know when to run ♪ >> i'm going to endorse governor romney. i believe he's the right person for the job. ♪ when old mitt claps his hands for the paul ryan plan, that's amore ♪ >> seems to be the republican establishment, everyone sort of coming out of the wood work. >> it's time to turn our attention to the fall campaign and begin to make the case against the president of the united states. >> the other day he said that he's doing a great job. is he that far out of touch with what the american people are feeling? the answer is yes. ♪ you're out of touch i'm out of time ♪ >> governor romney called the president of the united states out of touch. as an old friend of mine says, that's chutzbah. >> but i never had to change anything i said in the primary. there was no etch-a-sketch issue for me. >> we don't need people who write their public policy in etch-a-sketches. >> i did have etch-a-kesketches for my children, but i thought they were children's toys, not

actual presidential campaign design systems. >> i wish my wife ann were here. for a lot of reasons, i wish she were here. >> this is not your father's republican party. >> good morning. i'm kris jansing. that was the week that was, and now today three primaries, and in all three -- wisconsin, maryland, washington, d.c. -- mitt romney is expected to win. his campaign hopes a big win in wisconsin might convince rick santorum to finally drop out. well, good luck with that. >> i think this primary, the longer it goes, the better it is for the party. people even said, well, go to convention. it would be dangerous. no, i think it would be an energizing thing for our party to have a candidate emerge who isn't the blessed candidate of the republican establishment. i think that's a good thing of t the. it's a good nir narrative for us. >> joining us now is

correspondent for national journal major garrett. if you look at the polls, santorum is expected to win wisconsin -- >> romney. >> i'm sorry. romney is. how long can santorum stay in this? >> i think santorum will stay in until the pennsylvania primary on april 24th. i wrote a piece on how much the candidates have spent based on how many votes they've gotten. rick santorum has gotten more out of his $13 million in campaign spending than anyone else by far. and i talked to one of his senior campaign managers, john rehberger, and says that's why we're in the race. we're not just going to walk away from them because it's gotten a little rough for us. he wants to go to pennsylvania and at least have a showdown with romney there. i don't think there's any chance, no matter what happens tonight, that rick santorum leaves before then. >> we saw all those endorsements, but you don't see anybody jumping up and down,

amanda, and pounding on the desk and saying, i am so excited about mitt romney being our nominee. did you hear sarah palin this morning on the "today" show? i want to play that. >> it seems he is the nominee. are you happy with that? >> you know, anything is still possible. there can still be a bit of a shake-up. >> it doesn't sound like you're happy with mitt romney as the party's nominee. >> anybody but obama. i honestly believe that anybody running on that gop ticket would be infinitely better than what we have today. >> amanda, did you hear that sound she made? she was like ssss. >> some people believe it's going to be mitt romney whether you like it or not. sort of we don't want santorum. newt gingrich isn't going to be a viable nominee. we're going to be with mitt romney, and now you see more and more people getting behind him. senate minority leader mitch

mcconnell basically all but endorsed him. he has paul ryan, ron johnson, both from wisconsin behind him. the establishment is getting behind him. it's really a question now, rick santorum, when does he become basically a nuisance for his party and they just want to get him out of the way. >> at what point does he say, look, i used to be this ex-senator who lost by 18 points. now i'm this person who just look at the numbers in the "national journal," i've made more of less than any modern candidate, arguably. so when does he say, you know what, i'm going to keep my status, this sort of renewed popularity that i have, and bow out gracefully? >> i don't think it happens before pennsylvania. the one thing that has happened the last two weeks is that rick santorum has guaranteed himself not to be romney's running mate because he's been so very aggressive, so very negative in ways that are not just acceptable within the contours of a primary dialogue about issues and differences, but they've been personal, and

