>> all right. the white house grapples with renewed scrutiny over the president's position on gay marriage as north carolina voters weigh in on a gay marriage ban today. will tar heels follow california's example or arizona's? plus -- plame blame it on tea parter fervor or washington -- dick lugar's career is likely coming to an end. another sign washington is undergoing profound change. and the cia says it foil add frightening plot by al qaeda to bomb a schedule airliner with an upgraded version of the underwear bomb that may have made it through security. proof the terror network isn't dead yet. good morning from washington. it's tuesday, may 8, 2012. this is the "daily rundown." i'm chuck todd. a huge day in politics. lots of huge news.

we're going to get to the latest on the thwarted terror plot in a moment. first, let's get right to my first political reads of the morning. so if it's tuesday, you know how i feel? somebody's voting somewhere. today we're watching places all over the country, ballots in indiana, north carolina and wisconsin. in particular, when the polls close today we'll learn whether north carolina follows california's lead. offered banning gay marriage, but whether to amend the constitution 0 to gay marriage in sievecivil unions. two, the state's recall election. three, how much of a troublemaker is ron paul going to be for mitt romney? we're actually going to dig into paul's bid to win delegates, more importantly, influence at the convention later today. you won't believe what paul's up to. fourth, most importantly, whether senator dick lugar's political career is coming to an end today. should have been a wake-up call

for every longtime senator. 2 was for several. warren hatch fought by early. likely to win. a primary in the convoluted process. the message didn't get to the man who came into office the same year as hatch. richard lugar. >> in indiana richard lugar, the projected new young republican senator has given his victory statement at his downtown headquarters. >> enormous, the task, of trying to dot best job anyone has of done in this job. >> after 36 years in the senate, lugar could become just the seventh senator in 30 years to lose his party's nomination for re-election. lugar's opponent today is state treasure richard murdoch. is he selling a simple message that lugar's gone to washington and is out of touch? what every challenger dreams of when going against an incumbent. the tea party made him

vulnerable. it defined the race, frankly, from the start. >> lugar was also asked what address he has on his driver's license. he wasn't sure but presumes it's the house he no longer owns. i asked where he gets his mail from the dmv. he didn't exactly answer. >> when i've renewed my driver's license i've come here to a proper address in indianapolis and renewed it. >> didn't know what address was on his driver's license. >> exploited this in tv ads. >> when dick lugar moved to washington he left behind more than his house. he left behind his conservative hoosier values. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell covering both campaigns in indiana asked lugar whether he's lost touch with voters? >> been perfectly connected. a ridiculous charge. how could anybody be more hoosier? i've got a farm out here that i continue to work with my sons.

i've managed it on behalf of our family. i'm in touch every week with everybody in the state. usually on the ground with visits, but with our staffs, trying to meet almost every challenge of an individual hoosier or group. >> the question is going to be can murdoch, that, if he wins this nomination, is had a ron johnson, not a ken burk and this to say about the tea party n. indiana we al rp senator lugar's service. i certainly do. i voesed for him many times but it's time for different outlook. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell is live in indianapolis. polls are open. everybody's writing lugar's political obituary. we've got to remind people, anything can happen at the polls. but in watching murdouk. you've spent a lot of time with him. who is this guy? >> reporter: what i was struck by he is not the typical tea

party candidate in the way we saw it in 2010. richard murdouk has been a longtime office holder, the grass roots support that comes from doing all of that county work over the years. so he calls himself a conservative who welcomes the tea party influence. he does credit the tea party with giving him the volunteers an the fund-raising to make this a formidable chag but is not the kind of person that himself gets up and waves a tea party flag, if you will. he really has made this about showing respect for richard lugar in many public settings. he talked about, that he has voted for lugar. that he has supported him in the past but makes hard the argument that it's time for a change. that was really the theme we heard over and over spending time with richard murdock and with his supporters. many of them also said they voted for lugar over the years. we repeatedly heard a couple of issues. one, lugar's age. 80 years old and served in the senate 36 years. people say he's done a fine job

