems in poland and chek republic, to link nuclear defense and what we don't know is what president obama has in mind for working with the russians after his re-election when he would, as he put it, have some flexibility. >> although the president might have just been speaking prag mat

clee about election year politics simply a delay to put them off? it was immediately clear that the president wanted to put this off. covering a microphone while making the rounds at the nuclear security summit and then at a try lat tri-lateral event. he quickly took a question. >> first of all, are the mikes on? if i'm consulting with the pentagon, with congress, if i've got bipartisan support, and frankly, the current environment is not conducive to those kinds of thoughtful consultations. so i think the stories that you've been writing over the last 24 hours is god evidence of that. i think we'll do better in 2013. >> though the president's hot mike remark drew plenty of

attention, it was mitt romney's reaction. he responded to it while at a san diego town hall. >> when the president of the united states is picking with the leader of russia saying, he could be more flexible after the election, that is an alarming and troubling development. this is no time for our president to be pulling his punches with the american people. >> romney even accidently said that iran, quote, must have a nuclear weapon. that was a misspeak. democrats leaping on what they thought was an overly strong statement about where russia stands in american foreign policy. >> if he's planning on doing more and suggest to russia that he has things that he's willing to do with him, he's not willing to tell the american people. this is to russia. this is, without question, our number geopolitical foe.

they fight every cause for the world's worst actors. >> there is a question about that. there is a dispute in the foreign policy these days about how much of an ally versus foe russia is these days. that is where this conversation is. i think it's fair to say it's a minority view these days about russia. there is a lot of discussion about putin. that's a whole other debate. >> the good news for romney, he was 3,000 miles away and avoided getting into the mandate. of course, he wants to make health care the mega issue this week as he called it on the steps of the supreme court. >> this is the most important issue of government rule over people's lives, both economic decisions and, of course, their decisions about even their own personal fact. unfortunately, the worst person to make that case is mitt romney and that's why, as i said, we're here today and he's not.

>> santorum tried to milk his meltdown reminding republicans at every opportunity that he would take on the new york times and turn the rope line episode against the romney campaign. >> any good conservative who hasn't had a flare-up with the "new york times" isn't worth their salt. you talk about desperate and pathetic, mitt romney can't run on his record. here we have with the whole world watching what is going on. mitt romney is 3,000 miles away. >> meanwhile, mitt romney standing against a repeal obamacare backdrop in san diego, carefully avoided that number one topic of conversation for every political junkie right now. he skipped any mention of the supreme court and instead santorum. >> i'm not going to worries what rick is falling these days.

when you fall further and further behind you get more am nated. >> what's romney's current debate in massachusetts, this was his answer yesterday. >> it's a matter of constitutional direction. states have the power to provide mandates if they wish to do so the federal government does not. in the case of obamacare, he's put in place $500 billion of new taxes. $500 billion of medicare cuts. >> finally, a dream ticket due for some? santorum seems to think so. >> would you even consider it? would you consider it? >> look, i would do in this race as i always say, the most important race in our country's history. i'm going to do everything that i can. >> you're keeping your options opened? >> i'll do whatever is necessary to help our country. >> santorum is ready to consider

it. >> a country with an extremely complicated and delicate relationship with the vatican, as he celebrated an open air mass, he will fly to havana where he will meet with raul castro. what kind of reception from the russian people is the pope receiving? >> a warm reception. thousands of people lining the parade route. the same is as he includes a pass where he pays hommage to a private meeting with raul castro

and it's expected that he will meet with fidel castro. he called upon cuba to find alternative to marxism. he called himself a pilgrim of charity and reconciliation. he spoke on behalf of the catholic church. in his remarks, the president railed against what he calls the injustices of the american trade embargo against cuba. in an interesting twist here in another pilgrimage between cuban exiles and those here on the island, the arch bishop of miami will come here to the historic cathedral behind me to celebrate a mass with that group coming in from miami to havana. chuck? >> mark potter in havana for this historic visit. more to come on this special

edition of the daily rundown. live here from the supreme court. next, talk about hiring our heroes. senator jim webb joins me on the challenges facing our veterans and repeating vietnam era mistakes. plus, an end to the violence? could there be an actual end to the bloodshe had or is this simply a delay tactic? a look at the president's schedule as he finishes up the trip to korea. back here for domestic politics. i'm good about washing my face.

