let me show you the difference between willard today and willard talking about the same issues in thes with willard. >> my presidency will be a pro-life presidency. >> i believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. i believe that since roe v. wade has been the law for 20 years we should sustain and support it. >> i will eliminate obama care. >> i like mandates. the mandates work. >> conservative constance have shaped my life. >> i was an independent during the time of reagan bush. i'm not trying to return to reagan bush. >> so who won the debate between willard and willard, erin? >> well, i want to go back to one of the clips you played at the very beginning, which is when he said i was a severely conservative republican governor. severely is not really a positive term, but that strikes the image of john kasich in ohio and rick scott in florida. two, i guess, severely conservative republican governors whose numbers are really in the tank at this moment. and if he's trying to identify with governors like that and calling himself severely conservative, the democrats a

the latest poll shows willard in a dead heat with rick santorum.olding a one-point lead. today, willard met with the press for the first name three weeks and admitted what we all knew. >> the candidate sometimes makes some mistakes and so i'm trying to do better and work harder and make sure that we get our message across. people are going to see in some case cases our flaws overemphasized. >> you think the specific comments about yourself, whether the cadillacs line or nascar team line on sunday, do you realize how those are hurting your campaign? >> yes. next question. >> next question? don't think so willard. let's hold it right there. this is a big admission. he knows he is a flawed candidate and those flaws came out again today. last night we told but this santorum robocall going out to democrats in michigan. >> join democrats who are going to send a loud message to massachusetts mitt romney by voting for rick santorum for president. this call is supported by hard-working democratic men and women and paid for by rick santorum for president. >>

economy, willard romney. you won't believe what a senator said today. >>> and clint eastwood responds to republicans who say promoting american workers is political. the super bowl ad everyone is still talking b you are watching politics nation on msnbc. "politics nation" on msnbc. look! the phillips' lady! we have to thank you for the advice on phillips' caplets. magnesium, right? you bet! phillips' caplets use magnesium. works more naturally than stimulant laxatives... for gentle relief of occasional constipation. can i get an autograph? [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. "politics nation" on msnbc. >>> the fight for marriage equality, big news today from california. and maybe big news for maryland. we will talk to governor martin o'malley of maryland on that, next. [ male announcer ] to the 5:00 a.m. scholar. the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. f

so here's a little something for you, willard.president obama. if that looks worse to you, you should get your eyes checked. how have republicans thought about this? you should think about getting glasses. joining me now, former pennsylvania governor ed rendell. now an nbc news political analyst and michael steele, msnbc analyst and former chairman of the rnc. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. >> good to be with you, rev. >> governor, let me start with you. are republicans in denial about the economy? >> well, sure they are. they should recognize what are facts. the fact is that the recovery is continuing. i think this month, job numbers were probably twice what was expected. i think there was growth expected around the 120,000 mark. private sector growth. this growth was almost double that. so that is good news no matter how you slice it. and if you are going to hold president obama responsible when the news is bad, he certainly deserves credit when the news is good. and what's particularly good in these numbers, rev

i'm happy to take them on again. >> not smart, willard.um can hit you on that one. >> governor romney supported the bailout of wall street and decided not to support the bailout of detroit. >> you know, things just aren't going willard's way. he gets behind the will for an ad that is supposed to show how much he loves the american car. but it turns out that car wasn't made in america at all. it was made in canada. and in the same ad, romney talks about going to the detroit auto show. >> i grew up in michigan. it was exciting to be here. i remember going to the detroit auto show with my dad. it was a big deal. >> the problem is, the photo he shows in that ad wasn't the detroit auto show. think progress says it was actually the worlds fair in new york city. this week, romney writes an op ed saying, quote, things would be better without the bailout. and just two days later, general motors announces record profits of $7.6 billion. and finally, romney gets a big endorsement from michigan's republican governor who just happens to disagree with h

