. awake all night. wondering if i missed willie geist this morning, but the bail money made it in time. >> just ask them to put on msnbc in jail. they'll do it for you. >> thinking way too early studio would be enhanced with the miami style fish tank and nightclub. >> we have a nightclub up in the rafters where bill karins hangs out. named by time-out new york magazine as the city's lamest nightclub. we're awfully proud of that. "morning joe" starts right now. >> thank you to wisconsin, maryland, and washington, d.c. we won them all! this really has been quite a night. we won a great victory tonight in our campaign to restore the promise of america and here in the heartland, you know, you're not going to find americans with

bigger hearts than the people of wisconsin. >> mitt romney did last night what most people expected him to do, captured three primaries. romney won the closest of the three races in wisconsin, where rick santorum had devoted significant time and energy. romney took 43% of the vote there, adding to his already wide lead in the delegates. he also cruised to victory in maryland, beating santorum by 20 points. and in the district of columbia, where santorum wasn't even on the ballot, romney wiped out the field with 70% of the vote. good morning, everyone. welcome to "morning joe." it's wednesday, april 4. a little dark still outside. with us on set, msnbc and time magazine political editor mark halperin and john heilman is joining us now as we wake up today. how are y'all? >> when is the wake up part? >> ok. don't wake up.

>> is it morning? >> it should be, but it's not. >> it's over. >> well, i would think it would be over. >> it's over, right? >> you tried to goad me a few contests ago into saying it was over. no goading needed now. >> is it over? >> it's over. and we saw a huge preview of the general election yesterday, big presidential speech, romney your next president. >> and romney directing his remarks to the president more than anything else last night. >> john, is it over? >> i kept thinking last night about tim russert in 2008 on the night of the indiana and north carolina primaries when he said, you know, we now know who the democratic nominee is going to be. i think we now absolutely know who the republican nominee is going to be. >> willie, you agree? >> it's over. anybody who pretends otherwise is just for good tv. but it's probably been over for quite some time. now we can say it with more authority after wisconsin. >> if he lost wisconsin, it would have shown that he was -- how weak he was.

if he'd lost michigan or ohio or illinois, that would have been problematic. but he won them all. he won all of those midwest states that always knocked down these sort of right field challengers. they always do. and they did it again this year. im >> some say it's now just a matter of time for romney to capture the republican nomination. 80% of wisconsin voters believe that romney will be their nominee next fall. it's a perception romney tried to drive home during his victory speech in milwaukee last night by focusing his attacks squarely on the president. >> out of touch liberals like barack obama say they want a strong economy, but in everything they do, they show they don't like business very much. but the economy, of course, is simply the product of all the businesses in the nation added together. so it's a bit like saying you like an omelet, but you don't like eggs.

you know, to build a strong economy that provides good jobs and rising wages and that reduces poverty, we have to build successful businesses of every kind imaginable. and president obama has been attacking successful businesses of every kind imaginable. >> mark, i understand why newt gingrich stays in the race. he's not going to be selected as secretary of state by mitt romney. he's 68 years old. doesn't have a big political future ahead of this campaign and what happens in tampa. but that's not the case for rick santorum. should rick santorum not get out of this race for his own good? for get the good of the party, forget the good of romney. he'll be beaten in april contests. but for his own good, should he just get out of the race now? >> i think gingrich and santorum share a desire to try to strengthen mitt romney and make him a more conservative general elected candidate.

that's an idealistic view of their motives but i think that's part of it for both of them. and the longer they stay in, if they have success, and santorum can have success in may, the greater their hand is as they get to tampa to try to influence romney more. romney right now some days talks like an empowerment conservative, but some days he doesn't. and they want him to be an empowerment contract with america reaganesque conservative as the nominee. >> john, if they have to deal with loss after loss in april, and have to deal with a growing resentment from the gop establishment, and, again, i'm talking about what is good for rick santorum. >> yeah. >> not out of kindness or love, just like i'm not saying this out of kindness or love for mitt romney. but this is just analyzing. this is inside baseball. you don't want to hurt yourself. you don't want to blow yourself up in 2012 if you're young

enough to have a good shot at 2016. >> i think rick santorum in addition to the things that mark said, i think rick santorum thinks of himself as a cause candidate. and he believes in the cause. and i think he -- as he goes forward, i think he may be putting his commitment to that what he sees as a cause ahead of his political best interest, as you just said, joe. but i will say he has now said that he must win pennsylvania. and the polls in pennsylvania now have him only ahead by a few points. my guess is that romney and his superpac allies will take the tack -- that's going to be the only close race now, and they'll pour resources there and try to beat him there, and that would drive santorum out because he says he must win that state. i cannot imagine they do not want to try to get to may. there are a bunch of states where santorum will do well in may because of the demographics. i know that the conclusion is foregone, but romney doesn't want to fight those battles. i think they will try to kill him in april, and he may put

rick santorum out of his own misery. >> well, but here is the problem with pennsylvania. it doesn't only put him out of his own misery in 2012. if he loses his home state, and rick santorum must know this, that mitt romney is going to make pennsylvania his waterloo. if i were mitt romney today, i would go up with millions of dollars of ads in pennsylvania today, and let him know, you know what, you say in this race, and you make me sweat this out, and you stop me from focusing on barack obama, you know what i'm going to do? i'm going to reduce you to rubble in your home state. and then just like rome, i'm going to go to carthage and salt the earth to make sure nothing grows back there again. i will kill you politically in your home state. i will humiliate you worse than you were humiliated in 2006. you want to play, big boy? let's play. game on. this is just pure politics. and santorum, he can't afford a

loss in pennsylvania. >> well, what can he afford, mark halperin, if you're funding the superpac supporting rick santorum? are you taking it to pennsylvania and on? >> well, they haven't had much money lately. if romney wins there, is no 2016. two, 16 has got a lot of powerful people running in the republican party. >> nobody thinks romney is going to win. let's just be honest. can we just say this for everybody at home? >> oh, gosh, yeah. >> can we say this for everybody at home? >> he might. >> the republican establishment, i have yet to meet a single person in the republican establishment that thinks that mitt romney is going to win the general election this year. they won't say it on tv because they don't want people writing them nasty emails. i obviously don't care. but i have yet to meet anybody in the republican establishment that worked for george w. bush, that works in the republican congress, that worked for ronald reagan, that thinks mitt romney

is going to win the general election. >> i don't totally agree with you. but even if you think romney loses, there are so many strong candidates out there. >> who? >> who? mitch daniels, bobby jindal, haley barbour -- not haley barbour, chris christie, jeb bush. >> are you serious? >> there's a bunch of them. >> love those guys. it was their year. they let it pass. >> nothing about his success from his point of view has come from the establishment. he doesn't feel he needs the establishment to like him to have a future in '16. i don't think that's going to get him out of the race. >> maybe so. >> it's really helpful to the party. it's great timing. >> well, listen, i think everybody should do what they feel like they have to do. and i'm not talking about what's in the best interest of the party, because i personally don't think nominating a big government republican is in the best interest of my party. but if you're just analyzing it,

if you're newt gingrich, fight all the way to tampament you were built for this, newt. but from rick santorum's point of view, a guy that has proven he deserves another chance in 2016 -- >> save yourself. >> save yourself. don't embarrass yourself in your home state of pennsylvania. you don't have the resources now. you don't have the organization now. but you sure as heck can start working today to be prepared in 2016. >> the people who would propel him in '16 thinks that mitt romney is an illegitimate nominee, and i don't think they want to see him give up now. >> i think that most conservatives think that romney is an illegitimate nominee. but does rick santorum step on a landmine for all of these other people? >> he's a cause candidate. >> well, yeah. i've got lots of causes too. i like to win. i like to win for my causes. all right. as mitt romney moves -- >> i was going to say, to your point about pennsylvania, we have seen what the romney campaign can do when they want

to vaporize somebody. remember newt gingrich going into florida, coming out hot out of south carolina, mitt romney's campaign decided it was time to put an end to it, and they did it quickly. and they will probably decide to do the same to rick santorum in pennsylvania. >> if i'm mitt romney, i get the b-52s and take them up over pennsylvania. >> it's dresden. you turn pittsburgh into dresden. >> it's a firebombing the political proportions the likes of which rick santorum has never seen. let's move on to the president, who is lunging full force into general election politics with a scathing critique of the house republican budget. speaking at the associated press luncheon yesterday, the president described his opponent's plan as a, quote, prescription for decline. >> this congressional republican budget is something different altogether. it is a trojan horse. disguised as deficit reduction plans, it is really an attempt

to impose a radical vision on our country. it is thinly veiled social darwinism. it is antithetical to our entire history as a land of opportunity and upward mobility for everybody who's willing to work for it. a place where prosperity doesn't trickle down from the top but grows outward from the heart of the middle class. >> the president accused his opponents of shifting so far to the right, that even the late ronald reagan would be pushed to the sidelines in today's republican party. >> ronald reagan, who as i recall is not accused of being a tax and spend socialist, understood repeatedly that when the deficit started to get out of control, that for him to make a deal, he would have to propose both spending cuts and tax increases. did it multiple times.

he could not get through a republican primary today. >> and when it came to specific policy differences, president obama -- >> hold on a second. i'm sorry. >> this is the best part right here. it's coming up. >> he's no better at constitutional law than he is at republican politics. >> oh, please. he spoke about that too. i'll get there. >> barack obama is the expert on who can win a republican primary today? >> you simmer down. stop. >> i'm relaxed. i don't say -- i have never once -- never once have you heard me say that anything that barack obama supports is, quote, radical vision for america. >> right. ok. >> and goes against everything -- what did he say? goes against everything -- >> well, you haven't talked about the ryan budget then. >> antithetical to everything in our entire history. here is a man that hasn't put out a serious budget for years, who runs a party that hasn't put out a -- any budget in over a thousand days.

you know, he might -- you know, he might want to actually get his party together and put out a serious budget on the other side, and then maybe the two sides could work together and compromise and we can meet in the middle. >> it would be great if you could pass a budget. >> and washington could work. but he won't put out a budget. and paul ryan puts out his budget, and then the democrats in the senate don't put out their budget. so the president can go out and say a lot of really nasty things. what did he say? >> antithetical. >> antithetical to our entire history. >> social darwinism. >> and social darwinism and a radical vision, this, that, and the other, and yet in this radical vision, under paul ryan's cold hearted plan, the national debt goes up trillions and trillions of dollars. see, that's how screwed-up washington is. paul ryan puts out a budget that

everybody says is radical and debt still goes up trillions and trillions of dollars. and the prident is afraid to even put out a budget. >> he does have this concept that he would like very much for people to rally around, he zeroed in on taxes as a key issue for the upcoming race. >> maybe, just maybe, at a time of growing debt and widening inequality, we should hold off on giving the wealthiest americans another round of big tax cuts. instead of moderating their views even slightly, the republicans running congress right now have doubled down and proposed a budget so far to the right it makes the contract with america look like the new deal. >> whatever. wait a second. >> what about the democrats and the budget is -- >> hold on a second. who is writing for him? does he have a pipeline to a blogger in a basement somewhere -- >> he has a line to people with feeling, unlike mitt romney. >> there was cheeto dust coming off that speech.