in many instances but want to see something different. the residency issue came up. definitely from people we talked to, and on the flip side, talking to supporters of richard lugar they talked about his intelle intellect. hard to refer to him as a rhodes scholar and eagle scout, but he has the heft to represent indiana. >> is richard lugar going to support the nominee? >> what he told us yesterday, he did not want to get ahead of today's primary. one of the hardest things for an incumbent in trouble is to even signal we ho support his challenger. he simply said, no comment. it's hard to match than he wouldn't support given his long tenure as a fixture of republican politics in indiana he wouldn't be ultimately gracious about it. he wouldn't signal specifically. we'll talk to him as the day unfolds. >> richard nixon's favorite mayor back in 1972. kelly o'donnell, thank you, as

always. moving on to the story, the white house, we weren't talking about this week, supposed to be about the president's rollout. the ad campaign to re-introduce his record to voters. trip to new york today to highlight things they want congress to do. wants congress to enact before august what was suppose dlip the white house to-do list. that story on job creation and mortgage relief, page a-18. between the kentucky derby and the weather. on the first page? joe biden's comments on "meet the press" two days later now about being absolutely comfortable with gay marriage. all press secretary jay carney was asked about yesterdays press briefing and his answers weren't necessarily revealing. >> as you know, he said his views on this were evolving. his personal views were evolving. i would say his views are oh involving. i don't have an update for you. i don't have an update to

provide you. i have no update to give you on it. the president expressed his views. >> he did. >> no. the spokesperson said that. >> i don't have an update to provide you on the president's position. it is what it was. >> you know, one other thing to keep in mind, one thing jay carney did say, the president is against this referendum that's taken place in north carolina and was noted, he's the, the president now is against bans on gay marriage, not yet for them. point out, nbc/"wall street journal" poll, 49% favor same-sex marriages, 40% oppose. those numbers flipped in '09. how nontoxic is this views in american politics? almost silenced from the republican side of the aisle in the last 48 hours. by the way, the white house aren't the only ones off message. romney's message supposed to be the middle class. having a hard time. thinking like a primary

candidate. maybe mitt romney the candidate is. want to send a message to swing and independent voters this is not how you answer certain questions. >> we have a president right now that is operating outside the structure of our constitution. i want to know -- i want -- yeah. i do agree he should be tried for treason, but -- i want to know what you are going to be able to do to help restore balance between the three branches of government. >> listen, i'm sure you do, i happen to believe that the constitution was not just brilliant, probably inspired. >> after the event on a road blind, romney tried to explain. >> recent reason saying, like senator mccain did four years ago, governor? >> i'm sorry? >> is there a reason you didn't correct her or is there a reason you didn't correct her, say that you wouldn't? >> i answered the question. >> you don't agree with her answer? >> i don't correct all the questions that get asked of me. i obviously don't agree.

>> the obama campaign immediately jumped on this. we saw mitt romney's version of leadership standing by silently as his chief surrogate attacked the president's family at the event and another supporter alleged the president should be tried for treason. what we saw there, we saw a candidate that doesn't yet know how to be nimble here. when a remark should be dealt with, when shouldn't it be. for a candidate that seemed to be always thinking only about the general during the primary, seemed stuff in primary mode right now. one more thing. romney finally got that santorum endorsement. 11:00 p.m. e-mail. it will require all hands on deck if our nominee is to be victorious. governor romney will be that nominee and he has my endor endorsement and support. the fbi is picking apart the bomb downed when u.s. intelligence foiled al qaeda's latest plot to take town a u.s.-bound passenger plane. this morning on "today," white house counterterrorist said the

