the primary brawl between mitt romney and rick santorum is taking its poll on both of the candidates. right now, romney is hoping he can deliver this knockout political punch in tomorrow's state of wisconsin. romney looking the part of the front-runner in the badger state, picking up endorsements from key wisconsin republicans on the march to tuesday's vote. but the obama administration is doubling down on the notion that he can't connect with everyday americans. >> i think governor romney is a little out of touch. i can't remember a presidential candidate in the recent past who seems not to understand by what he says what ordinary middle class people are thinking about and are concerned about. >> so rick santorum has his own set of problems. behind in the latest polls and desperate for a surprise win in a state he says won't sink his campaign. >> is wisconsin do or die for you? >> i don't think wisconsin is do or die. we have to win pennsylvania.

and we're going to win pennsylvania. i have no ubtbout that. >> santorum is pulling out five ops today in wisconsin, fighting for ery last gop vote. ron mott is live for us in milwaukee. the last few elections have been gop-rich coming from the suburbs, basically. is that a good sign for governor romney and what does rick santorum do with that to close the gap? >> reporter: yeah, certainly a good sign for governor romney. and rick santorum is reaching out to his base. those are typically folks who live in the rural areas. we were up in one of those areas just yesterday with him. i thinthat's the message he's trying to carry to that voter. these are typically more conservative voters, more religious, if you will. they've been the folks who have propelled him to 11 victories so far. he's got a tough month ahead here in april. he got the race here tomorrow. the poll has him down sen points to governor romney. he's looking to shock the world, as he said over the weekend, trying to pull out a victory here.

but he's hitting people where they believe their hearts is. trying to defeat president obama and th whole issue ohealth care. that'shat he goes out o mostvery smp speecand says, that specially governor romney was the person who wrote the plan for what he calls obamacare. take a look at this new ad that's just out from the santorum campaign. >> 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 if i told you the man i'm talking about isn't him. it's him. >> reporter: well, you can see there he's trying to make the comparison that president obama and mitt romney are one in the same on this health care issue. that's the same health care issue the supreme court has in front of its body at this moment. what a lot of folks are going to talk about, you heard savannah guthrie on "meet the press" yesterday if wisconsin was do or die. he says no. pennsylvania more likely is a do-or-die campaign for him. that's why he's going to spend a

lot of time ying to win his home state. >> ron mott, thank you so much. we want to bring in our political panel. karen finney, susan del percio and joe williams. joe, i start with you. as we look at the big picture right now, including wisconsin, president obama is opening up a really big lead on mitt romy in the latest "usa today" swing state poll. are there deeper problems for the romney campaign to overcome? >> i would say the answer to that question is yes. certainly the long campaign season which they had designed to try to generate excitement among the republicans, a la the great race between hillary clinton and barack obama in 2008, that was the design. but it didn't work out that way because the candidates didn't fulfill their end of the bargain. so this long season has had a very, very sharp drop in reblican approval, espeally among independents and women,

sharpened even more by the feig over abortion and more cultural issues which a lot of the party elders fellike they didn't need to have. that's also why you see a lot of the party elders trying to coalesce, coming out endorsing mitt romney saying, okay, guy, time to take off the individual intermural uniforms and put the team uniforms on for the general election and to defeat president obama in the fall. >> as joe brings up women, right now, the president surging in popularity among women. the president trouncing romney amongst the female vote, more than 6 in 10 women under 50. that age number right there, under 50 years old, supporting president obama. among men, romney only leads by a single percentage point. however, president obama came out with this message praising planned parenthood over the weekend. >> let's be clear here. women are not an interest group. they're mothers and dghters d sists and ves. ey're half oth untr and they're perfectly capable of