they've been so condemning of romney and his entire political career, they're practically irretrievable. santorum does have this choice to make, when do you make the exit and under what conditions? >> are people calling him now saying that? >> here's the thing. i think we need to understand. there is no calling agency anymore in the republican party. there is no establishment. amanda mentioned ron johnson, senator from wisconsin. he was not in the establishment three years ago, he was a businessman. now he's in the senate, so he's at least got some establishment patina to him, but he's part of the new republican party that is tea party inspired and has come alongside romney. yes, it has been reluctant. yes, it's been very gradual. yes, it lacks all sorts of enthusiasm, but it's there nonetheless. >> is anybody buying the argument we heard at the job fair, amanda, when you have this much enthusiasm, as rick santorum says, a floor fight could be invigorating. it could renew a party that

doesn't feel much excitement for the nominee. >> i think it would be exciting for reporters who would love to cover that convention, but for the party it could be incredibly d divisive. you could see rick santorum supporters coming out and not wanting to back romney. i really don't see a scenario where romney doesn't get the nomination if it goes to the convention. other people hope that it doesn't go to rick santorum, it goes to some other person not in the race. that's what many people are dreaming of, someone like chris christie or marco rubio, very farfetched scenarios. i think it could be very divisive, and many people in the party would like to see everyone come together behind one candidate and focus on going after president obama. >> in the meantime, you see mitt romney just being patient. let me bring in peter alexander with the romney campaign. he's in milwaukee today. i guess changes on the campaign trail for romney, looking more toward the general election now. >> he really has sharpened his rhetoric in the course of the last several days.

frankly, friday is where it all began with the speech. sharpened his tone on immigration, on the economy, focusing almost exclusively on president obama. we did ask the campaign this morning where thoughts on rick santorum. i asked them specifically about what they think about pennsylvania. rick santorum's home state, as that would be where they, in many ways, are kind of viewed as trying to put a nail in the coffin of rick santorum. the campaign adviser said to me, we won in massachusetts with 70% of the vote, romney's home state. gingrich won in georgia. santorum should win in pennsylvania. in many ways, they're trying to build up expectations for that april 24th date, hoping that really is the end of the road for santorum before may, where he could find success in north carolina and texas. they're hoping to defeat him, adding new staff and opening an office even in the state of pennsylvania. kris? >> all right, peter alexander. thanks. mitt romney has been on the campaign trail answering questions, and sometimes he gets questions like this. take a listen from yesterday's town hall.

>> are you worried about women voters? >> i'm worried about all voters. i want to make sure we win them all. >> if his poll numbers are right here and his poll numbers have been that he is losing women voters, how does he win them back? talking about ann romney as his secret weapon. >> ann romney is not a secret anymore. she is a very potent and capable advocate for mitt romney, and she will continue to be so. in pennsylvania, you're going to see her all around suburban philadelphia continuously and anywhere else that it's important for the romney campaign to connect with suburban voters, male and female. to the point you raised for the conventi convention, this is terribly important for mitt romney. the alternative needs to be a central one. a divided party that's divided

deep into august doesn't look like a party that's ready if you're ready to fire the incumbent president. >> so romney focusing on the general election, bringing out ann romney more. did you hear him on the radio. she was basically asked, is your husband a stiff? here's what she had to say. >> well, i guess we better unzip him and let the real mitt romney out because he is not. it is so funny to me that that is the perception out there because he is funny, he's engaging, he's witty. he's always playing jokes. when i met him when he was a teenag teenager, he have the life of the party. >> i'm having flashbacks to al gore's campaign. amanda, this is really the $6 million question. they actually asked it to sarah palin on the "today" show this morning. can you make somebody something they're not? say what you will, like or don't like sarah palin, when you saw her out on the campaign trail, she connected with people. that's what got herman cain to at least a few months of this campaign season. what do they do about mitt romney?