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all of the networks of nbc are supporting our veterans and helping them get a job. the post 9/11 g.i. bill is all about that but there are concerns that it's being abused. of kourcourse, now u.s. senator good to talk to you. >> good morning. you look cold. >> i am a little cold. i'll admit that. let's talk about this g.i. bill. what parts of it -- i understand you are concerned what kind of safeguards are you trying to add into this? >> first of all, let's talk

about the g.i. bill as it exists and what we're trying to do in terms of the veterans population that we're talking about in terms of helping people get into their careers. this is the best g.i. bill. which paid for their books and gave them a monthly stipen. in world war ii, which is why the bill was only a flat rate and not as good as this one. so you have a situation -- it's a correction. i wouldn't define the g.i. bill with this problem. we have a situation where some of the for p-profits have not helped give a future. if you're being looking overall at this pool of veterans coming out right now, i think first of all we need to understand that we're dealing with three different elements of the

veteran population. you have the citizens soldier, even though it's an all voluntary military, we tend to forget that the majority of the people on the ground floor have one tour and and they need this ben it to get into the cycle and we have the garden reserve. i ran those programs for three years. we're using them in a way that we've never used them before. they are having a hard time in terms of continuous retired community. they have a different set of circumstances and actually have been doing fairly well. >> senator, i want to read you

an article the serious plight of returning veterans during high unemployment are not respond to routine programs of assistance. we should prepared to undertake special emergency programs to cope with the problems of returns servicemen. this was written in february of 1972. this was the concern in vietnam. are you concerned that we're in the same period? because that's the one similarity, which is we have a rough economy. >> we're always -- we always have an obligation up here to ensure that the people have the right transition into the rest of their lives. vietnam was different and we kind of forget the model here. in the year that i was in vietnam in 1969, we lft lost twice as many dead on the battlefield as we have lost in iraq and afghanistan combined

over the last ten years but we did not have in that era the repetitive deploemts that the smaller group of people have right now. it's a totally different situation. we're lucky we're following the numbers, the last month's numbers on veteran employment figures for this particular group were actually pretty good and we want them to get better. at the same time, we have put good problems and the government spending three times as much per veteran as it did when i was a council back then. and helping in the transitional

period and especially someone in the military that. >> it seems like a one-way given conversation and maybe they are compensating and doing enough. do you feel that they are? >> i think the universities need to do some catch-up and the g.i. bill, as we designed it here s. a relatively new phenomenon. there's a 9 million pill going back to these schools. and they can help people figure out how to match up with their programs and we're way behind on that. that's way behind to tighten up

the g.i. bill. >> all right. senator jim webb, sponsor of this post- 9/11 g.i. bill. good to talk to you. >> good to talk to you. >> the networks are going to focus on "hiring our heroes" and we'll speak to congressmen on the challenges facing veterans today. universities, if they set aside a couple of those athletic scholarships, i'm just throwing out an idea. next, the dow kicked off the week. plus, trayvon martin's parents and the new account of what happened on the night that the 17-year-old died. but, first, today's trivia question. how many presidents appointed zero supreme court justices? give us your answer @chucktodd. we'll be right back.

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that the power of the home depot. break out the gardening gloves. miracle-gro garden soil is now 3 bags for 10 bucks. i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most.

ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. law enforcement officials are preparing to leak to the "orlando sentinal" that it was trayvon martin that martin threw the first punch. martin's parents lashed out at authorities for attacking their son's character reporting that their son was suspended from school. a number of afghan army soldiers after a foiled sue soid bomb after vets were found in a guard box inside the afghan military headquarters in kabul. speaking of afghanistan, in

a news poll, more than two-thirds, or 69%, feel that the united states should not be at war anymore. that's a 16-point increase in the past four months. there may be a breakthrough between the west in iran over the nuclear program and the six world powers. they may restart talks as early as next month. even though dates have not been confirmed. it could be as soon as april 13th or 14th. the opening bell just rang on wall street. hi, becky. >> hey, chuck. do you remember where you were in 1998? >> yeah, i remember. i won't say why but i remember. >> you remember where you were? because that's how far you really have to go to see a beginning of a first quarter for the stock market life we've seen this time around. it was 1998, 14 years ago, that we've seen gains this time around.