willard admits he's not, quote, very concerned about the poor here in america. even as he's invested millions in overseas accounts. the ultimate 1 percenter is on the wrong side of this one. 68% of americans say the u.s. tax system favors the wealthy. another 72% want to raise taxes on the wealthiest americans. americans want fairness, not a man who calls any discussion of this envy. joining me, former pennsylvania governor ed rendell, now an nbc news political analyst and michael steele, msnbc analyst and former chairman of the rnc. thank you both for coming on the show tonight. >> hey, rev. >> governor, let me start with you. president obama leads mitt romney by nine points in the latest poll. is the obama message of fairness responsible for this in your opinion? >> i think to some degree. it's both the message and the president has been on his game since he delivered the jobs speech last fall and he's been doing very, very well. the best i think he's done in his presidency. at the same time, governor romney had a pretty good case to make. has shown that r and

we all know willard mitt romney was ready to let the auto industry die. times" column headlined, quote, let detroit go bankrupt. conservatives like rush limbaugh are now claiming the job numbers in detroit

can willard win that chunk of michigan in the next day?he can win it, but it's going to be a cliffhanger, reverend. i think it's going to be a real nail biter right to the finish. and i would not be shocked if santorum didn't pull off a shocking upset. >> now erin, when you hear that, and you look at the fact that there is some strange campaigning going on in michigan, there's a robo call out that is calling on democrats in michigan to vote tomorrow. and at the end it says paid for by rick santorum. listen to this. >> on tuesday, join democrats who are going to send a loud message to massachusetts mitt romney by voting for rick santorum for president. this call is supported by hard-working democratic men and women and paid for by rick santorum for president. >> now this is a little duplicitous, erin, wouldn't you say? >> it is, but there's always cross-party mischief making in some of these states. so the democrats desperately want rick santorum to win michigan so it elongates this primary, gives mitt romney a harder go of things going int

. >>> ahead -- willard under fire.nservatives have never been more concerned about him, and he's going smack into the conservative lion's den tomorrow. this is going to get interesting. >>> plus -- speaking of mitt. he's trying to retool his message as president obama is trying to retool the economy. major announcement protecting homeowners today. >>> and you know by the company you keep. if that phrase is true, republicans have a major problem. we're tearing back the curtain on a white nationalist leader sharing the cpac spotlight. you're watching "politics nation" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] to the 5:00 a.m. scholar. the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be. ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu. today is gonna be an letimportant day for us.r way. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna d

we'll talk shortly about the donald and willard who have a lot in common. they have a lot of money, and they like to fire people. but we begin with the old saying, to whom much is given, much is required. that's the message of fairness that president obama has governed by. and it's what he talked about today at the national prayer breakfast. >> treating others as you want to be treated, requiring much from those who have been given so much. living by the principle that we are our brother's keeper. caring for the poor and those in need. >> caring for those in need. that's the vision that will shape this presidency. a vision from the other side couldn't be more different. >> i'm in this race because i care about americans. i'm not concerned about the very poor. we have a safety net there. if it needs repair, we'll fix it. i'm not concerned about the very rich. they're doing just fine. >> you got one thing right. you aren't concerned about the very poor. if elected president, you said you'd raise taxes on those in the bottom 20% while giving the top 1% an extr

willard mitt romney is at the crossroads tonight.news poll shows he's feeling the heat in his home state of michigan. where he's leading rick santorum by just two points. the stakes couldn't be higher. and santorum's ready to pounce, which is why they have been swiping at each other on the campaign trail. >> here's a guy that's -- there's a guy that's from outside of washington who was not a senator or congressman. not because he didn't try or want, but he never got elected. >> senator santorum hasn't been as carefully viewed by the american public. i think a tea party would find it interesting that rick santorum voted to raise the debt ceiling five times. >> he's run as a liberal, a moderate and conservative pirchlts don't think santorum's track record is that of a fiscal conservative. >> but the fighting is just getting uglier. it's just making them weaker and weaker, even with their own party. 55% of republicans -- 55% now say they wish there was another ka candidate running. as they get weaker, the president is only getting stron

