so peter andreas' "smuggler nation" stands out in several ways. first of all, rather than focusing on springs and choices and -- individuals and choices and values, this investigates broader social and political processes through which named and often very colorful individuals move and to their work. across an ambushesly long swath of three centuries, he takes us through the cultural and economic and political processes that, in fact, give us the very idea of a border. can and he identifies the national and international declarations that make certain objects, for example, including serb classes of people -- certain classes of people, things that should not move across borders. and that changes over time. for example, the british effort to suppress the slave trade, the categorization of who was not a desirable person to cross our borders, duties and so on on tax, taxes and duties on tea and other things which, again, come and go. so andreas also tells us about the much broader and significant consequences of the notion of mugging. what's at issue

i'm joined right now by andrea mitchell, who joins me from jerusalem, also nbc's peter alexander, who is traveling with the president, also from jerusalem. from cairo, nbc news foreign correspondent, and here in studio, james rueben, former state department spokesperson and former assistant secretary of state for public affairs. andrea, i'm going to reach out to you first. this was a speech that was peppered multiple times by loud applause. for anyone who was somewhat tentative there in israel about this president's trip and how he might be received, what do you think this speech did to change that? >> well, this speech was the core of the trip. there was the charm offensive and what has been wildly seen as a renewal of a relationship, a very troubled relationship, trying to restart the relationship with prime minister netanyahu. earlier today, the trip to ramallah and the pledge to restart the peace talks and have a two-state solution, but saying very specifically that perhaps he got it wrong in cairo, reversing himself onset elements, on the settlement freeze saying that issue will

. >>> right now on "andrea mitchell reports" the deliberations begin. after a morning mass at st. peter's basilica -- [ chanting ] -- the cardinals then proceeded solemnly to the sistine chapel where under a vow of secrecy, the doors shut and they began the conclave to elect the next pope. it's now under way. dueling budgets in washington, the president heads to capitol hill to show senate democrats some love while paul ryan rolls out a budget that calls for repealing obama care. >> this is not only a responsible, reasonable balanced plan, it's also an invitation, it's an invitation to the president of the united states, to senate democrats, to come together to fix these problems. >>> and could the next pope come from the one continent where the church is expanding? we'll take you to the small village in ghana, getting a lot of attention lately. >> good day, i'm yaund mitchell live in washington, the quest for a new pope is officially under way. for now i'm told there's a decision. >> the spotlight will be on the smokestack, 115 voting cardinals are inside the sistine chapel. >> joining m

peter's square, the new pontiff has a more personal encounter with vice president biden and other heads of state. >>> and on the eve of president obama's trip to the middle east, andrea joins us live from israel with a look at what to expect. >>> but first an extended st. patrick's day celebration at the white house as the president hosts ireland's prime minister. >> i want to welcome you, thank you for giving me an excuse to break out my green tie. >> it's a real opportunity to celebrate st. patrick's week, i have a second tie for the president if he so wishes and of course, there is a standing open invitation to president obama to come back to ireland. >>> i'm luke russert live in washington, we'll check in with andrea, who is in jerusalem in a moment. but first, breaking news out of nevada -- the u.s. military says an overnight live fire training accident at the hawthorne army depot in western nevada has killed at least seven marines. nbc's chief pentagon correspondent, jim miklaszewski joins me with the latest. obviously this happened late last night. the news started breaking this morning. what have we learned in the last few hours since i spoke to you? >> well,