thwarted plot is a reminder even with bin laden gone particularly al qaeda in the peninsula in yemen is still a threat. >> all kinds -- this is the most operationally active element of al qaeda these days. it has tried in the past to carry out attacks, times against aircraft. carried out assassination attacks in the arabian peninsula. a lethal operation a dangerous one. why we have to continue to work closely with our yemeni partners so we're able to stop the attacks before they get under way. >> roger cressey a former white house official and nbc news terrorism analyst. all right. here's what i think we've learned from this plot. that our intelligence apparently infiltrated al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. that to me seems to be the biggest news. is that fair to say? >> it's fair to say we're working really well with the yemenese and saudis. if you go back to 2010, that

cargo plane plot, the saws saudis gave us a tip-off. they're doing a good job infiltrating. >> a source when we learned of his ied we started tracking it before we grabbed it, and more importantly it's my understanding that the tracking of this ied gave us the intelligence necessary for the drone attack that killed this, the person we believe -- the successor to -- is that your understanding? >> absolutely. no coincidence that. >> no. working together. >> about shresolutely. identifying a plot well in advance allowing us to collect intelligence from all people involved, disrupt the plot and take down other elements of the network. why the white house was bent out of shape that the a.p. went with the story when they did. there was nor operational activity going on. >> all of this debate.

how much do you go public or not? going public, sending the message to al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, we've infiltrated. will that create a distrust? could we see more in-fighting? >> you're always looking for that, because the greater the chance these guys start to distrust each other, the greater the opportunity for us to pick them off one by one and eliminate they're capability. the good -- this is a good news story. we disrupted the plot, we have the device and we killed al quso. >> the one person out there, the bombmaker. >> a really bad dude. it's his type of bombmaking technique. >> the technology idea. >> that created the underwear bomb, created the cargo plane bombs, in the printer cartridges, probably behind this wunchts most wanted man? >> definitely top three. he knows it and is training other individuals on his bombmaking techniques. >> because he thinks his days

are numbered. thank you as always. up next, will voters ban same-sex marriage in north carolina today? embedded into the constitution? we're going to talk with retiring governor bev perdue about the referendum plus all the other stuff going on. will they regret holding their convention there? and ron paul, quietly wrestling delegates away from mitt romney, and by the way, he's also secretly becoming mitt romney's delegates. we're going to explain it. in the deep dive into what's going on and how tampa would be nuts. first, a look at the president's schedule. you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc news. albany. hanging out way guy who wants to run for president in 2016. andrew cuomo. we'll be right back.

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. and you are me if you want it, you just got to believe. weight watchers i believe strength [ jennifer ] confidence beautiful amazing [ emily ] this goes way beyond happiness i believe. i believe. because it works. [ female announcer ] weight watchers -- rated number one best plan for weight loss by u.s. news and world report, again. ♪ join now for free. hurry. offer ends may 12th. weight watchers. believe. because it works.

and then treats day after day... hwho ge heartburn may 12th. well, shoot, that's like checking on your burgers after theyburnt! male annncer ] treat your frequent heartbn by blocking the id with priloc otc. and don'get artburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill a day. 24 hour zero heartburn. ♪ power surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8.

north carolina voters today will decide the fate of a controversial measure that would define marriage as between a man and a woman more than half a million people have already voted in the state either earlier absentee voting or it may be a forgone conclusion. despite the fact polls are open today, the governor bev perdue is here. talking about what is going on. governor, let me start with this constitutional amendment. what will it ban besides gay marriages, in your opinion? >> great question, cluck. this is our rosa parks moment in north carolina, because it's about taking away civil rights of people. if i'm 80 years old and have an 80-year-old guy i'm living with

because of my other retirement arrangements, if he's sick in an intensive care unit it takes away my right as a family member to go in and see him. unmarried giving with a guy and have a little girl, she'll lose her health tear insurance because i won't have the benefits of a contract. if i've been in a domestic violent situation i'm likely to lose my ability to claim domestic violence. so this is about civil rights. it's about taking away rights. you know, as the governor of this state, the extreme folks who have been running the general assembly, this new republican group, have spent this past year not on jobs and not on moving us forward in education. they've mess around in our bedrooms and classrooms and the people in north kacarolina are sick of it and have stand up and vote no on this amendments. >> how do you think -- is it going to be approved overwhelmingly because it became

