so i just appreciated that very much. >> yet again on andrea mitchell's show the biggest story in politics broke right here on msnbc. the woman speaking with andrea as you probably know, was sandra fluke, a georgetown university law student, sparked the where are the women controversy in congress last month. the republicans in the house darrell issa's committee called this panel of witnesses to testify on the issue of contraception being covered by health insurance. when the democrats realized the republicans were not calling any women in their initial panel of witnesses at a contraception hearing, they asked sandra fluke be called as their democratic witness, to testify about getting insurance through a catholic institution, that would not cover birth control and how it had cost a friend of hers one of her ovaries. the friend needed contraception not for birth control purposes, but for therapeutic purposes, birth control has a lot of therapeutic purposes other than preventing getting pregnant. but because ms. fluke's friend had to navigate around the georgetown universities objections to

on andrea mitchell's show. that was the komen foundation interview they tried to just physician their defunding of planned parenthood and sparked all that outrage that led to them reversing course and undefunding planned parenthood. that all broke wide open on andrea mitchell's show. also the rick santorum zillionaire guy, him saying women don't need birth control they ought to put an aspirin between their knees, where did that happen? on andrea mitchell's show. senator olympia snowe of maine, announcing she is retiring from the senate. nobody thought she would quit, nobody had any idea why she was doing it, her first interview she explained herself, andrea mitchell show. i don't know why it is not more of a national phenomenon, but andrea mitchell's msnbc show at 1:00 eastern breaks so much news it's unbelievable. almost nothing like it in media, period. today, at 1:00 eastern on msnbc on andrea's show it happened again. >> you were in our green room getting ready to come on and the white house now tells us we

i'm andrea mitchell live in havana. at the supreme court today, the third and climactic day of arguments focusing whether health care reform can survive without the insurance mandate. after yesterday's arguments many think that the law could be on the critical list. chris cillizza is managing editor of post politics.com. pete williams is nbc's justice correspondent. and he has just come trt chamber. pete, first to you. what was your impression of today's argument after a lot of impressions yesterday that there were a number of justices very critically questioning the health care mandate? what was the take away today? >> andrea today's question is, if the supreme court were to find that the insurance requirement is unconstitutional, can the rest of the law stand? i think it's fair to say that perhaps a bare majority of the court thinks the answer is either completely no or mostly no. a majority of the court seemed to think that maybe there are sort of things on the very periphery of the law, things that were sort of tack

and good day, i'm andrea mitchell. police arrested actor george clooney, his father, nick clooney and martin luther king, iii, and several members of congress outside of the embassy in washington, d.c., i was outside of that scrum while was happening. >> you know, i'm proud to be standing here with my father. >> right before clooney was arrested, i was able to speak with him as he was escorted away by police. >> i'll stand together here with my father, so that at one moment in time when you people ask you where were you, where did you stand i want to say i'm standing on the right side of history. >> the father and son frafled to darfur in 2006 and have been trying bring attention to the regime. chris cillizza is managing editor of post politics.com and nbc haes david gregory is moderator of meet the press. you interviewed george clooney, he will be on "meet the press" this sunday. he is one of the celebrity using his fame, as angelina jolie has, he has traveled there and our own ann curry as you know, he talks and talk

reports," andrea mitchel.s program. >> reporter: it's great for me to be with you. it's wonderful to be in cuba. this is an exciting moment, alex. >> it is an exciting moment. tell us a little bit about sort of the role of the catholic church in cuba now and sort of the weight of pope benedict's remarks. >> reporter: it's been fascinating for decades atheism was the official government position and religions had no legal standing here. and this is not as predominantly catholic a country as most of the rest of latin america. only 10% of cubans are actually observant catholics. but the -- since the last papal visit, 14 years ago, and of course john paul ii, there has been an increasing power and strength of the church, the vatican has had increasing influence because of the cardinal here, cardinal ortega in havana, and he's playing a much more important role in promoting political reform. he actually had an unprecedented conversation and negotiation with raul castro in negotiating for the release of 130 politica

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i'm andrea mitchell live in this historic square in front of the cathedral here in havana. the supreme court has just completed the first of three days. six hours of arguments on obama administration's historic health care plan. and the stakes could not be higher. both for the president and, of course, his republican challengers. chris cillizza is the msnbc contributor and managing editor of post politics.com and mark halperin is, of course, an nbc senior political analyst and "time" magazine's editor-at-large. both join us for our daily fix. first of all, rick santorum going to the supreme court today trying to make his case and at one point being drowned out by all the protesters. we'll show you just a bit of that to set up our daily fix. >> there's one candidate in this race who can actually make the contrast that is necessary between the republican position and the conservative position and one that is an overwhelmingly supported by the american public. >> chris, clearly, santorum, rick santorum is trying to make the case that the contrast between him and mitt romney ov

i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. in our daily fix today, the president speaking for the first time today about the fatal shooting of an unarmed 17-year-old, trayvon martin. talking about trayvon's death in deeply personal terms. chris cillizza is managing editor of post politics.com. in our daily fix today, this is so powerful, so strong. the president of the united states. let's hear a little bit more what the president had to say today. >> sure. >> when i think about this boy, i think about my own kids. i think all of us have to do some soul certainlying to figure out how does something like this happen. and that means that we examine the laws and the context for what happened. as well as the specifics of the incident. but my main message is to the parents of trayvon martin. you know, if i had a son, he would look like trayvon. and you know, i think they are right to expect that all of us as americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves. >> this is a national conversation about race. we have an