>> i think you have to be careful to make the -- not to make the candidate into something they're not. we saw this with john kerry in 2004, where they tried to portray him as going out hunting, and it came out to voters as very awkward and artificial. they have to be careful, sort of humanizing mitt romney, if you will, putting him out there with ann romney, with his family, is, i think, very, very helpful to him as the campaign is starting to realize. in terms of moving on to the general election, mitt romney wants to do that. you see him basically ignoring his other gop contenders at this point and focusing all of his fire power back on president obama, trying to pit it as a race between him and the president and just basically ignoring the other candidates. >> and you're seeing the democrats, and you're seeing the obama campaign doing the same thing. let me play for you a little bit of what david axelrod had to say. >> i think it's going to be the concern of the american people. he seems to be oblivious to the experiences of everyday people.

he says we should just let the housing market bottom out. we should have let wall street go bankrupt. >> any doubt what their strategy is here, and can it work? >> and you saw it in the advertisement the obama campaign ran yesterday, first time mentioning mitt romney. so the general election campaign, from the obama perspective, has already begun. they're not running against any other republican. they're running against mitt romney, saying he's in favor of big oil, his energy policies are not only reflective of the past, but they're weighted in republican special interests politics of the past. >> and they know gas prices are an issue for the president. >> so everything you're going to see in this campaign from an obama perspective, you may not be delighted with what i've accomplished, but the alternative is worse, and it is threatening to your already insecure economic future. that is going to be the bottom line narrative from the obama campaign. the president's speech today calling the paul ryan's budget, which mitt romney has endorsed, as thinly veiled social darwinism. that is putting it very

aggressively and very intently. that's the kind of choice we're going to have in this election. it's going to be a broad and sharply drawn one, which will be good for the country. >> let me circle back to the country very quickly. any chance of an upset in wisconsin? >> i don't see it, not based on the polling data. >> amanda? >> i don't see it at all. >> major garrett, amanda terkel, thanks to both of you. and outrage from an agency that's supposed to help save taxpayers money. the head of the general services administration resigns and one fired after they spent over $2 million on fancy meals, hotels, and flights for a conference in vegas in 2010. $75,000 for a team building exercise. that team built a bike. a reception that included a clown, a mind reader, and commemorative coins for all attendees. and $44 per person per day for breakfast. [ e ngine revs ]

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it's president obama's supreme court smackdown in his first public statements since the arguments challenging his health care law. >> i'm confident that the supreme court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected congress. >> i'm joined now by congresswoman karen bass of california. >> good morning. >> the president, i know, has been getting criticism for his

comments targeting the supreme court. do you think he went too far? >> i don't think he went too far. i certainly hope they will not overturn the law, absolutely. one thing i know for sure, we don't know what the supreme court is going to do, but we certainly know what mitt romney would do if he were president. he would wipe away, repeal the entire law. >> let me read you what was written this morning. "the president's critique buys into an unwarranted and largely unfortunate conservative critique of judicial power. we want our judges unelected. we want them to have the final constitutional say. the president should be arguing for a second term to prevent the court from tipping in an even more conservative direction." do you agree? >> it's not as if the president were trying to direct the court as to what they needed to do. he gave his opinion, and i certainly hope they don't repeal health care reform. if you look at the millions of people that now have access to

preventative care, you think of the children that are able to stay on their parents' health insurance plan. the idea we would take this away from people now, i think, is unconscionable, and i certainly hope the supreme court understands that and does not repeal the affordable care act. >> do you think that the president, at the head of the list, is trying to send a message to the court saying don't overstep. do you think there's not an effort out there to sway the swing judge, justice kennedy, or perhaps chief justice roberts, who is known to be concerned about his legacy, is known to be concerned about the perception that there may be political influence on the court? >> you know, i don't think the president needs to send the court a message. i mean, everyone in the country, including everyone on the court, understands how significant the affordable care act is to president obama's first term. everybody understands that. i don't think there's a need to