simply clearly gay marriage in the minds of -- >> clearly, being between a man and woman. today's vote, though have extremists labeled it as about marriage between a man and woman, it's about civil rights. it's about taking away rights of north carolinians. nobody knows if it's going to pass or fail. we've learned over the years not to believe the polls until the last vote is counted. we've had a huge early turnout good nor north carolina and voters. at the end of the day we'll know. we have seven or eight more hours of voting and i'm urging everybody to get out and vote no in north carolina. this hurts our brand. our state has been known around america and around the world as a prossive leader, inviting state. the hub of business and opportunity. this is bad for business. >> do you think that the democratic party should hold its convention in this state if it ends up passing a constitutional amendment like this? let me ask you this? do you think charlotte if this amendment was on the books works that have cost charlotte the

democratic convention? >> no. charlotte was chosen because of the spirit of north carolina, and because the president and his team really has, had great experience in this state. nobody thought he could carry this state in 2008. he's going to carry the state in 2012. the conventional going to give a lot of people an opportunity to see north carolina. it will give us a showcase around the world a great place to come together and launch our winning fall campaign. >> are you for gay marriage? >> you know, again, today is all about issues between a constitution, about civil rights between women and men, married and unmarried, about all kinds of issueswe have a lie that defines marriage between a man and woman. at the end of the day, north carolina is talking today about taking away rights. >> i'm just asking your personal, you're not for gay marriage? >> my personal opinion is reflected in my vote. i an against this amendment. i really am against this amendment. we have a piece of legislation

that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. today is not about that, chuck, it's about simply trying to not approve an amendment that pushes north carolina backwards. >> do you think this needs to be a national conversation? >> i don't think it needs to be a national conversation right now. i mean it will become a national conversation. this president and this governor and this state and country need to focus on one thing. and that's turning our economy around the way the president has done for 17 consecutive months. we need to continue to work on growing jobs and educating our children so we can be competitive in a global economy and right now have totally lost the focus this week in north carolina because we've been focused and bedroom issues that don't belong on the ballot box today. >> you understand it's an odd line and you and the president apparently are similar. against a gay marriage ban here, but -- but not yet -- not for

gay marriage. it's a thin line to walk here, and it does leave voters scratching their heads. you've got to understand that. right? well, this was apparently a technical issue here. this is not governor perdue's fault. not her not wanting to answer that question. simply an audioissue. we will be sure to get you the answer to her question after the break. anyway, wall street tries to weather another eurozone crisis. a check of the markets at the opening bell next. plus, ron paul's quiet delegate offensive. what does the texas congressman hope to do in tampa? and then prince harry comes to washington. first, today's trivia questions. who was the only republican ton run for senate in 2006 without a democrating opponent? the answer, the first correct answer gets a follow tuesday from us. coming up on "daily rundown." [ male announcer ] this was how my day began.

a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪ the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement

that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption.

that's why ♪ doctor recommends citracal maximum. on my journey across america, i found new ways to tell people about saving money. this is bobby. say hello bobby. hello bobby. do you know you could save hundreds on car insurance over the phone, online or at your local geico office? tell us bobby, what would you do with all those savings? hire a better ventriloquist. your lips are moving. geico®. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

that was an awkward technical issue. back to governor perdue for that last question. i didn't want people to think you were walking off. >> i thought you hung up on me, chuck. >> do you understand the awkwardness of basically saying you're against banning gay marriage but not for it? and that's where the president is. sounds like that's where you are. it's a head scratcher to a lot of people watching this debate over the last 48 hours. >> chuck, let me just be very direct. y'all can continue to scratch your head for another 48 hour. it's very important to me that the folks in north carolina who have not cast their ballot understand that this constitutional amendment takes away a lot of civil liberties, civil rights. it not about gay marriage. that is not what this issue is