>> andrea mitchell in our d.c. newsroom tonight, thanks. >>> still ahead on a busy friday night, the growing firestorm tonight over that crude tirade from rush limbaugh who is refusing to back down. the woman he targeted is speaking out about those comments and the surprise phone call she received today. >>> we are back with this growing firestorm over the crude tirade from rush limbaugh directed at a young woman caught up in the fight over birth control in washington. tonight, the anger is spreading. that young woman is speaking out on her own behalf and limbaugh is refusing to apologize. we get the latest from nbc's anne thompson. >> reporter: today rush limbaugh did not back down. >> what can i do to the women of america? >> thank you for calling this hearing. >> reporter: his comments from sandra fluke set off a firestorm. she is the georgetown law student prohibited from testifying before congressional committee in support of government-mandated contraceptive coverage. limbaugh wednesday. >> what does it say a

that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." never fear, andrea is back tomorrow.s coming up. >> i'll talk with the video forensic experts about the surveillance video that shows george zimmerman at the police station right after he killed trayvon martin. what this video expert believes can be learned from the tape. and he's got some very big questions for the sanford police department regarding the quality. i'll also talk with former u.s. attorney in florida, kendall coffey about this key piece of evidence. what kind of pressure does it put on prosecutors? plus, president obama coming down on congress again for the need to cut tax breaks to big oil. so what was the senate's response? ounds) today my journey brings me to charlotte, north carolina, where i spent the day with geico driver casey mears. i told him the secret to saving money on car insurance. he told me the secret to his car setup. first he adjusts... first he adjusts... (sfx:engine revving drowns out gecko's dialogue) then he... then he... (sfx:loud drilling noise continues to drown out gecko's dialogu

>> andrea mitchell in our d.c. newsroom tonight, thanks. >>> still ahead on a busy friday night, the growing firestorm tonight over that crude tirade from rush limbaugh who is refusing to back down. the woman he targeted is speaking out about those comments and the surprise phone call she received today. [ leanne ] appliance park has been here since the early 50s. my dad and grandfather spent their whole careers here. [ charlie ] we're the heartbeat of this place, the people on the line. we take pride in what we do. when that refrigerator ships out the door, it's us that work out here. [ michael ] we're on the forefront of revitalizing manufacturing. we're proving that it can be done here, and it can be done well. [ ilona ] i came to ge after the plant i was working at closed after 33 years. ge's giving me the chance to start back over. [ cindy ] there's construction workers everywhere. so what does that mean? it means work. it means work for more people. [ brian ] there's a bright future here, and there's a chance

i'm andrea mitchell, live in washington. in our daily fix, moments ago, senate democrats defeated the blunt amendment, which would have allowed employers to be exempted from a requirement providing contraception coverage if they claimed personal religious objections or moral objections. the amendment went down 51 to 48. retiring republican senator olympia snowe voted with the democrats in order to table that amendment. democrats bob casey of pennsylvania, joe manchin of west virginia, and ben nelson of nebraska voted with the republicans. kris cillizza is an nbc contributor and managing editor of postpolitics.com. hey, chris. this was a key test already of the gender wars. it was pretty clear that it was going to be defeated. and susan collins voted with her fellow republicans, against some of the other women in the senate, saying that she thought that this was an amendment that was defective, but they could be fixed later on, but that the democrat were playing election year politics. >> well, you know, i would say both side

i'm andrea mitchell. if our daily fix today, after staying on the sidelines for months, former florida governor jeb bush endorsed mitt romney this morning. will other republican holdouts now get on board? chris cillizza is managing editor of post politics.com and msnbc news chief white house correspondent and political director chuck todd is host of the "daily rundown" right here on msnbc. jeb is the big get. >> a big get. there's they're or fo there's three or four more to get. the nomination plane is coming in for the landing the wheels are down. you can always abort landings. you can't -- this jeb bush endorsement, it's important. it would be -- it has been more telling that it took so long. look how it was done, by press release, by tweet. and then the romney campaign even you know, they put out a release talking about that it happened. >> where was the joint news conference? where was the stopover in florida? >> there's a long history here. jeb bush has not been happy with mitt romney and how mitt ro