send a message. but what i do think is important is that we continue as democrats, we continue to educate the public about what would be taken away from them if the affordable care act is overturned. and i really believe that folks in our country will not stand for that. people are beginning to take advantage of the fact that, if you're a senior and you're on medicare, that doughnut hole is closed, and you no longer have to take that money out of pocket. and then in another couple of years, preexisting conditions for everyone will no longer be a way that you can deny health insurance. right now preexisting conditions cannot be refused for children, but in a couple of years, it will be for everyone. >> and the president isn't stopping at talking about the supreme court. he's taking on house republicans and especially the ryan budget plan today. there's going to be a little talk he gives at an associated press luncheon. he is expected to call it a trojan horse disguised as a deficit reduction plan, and in the preview of the speech that we got, he goes on to call it

thinly veiled social darwinism. it sounds like the president is in full campaign mode. what do you think? >> you know what, i think that's absolutely right, and i think don't take his word for it. read the ryan budget yourself, the path to prosperity. he calls for the elimination of medicare in order to save it, the elimination of medicaid in order to save it. calling it social darwinism, the survival of the fittest, i think, is absolutely right on point. i think the ryan budget, the republican budget, because it's not just paul ryan, i think what happens there is that deficit reduction is used to fundamentally change our coun y country, examineand i don't bele vision of the country on the path to prosperity is what america wants to have. i don't believe it's consistent with our values. i don't believe it's consistent with our history. congresswoman karen bass, it's great to see you. thank you very much. >> thank you. thanks for having me. >> this just in, an update at the school shooting at a small

christian college in california. a former student killed at least seven because he was upset with school administrators. >> we do know that he was upset with administrators at the school. we do know that he was upset with several students here because of the way he was treated when he was enrolled here two months ago. >> the 43-year-old man is in custody right now. police say he is cooperating with authorities. he was arrested yesterday at a nearby grocery store after he walked in and reportedly said, i just shot some people. three others were wounded in that shooting. >> who is the your business entrepreneur of the week? like many small business owners, carmen of auburn, new york, is struggling with the rising cost of gas. he's figured out a way to streamline deliveries and bought a more fuel efficient van all while trying to minimize price increases to his customers. [ female announcer ] lactaid milk is easy to digest.

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to politics now and the "today" show welcomes sarah palin to 30 rock this morning. >> oh, man. she's doing her homework. governor, it's nice to have you here. by the way, she told me a funny story. tell everybody what happened when you were coming to 30 rock yesterday. >> geez, matt. nicest lady in the world. she stopped me and asked me where i was headed. i said 30 rock.

she said, oh, honey, come here. i told you, tina fey is here. it's here. >> sarah palin also weighed in on ashton kutcher playing steve jobs in a new biopic. >> do any of you have experience with people being paid a lot of money to play they're you. >> what do you think of julianne moore? >> i thought tina fey was good. >> what did you think of julianne moore? >> no, i didn't see the movie. i don't waste my time on false scenarios. >> and a question about mitt romney's mormon faith on the campaign trail yesterday. >> i'm sorry. we're not going to have a discussion about religion, in my view. but if you have a question, i'll be happy to answer your question. >> my question is do you believe it's a sin for a white man to marry and procreate with a black? >> no. next question. >> and when it comes to pink slime, the beef product treated with ammonia, has gotten a lot

of attention because it's part of school lunches. now iowa governor wants to investigate who's behind what he calls, "a smear campaign." and if you can't make it to washington, d.c., you can take a virtual tour of the white house, yes, on google. visitors can poke their heads into the galleries and other famous rooms at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. their cameras capture 360 degree views, and you can check out a link on the facebook page at facebook/jansingco. if you read one thing today, the democrats aren't going to let the health care law go down without a fight. the hill has a terrific article about the supreme court and politics. it's our meft reach. it's on our facebook page. ing d. about your dog's nutrition. like the dual-defense antioxidants in our food that work around the clock... supporting your dog's immune system on the inside... while helping to keep his skin and coat healthy on the outside.

