wisconsin, where rick santorum is campaigning hard right now, insisting he's still got a chance and his latest ad up in wisconn, definitely gets your attention. >> what if i told you this man's big government mandating health care included $50 abortions and killed thousands of jobs? would you ever vote for him? what i told you the man i'm talking about isn't him? it's him. >> clarence page is a columnist for "the chicago tribune." and erin mcpike joins us as well. good morning to both of you. interesting ad, clarence. how much longer can rick santorum stay in this race in wisconsin. he's being outspent although you might think that ad is effective, tell me what you're thinking now. >> he's already beat the conventional wisdom. normally at this time and this far behind and projected to be this far behind in the polling,

a candidate would withdraw gracefully. but santorum wants to stay there. i think he's out to make a point. he's out to get some leverage in the party. he has effectively solidified his own base which is in the more conservative wing of the party, more rural, more small town, more religious and more evangelical. and so it's hard to say. he was saying that pennsylvania would be a make-or-break state for him. now he's walking that back, too, even though it's his ohm state. he's going to be here for a while, i think. >> here's the line coming from romney supporters right now. >> this is the time to bring this process to an end so we can focus our attention on retiring president obama. >> it's time to turn our attention to the fall campaign and begin to make the case against the president of the united states. >> we ould coalesce around our nominee and focus on the task at hand, which is the fall election

and not drag this thing out which i think becomes counterproductive. >> that's what they're saying in front of the cameras. behind closed doors, is there someone in the gop who he trusts saying to him, look, get out gracefully. maybe there's a deal being worked out. what's going on? >> well, as you mentioned, yes, that's what they're saying publicly. but i'd point out with so many of those endorsements, they're not reay ringing endorsements for mitt romney. instead what they are is saying, we need to beat barack obama so we need to coalesce behind a nominee. but in no way are say saying that mitt romney is such a great candidate. i think to rick santorum, that's a cue for them that he should still be in the race, that until people are really coming out for mitt romney in a big way, why shouldn't he stay in? >> our poll shows romney up seven in wisconsin right now. nate silver is predicting a nine-point win. but he says this is still a danger zone especially because people are more concerned about what's going to happen to scott

walker right now. what do you think about the possibility that voter apathy could ay a big part in this? >> it has played a big role in several states already. what apathy means is the more committed voters are the ones who turn out, those who are more ideological. that helps santorum in a big way. and it does hurt romney's credibility. he has credibility -- inevitability right now. but as far as being a credible candidate who can beat barack obama, he's still trying to prove himself on that core. >> he was talking about inevitability this weekend. let me play a little clip from a town hall meeting. >> this president can't run on his record. and so he's going to try in every way he can to divert to some other kind of attack and try and have people disqualify our nominee which will probably be me. >> which will probably be me, erin, and he's also talking

about winning wisconsin. is ts a bad job of managing expectations? is it a little cocky or does he need to look condent at this point? >> earlier in the cycle, it did come off as cocky and that is in part by you saw newt gingrich win south carolina and then rick santorum has won some states since. but at this point, he's right, he probably is going to be the nominee. a lot of republicans are saying that in washington and elsewhere. so he's ready to turn to the general election, as many republicans are. so is it cocky? sure. but he's right. the math is not really there for rick santorum at this point. >> let's figure out what's going on on the ground in wisconsin. let me bring in nbc's ron mott who is in milwaukee. what are you seeing and hearing? >> reporter: hi, chris. what we're seeing and hearing is more frustration on rick santorum's part. he's getting frustrated with the estions about him exiting the race with what he believes is a long way to go. he's trailing in the delegate

count. one thing i wanted to mention, the santorum campaign saying that they're in it to try to win this thing. they're not in it to make a point. so they want to look forward, they want to look forward to the race in pennsylvania on the 24th. th problem for them is that they've got a current issue, a current problem in terms of tomorrow. will they win here? we'll have to see. take a listen to what rick santorum had to say last night when asked about will he get out ofhis race. >> i'm not talking about this anymore. we're focused on doing well here in wisconsin. i think from what you see, there seems to be a panic in the republican establishment of everybody coming out of the woodwork to say the things they're saying today, makes me feel like we're doing pretty well here in wisconsin. >> reporter: one of the things is that rick santorum, if he does not win here in wisconsin, probably has three weeks of more of those questions. there are three racesomorrow. d then a three-week period until it's dead. that's a long time in primary politics and the santorum campaign is aware of that.