about. we have a statute on the books. so for the voters in north carolina, don't be confused. go in there and vote no. >> all right. governor perdue. i will leave it there. thank you for stag with us. >> you really didn't hang up on me? >> i didn't hang up on you and you didn't take away the mike. thank you. >> bye-bye. minutes to go before the opening bell. time for the market rundown. jackie deang slis here. jackie, no technical difficulties. what you got? >> futures pointing to a lower open on wall street as investors continue to consider the impact of elections in france and greece this past weekend. they seemed to shrug it off yesterday. there are concerns over the future of austerity especially in greece at the moment. meantime, bank of america saying that the first batch of homeowners will receive offer letters. part of thes 25ds billion

settlements banks alenders reached earlier in the year. that he could qualify. be at least 60 days behind on payments and other requirements. the fed saying consumer borrowing surging more than 10% in march. the biggest monthly jump wean seen since 2001. analysts are skeptical at this point questioning if this is a real pickup or people are relying on credit to pay for things in a tough economy. chuck? >> jackie, thank you, much. coming up, something you don't hear much about lately. a government surplus. i'm not teasing you. how did washington snap the four-year deficit streak? plus, mitt romney may not be smiling if ron paul gets his way as the convention. up next a deep dive into ow paul has an interesting state-by-state strategy and is quietly stripping delegates away from romney, also infiltrating romney's delegations. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. we belie, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning,

plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. born to leap, born to stalk, and born to pounce. to understand why, we journeyed to africa, where their wild ancestor was born. there we discovered that cats, no matter where they are... are born to be cats. and shouldn't your cat be who he was born to be? discover your cat's true nature. purina one.

of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the storybook narrator... [ man ] you're left with more electric trucks. more recycled shipping materials... and a growing number of lower emissions planes... which still makes for a pretty enchanted tale. ♪ la la la [ man ] whoops, forgot one... [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter.

nobody said it was over when the germans boned pearl harbor, right? don't tell ron paul supporters the fight is over. the texas congressman is still in the republican presidential race. although his chances of winning the nomination are slim to nun, he could make things interesting here's how. his bid to win delegates and influences in the party. in a couple of ways. it's not farewell. he hasn't won a single primary or caucus on the nights that the primary or caucuses have been held. currently, 856 delegates. ron paul estimated to be just 94. but that's not the whole story and it's not stopping the 77-year-old from campaigning and firing up the supporters wherever he goes. >> the dictators and the pharaohs and the kings have been around for a long, long time. freedom is a new idea. it was really developed in this country. we have lost our way but we can

find our way again, and that is what is happening. thank you very much! >> you know, the guy gets bigger crowds than mitt romney does, but the real fight for ron paul and his supporters is not longer on the campaign trail. his campaign is focused on the republican convention in august and working the delegate selection rules at county and state conventions around the country, and, boy is it paying off. take maine, for example. romney ron the narrow victory in the february caucuses but a non-binding election we told you then. in augusta, 21 of the 24 went to ron paul. he won the state of maine as far as the convention rules are concerned. it was a sdif strategy in nevada. another state that romney won, back in february. now, those caucuses were binding. so ron paul can't win the delegates for himself, but what did his supporters do? they can still get chosen as the delegates and they did. they won 22 of the 25 spots up for grabs. that means while they can't vote

for ron paul at the convention on the first ballot they can carry his ideology with them to tampa. and that means something, and i'll explain. same story in massachusetts. all the delegates are pledged to vote for their former governor. even in a state where romney won 74% of vote, paul supporters will fill 16 of the state's 38 delegates steets. paul supporter denied rom nip former lt. governor the chance tore a delegate for mitt romney. ra what's the respect? their campaign has a lot of respect for dr. paul and what he brings to the process. conventioning, make no mistake the tampa convention will nominate mitt romney and it will be his convention. what happens if ron paul supporters decide to stir the pot? can do serious damage to romney's attempts to unify the party. even if they can't vote for paul, it's possible that paul supporters turn delegates may refuse to vote, maybe, rather than vote for mitt romney. that's possible.