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17-year-old trayvon martin. nbc's kerry sanders is live in sanford this morning. kerry, what exactly is the fbi's role there now? >> reporter: this is part of the civil rights investigation in determining whether the fbi has the authority here to determine whether trayvon martin, who was a 17-year-old black man, was targeted by george zimmerman, who was a white hispanic. was that a result of simply some sort of racial prejudice? so the agents are back out there today. they're examining the location, taking pictures of where trayvon martin was shot and killed. they're talking to as many people who live in that area, and, of course, because people come and go for work and everywhere else, they'll be coming back. they're leaving their business cards where people weren't home yesterday, hoping to get details worked out together. at the same time, the state is running its own investigation. that's the florida department of law enforcement working for the special prosecutor trying to determine what happened on that rainy night more than a month ago.

field agents from the fbi spent much of monday in the gated community where trayvon was shot. they're here as part of a civil rights investigation to determine if the 17-year-old was targeted and killed by george zimmerman because he was black. >> the issue here is did george zimmerman act in self-defense? that's what this case is about. it's not about whether he was a racist. this was not a case of racial profiling. >> reporter: but lawyers for the teen's family insist not only was zimmerman motivated by race so too was the state attorney, who chose not to charge zimmerman and instead authorized police to release him. in a letter to the department of justice, martin family attorney benjam benjamin crump alleges the state attorney norman wolfinger and chief bill lee overruled the statement of the homicide investigator who recommended that george zimmerman be arrested for manslaughter.

and he also suggested improprieties, writing after zimmerman was taken in, we also believe that family members of george zimmerman were present at the police department. state attorney george wolfinger shot back in a statement. "i am out raged by the outlight lies in the letter by benjamin crump. no such meeting or communication occurred. i have been encouraging those spreading the irresponsible rhetoric to stop." so as that war of words plays out in the community, the special prosecutor with the florida department of law enforcement agents along with the fbi are trying to sort out fact from supposition because there is so much associated with this story of what people have said. they're trying to boil down the facts to determine why the initial investigation by sanford police department that lasted from the time of the shooting to the release of george zimmerman,

only 7 hours and 50 minutes, whether there were some questions that went unanswered. >> nbc's kerry sanders, thank you. congratulations to the university of kentucky for winning its eighth ncaa championship, but some fans got out of hand last night in lexington. one man was wounded by gunfire, dozens were arrested. police say thousands took to the streets and several fires were set and a car crashed into an outdoor bar. a cheerleader for the cincinnati bengals has pleaded not guilty to charges she had an affair with a teenage boy while she was a teacher. prosecutors say they have e-mail, text messages, and phone records. sarrah james sent to the allege victim. there is a wrinkle. the teenager's family was in court supporting her, and the teenager may not even cooperate with prosecutors. trial is set for late june. new york city police and the fbi are investigating a new online threat involving al qaeda. the graphic you're looking at reads, "al qaeda coming again

soon to new york." it was posted on a radical overseas bsite. the fbi says there is no specific or credible threat to new york. and you've got to see this to believe it. it happened in norway just moments before a truck driver jumped from his rig. there it goes, plunging almost 200 feet off an icy cliff. he had been towing another truck behind him, and there was a driver in that second truck still in it. he went down but miraculously survived the fall and is in stable condition at a local hospital. the biggest prize in today's republican contest, of course, wisconsin. here's the number to watch. 41% likely voters who say they're evangelical. when that number goes above 50, that's when romney has lost. there's even more to it, of course. msnbc's richard lui has wisconsin by the numbers. hey there. >> hey, kris. the dairy state could be rick santorum's last stand. he's banking on evangelicals, as you were mentioning, but also those who call themselves very

conservative. in wisconsin, 20% of likely voters are from that group. as the national journal notes, santorum cannot count on all of those. those who are very conservative but not evangelical have gone consistently for mitt romney. 45, the percent of women likely voters. santorum does a little better with women than romney. watch women to see how debate over birth control, women's health care, rides out in today's vote. 3%, that's the delegates at stake today to win the nomination. the symbolic way is certainly heavier. santorum wants to show viability, and romney, front-runner status. they've been willing to spend to prove status, front-runner or viability. 5-to-1 is the average mitt romney has outspent santorum, mostly on ads. will the one sidedness help romney again? speaking of money, $1 million is the price ron paul has paid per delegate based on campaign spending. the rest average out to under