king their own choices abo their health. y tly value milies, you shouldn't play politics with a woman's health. it's why i know that planned parenthood will continue providing care no matr what. >> so they are -- women are moms, they ar sisters, wive all that. then they are an interest grp. so explain -- >> but they are, in fact, an interest group. and just like seniors are an interest group. >> isn't that going to be a problem for mitt romney? >> right now, it is a big problem. no doubt about it. this has caused a big problem for the republicans. it's not just at the presidential level. it cou be going down to the senate and the house seats as ll as legislative races in states around the country. so the republicans need to come back from this and move on and keep their focus on the economy. i don't think it's a final ing. i think there's seven months to go. and there is, as joe mentioned, a lot of wearnd tear on the republican candidates right now -- presidential candidates. but i think they can come out of it. >> it's a long, hard slog. karen, politico has front-page

story today, the romney democrats fear the most. and ey sw ann romney. is she mitt romn's secret weapon to appeal to women and can she challenge the popularity of first lady michelle obama? >> she's been the secret weapon so far because she's not so gaffe-prone as her husband i the other issue is, susan and i ve talked about this. with regard to women, it's -- women -- what president obama did so well in that video -- and i think this is what ann romney is trying to speak to, is women are tired of being treated as though -- as a special grintere group, we only care about a couple of issues. there's a level of respect. we have 401(k)s, we take care of our families. ann roey has been sang, let's lk about the economy and these other issues you've heard even romney himself saying, ann's o there talking to women about the economy.

they're trying to move it back to the economy because they don't want to get on the social issues. but women want to talk about a range of issues but we wanted to be treated like adult human beings, capable of making our own decisions. that's what this republin war on wen has done in terms of undermining women. >> susan, i want to talk to you about thiswith romney looking to fill that second spot, vice esidenti spot, this is talk of him looking toward a woman, a hispanic american, susanna martinez, marco rubio, as we talk about the hispac voting bloc, whats more important to get on the side of mitt romney? is it someone that can bring a lati surge to the polls or meone like a tim pawlenty or mitch daniels.

>> there's no doubt that romney, should he be the nominee, will have to broaden his appeal to hispanics. there's no way he or any republican can win with the numbers e way they are right now. that being said, i don't think they're looking to do some kind of crazy game changer. romney needs to pick -- if he's the -- >> game changer, yeah, yeah, yeah. >> if he's the nominee, he has to go with w suits him, too, which is someone safe and established, whether it's a mitch daniels or rob portman, someone who can show that they can lead. >> did i mention sarah palin's going to be on the "today" show tomorrow, 8:00 a.m.? john mccn in 2008 had problems sewing up the conservative vote which made him go with sarah palin over his preferred pick, which was senator joe lieberman. george bush picked the conservative dick cheney. bob dole with the fiscal hawk, jack kemp. as we look at the bush elder going with dan quayle, if you had a pick a top three for

romn, who would they be? >> that's a really interesting question, nuer one because i don't think that they're going to go especially radical because it doesn't seem to be in mitt romney's character to try to go tside the box. he's very much a tactician, a manager, a guy who thinks very strategically. i don't think they're going to go too far off from a certain list -- >> i want a name out of you, joe. if three's too many, i want one. >> if i were to wager, i would say somebody in the mold of mitch daniels because he brings that kind of gravitas and the conservative bone bona fides that he would need. an outside-the-box pick would be susana martinez. >> i say rob portman because if it's mitch daniels, democrats will make the case that that's the day who is the architect of the bush budget that tanked e economy. i don't think romney wants to

have that conversation. >> susangame changer? >> i agree with karen. i think it's going to be someone like portman. >> thanks all of you. you can follow up to th minute results from wisconsin's primary election tuesday nightith our team right here on msnbc. thousands of people attend a rally for trayvon martin refusing to back down until an arrest is made. will that haen? it's the big question. and i'm going t ask the sanford cityanager, norton bonapart. plus a maryland woman claims she's one of the three ltimillion-dollar lottery winners and that she won't share the winnings with their mcdonald's co-workers. but we're hearing something different fr state lotto officials.