so we have alex corson. since he works here, he is of course a left-marxist because mika hires everybody who works here. as the president is going, instead of another round of tax cuts for the rich, alex goes, isn't he the one that gave the last tax cuts? willie, he is the guy that extended the bush tax cuts when we around this table were saying maybe he should listen to chuck schumer and not do that now. this is the republicans? no, that was his fault. and his own people are saying, we've got to do it because the economy is bad. >> it was a remarkable speech not just in its context but for its tone for a man who has lamented the lack of civility, a man who was supposed to rise above, a man about hope and change, this was down in the dirt. >> he's tough, baby. >> it's an election year, and he's not the only one in washington that does it. but he was swinging yesterday. >> he called his opponents radical. he said that what they were

doing were antithetical to everything. in the united states history. >> how would you do the budget, joe? >> i think it's a good first start. it's what i would hope conservatives would come forward with on the right that would produce a responsible democratic vision on the left and that they could meet somewhere in the middle. because john heilman, i'm really good at civics. but that's the way it usually works. as paul ryan said to bill clinton, hey, in an unguarded moment, we just had to put something out there that's a good starting point and we'll meet somewhere in the middle. but the democrats have made a decision, and maybe it makes sense politically, but they have made a decision, we're not going to put out a serious budget because we'll just get attacked. right? >> they have. i believe that there was a budget vote on -- a version of the president's -- >> well, it got zero votes. that's not a serious budget. he got zero votes this time.

zero votes last year. >> i understand. >> but do you have any reporting on -- do any of you guys have any reporting on the democrats? because i know the democratic budget chairman, a friend of ours in the senate, is a good guy and a deficit hog. i know this is coming from harry reid. >> i think the democratic point of view is there is no democratic budget that could pass in the congress as currently constituted. so their point is not only they will be attacked, but attacked for no purpose whatsoever because there is not going to be a budget that looks anything like their budget. so they want to make this election a referendum on budget priorities. and so paul ryan's budget will not be passed. barack obama's budget vision or the democratic vision will not be passed. there will be a big debate in 2008 over whose vision of what the budget should look like is the right vision. democrats want a referendum on that. >> how can we have a referendum, mark halperin, on the democrats' vision if they haven't put out a budget in over 1,000 days? >> you're gnawing at this like a horse on a piece of wood. god. >> i think i have broken the code of what the president was

doing yesterday with all of this provocative stuff. >> what's that? >> listen to talk radio, watch a little fox, read some conservative blogs and twitter, the stuff in his speech drives conservatives crazy. and it means conservatives are going to be talking about this stuff, process stuff, how much they dislike the president, not about gas prices and joblessness. >> they are going to misbehave. >> and it will just occupy the media, and it will occupy republicans and conservatives in a way that allows the president to make the election a choice election between his vision and the romney-ryan vision. and it's fantastically effective in the first 24 hours. >> as mark just said, the romney-ryan vision. i think the white house and democrats are convinced that if republicans grab hold of paul ryan's vision, that that's a losing proposition for republicans to the extent to that riles up mitt romney and others on the right to become more defenders of what paul ryan has put out, they think that's to the democrats' political interest. they want to have that contrast. they think they win on that.

>> the president pokes the bear and watches the bear run further into paul ryan's cave. and he's happy about that. >> well, he is trying to whip up his base as well. >> well, it whips up the base but it also pushes romney to the right and allows the president to get to independents. independents right now prefer the president's broad view of the budget to paul ryan's view. >> were either of you all surprised, and mika and i will disagree on this, were either of you guys surprised by the president's tone? i don't remember him going out quite so much. willie, do you? does anybody remember him going out there like radicalized vision, suggesting that it's something like this has never -- a budget like this has never been put out in the history of the united states? >> i was struck yesterday by how closely he's paid attention to the republican nomination. he cited a bunch of stuff that he clearly wasn't just reading talking points. he has paid really close attention. >> were you surprised by the

tone? >> no. >> game on. >> it's game on. and i think based on where they are going to spend money and how the president behaved yesterday, they are trying to kill romney in the next two months. they want to make him unelectable in the next two months. >> he seemed a little bit -- he did not project the most optimistic demeanor we have seen from him. there was a bit of an unhappy warrior quality to it. but, look, you go back to 1996, and replay dole-gingrich. this is romney-ryan. you know, it doesn't matter who the republican vice presidential nominee is, it was dole-gingrich, and the clinton administration won that fight in the spring of 2006. >> let me tell you something, i know newt gingrich and i know paul ryan. and paul ryan is no newt gingrich. >> i understand. equally unpopular budget visions, though. >> try to put the horns on paul ryan, they do not fit as snugly as they do on newt gingrich. we'll see. coming up, kelly ayotte will

join us. also, starbucks president and ceo howard schultz. tina brown. and later, oprah's longtime partner steadman graham. up next, the top stories in the politico playbook. but first, the latest on the tornadoes in texas. here's bill karins. >> well, tractor-trailers that look like toys. that's what we saw live on tv yesterday afternoon. the dallas, texas, metroplex area. and there they are. literally, 1,600 pounds tossed in the air, 100 to 200 feet and suspended for at least a couple of seconds. these tornadoes moved through the region pretty quickly and bounced and skipped. they were not on the ground the whole time, and these were not 200 mile per hour storms like tuscaloosa dealt with in joplin. that is why there are a not a lot of fatalities. people survived in their houses with the tornadoes unlike the ones we saw last year in a few locations. this is where the tornadoes

occurred, about 17 in all. now we're still left with some strong storms down in louisiana. under a flash flood warning in the metroplex area around downtown new orleans. another line of storms just crossed baton rouge. that's headed your way again. not a fun commute there in southern louisiana. later today, more strong storms are likely. i do not think we'll see a tornado outbreak. we'll have a few tornadoes, and of course if they hit a metropolitan area like memphis, nashville, or new orleans, it will be a big story. but most likely, we will not see anything like yesterday. forecastwise from the northeast, you're looking great today. no problems whatsoever. and also if you're joining us from the dallas area, today is your day of cleanup. no storms in your forecast. just amazing pictures. that's tornado video and footage we'll see for years to come. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. the capital one cash rewards card

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mitt romney promises the process for choosing his running mate will be deliberative and exhaustive to ensure a candidate is selected as impressive as the past four vice presidential nominees. edwards. sarah palin. dick cheney. and joe biden. >> thank you. dr. pepper. >> paid for by romney 2012. 27 past the hour. time to look at the morning papers. >> love that. they are so good. vice president dick cheney, former vice president, is back home, released yesterday from a virginia hospital. he received a heart transplant. >> looking good. >> 11 days ago from an unknown donor. cheney seen here with his life li lynn, 71 years old. the photo put out on twitter by daughter liz. he looks great.

>> he does look great. >> that's wonderful. and james murdock, son of rupert murdock, stepping down in the wake of the phone hack scandal. he acknowledged he is a lightning d for the alleged bribery by british newspapers while he was in charge. and from london's "daily telegraph," james mccartney says he and the other sons of the fab four have considered putting a band together called the beatles: the next generation. the idea has received mixed reaction. and from "the miami herald," tonight major league baseball kicks off the season with a new miami marlins hosting the defending world champion st. louis cardinals. it's also the debut of the marlins new $515 million ballpark. >> my goodness. >> complete with the retractible roof, a nightclub, and that

giant structure in center field that apparently does something with a home run is hit. >> really? >> it's my home state, but, man, florida and baseball, it's never been an easy mix, willie. never been an easy mix. >> that's a lot of taxpayer money for a stadium that's not going to have very many people in it. >> well, it's going to have 15. >> stop it, joe. that's not true. >> listen, you look at the history of miami and st. pete. and they have put some great ball teams on the field. and overachieved. and the fans just don't follow. listen, i've got to tell you -- >> that's not nice. you never know. >> if i'm sitting by my swimming pool in april and i'm in florida and i have my kids jumping in the pool, i mean, it's not like i'm in milwaukee. i may stay by the pool. >> milwaukee say great town. >> i love milwaukee. >> what city doesn't have a team? >> but it's 25. >> what cities don't have teams outside of florida? >> i don't know. what do you think? >> tulsa.

>> oklahoma city. >> oklahoma city likes basketball. >> they support their basketball. >> it feels like florida should have a team. >> they should. >> listen, we love baseball. our high school programs are some of the best in america. we've got some great, great baseball down there. we love it. and we obviously have a large hispanic population. great ball players from the americas coming into florida. it makes sense. but when you put a big field there and try to get people in the stands, they don't come because, again, seriously, i mean this, and i'm not knocking milwaukee, but if it's april 10, and you can swim by the pool or you can sit on the beach or you can go sailing or you can play tennis or do all of these other things, i don't know if you're going to be sitting in the stands. >> we'll see. >> and if you're older -- >> that's mean, joe. try and give it a chance. >> if you're old, you're probably staying inside an air

conditioned home, you know? my grandma, you know, she was like 85, she'd be sitting there drinking sanka, air conditioning, watching the atlanta braves on the super station. >> all right. >> right? >> i used to watch those too. >> we get your point. >> but they solved two of the problems with the retractible dome. >> that's nice. >> in the old stadium, it was either raining or 120 degrees. now you solved that with the dome. >> it needed a top. >> and they are putting a great team on the field this year. a lot of people are picking them to go to the world series. if they can't do it with this stadium and this team, they'll never do it. >> i hope they do well. nothing i would love more. >> me too. >> and let's just say it really quickly. this isn't sports but let's tip our hat -- >> we are going to politico now. >> but it's gavin so it doesn't really count. but let's tip our cap to what the rays have done in tampa. my god. what an amazing job over the past three years. of course, it's driven me crazy because i'm a red sox fan. but you've got to have such great respect for them. even when the sox were chasing tampa, and i looked in the

stands, and they were half full, i felt really bad for those players and that coach. what a great organization. >> raise a cup of sanka. >> i raise a cup of sanka to the tampa bay rays. >> how about to the can man? look at him. >> baseball and florida goes together like, you know, patrick and dogs. >> he likes kitty cats. >> getting a warm reception today. gavin, doesn't count. >> gavin has a cat? what? >> that's my new inscription on my tombstone, joe, it's gavin, it doesn't count. >> 14 minutes left in the segment. >> good luck. >> we just talked about in the last segment, that rick santorum wants to hang in through april so he can get to may. one of the states we see on the calendar in may is texas. and the campaign anyway at this

moment feels like they'll do pretty well there. >> they do. and you have talked about a lot already. one thing i do think is interesting out of last night is that mitt romney made some serious inroads in the groups that he typically doesn't do very well in. in maryland, amongst voters who describe themselves as very conservative, he actually split that vote with rick santorum. he's never done that before. now you can say that people in maryland who call themselves very conservative are different than people around the country who call themselves very conservative, but even in the other states among noncollege educated voters, among less wealthy people, he sort of dwindled back down between himself and rick santorum. so he sees that as a huge net positive coming out of last night. >> patrick, i think that was totally worth it. >> it was great. >> thank you very much. >> seriously, patrick, i stand corrected. >> very well said. >> thank you guys. >> let it go, cat man. so i'm reading the times, and the caucus this is

interesting, june support for obama remains high. all this talk about how he scared off jewish voters, the number, 62% of jewish voters say they support the president's re-election. only 30% don't. it's identical to 2008. not that i wasn't listening to everything that patrick gavin said, but -- >> i think most jewish voters recognize the president is primarily pro drill. >> thank you so much. >> you are so in the tank. >> you can tell we are getting closer to the election. >> i guess you forgot about that u.n. vote last september. joe just forgets about all the things the administration has done. >> charlie brown and the football with the the yaum ca. >> willie, this will be a long weekend. >> no. >> the view from williamsburg over here.