>> ron mott, thank you so much. wisconsin is a does -- one of a dozen of swing states. richard lui is here with that. >> what a difference a month makes as ron was alluding to. in february, president obama faced blowback on his health care law trailing mitt romney by two points in 12 swing states according to "usa today"/gallup polls. those states have swung. now the president leads by nine in the latest "usa today"/gallup polls. why? women. it's a return here to what we saw in 2008 when the president won that election. this sort of balance. women under 50 may tell the story this time around. the president got under a half of them a month ago. now more than 6 in 10 prefer the president. he's doubling romney at the moment.

63% said they foow the debate over government birth control policies either somewhat or very closely. and the candidates' views they agree with on this subject? president obama at a rate doubling the competition. but it's not the voters' top issue. for men, it's deficit and national debt, health care. for women, as you see over there, the bottom for both groups, government policies on birth control. >> thank you. those numbers are very instructive, richard. clarence, nay doubt when we see this gender gap favoring the president, that it's about the republicans and the contraceptive issue? >> it certainly appears to be. this is the period where we have stopped seeing gop debates pop up on tv every night. we've stopped seeing candidates relentlessly beating up on obama and him not able to respond directly.

i think we're seeing something of a trend here which i expect will continue to the conventions. but i hesitate to make long-term projections at this point. >> well, at least for now, obviously the obama campaign knows what's going on here and they released this video that praises planned parenthood. let me show you a clip. >> so when some professional politicians casually say that they'll get rid of planned parenthood, don't forget what they're really talking about -- eliminating the funding for preventive care that millions of women rely on and leaving them to fend for themselves. >> erin, professional politicians, a.k.a., mitt romney? >> absolutely. the obama campaign, democrats generally speaking, are pushing this issue of health care. you ha mitt romney and the republicans trying to turn back the conversation to the economy and jobs. that's why they're sending ann romney to say, women care about

jobs, women care about the deficit. but i've talked to a number of republican strategists who have said, you can't just send out a republican woman to change the conversation. republican men need to start addressing these women's issues or they're not going to be able to make up that ground. >> listen to what mitt romney had to say over the week about his wife and about her being on the campaign trail. >> i wish ann were here, my wife, for a lot of reasons i wish she were here. she's going across the country and talking with women. what they're talking about is the debt that we're leaving the next generation and the failure of this economy to put people back to work. >> more than a few people have suggested that both mitt romney and rick santorum's wives speak a lot more eloquently and reasonably than the candidates themselves. what's going on with that? >> well, that's not that unusual. i want to give them proper credit. they really do present

themselves well, more poise, more relaxed, more personable. they connect well with audiences compared to their husbands who are relentlessly seeking votes tirele tirelessly. those are great, positive attributes. they need to put them out front more often if they can because obviously the republicans need help with the female vote. >> yeah. and finally, let me just ask you about what's going to happen tomorrow if mitt romney makes a sweep, if mitt romney wins wisconsin. does it affect anything, though, really, erin? we're not going to see rick santorum go away, are we? >> no, it suffocates the media coverage for rick santorum and the media will be ready to turn to the general election at that point. but the santorum campaign is continuing to float opposition research about mitt romney because they want this thing to keep going. but it suffocates the coverage for santorum at that point. >> erin mcpike, clarence page,

thanks to both of you. what we want to know is who won the $640 million mega millions jackpot. three winning tickets were sold in kansas, illinois and maryland. and then look at the front page of the "new york post." this woman says she has one of those tickets. but her co-workers at a fast-fd restaurant are furious because she claims she bought the winning ticket separate from the pool that they were all in. and now lottery officials are saying to her and everybody else, not so fast. >> i think we were not helped by the fact that yesterday was april fool's day, there were any number of stories and rumors out there. but we have not heard from this woman or everyone else claiming the ticket. we look forward to the legitimate winner presenting the ticket to the maryland lottery here soon. >> she has not produced that ticket yet, by the way. the three winners, whoever they are, are you ready for this? will get a cool $213 million