don't talko us about violce. handcuff the violent one. >> cries of no justice, no peace filled park in miami on sday as thoands gathered in trayvon martin's hometown calling for the arrest of self-appointed neighborhood wch volunte george zimmerman. now, thearents of trayvon martin are renewing theiral for feralnterveion in the shoong that endith theison dd and h confessed killer a freman. toy th are eec t sd orma lterohe jusce depament aing for an precorho overruled a quest to charg zimrmanith nslahterthtime. trayvon martin's parents telling t thrio.com they know that god is on their side. >> god is in control. at kps me moving every day. that's what keeps me moving forward. for me to understand what i

really have to do- i'm do this for god. i'm doing this for trayvon. we have to get justice for my son sthat his death is not in vain. >> joining merom sanford is kerry sanders. at's the very latest the on the investigation? >> reporter: well, you know, a lot of the investigative materials that t special prosecutor ilooking at is not out there ithe public domain. eedical examer's report which will include balliics and trace evidence, all of that remains specifically to the inveigation. but what we do have are some thgs that are public record. anamong them, we havehose 911 calls. an there has been some anasis now othe 911 call,ot necearily by the authorities but rather by experts contacted by the media who have drawn some conclusions. first, let's listen to a portion of that 911 call again. >> is it a male or female? >> it unds like a male. >> you don't want why?

>> i don't know why. i thk they're yelling help but i don't know. >> reporter: so you heard in the background some screaming. and the question has been, who was that who was screaming? there's an ear witness, somebody who is in their homen the phone calling 911 about the altercation that'taking place outside. and so the experts have ten that clip of audio, tom owen, who was an audio forensic expert, using a sopsticated piece of equipment wheree separas out all of the extraneous soun all he's left with is the scream in the background. and he matches that up against the only other piece of voice that he can match it upith, which is george zimmerman's voice because george zimmerman had dialed 911imself. so using that equipment, mr. owen comes to the conusion that those screams were not

george zimmerman,eavinghe potentl here of the only other pers whoas the, that was trayn martin, who was screaming. which is important bause george zimmerman h claimed that he was being attked and that he shot trayvon in defense. and so it becomes a question , well, who uld be screaming for help, it snds like f th're the one being attacked? so the investigation still has more to go. there's a high likelihood the special prosecutor may takthis to a grand juryatr than just ciding herself whether the will or will not be charges. but at this point, that side of the investigation is extremely tight-lipped. >> kerry sanders reporting from sanford for us this morning. kerry, thank you. in the city of sanford, its police department and city commissioners have been at the epicenter of the controversy surrounding the death of trayvon martin. joining me now is sanford city manager, norton bonaparte.

sir, good to have you here. we talk about the evidence that is out there for public consumption seems to conflict rather than confirm george zimmerman's version of events. among them, this report experts saying the voice heard calling for help on those 911 tapes is likely not that of zimmerman. then the sveillance video appears where he walks on his own accord seemingly uninjured, considering all of this, do you expect george zimmerman to be arrested in martin's death? >> first of all, good morning. i think it's importa to keep in mind that this nows in the hands of the judiciary system and the special prosecutor appointed by the governor is going to be looking at i she has all the information. she has the resources of the floriddepartment of law enforcement. if s thinks that there's additial investigation that needs to be done or witness that is need to be talked to. so i'm looking forward to hearing what she believes is the situation regarding mr. zimmerman. >> from what you believe, do you think mr. zimmerman should be arrested? >> at this point, it's in the justice system.

the special prosecutor has the abily to effect an arrest warrant. i know if that's what she thinks nes to be done, she'll do it. >>hat may happen prior to april 10th, when a grand jury scheduled to convene. what concrete steps has the city taken to move this investigatn forward ahead of that date? >> we have turned over everythi we have to the special prosecutor. this time, iis out of the hands of the city of sanford. it's the special prosecutor's. she's directed us at this point not to talking about the investigation. >> meanwhile, while that happens all at the same time your city under sge since tt february night, how do you respond to the critics whoall this investigation a failure from the start who accuse the sanford police of trying to sweep trayvon martin's death under the rug? >> we've calledor an investigation. the mayor and i went to the united states department of justice and spoke withssisnt attorney general to say we want a review, we want a review of the actions of the night that took place as well as a review of the police departnt's handling of it.