>> one other city for baseball, vegas. that would be great. the baylor women playing for the national championship. they would have a perfect 40-0 record. something that's never happened. >> they just can't do that. >> we'll see if they did it. >> i wonder if they did. four walls and a roof is a structure. what's inside is a home. home protector plus from liberty mutual insurance, where the cost to both repair your house and replace what's inside are covered. so your life can settle right back into place. to learn more, visit libertymutual.com today.

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we're going to pitch it over to gabriel at woodland. what's the scene like there? >> we are live here at the corner of buford and woodlands. how do you feel, sir? >> i feel [ bleep ] awesome. >> yeah, yeah, yeah! >> gas, gas, gas! >> we are going to toss back to you guys. part of that is the home base is inside an rv. >> yeah. >> good stuff. >> lordy, lordy, willie. look who's 40. >> how about that? 40-0. 40 wins, zero losses. that's what the baylor lady bears were going for last night

as they played for the national championship. had to get past notre dame, fellow number one seed to make that history. pregame, baylor's brittney griner. we showed you her throwing down. how about this one off the backboard getting ready? early in the first, griner double-teamed down low. it doesn't matter. she goes up with the lay-in. and heisman trophy winner at baylor, robert griffin iii right there on the right cheering the ladies on. baylor up six at the break. second half, notre dame's all american hits the long three. irish within five. but griner was simply too much. notre dame puts three, count them, three defenders on her. she spins away from the triple-team. a little jumper and the foul. she is fired up. 26 points, 13 rebounds, five blocks for griner. condoleezza rice in the crowd watching as this one slips away from notre dame. baylor wins 80-61, an unprecedented 40-0 mark. >> amazing. >> no other ncaa basketball team

has won 40 games in a season. rgiii, heisman trophy winner, soon-to-be washington redskin, helped cut down the nets. congratulations to an all-time great team. >> unbelievable. you say he is going to the redskins? >> they traded all those picks. you figure the colts will take andrew luck. >> can we just say it right here? >> you're not a luck guy. >> i want this marked down. >> i'm marking it down. >> any team that picks andrew luck over rgiii is making a colossal, historic mistake. a historic mistake. >> you think he is more matt lienart than peyton manning? >> he is matt lienart is what he is. >> really? >> you look at a lot of the guys that come out of -- i'm just saying, it's just like duke basketball players. they are great in college because they are great in the

system. they don't always dominate in the nba. you look at pac-10 quarterbacks, with elway of course being the exception, come on, look at all the ufc quarterbacks that came out that we knew were going to be successes and just sort of faded away. you disagree? >> i think most experts on football disagree with you. but time will tell. >> oh, my god. what a wishy washy answer. >> well, i mean -- >> i agree. but he is looking for your opinion. >> i like rgiii. >> i would pick rgiii in a second over andrew luck. >> john harwood is here. >> going after duke basketball players? >> i'm just saying, that's all. [ male announcer ] this is genco services --

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what was the score at halftime? we're talking basketball with john harwood. so dean smith goes into the four corners, and it's 4-3 at halftime? >> this is a different game. this was -- howard white was the point guard. held the ball at the top of the key. playing south carolina. had john roach, all american. tremendously powerful south carolina team. came into maryland, lefty is trying to build the program. it was 4-3 at halftime. >> holy cow. >> maryland won it in overtime, 31-30. but when we had -- >> not too much information. >> the year after we went to the finals in '78 against kentucky and lost -- >> yeah. >> gibbons had 40 points. carolina came into duke. i was coming back after having graduated. >> boy, this is going a long time. bring it in for a landing. >> they went into the four corners and i think the score might have been 8-7 at halftime.

>> can we get to the must read opinion pages? >> that is fascinating that was ever allowed in college basketball. maureen dowd, men in black. how dare president obama brush back the supreme court like that? this court, koszetted behind white marble pillars, out of reach of tv, accountable to no one when they get the last word, is well on its way to becoming the most divisive in modern american history. >> nothing like the roe v. wade court, but go ahead. >> honest guardian of the constitution, it is run by hacks dressed up in become robes. all the fancy diplomas of the conservative majority cannot disguise the fact that its reasoning on the most important decisions affecting americans seems shaped more by a political handbook than a legal brief. >> this is hilarious. tom, this is so funny. >> it's one of those thought bubble columns where she is projecting somebody else or

is -- >> no. she is serious. it's so funny, though, you look at "the new york times" main editorial, and they -- you know, it is over the top, so much so that you sense that they are playing anthony kennedy. they are like speaking of basketball, they are like bobby knight screaming at the ref because they want the next call because they know that anthony kennedy is scared to death of what "the new york times" editorial pages writes. >> he may be the only republican appointed judge who is concerned about it. >> he is concerned about it. so they have -- and it's -- remember linda greenhouse. they call it the greenhouse effect. because he always wanted to get dpl glowing reviews by her. but it's amazing that you have a newspaper that is playing the supreme court justice. and just hammering away -- over the top. >> i still think if he's going to be subject to pressure, he's going to vote to strike it down. >> why do you say that? >> because of the way he voted

on bush-gore, and because the public opinion and the conservative movement wants him to strike it down. >> he's never cared what the conservative movement -- >> why did he vote the way he did on bush-gore? >> well, i don't know. you'll have to ask him that. but i have never once heard any court follower say that he sat there reading conservative blogs. but everybody that knows him says he reads "the new york times" editorial pages. >> more than redstate.com. >> more than redstate, and he is horrified when they say nasty things. so they are saying really, really nasty things to influence him. >> i think he will be les swayed by that this time than by the right. >> do you think it's going down? >> i do. >> i think "the times" is overplaying their hand. the attacks are so over the top and ridiculous he'll probably just tune them out, and justice kennedy probably knows they are being extra nast ty to try and intimidate him.

>> kathleen parker. are you women just not that into mitt? though the cumulative effect of these discussions may have swayed some women to stick with the president to focus only on so-called women's issues is perhaps to miss the more compelling point, to miss what needs fixing. it is entirely possible that women simply aren't that into mitt. he is just not their kind of guy. health care, taxes, budgets, debt ceilings, capacity utilization, chinese currency, so important. but at the end of the day does he have it? his wife says he does. but then she shows the unzipped mitt. the question for american women is, do they really want to go there? >> john? >> well, some women will want to go there. but will the women in the suburbs of denver, colorado, who will decide where that state goes, or raleigh durham, or in, you know, suburban cleveland and cincinnati, you know, how is that going to go?

i think mitt romney has got some problems but they are not insurmountable. i think we are looking at a close race that is going to be winnable for mitt romney no matter -- >> it's going to be close, yeah. >> no matter what obama is doing on the romney budget. >> in his defense, let's also read your politico -- is this your blog? let mitt be mitt and dull. >> hold it, meek a. does he have it for you? mitt? does mitt have it? >> oh, my god. i'm just going to read from joe's blog here. although he is a lousy politician, everyone who knows him personally sees him as a great father, a devoted husband and a great businessman. if you spend a few minutes with mitt, you can see his character shining through in his wife and five boys. but being a good man does not always translate well on the campaign trail, perhaps because the business of politics is such a slog that only the craziest among us can look like normal human beings going through the grind of a presidential

election. mitt can't fake it. if boston wants their candidate to humanize himself, maybe they should stop making him stuff himself into a suit that doesn't fit. that's very well put. >> whose blog is that? >> joe. >> he not comfortable playing politics. he's just not. everybody i have talked to, the more people i talk to that saw this guy at bain capital and what he did at bain capital, democrats, tell me it's remarkable. i was flying on the plane with somebody that worked on wall street, the same business. and he said, these guys, their percentages for success has never been equalled. it's freakish how they picked winner after winner after winner. >> but it sounds like you're arguing in the column that mitt is too normal and decent to be elected, to make it through the grind of politics, which i think

is -- >> sad? >> well, but it's not how i perceive what his problem is. i don't think it's excessive normalness. i think he's got a problem connecting with people on a different level. >> we'll talk more about that. but -- >> what i'm saying is that politics requires you to go out and play natural, while you're shaking the 10,000th hand of the day and kissing the 20th baby. and laughing at the 500th joke. and you've got to be an actor. >> your family is melting down all around you. >> while your family is melting down at home, you know, and other things are happening. it's an inhumane process. >> he's got on come on this show and pretend like he love it. >> exactly. >> and that's not easy to do. >> good luck with the faking. news you can't use is next. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve

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time for "news you can't use". billionaire warren buffett dressed as a street corner ne newsboy throwing papers into a press club event and then he sang. ♪ i'm only a paper boy ♪ just as happy as i can be ♪ but the money you pay for this ♪ ♪ it won't belong to me ♪ don't feel sad

♪ i got a furniture mart ♪ and a jewelry store >> so remember this is not the first time he has sang, even in the last couple of months. he helped chinese state television ring in the chinese new year. >> we don't have to see that, right? ♪ i've been working on the railroad ♪ ♪ all the live long day ♪ i've been working on the railroad ♪ ♪ just to pass the time away ♪ can't you hear the whistle blowing ♪ >> there you go. maybe he should drop a cd, you know what i mean? >> is that they call it nowadays, a cd? >> a compact disc. i love it. we'll be back with tina brown and chuck cobb. >> that's exciting. >> right here on "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. managing my diabetes is part of my life,