bernanke's comments helped fuel the market to a gain for the dow and that means right now when we are just at the end of the first quarter, we are looking at 8% gains for the dow. 12% gains for the s&p and almost 20% gains for the nasdaq. that has a lot of people scrambling to try to figure out if they can still get in on this run, if the bull run will continue. today we are opening relatively flat. kay shiller just came out with their news. you have differences in the markets and three markets doing very well are places where the downturn started. phoenix and miami and washington, d.c. you see gains but numbers are also down in seattle, san francisco, and san diego all are coming in on that. so we'll keep our eye on this but great, great gains. >> it is.

baseball fans remember, though, 1998, year of the steroid. >> good. >> hopefully it's not the stock market on steroids. coming up, burned on the hot mike. microphone mishaps. and the critical question, can the federal government force everyone to have health insurance? the three justices you should be listening most to. you're watching a special edition of "the daily rundown" live from the supreme court. [ male announcer ] if you think any battery will do... consider the journey of today's athletes: ♪ their training depends on technology. [ beeping, ticks ] and when their devices are powered by a battery, there are athletes everywhere who trust duracell so whether they're headed for london or the journey has just begun... they rely on copper to go for the gold.

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control. but he was joking about it by the end of the day. these kinds of comments seem to take on a life of their own. president biden dropping the f-bomb on live television. >> [ bleep ]. >> thank you. >> the obama campaign is now embracing that moment. you can actually buy this shirt on the campaign's website for the low price of 30 bucks. we don't want to just pick on this administration. although they have a history of picking the wrong place and wrong time of telling the world what really they are really thinking. >> what they need to do is get syria and hezbollah to stop doing this [ bleep ]. and it's not just here in america, then prime minister gordon brown had his own crash and burn moment when a hidden

camera recorded his own opinion about a voter. >> should never put me with that. ridiculous. >> timing is everything. >> that was just before the british people voted for a different party and brown lost. perhaps the mother of all, ronald reagan kidding around about the soviet union before a live radio address in 1984 except the president was already live. >> my fellow americans, i'm pleased to tell you today that i signed legislation that allows russia forever to begin bombing in five minutes. >> those comments were broadcast worldwide. needless to say, the soviets were not pleased. the lesson here, always assume that someone is listening at that instance or any point in time. back to the supreme court. does congress have the power to force everyone to carry

insurance if they opt not to? neal who covers constitutional law and covering politico for years, although i don't think i can say that. josh, you wrote about the florida judge that talks about the, quote, broccoli mandate. that somehow if this is seem constitutional, that it may open up another door. is the droodest attempt ever or is this simply a reminder that congress has had this problem in the first place? >> that's a big question. he it's similar to whether they should regulate inactivity. if you don't do anything, do you have to comply with what congress has forced you to do? it's flown in front of the court, judge vincent as well as the 11th circuit court of appeals. it's a valid question. what is the limit?

if congress can do this, many people don't think it's that close to congress' power but it's not entirely clear where that edge is. that's probably one of the biggest arguments that they have here. >> you talked about folks inside the obama administration and in the democratic legal community and they don't think this is going to be a close call. here is why. if you look at the history of particularly of justice scalia, justice kennedy and justice roberts, that all three of them view that federal government. >> the two justices in recent history have the most concern about the power of the state versus the federal government aren't there anymore. chief justice rehnquist and sandra day o'connor or even scalia and kennedy, lito not quite as clear, don't seem as concerned about the scope of the federal power. >> it seems to me that alito has never overturned a law.