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president obama is sharpening the 2012 battle lines with republicans and making a new push to raise taxes on millionaires. with occupy protesters still talking about the one versus the 99%, over the weekend, president obama was renewing his call for congress to pass the so-called buffett rule. >> some people call this class warfare. but i think asking a billionaire to pay at least the same tax rate as his secretary is just common sense. we don't envy success in this country. we aspire to it. but we also believe that anyone who does well for themselves should do their fair share in return so that more people have the opportunity to get ahead, not just a few. >> ezra kline is here now.

morning, ezra. >> good morning. >> we' talked about this before. this isn't going to pass the republican-controlled house. why is the president bringing it back up now? >> because we are in campaign season. i don't know if i've told you my theory that this election is going to be about taxes, not job, particularly if job growth continues to be steady over the next several months. but mitt romney has big plans to bring tax rates down on the wealthiest quite a bit even after you extend the bush tax cuts. and barack obama, president obama is leaning pretty far in the other direction as a way to highlight this. the buffett rule shouldn't be thought of as a big deficit reducer. it's not very much in terms of the size of our budget problems. but it is a sharp statement of

values about what folks should be contributing to the national budget given their success and given what the country needs to fund itself going forward and provide opportunity for people. >> the republicans say this is about jobs, that this tax rate is about jobs. i don't want to get too wonky and i couldn't if i wanted to. >> oh, i do! >> those who oppose the buffett rule point out that dividends -- that's the way millionaires like mitt romney earn their money, at least he did the last few years -- are already taxed twice because the dividend is taxed at the corporate level and that can be as high as 35%. and then it's also taxed on the individual level, which is a lower 15% and the buffett rule would in essence be a third tax, which is a job killer. >> look, i think the way to back up on this is to say that it could be a bad idea to raise taxes on richer people. a lot of people look at it as very hard to see a-- in the gret

postworld war ii period, we had incredible growth for a 30, 40-year period. it was equitable growth. the middle class grew by an enormous amount, much more than they have in the last 30 years. that was a period when we were talking about tax rates for the tap top 1%. ronald reagan brought tax down to around 50% in his first 1981 tax reform set. so we've had higher taxes on the rich in this country. they have not appeared to interfere with growth before. you could argue they've helped to create a more sustainable middle class. but it should be said that the taxes on the rich keep job creation from happening, there's not a lot of evidenceo support that. >> i'm curious about your theory that you think there is going to

be a major issue about taxes. certainly right now when people are sitting down this past weekend and the coming couple of weekends and they have to file their taxes and they want to pull their hair out, it's hard to find anyone who doesn't think the tax system should be simplified. but it's also normal for your eyes to glaze over when you start talking about the specifics of it. how is this messaging going to play out, just the rich versus the poor? >> i think the top 1% furs tvere 99%. for mitt romney, it will be about jobs. both sides, their central economic policy is a tax policy f. you ask mitt romney, what are you going the to do to create jobs and change the nature of the economic policy in this country, he's got a big tax cut plan. if you ask president obama, what are you going to do? what is your big economic plan? he's got a tax fairness plan. he's got a plan to make the rich pay more in order to cut the budget deficit, in order to fund things like education. so there is a -- the central

economic policy for both teams here, for both parties is taxes. that's going to make taxes the sort of easy collision ground for them because the other key thing here is both parties think they have a winning message. mitt romney says barack obama is a tax hiker. >> that is going to be a fascinating part of the debate. no doubt about it. ezra, always great to have you on the show. there have been a couple of big supreme court decisions we've been waiting for. one of them has just come down. it's about strip searches for minor offenses. pete williams is outside of the supreme court. pete, tell us about this. >> reporter: good morning. this involved a new jersey man who was pulled over by state troopers because there was an error in the computer system that said there was a warrant for his arrest. he was put through two different county jals, ultimately released without charges. but each time he enter the jail, he was subjected to a very intrusive, in the words of the