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on march 21, former florida governor jeb bush endorsed mitt romney for president. on march 29, former president george hw bush and his wife, barbara, also endorsed mitt romney. and earlier today, former president george w. bush endorsed taco bell's new loco tacos. george w. bush. >> are you having burritos for lunch? >> is it wednesday? >> i think it is. >> it should be friday, but it's

just wednesday. mark halperin still with us. joining the table, editor-in-chief of "newsweek" magazine tina brown. and in washington, nbc news chief white house correspondent, political director and host of the daily rundown chuck todd. good to have you onboard this morning. let's start with wisconsin. mitt romney did last night what most people expected him to do, capture three primaries. romney won the closest of the three races in wisconsin, where rick santorum had devoted significant time and energy. romney took 43% of the vote there, adding to his already wide lead in delegates, and cruised to victory in maryland, beating santorum by 20 points. and in the district of columbia, where santorum wasn't even on the ballot, romney wiped out the field with 70% of the vote. exit polling from wisconsin shows 80% of republican voters there believe that the former massachusetts governor will be their nominee next fall. it is a perception romney tried to drive home during his victory speech in milwaukee last night

by focusing his attacks squarely on the president. out of touch liberals like barack obama say they want a strong economy but in everything they do, they show they don't like business very much. but the economy, of course, is simply the product of all the businesses in the nation added together. so it's a bit like saying you like an omelet but you don't like eggs. you know, to build a strong economy that provides good jobs and rising wages and that reduces poverty, we have to build successful businesses of every kind imaginable. and president obama has been attacking successful businesses of every kind imaginable. >> here we go. chuck todd, is it over? >> yes, it's over. you know, what can santorum say? i held him under 50 in maryland? i only lost by five percentage points in wisconsin? you know, look, on one hand, you look at romney and you're like, for the inevitable nominee, why

did you only win by 5 in wisconsin? why isn't it that you couldn't fully blow him out? i think we know that the demographics have been destiny in this race. wisconsin looked a little more like michigan demographically than illinois but it's over. look at what happened last night on the delegate front. santorum didn't even win 10% of available ballots. he didn't even win 10% of available delegates. that is a landslide on the delegate side. >> why doesn't rick santorum do what mitt romney did early on in the process four years ago, and play for the next game? keep himself alive? >> joe, it's interesting you say that. i wonder what the next 72 hours are going to be like in rick santorum's life. i wonder how many people he's going to hear from that are going to say, you know, rick, you know, do you want to risk losing your home state? that would be an embarrassing way to go out.

that would be the worst way. you know, i know santorum is looking at this and saying, the establishment never liked me this year. they never wanted me in this race. why do i owe them anything? why do i think they will give a darn how i get out of this race four years from now, as if they'll give me some benefit of the doubt that i can somehow do this again? i think if you're -- that is sort of probably the two minds you are of santorum. but can santorum afford to lose his home state? is that the way he wants to go out? i think that's going to be the best case a republican can make to santorum privately in trying to encourage him to say, hey, you know, why don't you hang it up? why don't you pull out? let's rally around romney. now, santorum didn't sound ready to do that at all. >> the thing is, what i'm talking about is not about the republican establishment or the conservative movement. it's about rick santorum preserving rick santorum. >> his political career. >> right. he's got a great story to tell.

he's won a dozen or so states. no money. no support. was 2% in the polls before iowa. >> a lot of good stories to tell. >> instead of rolling up a string of losses between now and pennsylvania, get out on a positive note. >> and take the good with it and keep it for a few years. >> chuck, you asked what can rick santorum say? he is vowing to take the race all the way to the convention. here's what he said last night. >> we have now reached the point where it's halftime. half the delegates in this process have been selected. and who's ready to charge out of the locker room in pennsylvania for a strong second half? [ cheers and applause ] >> pennsylvania and half the other people in this country have yet to be heard. and we're going to go out and campaign here and across this nation to make sure that their voices are heard in the next few months. [ cheers and applause ] >> mark halperin, i also believe the next 72 hours will thibe pry

intense for rick santorum. >> my sense is from talking to people around him is he doesn't think he's going to lose pennsylvania. for him, it's a hypothetical. he is confident he'll find a way no matter what romney spends. he thinks he can win that state. and again, he really wants to whoop romney in may in the southern states. he really wants to do that. >> he wants to do that. and, john, we heard four years ago that all of mitt romney's opponents loathed him on the campaign trail. we heard that famous bathroom story. maybe you guys were the ones that wrote it. i don't remember. but does santorum feel that way toward mitt romney? does he and gingrich both have personal animosity against this man? >> yeah. i think there is that. >> why is that? what is it about mitt romney that makes those runs against him in this club turn on him? >> well, there are different issues in 2008 and now. and i think if you think about

both newt gingrich and rick santorum, they have been involved in a very intense battle with mitt romney over the course of the past months, and they have been on the receiving end of a huge amount of negative advertising. and i think of regardless what ever the personal dynamics between them, it would be hard for anybody not to be angry at mitt romney having been subjected to the attacks they have been subjected to. they feel they were way outspent and beaten by romney's wealthy friends in the super pac, and they feel like they have been hard done by. >> so you're reading tina's column and loving it. holy smoke. >> oh, yeah. the front of "newsweek" this week, forget the church. follow jesus. a column, a cover story by andy sullivan. and i want to read the beginning of your editor's note. jesus was a lone, wandering

preacher with a small knot of followers. his message was radical. leave your family. give away all to your own and devote yourself to god. which meant loving not only one's neighbors but also one's enemies. he was adamantly apill, even refusing to defend himself at his own trial, and his only marital comments were a condemnation of divorce and a forgiveness of adultery. and then andrew sullivan writes about the forgotten jees nsus i this holy week. >> it's a very powerful piece by andrew sullivan where he really explores the hijacking of religion by politics and by -- both politics and commercialism. and talks about how the real jesus, as i said in the note, was this figure who absolutely divested himself of everything, and was adamantly, you know,

refused to get into any kind of a political space at all. whereas in this election, you know, we're seeing more and more how it has become a daily discourse now to drag religion into it for some kind of a political gain or other. i mean, we have heard romney yesterday talking about how, you know, there are people who are talking about a bomber as, you know, people think he is a muslim. it's unsane. this is absolutely incorrect. and, you know, andrew really just says this has created a crisis for christianity. >> and andrew does go after both sides, taking selective quotes from not only republicans and democrats, but also joel olstein, who says god wants you to -- wants to increase you financially by giving you promotions, fresh ideas, creativity. >> and the point about thomas

jefferson's bible, how he cut out only the words that were those teachings of jesus and took out everything else. >> wow, it's crazy. absolutely crazy. all right. well, that's the cover of "newsweek" magazine. chuck, you can comment about that or you can talk about wisconsin. >> you know, is there ever winning? i know when it comes to magazine covers, there's no losing putting jesus on the cover. but is there ever winning trying to talk about it in politics? you will make somebody angry and mad in that front. so it is one of those things that's oddest when it comes to religion and politics. but to go back to wisconsin, you know, the only upside last night i think for santorum was that he didn't get blown out. and you do wonder what is it that, you know, romney could have done, could he have done anything more to have made it a 10-point win, a 15-point win? >> no. no. and, chuck, that's the problem. >> that is sort of sitting

there, right. and that's why if you're santorum, you know, romney did need a double digit win last night, i think, to make the case -- to get everybody to loudly start forcibly trying to shove santorum out of the race. because it was only a five-point win, i think he'll have a harder time getting santorum to listen. >> he wins the industrial states, but, again, considering how much more money he is spending than all of these other candidates, considering he is the only guy with a professional campaign, it's striking to me that he only wins ohio and michigan and wisconsin by a couple of points, chuck. that's damning in and of itself. >> and now the question is in pennsylvania. the one reason why romney ought to engage in pennsylvania besides, you know, maybe finally finishing off santorum and he might win, is that he can start running in the general, right? that was the upside of why it was worth spending time in wisconsin. you can start laying the

groundwork for the general. it's a state you're trying to put into play in the fall. >> yeah. is the white house concerned about mitt romney? i know the president is attacking. but they seem pretty confident to me. do you pick that up? . >> i think the white house has seen romney get damaged with key general election constituents as we have talked about on this program a lot. the lead that obama has with hispanics, women voters, and especially in the battle ground states right now. they are not coasting, and they're not already -- they are not taking it for granted, but they feel much better than three months ago. >> based on my reporting they are at their high point in confidence they can beat mitt romney without taking it for granted. >> this has really been a contest between the unlikable and the insufferable between romney and santorum. they damaged each other in a sense in the most awful way. i mean, i just think that -- how is romney going to come back from all the positions he has

been made to take being pushed further and further to the right? he has had to take so many positions now to what average americans believe. how can he dial himself back when those clips start to get played in the general? i don't see how he survives that. >> chuck todd, yesterday we had evan thomas and mike allen on talking about inside the circus, and they say romney's people are still trying to figure out how to present their candidate to the public after five years of running. >> i had former governor sununu on yesterday, and he says, ok, maybe he is overdisciplined. and you're like, ok. it was sort of one of those -- it was sort of a compliment. what's one of your fatal flaws, you know, when you go into a job interview? i work too hard. i'm overdisciplined. it's like a weird sort of comment. but romney, you know, what's interesting about what the president did, you know, and i saw that the base of the republican party, they went -- you know, they -- that speech made the base of the republican party and made republican

politicians nuts. they were like, oh, my god, the president was a partisan. well, he is running for re-election. i'm shocked, shocked, that a democratic president doesn't like a republican idea. in an election year. but the president was running against the republican party. and he was trying to say, hey, look, mitt romney is just another one and out. and remember the republican party brand, as bad as mitt romney's brand is, it's still better than the republican party brand right now. and you got the sense that the white house strategy right now is make romney own the brand of the republican party as much as you can, and i think romney's challenge now is going to be, how does he differentiate himself from the republican brand right now, which is kind of a mess, and make the republican party sort of become more -- to grab, say, i romney idea and make it their own, rather than what's happened in this campaign, which romney has had to grab somebody else's

ideas in order to make himself acceptable inside this new republican party. i mean, i think that is a -- not just on the personality front when it comes to romney, but on this -- how does he differentiate himself from what is right now not a good brand to be associated with when it comes to the way swing voters feel. >> that's the question moving forward. h you ok there? >> i am. he needs to be endearing. he tries to take his hokie '50s, '60s, grandfatherly weird -- >> his ward cleaver. >> right. and the only way he can win right now is if people think it's endearing, because he's not going to be as likeable as the president. >> he did say that his wife said he should go around unzipped. i don't think i want to see that. >> bob dole in 1986, the only way he should ever come across

as likeable if people saw him as the cranky old grandpa. >> well, he didn't show that side until after he lost. and then people said, why didn't we see that during the campaign? >> really trying to show the inner flasher. >> one question about the "newsweek" cover. follow jesus. does he have a twitter feed? >> very good. chuck todd, thank you. we will see you on the daily rundown. you're watching "morning joe." stay with us. coming up, we'll ask senator kelly ayotte what republicans need to do to close the big gap when it comes to support from women voters. keep it right here on "morning joe." i'm good about washing my face.