$140,000 per delegate gained. money may not help. look at 2004. incumbent george w. bush lost the general in wisconsin, maryland, and d.c. those votes are happening today, but still won the presidency in that. finally for you -- [ mooing ] >> yeah, kris, 1.26 million cows. bovines don't vote, but farm owners do. 4 in 10 owners in the 2008 primary were rural. kris, this group could be santorum's cash cow. >> oh, richard lui. >> there are no -- >> the sound effect and the bad joke, fantastic. >> there are no sacred cows with me. >> now you've gone way too far. >> i'll stop right now. after tonight's results are in from wisconsin and whether they're farm voters or not, the next big primary contest april 24th -- connecticut, delaware, new york, rhode island, and all important pennsylvania, which is, of course, the home state of rick santorum. and arguably an absolute must win for the former senator. just three weeks before that key

contest, a new quinnipiac poll of likely republican voters in pennsylvania finds santorum leading romney by six points. let me bring in juliana glover, a republican strategist for george h.w. bush, and a former democratic strategist and spokesperson for hillary clinton's campaign. good morning to you both. >> good morning. >> the gop race is tightening in pennsylvania. santorum had a commanding lead just weeks ago. what do you think? is it finally, at least from mitt romney's perspective, finally game over if santorum doesn't win pennsylvania? >> i really don't think so. the week after that, you have west virginia and kentucky -- excuse me. north carolina. two states that indeed santorum could do very well in. given the ego mania of politicians, the likelihood that he stays in until the end of may and not the beginning of june is significant. >> do you think it's ego propelling him to stay in the race at this point? >> look, winning states is winning states. in may, santorum is likely to win a number of states -- texas,

west virginia, arkansas, north carolina, kentucky. those are all states that are likely to fall into his win column. i don't see him getting out whether he wins or loses pennsylvania. and i also think today is certainly not make or break for him. the expectation is that romney's going to win wisconsin. the question is will it be by a mile or a millimeter? and then after that, santorum, i expect, as do many others, will stay in until the very beginning of june when we get to california >> and one of the themes of santorum's campaign is to say that a vote for mitt romney is like voting for president obama, and he's got this ad that highlights the recent -- what he sees as the similarities although some folks say the ad is four pinocchios, at least according to glen kesler at the washingt washington post. do you think that strategy will work for him? >> i don't think it will work for him. i don't think anything is going to work for him.

i agree today is not make or break for rick santorum. it's already broken. he's not going to be the nominee. everyone knows that except for him. i do agree he's not going to get out of the race, and i think he'll continue to move forward and probably will win a few more states. but mathematically, it's very difficult for him to become the nominee. most people have pivoted towards the general election already. >> i can make this argument. certainly, the party leadership on the republican side has, and we've seen the endorsements coming in. but the same quinnipiac poll that shows a six-point race in pennsylvania found that, when they asked, is it better for the gop if santorum stays in the race or drops out, 57% say it's better if he stays in the race. what's behind that number, do you think, juleanna? >> i think people like to see this race play out. i think, in fact, i'm probably a little bit counterintuitive on this. i think the longer it plays out, the better it is for the eventual nominee because of the