>> do you belie it's in the best interest of the city, in thenterest of justice for the city of sanford that george zimmerman be arrested? >> i believet's in the best interest of justice that the justice system move forward. we have a system in the united states that's going forward. the department turned over e information to the special prosecutor. the special prosecutor has it now in her hands. and shll dermine what happens with mr. zimmerman. >> sanford city manager, norton bonapae, sir, thanks for your ti this morning. >> thank you. we turn now to breakg news from washington. one week after hearing hlth care arguments, the supreme court haselease a ruling regarding searches in prisons. the court rejected a challenge from a new jersey man ruling that the country's jails can routinely subject incoming prisers to intrusive sip searches even when the offenses arminor. the court ruling was along ideological lines. ♪ i'm michael bazinet,

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that mega millions historic $656 million jackpot will be split among tee nners. but the mega money might be turning into a mega mess. the three winning tickets were sold in maryland, illinois and kansas. in maryland, a mcdonald's worker is reportedly refusing to share her winnings with her co-workers. she claims she bought the winning ticket on her own. lottery officials have their dots about her story. >> i think we were not helped by the fact that yesterd was april fools' day. there were any number of stories and rumors out there. but we have not heard from this woman or anyone else claiming the ticket. we look forward to the legitimate winner presenting the ticket to the maryland lottery here soon. >> the winners in illinois and kansas have not come forward yet to claim their prize either. nbc' amy robach shojoins me fro red bud, illinois.

serious money we're talking about. >> reporter: it is. and in a town of 3,500, you can imagine what the buzz is. everyone wants to know who the lottery winner orinners are who bought the winng ticket. from this motomart, there have been a lot of rumors, people drivingy saying, hey, are you the winner? everyone says, bad news travels fast but good news travels quickly here, too. we're all waiting to see what we can find out. so far, no one has come forward. speaking to the myland woman you just referenc, she came forward to the "new york post" and told that newspaper that she indeed had the wning ticket. shhas nothown the winning ticket to anyone. she says she has it hidden and will be taking it to the state lottery officials today. but as youmentioned, a lot of controversy surrounding her story because she was apparently in an office pool with her mcdonald's co-workers. she claims if is is the winning ticket and i think it

is, it's mine and only mine and i'm not sharing it with anyone. that is. the b.a. as far as kansas, the only word we've gotten from officials is that it's in the northeastern part of the state. here's wt we know. among the three tickets split, if they decide toake the 26 annual payment, they'll receive $218 million over time. that is before taxes. ifhey choose to get the lump sum, which a lot of people like it quickly, it's $158 million befo taxes. and, of course, for those of us who did not win, there's always tomorrow wre the mega millions jackpot is at $12 million. >> our team won six bucks in the office pool. i think we might reinvest that $6. amy, thank you so much. an average gallon of gas will now run you about $3.93. republicans are hoping to make it a campaign issue. but president oba's campaign is fighting back. plus, what bill clinn thinks about another presidential run for his wife,

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welcome back. leaders from across the country are meeting today to work towards solutions that prevent youth violence in america. politicians, law enforcement officials and church leaders have gathered to discuss how to lower the national juvenile crime rate while doing more to protect young men and women in our inner centers. eric holder opened the event -- >> the majority of young people, more than 60% of them, in fact, have been exposed to crime, abuse and to violence. we've seen that exposure to violence either as a witness or as a victim can have devastating long-term effects. today's summit presents an importanopportunity to renew our commitment to these critical efforts and reaffirm our collective resolve to protect our tion's young people in every way that we possibly can. >> president of the united states conference of mayors is

los angeles mayor antonio villaraigosa. sir, great to have you here. as we talk about this kicking off in d.c.,here are other top administration officials also speaking today. as i understand it, secretary duncan, secretary sebelius. tell us what hopes to be accomplished in the discussions today and that you personally want to take back to los angeles. >> well, in los angeles, violent crime is down ten years running. 're safer than anytime since 1952. and yet even though that's true, there are some parts of the city where young people are an endangered species because of gang and gun violen. as you may know, l.a. is the gang capital of the united states. we saw that in 2007, even though crime was down, gang crime wasn't. so we put together a comprehensive strategy in our city that addressed prevention,