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ronald reagan, who as i recall is not accused of being a

tax and spend socialist, understood repeatedly that when the deficit started to get out of control, that for him to make a deal, he would have to propose both spending cuts and tax increases. did it multiple times. he could not get through a republican primary today. welcome back to "morning joe." look at that pretty shot of the white house. >> it's gorgeous, isn't it? spring is here. >> washington, d.c. but joining us now in new york, republican senator from new hampshire, kelly ayotte. great to have you here. >> great to be here. >> let's figure out how mitt romney fixes a little bit of the gap he's seeing with women voters. >> kathleen parker says they are just not into him. >> yeah. >> how does he do that? what's going on? >> i don't think that's the case. you know, i think that women voters very much care about the state of the economy. you know, i'm the mother of two children. they are really concerned about

how we are basically robbing the next generation when it comes to the debt that we have. and also gas prices. the mothers, we're driving our kids around to soccer practices and everything else. and now they are paying twice as much at the pump as when this president came into office. i think those issues are going to resonate. >> i agree. but if you look at women in swing states, romney has a problem in this "usa today" gallup poll. do you disagree he has a problem attracting the female vote? >> that's almost a 20-point gender gap. >> well, i think that we are a long way from this general election. and polls right now are not going to dictate where we are in november. so polls go up, they go down. and you have to -- bear in mind we have been in a tough primary fight. and i think as we shore up and he's now i think the sure winner of the nomination that the focus is going to be -- he's going to have much more ability to focus on the differences between he

and president obama. and on the economic issues that i think will very much drive the women voters and matters at the gas pump. it matters at the -- >> that's the second time you brought that up. is that president obama's fault? >> well, i think that he has certainly made it much more difficult in terms of energy exploration. and it's an area that he's very weak on, because people are going to look at, hey, i'm paying $40 more at the pump. >> they would say that oil production in it this country is up 8% for the first time in 10 years. >> we are down. the keystone pipeline, that's a problem for him. when you think about being able to get oil from canada, that's common sense. i talk to my constituents about it, and they think, why weren't we approving that? >> why is there almost a 20-point gender gap? what's the problem right now? do you think that all the talk about contraception and the other side issues over the past

couple of months have driven away a lot of independent women? >> you know, i don't think that's the case. you look at the "usa today" poll, most of the women in that poll didn't even know what either governor romney or the president's positions were on the contraception issue. and they ranked it last in terms of issues that they cared about. so the economic issues -- >> so what do you think it is? >> i think they're looking at we've had a tough primary. a lot of back and forth. and now the issue has to be the clear differences between mitt romney's vision for america, which will relate to those pocketbook issues, and the president. so part of this gap, i think, is a reflection of where we are in the primary. and now it's going to turn around very much. >> tina? >> well, first of all, when you mentioned about the gas pumps, i think that was the most intellectually dishonest thing that romney said last night because he knows as a financial mind, he absolutely knows that president obama doesn't fix, you know, it's world markets that

dictate the price of oil, not his presidency. that i thought was really intellectually dishonest. on the women front, he has a double problem. the gop madness has forced him further and further to the right. i don't think he expected to be part of a party that's attacking contraception. and also i think his own responses are just not appealing to women in the sense that -- for instance, when rush limbaugh went on his jihad, he didn't say strongly, i would never have used those words. you know, in that whole issue with the woman from georgetown. he should have said that was a disgraceful way to speak about a woman, and i think women would have found that something they could resonate with, either republican or democrat. >> what i think will resonate, first of all, and i spent quite a bit of time with mitt on the bus. and by the way, all of his, you know, daughter-in-laws and the women in his wife i think are going to be very, very strong for him, and he will very much

relate to women. but let's talk about intellectual dishonesty. the president's speech yesterday. that of the intellectual dishonesty when it was very unpresidential in terms of how he took on paul ryan in a way when his own budget couldn't even garner one vote in the house of representatives. but the reality is in terms of gas prices is that they very much matter to people, and this president in terms of energy exploration, his record is not strong. we are down in terms of exploration on federal lands and offshore, and also the keystone pipeline. i think those are all areas that people see, yes, the president can make a difference in terms of our own domestic supply. and so i think that that resonates. people get that. that's common sense. so for mitt romney to hit that yesterday, it's an important issue for him to hit. with all voters. >> senator, you're not up for re-election for another few years, which is a comfortable place to be. >> i get elected in 2010. >> if you were running next

november, how comfortable would you be running embracing the ryan plan on the budget? >> in my campaign in new hampshire in both the primary and the general election, every single ad i ran was about cutting spending and the deficit. in new hampshire, i'd feel very comfortable running on the fact that there's a credible plan to deal with the $15 trillion in debt. it really resonates with my constituents. they see the problem. and particularly i come from a state with no income or sales tax, and a small lean state government. in my state, i would certainly run on that, particularly against a president who has really failed -- he promised to cut the deficit in half, and hasn't even come close. in facts are his budgets have been very irresponsible. >> do you think it's important for mitt romney to put a woman on the ticket? is that an important consideration for who he should run with? >> i think he should pick the person who is best qualified, and that is the most important consideration with respect to

the vice president. but certainly there are some strong women out there. you have governor martinez. you've got nikki haley. so he has some choices of great women he could pick. but i think that he's got a lot of great choices on the vp end. >> who are the women in his circle who are advising him? >> well, first of all, i think ann is probably his number one adviser. and she is the secret weapon. she's terrific. great with people. and i'm sure that during the general election, as we ramp up, you're going to see a lot more of her. she really relates to people. and she's just terrific. also, i think his daughters in law. he has great daughters in law, and a real strong family. and that i think will appeal to women voters. this is a great family guy. this is someone who really -- >> there's no question about that. >> that's true. like the obamas are a very strong family as well. >> absolutely. >> i think it's fascinating listening to the conversation that -- and we've heard this from everybody here, that suddenly the president is

completely powerless to do anything about energy. so whenever we bring up energy, you might as well, you know, go to france. but i guarantee you, you can go back and look at the coverage of george w. bush in 2006 when gas prices were going up, and republicans were getting hammered. gas prices -- i understand. we are hearing a lot more about world markets now, and i guess if that's the case, you just wonder why in 2006 the press wasn't saying the same thing about george w. bush. >> right. >> but suddenly, the president has absolutely nothing to do with gas prices. i would suggest killing a pipeline. i would suggest, i don't know, trying to raise taxes on the oil companies while gas prices are going up, knowing the corporations pass those expenses on to consumers -- >> knowing that the special budget office said it would raise them by about one cent. would you vote against that? you did, right? >> i'm sorry, mika. i was talking. >> i just want to clarify what you're saying. >> you and everybody else has been parroting the mainstream

media's line that the poor president of the united states is so weak and so pathetic and so helpless that he has nothing -- >> i'm not saying that. >> yes, you are, that he has nothing to do with gas prices. i just can't wait until gas prices go up under the next republican administration to hear the mainstream media, of course, twist in another direction. >> there's no question, joe. i guess i have never understood this concept, so if you increase taxes on oil companies somehow that's going to decrease gas prices. if anything it's going to be passed on to consumers and they are going to pay more for gas. that doesn't make sense to me at times when people are paying more at the pump. i would like to see us eliminate all subsidies on that. let's make it an even playing field. >> how did you vote on that? >> i voted against it, because prior votes i had taken had been to eliminate all subsidies. and here is the situation. i'd like to see us lower our

corporate tax rate so we can be more competitive. here we are, the president talking about 37 months of unemployme unemployment. that's a problem for the president. >> am i allowed to ask a question about not only her vote but also the -- >> of course you are. it's a conversation. i will sit here like a potted plant like i always do and let you continue parroting the mainstream media line. i was just trying to cut through because i'm the one person i think in mainstream media that actually is not giving the president a free pass on gas prices. >> republicans who would say it's such a bad time to get rid of the subsidies for big oil who have made, i don't know, $80 billion in profits and are making even more profits in this year and the next quarter, and most of those republicans who voted that down received a lot of their campaign help from the oil companies. i'm sure you have. am i wrong? >> mika, i have to tell you, i don't understand the relationship between -- if we

want gas prices to go down, why would you increase oil prices? >> so you're not going to answer my question? >> hold on, hold on. let me see if democrats have gotten any money from oil. >> a few. >> a few or all of them? come on. >> i think this is a great, very circular conversation. >> by the way, there are democrats that voted against that as well because they recognize that this was not a vote purely on party lines. i think the issue is that overall on subsidies, we should be lowering our corporate rate. but let's simplify the tax code overall and create an even playing field. develop our own natural resources. the president is very vulnerable on this issue. that's why he went to oklahoma and tried to pretend he somehow was going to do something about a portion of the keystone pipeline that really wasn't in dispute. i think this is an issue that he is very vulnerable on, and

that's why -- >> i don't think it has anything to do with women not liking mitt romney. i really don't. i think it is not. i think that mitt romney has been pushed so far to the right on this that he has alienated a lot of moderate republican women. and i also think that he does have just a general eq failure to be able to connect >> i think this is really going to turn around, and i know that he will connect with women. obviously, i spent a lot of time with him and his whole family. they're a great family. and this is an issue where the economic issues will matter, including what women are paying at the pump. >> well, for the record, mika, i know that facts don't matter to you. but factcheck.org went back to 2008 because the president had that ad in '08, i don't take money from oil companies. of course, you can't, because they are corporations and you haven't been able to take money from corporations in 100 years.

but he accepted about $250,000 from individuals and officers who worked for oil companies and in the gas industry as well, and two of obama's top funders were top executives at oil companies and raised between $50,000 and $100,000. >> as he is raising money for his campaign, he still has the guts to try and get rid of these tax breaks that they don't need. >> and you're sure it's courageous? >> i don't think that's a point, counterpoint. but if it maybkes you feel good fantastic. that's great. but it's not an answer. he is actually trying to do something to make it a level playing field. and i think the republicans who are in the pocket of big oil and some democrats as will do not have the guts to go along with it. >> my god. >> and it would have raised gas prices maybe one cent. maybe. and i guess -- >> oh, really? >> and i guess that's a huge problem. >> are you the master of oil markets now or just reading from white house talking points?