great call, willard. today, romney's out with a new op ed saying that the rescue of the auto industry is quite indisputable good news. but also claiming that without the president's intervention, things would be better. that's right. willard agrees it worked, but claims that somehow, things would be better if we took his advice. he is just distorting what he said at the time. here's an interview from 28. >> you said, "if general motors, ford and chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the american automotive industry good-bye." >> if you write a check, they are going to go out of business. >> out of business? chrysler has reported its first profit in 15 years. gm is now once again the top automaker in the world. president obama saved 1.5 million jobs. that's not an industry going out of business and even though romney opposed this bailout that saved this major industry, he has a new ad promoting himself as michigan's caring native son. >> now, i grew up in mi

willard down 9% since january. if you go to the fight for fairness, romney/wealthy, 53% say mitt romney's policies favor the rich. so this is not just one side of the aisle feeling this way. the polling says this is where the people are. >> yeah, exactly right. and most important thing is with all the background noise of romney and santorum and catering to the far right and trying to cut taxes for the rich again, the focus -- all of the focus of this show, the focus of my work, all of us has to be on how do we grow this economy? it means manufacturing. it means again, come to my website. sherrod brown.com. sign our petition for this china currency, this bipartisan jobs bill. work on the payroll tax cut. all the things we need to do to keep this growth we're seeing the last 20 months to make it bigger and wider so that people can go back to work. >> that's sherrod brown.com. senator sherrod brown, thanks for joining us tonight. >> thank you. >>> coming up -- desperation time for republicans. new numbers show this pr

johns and willard and tate argued this case in the courtroom here. they brought the plaintiffs and the defendants together. and judge cecil presided there at his bench. theo johns and elmo willard and simpson tate argued that the case of brown versus board of education did apply to the golf course, even though it was in education, a school case. he ruled in favor of the black plaintiffs, ruled that brown versus board of education does, in fact, apply to this golf course. and he ordered the desegregation of terrell park golf course. that was one small step that was taken here in beaumont to begin the desegregation. booker faison and joe griffin and those other black gentlemen did get to enjoy the golf course and many of them played here for many years. it was a good ending for the black golfers and a first step in the desegregation of facilities in beaumont. the next summer, the same three black lawyers went after a bigger prize. they went after the desegregation of lamar university here in beaumont, a state university, four-year college. lamar univer

and that's the group willard just can't connect with. fresh off his win, he was in ohio today speaking with workers at a fence making factory. but check out the crowd waiting to cheer him on. a half empty room of supporters. not what you'd expect from a man who won two states last night. here's what it comes down to. this dragged out primary race is hurting his favorability. let's look at president obama in 2008. at this point in the race, in 2008, president obama's favorability numbers were above 50% and climbing steadily every month. but check out willard. his favorability can't break 37%. you can see the green line sinking. and his unfavorability rating is skyrocketing above 50%. but this dragged out primary race is hurting him in another area. >> i need your support. i'm asking for you to get out and vote. and i'm asking for you to go on mitt romney.com and pledge your support in every way possible. >> willard's asking for a bailout. and it's no wonder. this year alone, he and his pac have spent $38.5 million on primaries and caucuse

grantt2;16 sot mercatus- 11:58-12:20 legend is that president grant would spend afternoons at the willard hotel here in dc smoking cigars and drinking and people would come by the lobby and ask for ffvors. broll: hill 1-12that's how century.but plenty of favors e - are still exchanged every day thouogh when lobbyists, companies and poliiicans push the limits of lawsaand ethics.sot ercatus :45-:56 higgly sophisticated and well educated lawyyrs, accountants, lobbyists who work and are basically attemptiig to obtain better treatment from governments.broll k street hundreds of compannes, grrups and even cities obby from k- street.some are much more organized than others.sott :49-:53 this is a town based