fact that, once we do have a nominee, that's only going to be a punching bag day after day for this white house. the white house will look to drive up our nominee's negatives every single day. we'll have the same opportunity to do that with him. on the other hand, we've been doing that, quite frankly, every single day for almost 3 1/2 years now. it just seems to me that the longer this plays out, it could indeed play into our hands versus having a nominee with negatives in the 50s perhaps going into our convention. >> mo, do you agree with that? one of the ways i think that some republicans are concerned about it going on is just that mitt romney has had to spend so much more money than he probably anticipated, winning these primaries. and the longer it goes on, potentially the less money he has in the general against barack obama. >> i think that's certainly a challenge for romney. it is amazing to me, in what is arguably one of the weakest fields any major party has ever put up in a presidential election, mitt romney has had so much trouble. and did have to spend so much

money to become the presumptive nominee. but even more, i think, troublesome for him is he doesn't need the democrats. the democrats don't need to turn him into a punching bag. his campaign and the republican field has already done that. they've driven up his negatives on their own. the longer this campaign, this primary has gone on, the less people have liked this field. including republicans. enthusiasm in the republican party is weighed down. and among independents, we're beginning to see republican and romney's numbers just crater. and that's predominantly true in the battleground states with independent women, in the excerpts and the suburbs. those are the people that decide general elections. the republicans are really, really stumbling there. >> how much is about message, and how much is about money?

>> in this particular instance, i'd much rather see santorum out there beating up romney because santorum doesn't have the money to spend on focus groups to hone a message that's truly going to be as effective as obama will have. every single day the obama administration and the campaign will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars figuring out what key phrases are going to work best to make romney into the most unappealing candidate possible. so you have santorum out there throwing blind punches, really not knowing what's going to work and what's not whereas once romney or our nominee is the central focus for the obama administering, those messages are going to be very carefully crafted, and one can bet they're going to be crafted to be maximally effective, and that's just not happening right now. speaking of spending money, it looks like the easter season will be giving retailers and the economy a pretty big boost this year because spending is expected to jump 11% to nearly $17 billion. cnbc's jackie deangelis is here

wh with what's moving your money. $17 billion, that's a lot of peeps. >> consumers celebrating easter will spend $145 each, up from $131 last year. the bulk of the purchases are going to be on candy and spring clothes, but we're going to see an increase on money spent on easter meals, flowers, decoration as well. total spending on apparel could rise to $3 billion as consumers are taking advantage of those sales out there. chocolate, jelly beans, and other sweets about $2 billion. and $5 billion on other food. that's a pretty decent amount of money considering the fact that food and gas prices are up and we're still battling high unemployment. >> i've got to say there's something wrong in the world when you're spending more on easter clothes and food than candy. that's just me. let's talk car sales. the big three are out with monthly auto sales today. >> that's correct. it could be a blockbuster month. we're seeing signs, in fact,

that sales are very robust, and they are picking up. this is expected to be the best month since august of 2007. chrysler did report a 34% increase in march auto sales. it's the 24th consecutive month that chrysler showed a year over year gain. we're going to get other reports throughout the day. the analysts are expecting to show significant signs of sales growth. >> jackie deangelis, good to see you. thanks so much. as if apple needed more reassurance that they have one of the best products on the market, consumer reports has now named the new ipad the best tablet computer just two weeks after the magazine said the device runs hotter than previous models. consumer reports liked the ipad's camera and its faster connectivity. is this what we're doing now? i don't want a plunger anywhere near my coffee. not in my house. with maxwell house french roast, you let gravity do the work. [ male announcer ] maxwell house french roast. always good to the last drop.

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switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. president obama's re-election campaign has launched a third campaign ad that takes aim at both romney and oil companies.