>> there's where you go when you're -- >> let's eliminate all subsidies and make our country more competitive overall. i think that's where this president should go, and guts would be proposing a real deficit reduction plan, which we have not seep. instead, it's just been demagoguery of the budget from paul ryan. >> all right, senator. thank you very much. it was good. >> thank you for coming. we appreciate it. still ahead, new pictures of the damage in texas this morning following a series of tornadoes that ripped through the state yesterday. we'll have a report next on morn morp.

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welcome back to "morning joe" on this wednesday. quick weather update from dallas, texas. really we haven't seen any fatalities. it's incredible that we didn't have any fatalities when you see the pictures and the strength of the tornado as it was lifting 16,000-pound 18-wheel trailers up into the air, about 100 to 200 feet, and crashing them down. they look literally like toys. practically like kites. these are the same weight as male african elephants to give you a comparison of how strong the twister was.

this tornado did not stray strong on the ground for a long period of time. it was skipping, bouncing, forming, dissipating and reforming, and that saved a lot of people's lives in this region. we also have weather concerns this morning not so bad as tornadoes. flash flood warnings around louisiana all morning long. this will slowly dissipate and weaken. but later today, more storms are likely. maybe even isolated tornadoes. not expecting a large outbreak, but could see one or two near memphis, down through jackson, mississippi, and a little area of severe storms possible in eastern north carolina and virginia beachful otherwise, beautiful in new england. much of the west coast, with the exemption of the northwest, should also be dried. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. and coming up next, speaking of starbucks, ceo howard schultz.

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welcome back to "morning joe." i love my red eye news stuff. joining us now, the president and ceo of starbucks howard schultz. here to discuss the create jobs for usa initiative. and for full disclosure, starbucks is of course the sponsor of "morning joe." >> really? i never saw that. >> i'm glad you said that. >> never figured that out. glad we cleared that up. >> oh, gosh. >> so, howard, talk about create jobs for the usa. what's been going on with you guys in this project? >> well, i think that the country is still in a deep -- there's a lot of concern about unemployment, even though it's at 8.3% and people are celebrating it's down from 9.1%, there's still 13 million americans unemployed. a large percentage of

african-americans and hispanics, 42 out of 50 states are facing a budget deficit. 11 states may not be able to make pension payments between now and the end of the year. and i think we felt in view of that what could we do as a company to try and use our scale for good. >> so explain to people when they go into starbucks and they see the wrist bands, explain to them how that $5 goes to get people back to work. >> ok. well, the core issue is that 65% of job creation in this country is specifically related to small business. despite all the tarp money, the bangs are still not lending, and that's a fact. that's not like a -- you know, i'm not reading that. that's a true statement. as a result of that, you can now go into a starbucks store, give a donation of $5 and get a wrist band. there's over 500,000 people that have done that. the starbucks foundation has contributed $5 million.

yesterday, we signed google and banana republic onto the platform. and what we are doing is on a national basis, there's an organization called the opportunity finance network. and on a national level, we have created with them small community banks that are giving low interest loans to start-up businesses, existing small businesses, and nonprofits. we have already given away millions of dollars. we've created jobs as a result of it. and basically, what we're saying is in view of washington's inability to create confidence in america, corporations -- and we're not better than anyone else. we're just saying we need to do something -- >> everybody has to pitch in. >> exactly. >> it's simple. and you talk about the need also after the past two or three years that the american economy has just split in half. that there are two americas. and the rich are doing well. they've got disposable income. the poor, though, are much

poorer than they were in 2008. >> well, the fact is that before -- because of the issues facing municipalities and budget deficits, we're probably going to see cuts in social services, the likes of which we have not seen since the great depression. and that has not gotten too much air time. but as you travel around to local cities, especially those markets that are underserved, what you're seeing is that the funding for these organizations has completely dried up. and people are, i think, feeling a sense of hopelessness. and what we are trying to do as a company is stand up and say corporations need to do more. >> howard, we have heard as a republican line of attack against president obama that he is anti-business. mitt romney said it again last night, as a matter of fact. that the climate in this country as led by the obama administration is not conducive to business. is that the way you find it as someone who is on the frontlines? and what does that mean exactly to be anti-business? >> you know, i'm not here to either support the president or

say anything bad about the republican party. in fact, i have met with the president. i don't think he is anti-business. i think washington overall has not done their job as leaders to create a sense of confidence and leadership in the country that gives business the platform to reinvest in america. with $2 trillion sitting offshore that still has not been repatriated back into the u.s., i think the primary reason for that is the tax code is wrong, and there's not a sense of confidence and optimism -- >> what would you do? because we have been hearing that since 2009, $2 trillion is sitting on the sidelines because investors don't have confidence, not in america, not in the american people, but in washington. what do you do to free that $2 trillion up and get it back into the economy and kick start this nation? >> i'm not here to make policy. but you're putting me on the spot. >> i'm putting you on the spot. >> i'm going to give you an answer. >> i'm going to write this down. go ahead.

. you do not get access to the money unless there is a specific connection legislated to job

creation and employment. it is a very simple process. now, you tell me why the republicans and the democrats cannot agree on that. >> to figure out a way to get the $2 trillion reinvested in our economy, which like you said it would kick start the economy. unemployment would drop. >> the reason is that the ideology and the party shan ship and everything through as it is going to be good or bad for my re-election has stalled the ability of leaders to realize we can't wait. >> what would that be? >> that you do not get access to the lower tax rate unless there is a accountable and visibility on whether the jobs are coming back. >> not slicing it up but trying to bring it back to at least close to are with we were. >> i don't think you have to be a genius to figure it out f you get like-minded people in a room whose ego is not attached to the

ideology, you can solve these problems that are not that difficult. as a result of the fact that nothing is going on, we are seeing, how can starbucks use it for good and make a difference in job creation and at the same time, we are doing something in harlem and l.a., giving the profits away of existing stores to underserved communities. we just gave one in harlem and one in l.a. to the l.a. urban league. i am not here to say we are better than anyone else. what we are saying is that success has to be best when it is shared and corporations and business leaders have to do more. >> and the old saying, to whom much is given, much is expected. you guys are really stepping forward. >> thank you. >> great to have you on the show. >> morning show will be right back.

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how is this for a lineup on tomorrow's program? deepak chopra and yogi berra,

ron gid guidry. still ahead this morning, president obama rails against paul ryan's republican budget while taking a swipe at his likely opponent in the general election. that's next on "morning joe." i want healthy skin for life.

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>> this really has been quite a night. we won a great victory tonight in our campaign to restore the promise of america. here in the heartland, you know, you are not going to find americans with bigger hearts than the people of wisconsin. >> mitt romney did last night what moefst expected him to do, capture three primaries. he won in wisconsin where rick santorum had devoted significant time and energy. romney took 43% of the vote, adding to his already wide lead in the delegates. he also cruised to victory in maryland beating santorum by 20 points and in the district of columbia, where santorum wasn't even on the ballot. romney wiped out the field with 70% of the vote. good morning. it is 8:00 on the east coast as you take a live look at new york city.

back, we have mark halperin and john heilman. >> i would think it would be over. >> it is over, right? >> he tried to goad me a few contests ago into, i thought it was over. no goading needed now. >> is it over? >> it is over. we saw a huge preview of the general election yesterday. a big presidential speech and a lot of romney rhetoric. >> and romney rhetoric directed towards the president as if to be responding to the president's speech. >> john, is it over? >> i kept thinking about tim russert in 2008 on the night of the indiana and north carolina primary when he said we now know who the democratic nominee is going to be. i think we now know who the republican nominee is going to be. >> it is over. anybody who pretends otherwise is trying to make good tv. the truth is, it has probably been over for quite some sometime. now, we can say with more authority after wisconsin. >> if he lost to wisconsin, it would have shown how weak he

was. if he would have lost to michigan or ohio or illinois, that would have been problematic but he won them all. he won all of those midwest states that always knock down these sort of right field challengers. they always do and they did it again this year. >> except polling from wisconsin reflects a growing sense that it is just now a matter of time for romney to capture the nomination. 80% of republican voters believe the former massachusetts governor will be their nominee next fall. it is a perception romney tried to drive home during his victory speech in milwaukee last night by focusing his attacks squarely on the president. out of touch liberals like barack obama say they want a strong economy but in everything they do, they show they don't like business very much but the economy, of course, is simply the prod duktd of all the businesses in the nation added together. so it is a bit like saying you like an omelet but you don't

like eggs. to build a strong economy that provides good jobs and rising wages and that reduces poverty, we have to build successful businesses of every kind imaginable. and president obama has been attacking successful businesses of every kind imaginable. >> mark, i understand why newt gingrich stays in the race. he is not going to be selected as secretary of state by mitt romney. he is 68 years old, doesn't have a big political future ahead of this campaign and what happens in tampa but that's not the case for rick santorum. should rick santorum not get out of this race for his own good, he is going to get beaten in april contests. for his own good, shouldn't he just get out of the race now? >> i think gingrich and santorum share a desire to try to strengthen mitt romney and make him a more conservative general election candidate.

that's a pretty ideal lis stick view of their motives. i think that's part of it. the longer they stay in and if they have success and santorum can have success in may, the greater their hand is to influence romney more. romney right now some days talks like an empowerment conservative. some days, he doesn't. they want him to be an empowerment reaganesque conservative as the nominee. >> if they have to deal with loss after loss in april, and have to deal with growing resentment from the gop establishment, again, i'm talking about what is good for rick santorum, not out of kindness or love just like i'm not saying this out of kindness or love for mitt romney but this is just analyzing, inside baseball. you don't want to hurt yourself. you don't want to blow yourself up in 2012 if you are young

enough to have a good shot at 2016. >> i think rick santorum, in addition to the things that mark said, i think that rick santorum thinks of himself as a cause candidate. as he goes forward, i think he may be putting his commitment to what he sees as a cause ahead of his political best interest. i will say he has now said that he must win pennsylvania. the polls in pennsylvania have him ahead only by a few points. my guess is that romney and his superpac allies are going to take the attitude. that's going to be the only close race two weeks, three weeks from now. i think they are going to pour resources into pennsylvania to try to beat him there. that would drive santorum, by his own account, would drive him out of the race. he says that he mu the win that state. i can't imagine that they do not want to try to get to may. there are a bunch of states where santorum will do well in may. i know the conclusion is foregone. romney doesn't want to fight those battles. they will try to kill him in

april. he may have to put rick santorum out of his own misery. >> here is a problem with pencil vain yachlt it doesn't only put him out of his own misery in 2012, if he loses his home state and rick santorum must know this, mitt romney is going to make pennsylvania his waterloo. if i was mitt romney, i would go up with millions of dollars of ads in pennsylvania, i am going to reduce you to rubble in your home state. then, just like rome, i'm going to go to carthage and salt the earth to make sure nothing ever grows back there again. i will kill you politically in your home state worst than you were humiliated in 2006. you want to play big boy. let's play. game on. this is just pure politics and santorum, he can't afford a loss