supreme court, strip search. e had to shower with delousing soap with other inmates and in essence present himself for inspection in a very intimate way. the question was he claim that had that was unconstitutional that jails cannot automatically subject even people arrested for the most minor offense to strip searches. but today, by a 5-to-4 vote dividing along ideological sides, the supreme court, those searches can be reasonable, they're not unconstitutional. the court said it's a very difficult thing to run a jail. sometimes they're dangerous, they carry weapons, they carry drugs. and the supreme court said sometimes a person arrested for even the most trivial of offenses can be dangerous. it pointedly discusses the case of timothy mcveigh who was originally arrested for driving a car without a license plate. now, the supreme court does say that its ruling doesn't mean

that it's always reasonable to subject someone for even a minor offense to a strip search. but it said on the other hand, you can't always say it's unconstitutional. still to come, politics now, including the obama super pac fighting backs. arrival. with hertz gold plus rewards, you skip the counters, the lines, and the paperwork. zap. it's our fastest and easiest way to get you into your car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

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departure. hertz gold plus rewards also offers ereturn-- our fastest way to return your car. just note your mileage and zap ! you're outta there ! we'll e-mail your receipt in a flash, too. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. april fools, mitt romney. watch this -- >> the next president of the united states -- >> he thinks it's a campaign event with congressman paul ryan and senator ron johnson and the room is empty except for a handful of staffers with their phones up videoing the whole thing. he said it's a moment he won't forget soon. new jersey's governor chris christie is in israel right now for his first overseas trip. his office says the trip is a trade and diplomacy mission.

it's raising speculation he's looking to run for national office in the future. south carolina's governor, nikki haley says she would say no to a vice presidential spot. she says she intends to keep her promise to the people of south carolina. the politics of gas prices, the president's super pac is up with this spot defending him -- >> who's behind this ad smearing president obama? big oil, that's who. the money they make from high gas prices isoing right into mitt romney's campaign. >> and tuesday on the "today" show, sarah palin live. she will serve as co-host. this morning, she called into the gang for a little preview of what we might expect. >> what are you doing to prepare? are you reading some newspapers? >> oh! >> and it begins.

>> that's a fine how do you do. that's a great start. >> if you ade only one thing today, check out this piece in the "l.a. times" about a flying car. you'll appreciate that if you've ever been stuck in traffic. catch it on our facebook page. [ johan ] hello, piper. nice up-do. i see you're crunching numbers with a cup of joe... when you could be relaxing with a delicious gevalia. or as i like to say, a cup of johan. joe's a cubicle. johan is a corner office with a young, eager assistant... who looks like me. put johan on your spreadsheets. he'll watch your bottom line. [ johan ] gevalia. meet me in the coffee aisle.

like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. here's a look at some other stories people are talking about right now. 12 people managed to survive a plane crash in siberia that killed 31 others. the twin engine plane went down in a snowy field just after take-off. when rescue crews arrived, the cabin was on fire. in pakistan this morning, the court convicted osama bin laden's widows of entering the country illegally. so they've been ordered to deported. the three women were detained last may after osama bin laden was killed. two of his wives there turn to saudi arabia. the third to yemen. a daring high-seas rescue by

the u.s. coast grd. a ship was hit by a monster wave off the california coast. two of the people on board were seriously hurt and had to be taken to shore. the other sailors are opening to fix the yacht and continue on with the race. in iraq, march saw the lowest monthly death toll for rauk iraqis since the u.s.-led invasion in 2003. 112 people died, 78 civilians, 22 policemen, 12 soldiers. now back to politics and mitt romney and rick santorum are making their final push for the conservative vote, a day before the winner takes all primary in wisconsin. >> religious freedom is under attack. again under obamacare. >> governor romney said he's going to run as a conservative in response to the etch a sketch scandal. i'm not going to run as a conservative. i am a conservative. [ applause ] >> it is the age-old question for republicans, how do they