and as the result, willard's losing even as he moves toward the nomination. last night, 38% of republican voters still wanted someone else to run. and, get this, 38% of those who voted for romney also wanted someone else to get in. meanwhile, romney's negativity rating among independents has shot up 13 points since december. he's shaping up to be one weak front-runner, and his mistakes keep piling up. you'll be hearing plenty of this heading into saturday's caucus in nevada where the housing crisis is a top issue. >> don't try and stop the foreclosure process. let it run its course and hit the bottom. >> wonder if president obama had that speech in mind when he said this today. >> it is wrong for anybody to suggest that the only option for struggling, responsible homeowners is to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom. >> i refuse to accept that and so do the american people. >> with their flaws on full display, willard and newt should be worried voters will refuse to accept either one of them come november. joining me now, former pennsylvania gove

johns and willard and tate argued this case in the courtroom here. they brought the plaintiffs and the defendants together and judge see sicecil presided at h bench. and they argued that brown versus board of education also applied to golf courses. he ruled in favor of the black plaintiffs. he said that brown versus the board of education does apply to this golf course and he ordered the desegregation of the terrell golf course. that was one small step that was taken here in beaumont to begin the desegregation. booker and joe got to enjoy the golf course. it was a good ending for the black golfers and a first step in the desegregation of facilities in beaumont. the next summer, the same three black lawyers went after a bigger prize. they went after the desegregation of lamar university here in university, a state university four-year college. lamar university was by charter for white students only. though there were some black students applied for admission there, they were refused. and so the three black lawyers joined with three black plaintiffs. o

only 37% trust willard mitt romney.o you trust to handle terrorism. 56% trust president obama. only 36% trust romney. and it is rare that we've seen republicans poll so low in the trust factor on terrorism. >> no, and there you have sean hannity trying to deny that president obama cared about or had anything to do with getting osama bin laden. we remember what george bush said about him. he's just one person and i don't think about him that much anymore. i'm going to echo what perry said. mitt romney, john boehner lose credibility in my opinion when it's all dump, dump, dump on obama, attack, attack, attack obama. they've got to recognize that some things that have happened are good. it's good osama bin laden is gone and good that moammar gadhafi is gone. and the other things i mentioned are good. and it's good that detroit is back for america. not just for obama. >> and i think that in many ways, the extreme, when you take the extreme, perry, then i think it -- and it begins to raise questions on things that you might

how nice, willard.g about your cadillacs probably isn't going to win over working class americans trying to put food on the table. especially when they learn about your new tax plan. a new analysis shows willard's plan would save the poorest 20% of americans just $78 a year. but, get this. those in the top 1% would get a tax cut of an extra $60,000. and if you are in the top 0.1%, romney wants to give you an additional $264,000 a year. that's a whole lot of new cadillacs for the rich. joining me now is verge, the mayor of lansing, michigan. today some auto workers were protesting outside the stadium. romney likes to sing "america the beautiful" on the campaign trail. ♪ oh, michigan oh, michigan mitt romney [ bleep ] on thee ♪ ♪ and tea party is so damn mean from sea to shining sea ♪ >> well, mr. mayor, mr. mayor, does that about sum it up? >> you got that right. rev, as usual, you put a smile on my face but his tax plan doesn't. it's the same old trickle down economics we've gotten from the republicans

now president obam is 51% to willard mitt romney's 42%.ews for you. 41% of republicans say they want another candidate. 25% of conservatives not excited about voting in november. if you have got that level of nonenthusiasm, look of enthusiasm and independents now turning the other way on you, how do you paint that as a good picture? >> well, i think right now there's a lot of battle going on in our primary. millions of dollars spent against mitt romney that causes some of that. once we get this nomination taken care of whether it's mitt romney, rick santorum, we'll right that ship. reverend sharpton, i'm getting the feeling you may not like mitt romney which is too bad. you may be on his short list for vp. you should say some nice things about him occasionally. >> if i really wanted to hurt mitt romney, i would release that you just said that i was on the short list. that would finish him off with all of the right wing republicans. >> i think you could kind of add a little awesomeness to his campaign. >> i'm sure i'm on his short list, but