in pennsylvania. >> what can he afford? marc halperin, if you are funding the super back that's supporting rick santorum, are you going to take this through pennsylvania and beyond? >> they haven't had much money even from the superpac. there are two caveats, one is if romney ends, there is no 16. three. there is no 16 and two, 16 has a lot of powerful people running in the republican party. >> nobody thinks romney is going to win. let's be honest. can we say this for everybody at home. >> he might. >> the republican establishment, i've yet to meet a single person in the republican establishment that thinks mitt romney is going to win the general election this year. they won't say that. they don't want people writing them nasty e-mails. i have yet to meet anybody in the republican establishment that worked for george w. bush or in the republican congress or

that worked for ronald reagan that thinks he is going to win the general election. >> i don't agree with that. still, 16, if romney loses, there are so many strong candidates out there. >> who? >> mitch daniels, bobby jindal, chris christie, paul ryan. there are a million. >> a lot of their times have passed. >> here is the main thing about santorum and the notion of pressure to get out for '16. nothing about his success has come from the establishment. he doesn't feel he needs the establishment to like him to have a future in '16. i don't think any of that is going to get him out of the race. >> maybe so. >> it is really helpful to the party. >> listen, i think everybody should do what they feel like they have to do. i'm not talking about what's in the best interest of the party. i personally don't think nominating a big government republican is in the best interest of my party. that said, if you are just looking at this and just analyzing it, i've always said, from newt gingrich's point of

view, fight all the way to tampa. you were built for this, newt. for rick santorum's point of view, a guy that has proven he deserves another chance in 2016. >> save yourself. >> save yourself. don't embare rrass yourself in r home state of pennsylvania. you don't have the resources. you don't have the organization. you sure as heck can start working to be prepared for 2016. >> the people that prepare him think that mitt romney is an illegitimate nominee. >> i think most conservatives think he is an il ledge jit matt nominee. >> as mitt romney moves -- >> to your point about pennsylvania, we've seen what the romney campaign with do to someone when they want to

vaporize. newt gingrich in the state of florida, hot out of south carolina. mitt romney's campaign decided it was time to put an end to it and they probably will decide to do the same to rick santorum if he stays in pennsylvania. >> if i'm mitt romney, i get the b-52s and take him up over pennsylvania. >> you turn pittsburgh into dresden. >> a fire-bombing of political proportions the likes of which rick santorum has ever seen. now, let's move on to the president who is lunging full force into general election politics with a scathing critique of the house republican budget speaking at the "associated press" luncheon yesterday. the president described his opponents' plan as a prescription for decline. >> this congressional republican budget is something different all together. it is a trojan horse disguised

as deficit production plans, an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country. it is thinly veiled social darwinism, ante thet cal to our entire history as a land of opportunity and upward mobility for everybody who is willing to work for it. a place where prosperity doesn't trickle down from the top but grows outward from the heart of the middle class. >> the president accused his opponents of shifting so far to the right that even the late ronald reagan would be pushed to the sidelines in today's republican party. >> ronald reagan, who, as i recall, is not accused of being a tax spending socialist, understood repeatedly that when the deficit started to get out of control, that for him to make a deal, he would have to propose both spending cuts and tax

increases, did it multiple times. he could not get through a republican primary today. >> when it came to specific policy differences, president obama -- >> hold on a second. >> this is the best par. right here. it is coming up. >> he is no better at constitutional law than he is at republican politics. >> he spoke about that too. >> barack obama is the expert on who can win a republican primary today. >> you simmer down. you stop. >> i'm relaxed. i don't say. i have never once -- never once have you heard me say that anything that barack obama supports is, quote, radical vision for america. >> right. >> and goes against everything. what did he say? goes against everything. >> you haven't talked about the ryan budget. >> all right. obama -- >> ante thet cal to everything in our entire history. here is a man that hasn't put out a serious budget for years, who runs a party that hasn't been out any budget in over

1,000 days. you know, he might -- you know, he might want to actually get his party together and put out a serious budget on the other side and then maybe the two sides could work together and compromise and we could meet in the middle z it would be great if he would pass the buffet -- >> washington could work. he won't put out a budget. paul ryan puts out his budget and then the democrats in the senate don't put out their budget. the president can go out and say a lot of really nasty things. >> what did he say? >> anti-thetical to our entire history, social darwinism and a radical vision. yet, in this radical vision under paul ryan's cold-hearted plan, the national debt goes up trillions and trillions of dollars. see, that's how screwed up washington is. paul ryan puts out a budget that everybody says is radical and

the debt still goes up trillions and trillions of dollars. the he is afraid to put out a budget. >> he does have this concept. he zeroed in on taxes. >> maybe, just maybe, at a time of growing debt and widening inequality, we should hold off on giving the wealthiest americans another round of big tax cut, instead of moderating their views even slightly. the republicans running congress right now have doubled down. they have proposed the budget so far to the right that it makes the contract with america look like the new deal. >> hold on a second. newt is writing for him. does he have a pipeline to a blogger? >> no, he has a pipeline to what people are feeling, unlike mitt romney. >> there was cheetos does the

coming up from that speech. we get alex corzine. he is a left wing marxist, because mika hires everybody that works here. he says in my ear, instead of another round of tax cuts for the rich. he it goes, isn't he the one that gave the last tax cuts? willie, he is the guy that extended the bush tax cuts when we were saying, maybe he should listen to chuck schumer and not do that. that was his fault. his own people were telling us, we have to do it because the economy was bad. >> it was a remarkable speech not just in the content and tone for a man that was about hope and change. this is down in the dirt. i understand it is an election year. he is not the only one in washington who does it. he was swinging yesterday. >> coming up, the man who has been by oprah's side for 25

years, stedman graham says successful and personal success depends on who you think you are. >> who does bill karins thinks he is? >> the man that sits here and grins and bears it. i have gotten good at that. good morning, everyone. tornadoes are the big story yesterday. we are going to see strong storms today but nothing like the puck yurs yesterday in dallas. thunderstorms, heavy rain around new orleans with flooding. those storms are passing through the area down towards the gulf. we are going to get a break for a little while. late this afternoon, a large area from the mississippi river valley, we will see thunderstorms, including new orleans, memphis, jackson, mississippi, up through alabama. damaging wind and hail will be the biggest concerns. we may see a few tornadoes. i don't think we will get an outbreak like we had yesterday. forecast northeast, a beautiful day, a little breezy. west coast, not bad, we will see afternoon showers in seattle and

portland. a little snow to talk about around spokane washington. one of the only places where winter is trying to hold on. cleanup, 77, partly cloudy, no storms in the near future. you get a little bit of a break. you are watching morning show on this wednesday, brewed by starbucks. ♪

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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. >> that was vaguely and haltingly threatening. i'm sure the court will consider the precedent set forth in the case of that's a lovely family you got there. it would be a shame if anything happened to them. >> i love it. i have my passport now. joining us, author, educator and business consult tan, stedman graham. what do i need to do with this? >> i have one of these. >> read it and get the concept.

what we do is change the way you learn. so right now, the school teachers have to member or rise, take tests and repeat the information back. you get labeled and then you forget the information. you don't become irrelevant and you buy into the labels that people define you as. so you are not able to, again, take education and make it relevant to who you are. >> i love it. so now the book has a nine-step success plan. >> success process is the process for teaching people how to organize their life around their identity. if you just work and you don't think, then you are not going to grow or develop. >> so you are talking about figuring out what your personal brand is? >> who you are. >> personal brand. >> what do you have? >> what's unique about you? what are your talents and skills and what do you do well? >> you can do that better than anybody else. >> that's exactly right.

>> be yourself. >> self-ac tulize your potential, work on it every day. discover yourself every single day. learn as much as you can. be a lifelong learner. read. get beyond the degree. self-source the world, organize the resources of the world, make them relevant to who you are. today, in the marketplace, the key word is rel vancy, connecting to what you do well and doing that over and over and being paid for that, become an expert in what you do and expanding that based on a lifelong learning process. >> now, you also talk about not only the need to figure out what your personal brand is but the need to knock away other labels. in your book, you say, people put labels on me and called me by those labels. some linked to my disabled brothers, others race-based. so i had this internal fight going on as i resisted labeling myself, but still wondered,

"what if i am." that led to negative feelings an found myself struggle with another fight as i wrestled with my negativity and my anger. >> talk about how important it is to have that inner voice that says, this is who i am, and i really don't give a damn what the other 5 billion people on this earth say i am. >> you are able to define yourself without other people defining you by your race, agenda, family, parents, title, job. you create -- those are socially constructed illusionary programs that make you think that's who you are. >> sometimes it is easier to play into that. >> you become a victim of that. so when you become a victim, you essentially, you have no identity. you are lost. you don't know where you are going or how you are going to get there. >> it doesn't feel like an honest life?

>> you are not authentic. you are not real. >> i struggle with this, mika, because i'm just naturally beautiful and i feel like i have been judged just because of my beauty. >> he says, don't hate me because i'm beautiful. people say, don't take that off my list. willie, you have been cursed with boyish good looks and you have moved past that to find your own identity. >> i have tried with the help of stedman. it can be difficult if you are inside a big company. let's say you work at general electric, how can you be the person you want to be and still work within a large system? >> i am troo i go ying to get p move from follower to leadership. in 21st century, it is about taking charge have o your own development and being a lifelong learner and not having people follow you around and tell you what to do.

it is being a self-starter. it is being able to take technology and make it relevant and sourcing it to your development. you become a better performer, a better worker, a better person working in corporate america. you can take charge and build value every single day. what makes us all equal, everybody has 24 hours. the question is, how you organize 24 hours around you as opposed to memorizing, taking tests, repeat the information back. you get labeled with the grade and two weeks later, you get the information. you are not relevant. you are buying into the socially constructed message that says, i can't make it because of the color of my skin. wrong. i can't make it because i am a woman in a man's world. wrong. i can't make it because my parents didn't have enough money and my father and mother told me i was nothing, never going to be anything. wrong. you can't make it because you don't understand the process of success, which is bigger than a degree, bigger than just going through the educational process. it is being able to source your ta

talents, your skills, what you do well and become relevant in the 21st century so you can create your own future. >> so you just put a litany out there of how people were wrong for talking about things that used to be seen as limitations. you know of what you speak. if you don't let your race get in the way, if people think that should get in the way, being a woman in a man's world, don't let that get in the way. if you are not born into a rich family, which leads us to who you dedicate this book to. i dedicate this book to oprah, who is where she is, because she has always known who she was. >> there is somebody that didn't look at any limitations and just blew through the ceiling. what is it about some people, though? you are teaching other people how to be like you, how to be like oprah, how to be a self-starter? some people are born like oprah

that juunderstand and have this inner drive and vision of themselves. >> it is being able to think. you have to be a thinker, not a robot. you have to be a leader, no the a follower. you have to be a producer. she produces every single day. she self-ac actual looizs her passions, skills and talents. >> and she has been from the very beginning i'm sure. my question is, this is what you are trying to do. for people that aren't born with that inner spark, that inner drive, what's your biggest? >> it is not being born to it. >> how do you go from where they are to where you say they can be? >> it is transforming from a no-thinking human being to a thinking human being and sourcing information and knowledge and making that applicable to your development in the 24 hours that you have every single day. when you change the way you learn and think and feel about yourself, you change your life.