hold o to their base without alienating crucial independent voters in november? i'm choined by chip salzman and doug thornell. good morning to both of you. >> how are you doing? >> chip, i know this question gets asked. but it takes on new resonance because we've talked so much about social issues. are you worried the candidates are turning off the middle by not staying more focused on the economy and jobs? >> well, first of all, i thought it was funny that the etch a sketch has become a full-blown scandal. i didn't realize that until senator saorum did that. it's always a challenge. this process has been so elongated that we've had a primary that usually lasts a couple of months now well into a year and three months since we all got started on this. richard nixon said it right, you spend your primary season running to the right and as soon as you get the nomination, you run right back to the center. it's been a bigger challenge

this time because there's such a divided line between rick santorum and mitt romney and even newt gingrich at that point. it's been so vocal and so negative, i think that's going to be a challenge for us as we move towards november. but i think we can get there. >> in wisconsin, you have santorum talked the morning after pill. romney was talked planned parenthood. are democrats enjoying this when they see the candidates stray away from the economy which is an area where you have to admit, doug, the president is vulnerable? >> are we enjoying it? yes. they' their pandering to the right has hurt their brand. you guys have been running a poll showing him doing really poorly with women and that's based off this contraception debate. he's doing very poorly with hispanics. i think that's based on his position on immigration. the same goes with independents and seniors embracing the ryan budget which basically turns

medicare into a high-price value pack coupon program. all of these things have hurt the party and hurt mitt romney. but he's got to get to the general. the only way he gets to the general is to win the nomination. and that's been kind of the name of the game for him. but i think it's going to be hard for him to recenter, to put himself back in the middle after this kind of drastic makeover he's had to do to his image. >> there are two questions here for mitt romney, one is what we just discussed, which is the concern that there is. but i wonder, too, if -- look, i don't think conservatives are going to rush out and vote for barack obama if rick santorum doesn't get the nomination. but will they not donate, will they not man phone banks? will they not go door to door? >> at the end of the day, they are highly motivated to defeat barack obama in november --

>> more importantly even if they don't love mitt romney. >> when he starts talking about the issues which he knows bet which is what people are talking about in this country right now, as soon as we get back to that general election campaign focus where i think mitt romney can do very well, i think it's going to be better for our party. polls ebb and flow. right now, we're ebbing instead of flowing. when we get back to the general election, i think mitt romney will flow again. >> one of the ways you measure enthusiasm is through money and contributions and even some of mitt romney's supporters have been surprised making more than he had expected. i think to your point there are people out there who are very motivated even if they're not in love with mitt romney to go against barack obama. what about the enthusiasm gap on the democratic side, doug? obviously the concerns about the super pac that they're not raising the kinds of money that they had hoped to. >> the enthusiasm gap i think is

on the republican side. i think if you look at gallup, they registered that there was more passion behind john mccain in 2008 than there was behind any of the candidates this time around. i think in the money race, they're raising half as much as money the candidates raised four years ago. mitt romney is trying to do everything to pander to the conservatives. i'm not sure if in the general election when he's moving to the center whether or not they're going to be out there knocking on doors, doing everything that they did to help people like mike huckabee and george bush in 2004 -- they're not necessarily going to vote for the president but they may not lift a finger to help this guy. i don't think they think he's one of them. >> gentlemen, good to see you. thank you. now from the right to the left and former president bill clinton is getting back on the campaign trail doing what he does best. he's going to be out with president obama going to three fund-raisers.

nbc's luke russert sat down for a one-on-one with bill clinton. luke joins me now. luke, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, chris. in fact, i was with president clinton on that saturday where he tries to get college kids to do better in the united states and around the world. he, though, was not too reserved when i asked him about mitt romney and how he felt his election prospects were. >> i doubt it. i doubt it for two reasons. first of all, i believe president obama will be reelected bause people will perceive that the economy is getting better and that we are generally going in the right direction. keep in mind the 2010 electorate is not the 2012 electorate. more people will vote in 2012 and a more diverse america will sh up at the polls and people have had two years of the tea party congress and the polls

show they didn't like it very much. secondly, i was subject to a very well-organized attack which later the republican operatives associated with the white house admitted they had started in the primary because they thought i could win the general election. so there was this relentless personal attack and the american people are incredibly fair and they give you another look. but i never had to change anything i said in the primary. there was no etch a sketch issue for me. >> reporter: you said back in september about now somebody who's now the highest rated in terms of popularity, which is secretary of state hillary clinton, about in 2016, if she wants to come home, i'll be happy. if she wants to serve, i'll be happy. >> i don't think she plans to do