>> he's very pro federal government. i think alito may be the strongest justice in the room in terms of going with the federal position. for me it comes down to whether they want to ep teach a lesson about conservatism in the court or in the government as a whole. they will try to restrain this and say that the government is getting out of control. it looks like a montrocity to us but god speed we will go through this. >> this three days of arguments, the supreme court that roberts, in particular, is concerned about protecting the reputation of the supreme court. particularly this is a message to the conservatives not happy with the mandate saying, look, they are allowed to do this.

they want to make sure everyone realizes they had their day in court. >> everyone is getting a chance to have their arguments heard. there are more than 125 briefs filed in the case. it would be hard to argue that there's any kind of rush to judgment or unfairness and you think roberts will be working hard to make sure it's not a narrow decision as well. >> did you learn anything yesterday? >> there were a couple of interesting points. we learned that this argument about the taxing power that the government has been arguing, they don't have the power to do this interstate commerce and maybe just as a tax. that wasn't very popular. we also saw might be ahead of where justice roberts is on this. you have to look at different parts of the law together, like the mandate and the penalty for not complying. he said, you've got to look at those together and maybe that means the rest of the law needs to be viewed like a jigsaw puzzle.

>> i was just going to say, we're going to hear more about that tomorrow. >> all right. always god to talk to you both. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back. the political panel joins me when we come back. the white house soup of the day, as the president returns, tuscan chicken. you're watching "the daily rundown." only on msnbc. not in this economy. we also have zero free time, and my dad moving in. so we went to fidelity. we looked at our family's goals and some ways to help us get there. they helped me fix my economy, the one in my house. now they're managing my investments for me. and with fidelity, getting back on track was easier than i thought. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy. get one-on-one help from america's retirement leader.

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the castro regime jammed the channel. it still exists and the cubans still to block it. >> there is a saying that candidates don't lose, they just run out of money and that may be the case for former newt gingrich who yesterday started charging $50 for anyone who wants a photo with him. we are not making it up. is it time for the republican candidate to coalesce around one candidate? former campaign manager to rick perry and to newt gingrich, johnson, welcome to both of you. >> thank you. >> rob, let me start with you. time for newt to go? >> why? what's the incentive? embarrassment? it's up to him. the people get to vote and he gets to decide when he gets in or out. he's been doing it for a year. he has spent a lot of time and

energy. >> is he getting pressure? >> i think you've -- he's probably getting pressure from -- you read about it in the paper. sure, he's getting pressure but not pressure from the supporters or the 175,000 people that have donated to his campaign. i think the people in these states get to decide when you get out and he still has a chance. >> frank bernie wright in the "new york times" rights we in the media should stop giving up coverage. is that our responsibility? >> not when he continues to be so entertaining. i think you're right, he also is a history buff. he wants to see this through to the convention so if it does make history he's a part of that. i think he continues to believe that he has big ideas. and those belongs in a discussion. >> let's talk about the real part of this race still and that is santorum versus romney. rob, we are up to a 10 to 1 spending ratio in wisconsin between team romney and santorum. is it time to start thinking

about maybe he needs to -- maybe he does need to do what is best for the party? >> again, why? santorum has won 11 states. 11. he just won in louisiana. i guess they didn't get the memo about this coalescing. he should continue to fight as long as he wants to. >> especially since which wisconsin is going to be a weird race. everyone is focused on scott walker. 21 offices across the state opened for recall. there's one romney office. this is not getting -- >> it does. and it's funny you say that, the political environment couldn't be more organized and polarized. that is what is amazing here and it's almost as if the presidential race has taken a back seat. that's true it's going to be an interesting, interesting day in wisconsin. they should all quit fighting as long as they want to. and why ron paul? why don't we ever say that?

>> i guess we don't expect him to go out. >> do you expect newt to get out? is there a line that would hurt himself financially? >> that's up to newt to decide. >> go ahead. >> i think he's bringing a younger demographic into this election which otherwise would be completely not precedent. >> i want to talk about the flexibility comment and how it sort of is a week later etch-a-sketch but flex-a-sketch as i was calling. i thought you learned a lot and sometimes you learn lessons. the president handled his gaffe with humor, joked about microphones and tried to fix it. >> it absolutely does but also tells you that he's operating from a position of strength, that his administration is comfortable with their record on foreign policy whereas romney doesn't necessarily have the

firm footing to respond to the etch a sketch comment. >> i was struck by etch-a-sketch that on the day that it happened he reacted angrily at first. >> sure, there was obviously a better way that he could have handled it but i also think we need to differentiate that the president of the united states said this on an open mike and romney's spokesperson said this. >> what about either comment was wrong? what president doesn't believe they have more flexibility in the second term? that may not be right historically but what president doesn't believe it? >> i don't know but i haven't talked to a lot of presidents about what they believe or don't believe. i think it's wrong to say that to a leader of another country. >> what if it was -- could it have been a delay tactic? you know how you put somebody on and say, look, i can't discuss your compensation today? give me a year? >> i don'tit, but maybe. >> no, that's what i mean. we don't know.