romney could still get the nomination. not pretty or unanimous. why would ron paul go to all the trouble? a strong voice at the consequence and influencing the platform. a possibility he's paving the way for a future white house bid by his son kentucky senator rand paul. and don't kout count out the possibility he could run again. done it three times already. what's one more? there are ways these paul-influenced delegates can mess around at this convention. they're not going to deny romney the nomination. we know. the party platform is a big deal and guess what? also the v.p. nomination. there is no pledge on that. if, somehow, paul is somehow influencing 30%, 40% of delegates there, it's going to be a raucous convention, it's not going to make the prettiest of pictures that mitt romney's campaign would like to paint that week when it's supposed to be all about introducing the country to the republican ticket. all right.

turning now to other stories that i'm watching this morning today. the senate is votes on a bill to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling to nearly 7% this summer. democrats want to pay for toox private companies looking funding designated for the president's health care law. you'll see it pass and a conference issue. a new congressional office report says the us government had a surplus for the month of april. a first time in the obama administration tenure. the $58 billion, due to tax collection and a dip in federal spending. everybody's going to take the upbeat economy and less government spending. a little less pain at the pump. prices down nationally. fifth consecutive week. regular right now, national average for a regular gallon of gas of $3.76. down 5 cents over the past week and 17 cents in the last month. that's why we tell you, gas

price politics is wasted energy. energy politics actually worries about a larger energy policy that would have been a productive use of time back when everybody was trying to score points on gas prices. silliest campaign issue of, always is. was in '08. democrats are doing it. it was recently when republicans were doing it. britain's prince harry is here in washington. monday, honored at the atlantic council's distinguished humanitarian award for his work with his brother for injured warriors. the prince met and told the council crowd these soldiers must have everything they need through their darkest days. sad news. l literary community, the morning pass of maurice sendak. author of the 1963 hit "where the wild things are" a book passed down through families and made it to the big screen a few years ago. maurice was 83.

enneup next, it's super tue. the panel is here. how much longer can president obama walk the line on same-sex marriage? and that clooney fund-raiser in hollywood. could be a little awkward. is this the end of the line for dig lugar? first, white house soup of the day. mushroom and leek. and kachino. not a fish stew. it's a soup. you're watching "the daily rundown" on mountain. >> announcer:. msnbc. ifer ] better. stronger. it's time to believe again. [ female announcer ] weight watchers -- rated number one best plan for weight loss by u.s. news and world report, again. join now for free. hurry. offer ends may 12th. [ jennifer ] weight watchers. believe. because it works. hi, i just switched jobs, and i want to roll over my old 401(k) into a fidelity ira. man: okay, no problem. it's easy to get started; i can help you with the paperwork.

um...this green line just appeared on my floor. yeah, that's fidelity helping you reach your financial goals. could you hold on a second? it's your money. roll over your old 401(k) into a fidelity ira and take control of your personal economy. this is going to be helpful. call or come in today. fidelity investments. turn here. a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. and celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks.