it. and you will understand this in 30 years or so. but hillary's worked really hard for 20 years and it's just been a constant, relentless thing. she wants to come home, get a little rest, do some other things and she thinks -- she's told you and everybody else that she thinks she'll probably never run for office again. but i've been there. i know what happens when you go through this decompression of years of relentless high-pressure activity. i just think she needs to rest up, do some things she cares about and whatever she decides to do, i'll support. >> reporter: there you hear it, chris. bill clinton not exactly closing the door on his wife possibly running in 2016.

the whole interview will be up on the web. check it out. we talk about youth empowerment as well as the supreme court, which he said was very much a politicized decision or sounds like it could be on the health care law. and we even talk about what he'll be doing with president obama's three fund-raisers coming up later this year. >> a prolific fund-raiser and immensely popular within the democratic party, something his wife can't do as secretary of state. but i'm curious, did you have a sense as to whether he would want her to run? hillary clton, anybody who's been through what she's been through in terms of just being in the spotlight and the amount of work she's done would want to take a rest. you just wonder how long that rest would need to be. and a lot of her former supporters wish she would think about it four years from now after taking three or four months off. >> reporter: from where we stand right now, if she would run, she

would be in very good position. if she does take some time, get some rest, she could definitely do it. the question is, she's built up so much goodwill over the last few years, she's the most popular politician in america. she could be a global flans his. does she want to do that and stay on top and never have to worry about a dismal approval rating? she'd be 69 on her inauguration day, the same day as ronald reagan. it's been done before. >> great interview. >> reporter: keep that seat warm for me on thursday, chris >> yes. luke will be sitting in for while i do some shooting for the upcoming olympics n. ] . see you here, luke. speaking of bill clinton, the ock markets off to its best start since he was president. mandy drury is here.

>> reporter: this past quarter has been a best stock start since 1998 with the dow up over 8%, the s&p 500 up 12% year to date. the techs were really the stars. the nasdaq was up 19% in the first quarter. the best since 1991. why? it's been a combination of things. you've got continued easy money from the fed. you've got improving economic data and even the massive debt problems in europe was somewhat resolved. i say that because that might have been just kicked down the road a little bit. we'll say resolved for now. as for whether we can get similar gains in q 2, a lot of people say it will be hard to replicate. a lot of the good news may have been priced in. it has for the techs, t meteoric rise of apple has lifted all boats. if apple rolls over, so may the nasdaq. >> from a whopper of a quarter to the home of the whop r e what's going on at burger king?

>> reporter: they're out with the biggest expansion of their menu. they're putting ten new items on its menu. you have a choice from a line jip of things like smoothies and snack wraps, more healthy stuff. it's to try to reserve years of slumping of sales of things like burgers and fries. last year, wendy's edged out burger king for the first time as the number two burger chain behind mcdonald's. >> mandy, good to see you. believe it or not, flying is getting better, according to a new analysis, 15 airlines improved overall in four key service categories. in on-time performance, hawaiian airlines arrived on time. jetblue, just 73%. when it comes to handling your bags, airtran was number one.

american eagle was at the bottom. we posted more on the ratings on our facebook page. [ male announcer ] there's a crushing national debt hanging over us. hindering economic growth. it's time for some common sense -- people in congress who'll come together and put partisan politics aside. not with radical schemes that gamble with america's future. but with a plan that requires washington to balance the budget the right way -- protecting the priorities of america's families. tell congress to pass a common sense balanced budget -- now. sign the petition at center-forward.org.