>> the other difference, this is completely consistent with wherever barack obama has always been on living in a nuclear soe society. >> this is something that he championed when he was in the senate. there's nothing really different here as opposed to the etch-a-sketch comment. >> you need to stick around because if i'm cold, you're going to stay cold for another segment. this is my favorite question of the week. how many presidents appointed no supreme court justices successfully? the answer is four. william henry harrison, zachary taylor, andrew johnson, and of course the one answer that everybody did know, jimmy carter. none of them successfully named anyone to the high court. we'll be right back. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. today i'm talking to people about walmart's low price guarantee. every week they lower thousands of prices and check over 30,000 competitor prices. check out that low price. you want to grab one? grab two. [ male announcer ] that's the walmart low price guarantee! see for yourself how much it can save you.

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let's bring back our panel, alicia menendez and rob johnson.

rob, i want to get your take on sort of how the difference is between santorum and romney and how they're handling this scene behind us. >> well, one, rick santorum showed up. he showed up to say that this on onerous, unnecessary, ridiculous health care law shouldn't be part of our society. >> you think it's bad for romney in his attempts to try to get the base to get comfortable with him? you know, yesterday he appeared in front of a sign that said "rebiel oba"r "repeal obamacare." >> but if romney shows up in front of the supreme court and rails against the individual mandate, doesn't that just give everyone an opportunity to go back to his massachusetts stay and say you supported romneycare, why can't you support obamacare? >> and that's the risk, isn't it? >> sure. he's been called the godfather. he didn't write that law in etch-a-sketch. he wrote that and signed it in ink. it's a problem, and that's

santorum's point. >> i want to talk quickly about santorum and how he's reacted to sort of this comment from "the new york times." i have this theory that the cursing is going to hurt him more than he realizes. >> you mean with his conservative base? >> no, i mean -- >> we all knew he had a temper. we all knew this was coming. >> i was talking with a colleague, imagine had ronald reagan cursed before he said, i paid for this microphone. >> i don't know. >> he wouldn't have won the new hampshire primary. >> no, i think it makes him a real person. >> he has passion, but i'll also say when you take on "the new york times," he got a three or four-point bump in the republican polls. i mean, it could be good for him. and he does have passion. he is a passionate person. and look, this is a grueling, tough process that these guys go through. they give the same speech over and over. it's not unlike when romney made a $10,000 bet with rick perry or attacked brett baer for giving him an interview or laid hands on rick perry. they all do this. they're human. >> i've got to go to shameless plugs. >> please follow us on twitter

@nbclatino. >> @robjohnson on twilter, also little helping hands which is a nonprofit in austin, texas. >> thank you both. that's it for this edition. and there it goes. we had one thing fall on us. that's not bad considering what happened yesterday. tomorrow on the show, we'll, of course, have all the reaction from the big day at the supreme court and the big fight over the mandate. coming up next, "chris jansing." bye-bye. i'm meteorologist bill karins with your business travel forecast. after a very cold start to the day in areas of new england, at least the sun is going to warm things up. boston getting into the mid-40s. new york to d.c., not bad. temperatures getting into the low 50s. we're actually very warm around chicago southward. still in the 60s and 70s. even denver, another warm day. still damp, though, in seattle with showers. [ male announcer ] at scottrade,

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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 the power of the home depot. break out the gardening gloves. miracle-gro garden soil is now 3 bags for 10 bucks. good morning, i'm chris jansing. it's getti inting under way rig now. the supreme court showdown over the obama health care law. over the next two hours the nine justices will hear arguments on the individual mandate, whether congress can require almost every american to buy health insurance. now, the big takeaway from yesterday's session was that the justices indicated they will make a ruling this summer instead of punting and delaying a decision until the health care law is fully implemented in 2014.