>> i'm barack obama, and a prove this message. >> under barack obama, domestic oil production is at an eight-year high. why is big oil attacking him? he's fighting to end their tax breaks and double renewable energy. in all of these fights, mitt romney stood with big oil. >> howard brackman is vice president of reputation.com and chairman of 15-minute public relations. good to see you always when you're in new york. democrats are worried that gas prices could sink them, so you see these kinds of ads. does this defuse? >> it doesn't defuse. obama would rather run against romney and big oil, who both have high negatives, as opposed to running against gas prices, where it ups his negatives. >> meanwhile, rick santorum out with a tough ad in wisconsin that's getting a lot of attention. let me play that. >> what if i told you this man's big government mandate in 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. >> effective? >> well, i think it may be effective among santorum's target audience, absolutely. what's interesting is, as much as romney gets up and says, i'm a conservative, i'm a conservative, nobody buys it. i think that ad probably helps obama more than anyone if we have to choose a winner. >> and the rnc just came out with an ad that slams the president's health care law, no surprise about that. let's watch this one. >> barack obama promised to cut health care costs. >> we will bring down premiums by $2,500 for the typical family. >> but it didn't happen. 6 in 10 americans are seeing their premiums rise. the average cost of a family policy is up $1,300, and the key part of obama's health care takeover will cost $100 billion more than promised. >> so "the washington post" looked at that add and gave it

three pinocchios, which isn't good. they looked at the previous ad that we just saw, and it got four pinocchios, which is, i think, the worst you can get. does it matter, though? if it's a good ad, does it matter if it's truthful? >> it matters a little bit. you know, the people who are watching this show, this network are generally enlightened and like to keep up on what's going on. a lot of people don't. if you saw some of the statistics in some of the primary states, people believe obama wasn't born in the u.s. he's still a muslim. if you keep repeating these things long enough, people believe it. of course they didn't point out that obama's health care law doesn't go into effect until 2014 and he's getting responsibility. but what happens on your watch happens on your watch, so he will take a bit of a hit for that. >> it's also fascinating to me that we're seeing so many of these ads now online, and that is a big change from previous presidential elections, and i'm wondering what do you target

differently? are there strongly different audiences for the online ads and the ads that we see that run on television? and how has it changed the game, howard? >> you just have to understand a third of the voters are not watching traditional tv. as little as 10, 15 years ago, you could buy a couple of national ads and reach 80%, 90% of the population. now you have to buy thousands of ads to do the same thing, much more online. we're going to be talking about that a lot, social media, online strategy, and the ads are cheaper. >> much, much, much cheaper, especially if we replay them on cable, and they get a little free air time. howard, always great to have you here. thank you. >> thanks, kris. republicans make up just 6.6% of the electorate voting today in washington, d.c. in fact, democrats outnumber them 11-to-1. today's tweet of the day from democratic strategist donna brazile. what's on your menu? i just voted in the d.c. primary. president obama got an enthusiastic vote. hope my one vote will make a

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good morning, everybody. i'm thomas roberts. details on the deadly shooting at a christian school in california. what drove a nursing student to allegedly kill seven people? romney tries to go 3 for 3. can he seal the deal on wisconsin, maryland, and washington, d.c., tonight? chuck todd reads the tea leaves for us. will rick santorum push on to p.a.? and game change in the morning? how did sarah palin do as a "today" show co-host? we'll have that. kris? >> thank you so much, thomas. we want you to know we just got this statement. it came from the office of the former vice president dick cheney and says that he has been released from the hospital ten days after having heart transplant surgery. he thanked his doctors. he thanked his staff, and he thanked the unknown donor who gave him that heart. again, former vice president dick cheney has been released from the hospital with a new heart. that's going to do it for me.

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what led a former nursing student to go on an alleged former student go on a shooting spree at a christian school? then it's a primary day. can mitt romney pull off a hat trick, winning wisconsin, maryland, and washington, d.c.? would it force rick santorum to throw in the towel? forget, though, about the primaries because it is game on for the general. president obama takes on the supreme court over his health care law. his campaign is out with a new ad slamming mitt romney by name, and the president is set to give a major speech today, taking on congressman paul ryan's budget plan. plus going rogue. sarah palin co-hosts the "today" show, chiming in on the presidential race and proving