here's what it looks like at pennsylvania avenue at the willard hotel. incident free this morning. we'll look at the other area roadways at 6:12. >>> at the top of the hour, we have a commuter alert for you. it is your chance to weigh in on the upcoming metro fare hikes. >>> metro is expected to raise the amount you pay to commute. >>> here's a quick look at what metro is proposing. he wants to hike rail fares about 5%. people using paper fare cards would get a high flat fee, but metro would dump the peak of the peak surcharge. metro bus riders, 30 kenseth for using cash. the priss at parking garages would go up about a quarter. >>> there are six public hearings over the next ten days. the first one is at the chevy chase regional services center. doors open at 6:00 with the meeting beginning at 7:00. >>> we have a list of all six hearings on our website. look under morning news. >>> there will be a prayer service this morning for senior rico webb. the 17-year-old died sunday in columbia, maryland. he was on the offensive line for the stags. webb was a football recruit. according to

unbelievable. >> wow, willard. no wonder the president leads you by 35 points among unmarried women. and your attacks on women are about as tone deaf as your attacks on the president. >> i don't think we've seen in the history of this country the kind of attack on religious conscience, religious freedom, relidgeience tolerance that we've seen in barack obama. >> he was willing to jump into bed with the muslim brotherhood in libya and egypt. >> this is an administration which as long as you are america's enemy, you're safe. >> really? keep going extreme, fellas. just know that the more you do, the more it hurts you in those swing states. 53% of the people in those states, including 44% of your own party, say this process is weakening the field. these republican candidates are talking to the right, but it's the wrong conversation for america. joining me now is bab shrum, a democratic strategist and professor at nyu and nia-malika henderson, national reporter for "the washington post." thank you both for coming on the

we' ( cheers and applause ) >> jon: as you know, today is the florida primary, and willard mittard rom supposed to have an excellent night in florida. his nearly assured victory there, confirmation of his pitch to voters. >> i spent my life in the private sector. i understand how the economy works. i worked at one company, bain, for 25 years. if we want to get jobs again in this country, it's going to be helpful to have a person who's had a job in the private sector to crate jobs in the private sector. ( cheers and applause ). >> jon: it would also be helpful if that person was ruggedly handsome. ( laughter ) a jaw like cut marble. sideburns as white as the driven snow. ( laughter ) is very handsome. romney's big pitch is the time that he spent as the founding c.e.o. of bain capital, which even though bain capital sounds like it's been named after a batman villain and sounds look a company whose logo is a giant fist squeezing the global, we are assured bain capital is in no way evil. >> bain, for the most part, they have a lot of different businesses, but their primary business is priv

willard romney is in second place in michigan. rick santorum is holding a four-point lead.ng me is mark mckinnon, a republican media advisory, co-founder of no labels, and vice chair of hillary norton strategies. he is writing in the daily beast today about the possibility of a broader convention and a third party candidate. mark, thanks for being here tonight. >> thank you. >> and now with romney's troubles in michigan and else where can this all go away or can this stay around all the way to the convention and if so, what happens then? >> if mitt romney loses michigan, i think the al gore rule kicks in, which is if you can't whip your home state, then you shouldn't win the nomination, country win the presidency. so if that happens, very unlikely, even if he wins barely, looking increasingly likely that neither santorum nor romney or gingrich can get to the convention with the needed 50% of the delegates. you can see,could become a floor fight getting to 50%. if romney loses michigan, i guarantee you there is going to be absolute panic in the republican party, 'cause we ha

in iowa, a recount revealed that rick santorum actually won the caucus, not willard as originally thoughtxtra days to get the final results amid charges of fraud and conspiracies. republicans can't get their own house in order, but they still think they have the right to force voter i.d. laws on the rest of us. clearly these laws are about voter suppression, not voter integrity. joining me now, judith brown, co-director of the advancement project, a civil rights group focused on issues of democracy and race. thank you for joining me tonight, judith. >> thank you for having me, reverend sharpton. >> if republicans can't get voting in their own elections straight, why should anyone listen to their views about voter i.d. laws? >> i mean, this shows, you know, a lot of hypocrisy on their part and really what they are doing is they talk about they want election integrity, and they talk about how they don't want voter fraud. but in fact, they are ready to suppress the vote of even their own party members by not counting their votes, by saying they fell into a spam folder. but, really, and what