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that's why there's brita, to make the water we drink, taste a little more, perfect. reduce lead and other impurities with the advanced ltration system of brita. i'm thomas roberts. polite wisconsin politics gets down and dirty as a business versus labor narrative plays out in tomorrow's gop primary where mitt romney hoping to deliver a knockout punch. they're calling it a mega mess. did a co-worker try to pocket their share of the $656 million? jackpot? and antonio villaraigosa will be here to talk about youth violence and his take on president obama's reelection chances. trayvon martin's parents will ask the justice department to look into how local authorities handled the investigation into the shooting death of their son. thousands gathered at the 17-year-old victim's home city

of miami calling for an arrest of george zimmerman. zimmerman says he shot the unarmed teen in self-defense. but new questions are emerging about whose voice is heard screaming on the 911 tapes from the night of the shooting. >> do you think he's yelling help? >> yes. there's gunshots. >> two forensic voice identification experts tell "the orlando sentine that voice was not zimmerman's. reverend jesse jackson is the president and founder of the rainbow push coalition and was part of those protests yesterday. always good to see you, reverend. good morning. >> indeed. >> the special prosecutor in the case is expected to interview trayvon's girlfriend as early as today. she was on the phone with him moments before he was shot. let me get your take on where this case stands, from what you know, having been there and having tauxd lked to so many pe. >> several things.

we know he was suspended, there's too much of that, i might add, from school. he was then profiled, pursued and killed. and the killer walks free, zimmerman. it does not stop that in that 25 states with the "stand your ground" law which incentivizes vigilantes, that law will be challenged and must be to be repealed. also i'm convinced to revive the ban on assault weapons as well. it unearths a lot of issues here, all of which deals with, how do we handle race relations and the issue of violence? >> let me start with the violence part of it because there have been other things that have happened. tragedies that have happened and there have been calls to reform gun control laws and those kinds of things. and it seems like nothing happens. is there something about this case in particular that you think will be different? >> maybe because it is so very public.

it's not unique in that it's exceptional because you have the case in pasadena, the watch case -- autistic kid killed in chicago. but somehow when people finally saw this and saw an unarmed kid shot by anrmed vigilante, a man who was told by the dispatcher to not pursue him. and then the killer walked away, that humiliation has touched something deep within the american people. and that exposes a whole body of information about the issue of police relations. also in that same police department, a man beat a homeless black man nearly to death. he walked away free because his father was an officer in that police department. >> let me ask you this about something else you've said. honestly, it surprised me, reverend. you said that you don't necessarily feel that the election of president obama did what a lot of people thought it

would do, which would be to improve race relations, to help move racial equality forward. why? >> he raised the hopes that he's been under such venomous attack -- the captain of the ship a an african-american who's taking us out of an economic crisis on an upward swing. but there are those who are willing to sink the ship just to destroy the captain. you hear santorum last night -- you hear his birthplace being attacked, his citizenship being attacked, his religion being attacked. it's not his fau but certainly on his watch, we've seen this ugly backlash. >> reverend jesse jackson, always great to have you on the program and hear your thoughts. we do appreciate it. we'll be right back. that'sood morning, veggie style.

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taylor swift's big weekend,

let's go down to the wire. taylor swift needs to make more room on her male. the country sweetheart took home entertainer of the yea at the country music awards. this is the secon year in a row she's won that surprise. it came 24 hours of michelle obama gave the singer a service award at nickelodeon's kids choice awards. she said she always wanted to meet the first lady and said as a result, she's freaking out. here's one award you don't want. "jack & jill" represeed the worst of cinema. he won worst actor and worst actress awards because he played both jack and jill. a canadian airline has an idea some parents may have though of -- a child-free flight with a program called, yes, cargo kids. >> your child will be whisked away on a magic carpet ride and ur work is done. with plenty of toys and a state-of-the-art feed trough,

your kids can run, play, scream and eat all they want. >> that was pretty funny. that wraps up this hour of "jansing & co." i'm chris jansing. thomas roberts is up next. see you back here tomorrow. foragers, those fishermen... for me, it's really about building this extraordinary community. american express is passionate about the same thing. they're one of those partners that i wou really rely on whether it's finding new customers, or, a new lotion for my next restaurant. when we all come together, my restaurants, my partners, and the community amazing things happen. to me, th's the membership effect.

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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. as the weeks drag on with no arrest in the trayvon martin case, his parents are growing increasingly ustrated. and today authorities may finallynterview trayvon's girlfriend. and get this -- what a mega ss. one maryland woman claims she's one of the winners of that whopping $656 million jackpot but her mcdonald's co-workers say they have been mega duped. hi, everybody. i'm thomas roberts. po