intervention, suppression and reentry. we developed an effort around parks during the summer when you see a spike in gun and gang violence, we're working to identify the kids who are most at risk. and we were sharing that story with leaders from around the country to see what we can do to partner with the federal government to really address this crisis. you know, we were watching -- i was watching your show right now on the lottery. we need a lottery to make these kinds of investments. we just don't see the kind of resources coming from the congress to make these very, very important initiatives work and funded. >> sir, while i have you here, i want to switch gears and remind people you have the cho chair for the president's reelection campaign. i want to talk to you about gas price, certainly a large talker during this primary right now. here's an attack from the right

on the airwaves that is playing right now in a handful of states. take a listen. >> since obama became president, gas prices have nearly doubled. obama opposed exploring for energy in alaska. he gave millions of tax dollars to sin dolyndra and blocked the keystone pipeline. >> sir, right now in california -- >> you said this was a commercial from the right, funded by oil interests. let's be clear about that. >> let's talk a little bit about where the figure is. above four bucks a gallon in california. how politically toxic is this issue for the president in an election year? >> look, i've said for some time, the economy, gas prices are going to be part of the debate in november. there's no question that with the country evenly divided with so many people out of work that these issues are going to be raised. but let's also be clear.

oil production is at an eight-year high. every year it's gone up. natural gas production is at an all-time high. the president has engaged in an "all of the above" strategy to look at how we can improve an enhanced domestic production, identify renewable energy and really do what we can to keep gas prices down and have enough of the other options that we need to be self-reliant and to move away from an overaddiction on foreign oil. but those commercials, as you mentioned, weren't just funded by the right, they're funded by oil interests that want to protect a $4 billion subsidy that they get, even though they have profits that are at an all-time high. so, look, commercials like that don't reflect reality. they do try to exacerbate the concern that people have about gas prices. >> as you talk about the economy is big during this election

ar, let's talk about specifically the unemployment rate in this country. it's double digits when we talk about the latino community. and i understand the disconnect that has been discussed about mitt romney going after latino voters. but explain to us, what will president obama bring to the table for those americans over the next four years? >> well, i think it's been very clear that the stimulus, as an example, helped to put about 2 million latinos back to work, speaking specifically about latinos. we've seen that the health care act, which is in jeopardy as we speak, could benefit as many as 9 million latinos. his support, the president's support for the dream act, for comprehensive immigration reform, for investment and education all benefit dispropoionately linos. itas a benefit for a much largerroup of americans as well.

i think the president's going to be able to tell that story, a story very different from what the republicans will be able to tell, as reflected in the latest poll that i think has latinos supporting the president at about 72%. >> mayor antonio villaraigosa of los angeles, sir, thank you for your time today. we appreciate you reworking your schedule so you could be with us. >> thank you, thomas. a deadly plane crash in serbia. 31 of the 43 people on board were killed. officials say the survivors are hospitalized in serious condition. the russian twin engine turbo prop crashed in flames shortly after take-off. this was in siberia, excuse me. the cause of the crash is under investigation. in pakistan, a court convicted osama bin laden's three widows and two of his grown-up daughters of staying in the country illegally. they were sentenced to 45 days in jail, fined $110 each and will be deported.

the five were arrested a month ago. taylor swift was all smiles while taking the final award of the night at the academy of country music awards this weekend. she was voted by fans as entertainer of the year, becoming the second wom twin the award two years in a row. swift was also the only female nominated in that category this year. a knee injury has stopped linsanity in its tracks. jeremy lin will undergo knee surgery next week and will miss the next six weeks for recovery, likely bringing his breakout season to a sudden halt. and tonight, march madness spills into april. it's going to be kentucky versus kansas for the ncaa men's basketball championship. kentucky has won seven previous national championships. kansas has won five. meantime, tomorrow night, it's going to be notre dame versus baylor for the ncaa men's national championship, after baylor beat uconn in a thriller last night.