when you begin to grow every single day outside of the box that you are put in, then the box doesn't become you. when you have a vision based ourn life's destination of who you can be and tie that to a belief system that can change every day. >> when we talk about that every day, mitt romney has has an identity issue. if you were inclined to help him, what would you tell him he needs to do? >> where there is no vision, the people perish like the book says. you have to create a vision. you are the leader. you are the catalyst. you have a platform. it is about visualizing where you want the country to go, being relevant to the people that need jobs, figure out where the market is going to be in five or ten years. it is about taking your experience and organizing a plan that allows you to be able to work inside this platform that you have to create opportunity for people and then drive that

message, democracy of the united states and what we offer to a world free enterprise system. >> i love it. >> focus on your strengths. focus on what you do. he is a business guy. he understands business. he understands process very well. if you can take that and connect that to yourself with a vision and then organize a plan, then organize your team behind that, then you can align resources and you can align opportunities based on you being the messenger. >> very cool. someone needs to read the book. and get the passport. >> how much do we love gayle? >> gayle is finding that voice. she is finding the voice. she is getting in charge of her own development. she is very talented. she has been in television a long time. >> she is great. >> she was my idol back then. >> she is special. >> years ago. >> the book is "identity". >> a lot of great quotes. here is a quote from president obama, reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand and

this is the personal side of it, that greatness is never a given. it must be earned. >> what a line. it must be earned. that's what this is about. >> everybody has to work at developing themselves. find your voice. don't assimilate and lose yourself in the global marketplace. >> great to have you. come back, please. wonderful to have you. >> i appreciate it very much. i am humbled by being here. >> thank you. >> please. up next. the moonshine guy. >> the guy that brings moonshine to the set. we are a little concerned. >> i'm scared. the editor of gardening gun magazine, dave debenideto is back. including how ted turner is helping to save the southern landscape. we will be right back. we love gardening... yeah, but the feeling wasn't always mutual. i should be arrested for crimes against potted plant-kind. we're armed, and inexperienced. people call me an over-waterer.

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joining us now, editor in chief of garden and gun magazine, dave dean benedeto. the magazine is amazing. look at the cover. last month, i want to show that too. >> we love ted turner. he is crazy. >> crazy like a fox. >> he is crazy in all the good

points. >> grace recipes in it as well. first of all, you are looking here and your cover story, southern heroes, 11 visionaries saving the south's wild places. i take it ted turner is one of them. >> fifth anniversary issue, willie. >> sissy spacek's virginia farm. >> i love her. she is amazing. >> literary goodness. tell us about ted turner. why do you have ted turner on the cover other than he is crazy and we love him? >> certainly, ted is a polarizing figure but what he does with the land he buys and he is the second largest land owner in the country. over 2 million acres. he doesn't make it into a playground. he takes it back to its most natural state, how it would be before there were any white feet on the ground. >> i love it.

removing the trees that shouldn't be there and planting the ones that should like long leaf spines. you bring back all the species, the wood peppepecker, all that gone. >> your culture, your music. this is not alabama shakes. this is another band. i want you, because i've heard them, i want you to explain, taug about this band and for hipsters from brooklyn to berkley, you are going to want to download these guys. >> this is a cajun fanned from lafayette louisiana. this group has been together since they were kids and they play traditional cajun music. >> they sing in french. >> they have brought a rock 'n roll swagger to cajun music.

an unbelievable mix. >> you spell it for the kids that want to download it at home. feufollet. i guarantee you, heilman, you are going to want to download it. >> it is wonderful. it sets the stage on fire. >> crazy good. >> like you said, they are just breaking out now. >> you also have alabama shakes. >> yeah. i mean, you know, br itney howard, the lead singer, the love child of otis redding and janis joplin. when she gets on the stage, the whole place melts. a year ago, they couldn't book an act. it was $500 a show maybe. they played cmj here in new york and things started happening and they were at south by southwest in march, blew the doors off the place. now, they are commanding $25,000. >> back when joe and i were kids, the southern rock progressive alternative was concentrated in athens, georgia.

is there a similar new seed bed? >> there is. it is nashville. it is not nashville for its country sense. certainly, that is part of what it is. but nashville has attracted jack white from the white stripes. dan ar bok from the black keys. they have studios down there and they are producing unbelievable albums. ar bok just worked on doc johnson's new album. >> a new nashville? >> yes, absolutely. >> is this a moment for that blue grass rockability. >> mumford and sons who are now in nashville. >> they took blue grass. they put a hard-hip edge on it. they came from punk rock bands and toured like crazy. they were all over the couldn't interest country. another group that was playing

coffee shops and now selling out. >> no doubt about it. susan is the biggest david brothers fan. she absolutely loves them. we are talking about crazy people, ted turner. crazy people we love, which should be the cover. crazy southern people we love. speaking of crazy people, julia reed who we adore, what did she get to you late in your column? >> i am still owed from julia. i know when it comes in, it is going to be great. in this issue, i am hoping when i get off the show there is an e-mail from her with her cope. >> julia, if you are watching, please. >> if you get an e-mail, i don't think it will be her column. >> this latest issue, she broke about chicken bones and the idea of people eating chicken bones, the whole thing, the gristle, everything but she takes it into ten different great directions. wonderful. >> in one of your classic drink

recipes, great barack ses sorries and julia reads on go cups. >> julia reed in new orleans when you are going from one bar to the next and you don't want to leave your drink on the counter, you get a to-go cup and go out with it. >> so you guys are nominated for a lot of awards just since coming on "morning joe." >> absolutely. all the credit to you. >> we many take the credit even though we don't deserve it. >> just yesterday we found out we were nominated for two national magazine awards, general excellence and single topic issue, which is just great. for us being a small magazine in charleston, south carolina, competing with the best of the best is great, great recognition. >> willie, talk about it as a yankee going south. there is just something about the culture in dixie. it is rich. the rest of america has been whom onlg nized in so many different ways. you still see bands and quirky people like julia reed still

surviving the homogeniziaton process. >> most of the great characters have come from the south. i moved from suburban new jersey, to nashville, to atlanta. for me, it was about music, number one, and food, number two, which has been interesting to see both of those elements of the south kind of co-oped and brought up to the north which is the mainstreaming of the music we talked about and barbecue on every corner you look in major american cities, some good, some not so good. >> food and music driving this whole southern culture. >> there is certainly an appreciation for it. >> there is a reason why every great music form or jazz or rock 'n roll or r and b, it all started in the deep south. >> we have a tweet coming in. alex, what happened? >> dave's wife here, she just tweeted, love that on "morning

joe." my husband is known as the moonshine guy. >> i am going to have to follow her. there you go. is that taking off the mainstreaming of moonshine? i'm not sure i am on board with that one. >> there is mika drinking the moonshine. >> oh, lord. >> pow. >> i am good. that was hard stuff. >> nowadays, moonshine, there is these boutique moonshines, whether it is peach moonshine, cherry moonshine, moonshine that doesn't burn your throat. >> i am going to go down stairs and try it again. maybe it needed to set for a while open. >> and listen to who we are going out to, t.j. thank you so much. >> nice. >> david debenedetto and your wife, tweet her. i am going to follow her and say hello. editor and chief of garden and gun magazine. what a fantastic magazine.

we will be right back with business before the bell. all right, let's decide what to

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to take control of your personal economy. get one-on-one help from america's retirement leader. ♪ 48 past the hour. time now for a check on business before the bell with cnbc's michelle caruso-cabrera. what have you got? >> good morning, mika. looks like we will have another pretty negative open for the markets in about 45 minutes, day two of a reaction to news we got out of the federal reserve. they put out their minutes from the meetings six minutes after the news happened. the news was that the federal reserve is more optimistic about the economy and hence is far less likely to do a lot more

extended stimulus like we have seen in the past. good news for main street. bad news for traders, because they love those sugar injections into the economy. eventually, it turns out to be good news for the markets, corporate profits go higher, stocks move higher eventually. fed more optimistic about the economy. >> michelle, thank you very much. we will see you soon. up next, the best of late night. 14 clubs. that's what they tell us a legal golf bag can hold. and while that leaves a little room for balls and tees, it doesn't leave room for much else. there's no room left for deadlines or conference calls. not a single pocket to hold the stress of the day, or the to-do list of tomorrow. only 14 clubs pick up the right one and drive it right down the middle of pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org.

>> mitt romney promises the process for choosing his running mate, will be impressive as the last four nominees, john edwards, sarah palin, dick cheney and joe biden. paid for by romney 2012. on march 21st, former florida governor, jeb bush, endorsed mitt romney for president. on march 29th. former president, george h.w. bush and his wife, barbara, also endorsed mitt romney. earlier today, former president, george w. bush endorsed new doritos loco taco.

george w. bush. >> are you having burritos for lunch? >> we are going to pitch it over to gabriel rojas at woodland. what's the scene like there? >> oh, are we live here at the corner of woodlands. how do you feel about -- >> inside, we are going to toss back to you guys. ♪

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we looked at our family's goals and some ways to help us get there. they helped me fix my economy, the one in my house. now they're managing my investments for me. and with fidelity, getting back on track was easier than i thought. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy. get one-on-one help from america's retirement leader. welcome back, kids. time to talk about what we learned today. >> you started a twitter fight when you turned about, we need to pick today the five greatest american living song writers. who are your five? >> it is impossible. >> you have to have bob dylan, bruce springsteen and paul simon on any list. then, the prince for me is stevie wonder. they could both be in the wonder. lucinda williams is the best living female songwriter. >> you have to put brian wilson

on the list. brian wilson, paul simon, stevie wonder, carol king, bob dylan and the hipsters won't like me but you have to put burt back car rack who has written more pop classics than anybody, any american alive right now. those are my six. >> sean carter. >> sean carter. he is in the group. >> we like to put strange combinations of guests. this might be our strangest, deepak chopra, yogi berra and ron guidry, louisiana lightning. >> they all played on the 1963 yankees. >> mika and i agree she should meet vladimir putin. >> someone i haven't met. >> what did you learn? >> i just think deepak chopra has to be the umpire. guidry is