all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen, and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you've had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. ♪ power surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies

and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8. i'm not a beaten man. an angry and deninety man. i said that i bend but don't break. believe me, i'm not broken. >> this day in may of 1987, less than a month after announcing he was running for president, gary

hart withdrew from the race. hart seemed like the man to beat for the democratic nomination and many thought president in waiting. amid rumors of marital infidelity, reporters put a tail on him did and discovered he was having an affair. he would later get back into the race. a one-man caravan and finished sixth i believe. today's mode, north carolina. a ban in the constitution of obama administration officials taking side. their boss publicly evolving, 18 months evolving, and casey hunt from the associated press is with us on the romney trail and editor-in-chief of thinkprogress.org. all right. talk about the politics of this. faz, i want to start with you. what's worse here for the president, not having a position or not answering -- answering

whether he gets finished evolving on this or not? or taking a position for or against? >> well, the hard part of this is that everyone seems to think that obama has a stance on this. it's internal. it's probably for probate mark and the fact he withholds it says he's concerned about political read realities. in 2002, spoke about an issue, he didn't think he would be president, wasn't worried about battleground states and that was what made people feel excited about him. i would hope he would suggest what's in his heart and let it out. >> gay rights, october 2010, same-sex marriage, speaking to bloggers, december 2010 signs repeal of don't ask, don't tell. they take credit for. it was congress. sort of, a lot of people thought the president had to get dragged into making that.

some certain, was he ready to do it when he did it? that he did it at the time? administration in february 2011 stops defending doma and the president's quote. casey hunt, the other fascinating thing about this over the last 48 hour, silence from the republican romney side. not like exploit, democrats a pro-gay marriage party. >> mitt romney made brief comments about it yesterday to a local tv station in ohio basically saying, my suspicion that marriage is between one man and one woman and that's never going to change. you know, you've seen them have to grapple with some issues around gay rights even in their own campaign, yet in a national security spokesman who resigned after the party didn't step up and defend him after taking heat from the left wing. he has to walk the line, many uncomfortable with him historically and others who say

the country is going in the direction of supporting these rights. >> sure. and this political calculation you hear from democrats, why could president obama be holding out? they point to more religious african-americans. you know, when we did our last nbc/"wall street journal" poll, the biggest jumps in support for gay marriage came from african-americans. >> right. look at the president's support from states like ohio, drilled down on the numbers. support from african-americans, approval rate. not one of the groups, areas, knee needs to work on. interesting here, in many ways his suspicion, his evolving suspicion running contrary to the plasm he ran with four years ago. postpartisan and not political. that's going to be evolving, if you will. >> staffers in the white house who work for him, i guarantee you, chuck, 95% of them would love to see obama come out and be total slay portative. they're dying for it to happen.

the president is holding them back. waiting for him to pull the trigger. >> not to be cliche or stereotype washington, with george clooney. the only guy in the room not supporting publicly gay marriage? >> probably. >> you just feel -- hollywood democratic donors follow these debates. the big picture debates closely. this is going to be the conversation at the fund-raiser. is it not? >> it absolutely will be. to understand their side, i guess, is to understand your argument with governor perdue, to say that they want at this point to not let those political dimensions in north carolina and virginia, and the battleground states disrupt their role. an idea for rollout, but -- >> you may be right. we're going to talk about the u.s. senate after dick lugar, after the break. trivia time we ask, who's the only republican to run for the senate in 2006?

who did not have an official democrating opponent. the answer, indiana senator richard lugar. he won that year with 87% of the vote. be right back. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on money nbc. . with better car replacement, if your car is totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. liberty mutual auto insurance.

and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios.

i can't help but note the irony that i'm the d.c. insider running against someone who's been in washington for 36 years. that's not a message that's being sold very well here in indiana. but to the point, am i reflecting some special interest group around the country? yeah, i probably am and they're called conservatives. >> that was indiana senate challenger richard mourdock with me a week ago. let's bring back the panel. you were just out in indiana. is dick luker losing because he's not conservative enough or because he doesn't have a residence in indiana? >> i think it was the latter.