baylor will try to complete an historic undefeated season. a new study released by the american civil liberties union is raising privacy concerns. numerous police departments across the country are using cell phone tracking often without court orders to find suspts and then investigate criminalcations. the aclu surveyed more than 200,000 law enforcement agencies and most said they use cell phone tracking. it's big business for cell phone companies that charge surveillance fees to police departments that can top $2,000. joining me now is former fbi profiler and nbc news analyst clint van zant. this has become a valuable weapon for police because almost everybody has a cell phone. but this is really sticky territory, as police start to use this more and more. >> well, the interesting balance out there, thomas, is that some police departments routinely get search warrants. they go to urt, present

probable cause and they get a warrant to track, to do anything they want to do concerning a suspect's cell phone. others just go out and do it. as a matter of fact, you can buy -- a police department can and have bought software, tracking programs for about $250,000 where they don't even have to go to the cell phone company. they can do it themselves. are they going to get a search warrant and present to it themselves to be able to do this? these are the challenges, i think, for a law enforcement and a criminal justice system as technology gets ahead of our ability to actually deal with it. >> there's wiggle room over the oversight and all of this. and the schools of thought would be, some people will say, i have nothing to hide, who cares? the other people say, this is big brother invading because they can. however, police say this can save lives in emergencies? and it can. and it does. you and i have seen shows where we're trying to find a kidnapped child, a kidnapped adult and

we're tracking the telephone. and police are in an emergency trying to get that. that's okay. law enforcement, fbi, police should be able to call up the telephone company and say, this is a life-threatening emergency, we need this information this second. we'll be down in two hours with a warrant and in a situation like that, we ought to beble to do it. but routinely, thomas, you and i can say, i don't care who tracked my cell phone, i don't care who knows where i am. but as one of 315 million americans, i think if there's a law out there that says you need probable cause, get the probable cause, again you can look at my phone records all day long. >> clint van zandt, thanks, clip it. coming up next, forensics in the trayvon martin case, what do we know for sure? all right, let's decide what to

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perfect. reduce lead and other impurities with the advanced filtration system of brita. a grand jury appointed to investigate the death of florida teen trayvon martin is scheduled

to convene a week from tomorw. ahead of that grand jury, the version of events as told by neighbor watch volunteer george zimmerman appears to be growing weaker by the day. so will george zimmerman be chard? joining me this morning is eugene o'donnell, a former detective with the new york police department and currently a professor at the john jay college of criminal justic i want to get your perspective here. things aren't looking so good for george zimmerman's account of that evening. give us that insider perspective, the clues that you have been able to see as public consumption of this story is at an all-time high. why hasn't zimmerman been charged when it appears the evidence conflicts with his claim of self-defense? >> we all say in the police business there's the who done it and what happened? theeal issue in this case is the shooter made a claim of justification, that they were using self-defense.here

inherently, by the nature of that claim, you take that a within investigative grain of salt. you set about then to find independent credible objective evidence that you can compare his account to. so most recently with the tapes that seem to suggest that the person crying out for help was the victim, mr. martin, but the other evidence as well, the 911 tapes, ear and eyewitnesses, physical evidence -- you try t overlay the evidence that you have that's reliable and believable and you try to contrast it to the claims that the shooter made. >> an "orlando sentinel" said the voices for help on the 911 tape was not george zimmerman. it didn't confirm that it was trayvon, just confirming it was not george zimmerman. so despite his claims that he did call for help, how do

investigators go about determining something like that for sure? >> you're not going to have an a-ha piece of evidence in this case, most likely. not one piece of evidence that seals the deal and puts the case beyond any kind of dispute. it's a case of precision. and with this evidence of the tapes, obviously if it was mr. zimmerman calling out for help, that might help to buttress his claims of self-defense. but it underscores as a former prosecutor looking forward, i would think it underscores the horror of the night that this young man was killed. you can hear these blood-curdling criesor help. you take all that evidence in its totality and try to seal the exits. i think that's a misunderstanding. some folks might believe that it's about proving ultimate guilt or innocence of the shooter. really what it's about is trying to take any kind of illegitimate claim of self-defense and

foreclose it. that's the task, trying to make sure somebody cannot claim self-defense where there's no reason for it. >> again, a grand jury is scheduled to convene on april the 10. thank you, sir. bill clinton is optimistic come november. time now for the poli sidebar. president clinton believes that president obama will be reelected. he's leaving the questions about 2016 up to his wife. secretary of state hillary clinton, here's what he told nbc's luke russert. >> it's up to her really. i don't think she plans to do it. and i think that -- you will understand this in 30 years or so. but hillary's worked really hard for 20 years. mitt romney's staff was pretty happy after pulling off an april fools' day prank. take a peek. >> the next president of the

united states! >> oh, these guys. >> romney said he admitteto falling for this empty room prank but was completely relieved after he realized what day it was. one thing we've learned about rick santorum, he loves to bowl but he's also into other sports -- basketball. he apparently has been following the ncaa basketball tournament because he compared his presidential campaign to the kansas jayhawks. >> it's like telling kansas last night, you're down by 18 points before halftime, give up, it's over. we aren't even to halftime, folks. the first lady gets slimed at nickelodeon's 2012 kids choice award. michelle obama was not the intended target. it was bieber. but therwas so much slime, she got splattered while sitting in the office. sarah palin will be

co-hosting the "today" show tomorrow. and "today's" matt lauer couldn't resist asking her one burning question. >>hat are you doing to prepare? are you reading some newspapers? >>h! >> and it begins! >> great. that's a fine how do you do. that's a great start. here we go. >> you bet. make sure to check out sarah palin tomorrow on "today." americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship.

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the issues with scott walker and the democrats and republicans and all this stuff and the teachers unions and stuff in the state has really divided people. i think friendships are lost. people are sensitive about this. >> tomorrow may be the presidential primary in wisconsin, however, it is the

upcoming recall election in june for governor scott walker that's got people talking. backed by a petition with almost 1 million signatures, state officials ruled friday walker would face a recall on june 5th. walker's budget caused an uproar last year because it stripped most collective bargaining rights from public worker the state senator joins me live to talk about this. this has a lot of people paying attention for the political model that this may put forth. is this really dividing the state as we're hearing from that one man there? >> yeah, it really is dividing the state. it's good to see you again, by the way. what's going on in wisconsin right now, and it doesn't matter if you're a golfing buddy, card playing buddies, the state's divided. we can't talk about certain things without people getting really upset. the governor has divided the state and we're left to pick up the pieces and move forward as best as we possibly can.

>> the recall election on june 5th, there are people that nbc news spoke to that defend the governor's record. take a listen to this. >> uh-huh. >> you scott walker's been a great governor for us. number one, he's done what he said he was going to do. he said he was going to go ahead and cut spending, reduce the deficit and not increase taxes. and he's lived up to his pledge on all of thosethings. >> all right, so this is a certainty that the recall election happens in june. do the democrats have a strong candidate? talk to us about the milwaukee mayor, tom barrett now back in this race. >> right, we do have a very strong field of candidates on the democratic side. i'm backing tom barrett in that run for gernor. we have kathleen faulk, a former county executive. we're real strong and we'll have a really good healthy debate on the issues and move forward after that. but no matter who makes it through our primary and again, i'm hoping tom barrett does, you

can flip a coin because we're that divided in wisconsin. >> how about you? you going to get in? >> no, i'mot going to. again, i'm going to back tom barrett. i don't think i'm the best person right now at this time to take on governor walker. to whee, that's what it's all about. we have a strong field and who has the best opportunity to defeat the governor. it's going to be close. it's going tbe maybe .5% when all is said and done in june. democrats have a very strong field of candidates right now. we'll see who makes it through the primary. >> john erpen bach, thank you. >> that's going to wrap things up. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern, every weekday morning. don't go anywhere. >> coming up on now, do we have a rominee? maybe, but unless he can win over the ladies, he pay hav trouble winning in november. >> forget hope.

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