the turning point were these residency issues. not just maybe he moved out to virginia six years ago, the fact that he was still using his address that he sold -- for a house he sold sometime in the '70s. that was the point of no return. >> i'm going to read you a list of senators that were in the united states senate in 2008 that will not be there in 2013, republican side only. lugar, warner, specter, bennett, snow, gordon smith, voinovich, hagel. democratics, byrd, kennedy, biden, dodd, lincoln, nelson, clinton, obama. people how about the grandiosity of the senate, the people who would work with the other side, that's a lot of senate power going. >> it's most of the gang of "x." >> yeah. this gang of ten, that was anybody that was ever on a

bipartisan piece of legislation, it was one of those ten names. >> that's why you see so much frustration in the american electorate right now. there's a reason why congress isn't working the pay it has in the past. it's changed really dramatically in the last five years. >> and it's interesting, you've always heard there was debate among some democrats during the john roberts hearings about whether to support him or not because some democrats supported him because they believed in the notion that you do that. one of the things that hurt lug ser when lugar is when he supported the president's picked for the supreme court, are we -- >> there's a purification on the right going on. part of it has to do with the money, money that's incentivizing the fact that you're rewarding people who are opposing obama or opposing -- it rewards opposition, standing up against something. >> but should this be the way -- democratics have been hit hard.

the word is, obama always wished he could have had that roberts vote -- >> i don't see the same kind of trend on the left here. i don't believe it will actually occur. on the right there is that -- if i were romney, i would be very concerned about this. in the unlikely event he is the president, how do you deal with people whose whole argument for being in office was they are warriors against you, against the cause. >> watching romney yesterday, the question -- dealing with this questioner who made this treason comment. we'll let others decide if it was a joke. his refusal to deal wit struck me that this guy is just not a nimble candidate yet. he didn't realize that was a moment he should have grabbed hold of things and said, i have to woo swing voters who don't like that conversation. >> you have to remember, romney is a particularly cautious candidate.

he spends a lot of time making sure the situations he's in are pretty predictable. when you get these unpredictable moments, a lot of times he'll gloss over it! he's not nimble at it at all. >> right. well, he did on the rope line after the event decide to clarify. it's almost as though he took some time to think about it. >> it's there, but you get the sense that there are other candidates that would have grabbed that moment and -- >> john mccain famously handled the same situation four years ago. he was good. i think john mccain had the confidence to pivot that and romney does not. >> shameless plugs? >> coverage of senator dick lugar's almost imminent loss. >> voters are still voting. he could still win. >> he could. >> the bomb in yemen. >> another "daily rundown" favorite. >> i want to thank my team of 25

at think progress. they work very hard and fairly and honestly. >> you guys are having a pretty influential year, that's for sure. that's it for the edition of "the daily rundown." tomorrow, we have results. analysis, today's primary. never want to miss a wednesday "daily rundown." coming up, chris jansing. bye-bye. of investing technology is now within your grasp with the all-new e-trade 360 investing dashboard. e-trade 360 is the world's first investing homepage that shows you where all your investments are and what they're doing with free streaming quotes, news, analysis and even your trade ticket. everything exactly the way you want it, all on one page. transform your investing with the all-new e-trade 360 investing dashboard. ♪ nespresso. where there's a grand cru to match my every mood.

♪ where just one touch creates the perfect cup. where no one makes a better cappuccino, latte, or espresso than me. and where clothing is optional. nespresso. the best cafe. yours. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. are you still sleeping? just wanted to check and make sure that we were on schedule.

the first technology of its kind... mom and dad, i have great news. is now providing answers families need. siemens. answers. oh. let's go. from the crack, off the backboard. [ laughs ] dad! [ laughs ] whoo! oh! you're up! oh! oh! so close! now where were we? ok, this one's good for two. score! [ male announcer ] share what you love with who you love. kellogg's frosted flakes. they're gr-r-eat!

good morning. i'm craig melvin in today for chris jansing. rick santorum is finally on board the mitt romney express endorsing his former rival late last night. santorum pledged his support last night. it wasn't the most enthusiastic endorsement with the actual endorsement coming way down in paragraph 13. santorum writing, quote, governor romney will be that nominee and he has my endorsement and support to win this, the most critical election of our lifetime.