see, we are just like you, america. >> good day, i'm andrea mitchell live in washington skeshs are -- conservatives are getting behind romney but there's a big swing in women voters against congressional members. chris cillizza is a managing editor of post politics.com and chuck todd host of the daily run down and chief of all things polling. chuck, first to you in the new poll. it shows that mitt romney has the support of 38% of likely republican voters. this is his best showing yet, rick santorum trails behind 32%, but the fight has had costs on the republican party, 40% viewing the party less favorable, and so, let's talk about this and the impact as we go forward? >> well, you pointed out the good and bad for romney. the good is you see coalescing of conservatives, he is not winning tea party, but he is now up to 35% among tea party supporters. that is double what he had last month. he is not winning the very conservative vote, but he has nearly doubled the support among the very conservative. that is explaining how he got 38% and the number one negative on santorum, he is seen as

now behind closed doors and we are kicking off our series, a series we are proud of here at "andrea mitchell reports" together with ne"newsweek" and the daily beas hear from women who are creating change. on the campaign trail, romney unleashing the silver fox. >> hi, this is bar brar bush calling for romney for president on behalf of our friend, mitt romney. we have known the romneys for years and believe mitt is the best man to lead the country for next four years. >> but just wait until you hear what barbara bush refused to say in the call about president obama. and romney's sons get the s and l treatment. >> so mitt romney's five adult sons why should people get excited and not terrified about your presence to trail? >> our average age is 36 and our medi median age is 35. see, we are just like you, america. >> good day, i'm andrea mitchell live in washington skeshs are -- conservatives are getting behind romney but there's a big swing in women voters against congressional members. chris cillizza is a managing editor of post politics.com and chuck todd host of the daily run down and chief

>> andrea mitchell in havana again tonight. andrea, thanks. >>> and among those traveling to cuba to see the pope are several hundred of the catholic faithful from miami. for a lot of people it will be a very emotional homecoming, a long time in the making. nbc's mark potter reports also from havana tonight. ♪ >> reporter: an historic cathedral in old town havana, cuba, a mass is being celebrated by miami's archbishop thomas wenski. many on the pilgrimage with him are cuban exiles, who decades ago fled the cuban revolution led by fidel castro, never to return. but with pope benedict visiting cuba, wenski sees an opportunity to finally reunite countrymen separated by the cold war. >> i think people are recognizing the need to reconcile. not necessarily with a regime or with a government, but reconcile with their brothers and sisters. >> reporter: miami businessman carlos saladrigas and his wife olga are among those making the trip. packing extra supplies for the cuban people in need. >> for the kids, i'm taking milk, oatmeal. >>

that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." e right here. >> and i always love being with you. we have a lot of news following up on what andrea reported. the details on the trayvon martin case. the grand jury will investigate this. it will go to the grand jury in april. chairman of the congressional black caucus. congressman emanuel cleaver, plus a south florida u.s. attorney will be here. we'll even play new 911 tapes made by george zimmerman not related to the trayvon case. >>> plus, mitt romney jumps on the comments regarding the unemployment rates. santorum said he didn't care about it. then he came back and changed his words. we'll look at the impact of this. [ male announcer ] say goodbye to "ho-hum," and hello to "whoa, yum." use campbell's cream of chicken soup to make easy enchiladas, cheesy chicken & rice, and other chicken dishes that are oh...so...whoa. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. water, we take our showers with it. we make our coffee with it. but we rarely tap its true potential and just let it be it

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that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." right across the table. >> really pressing him on that issue of what happens next. we're following the news from sanford as andrea reported. there will be a news conference in just over an hour regarding trayvon martin's death. how long can the police chief hold on to his job. also tonight, a huge rally will be held in sanford. plus i'll talk with one writer who says he will never look suspicious because he is white. he also happens to be the political adviser to russell simmons. and the latest on the etch and sketch shake-up. it is day two of mitt romney's rivals literally using etch a sketches. this is not child's play. we'll tell you why this could be brand damaging. o about medicare and social security... security. that's what matters to me... me? i've been paying in all these years... years washington's been talking at us, but they never really listen... listen...it's not just some line item on a budget; it's what i'll have to live on... i live on branson street, and i have somet

our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell is with us tonight from havana, andrea, good evening. >> good evening, brian. i know you were here the last time a pope came to cuba. john paul ii, of course. 14 years ago. a lot has changed, and some very important things have not changed here. pope benedict arrived here in santiago, 540 miles from havana. he was greeted by raul castro, dressed in civilian clothes, not the military garb. castro assured the pope that cuba's constitution guarantees religious freedoms. that, of course, has not always been the case. leaving rome this week, the pope pointedly said marxism no longer responds to reality. he was more diplomatic today, expressing sympathy for all cubans, including prisoners. and in fact, cuba's cardinal did negotiate for the release of 130 cuban political prisoners two years ago, and is becoming a powerful if careful voice for political reform today. the government gave people the day off to see the pope's arrival and to attend a mass tonight in santiago. pope benedict doesn't have the charisma of his predecessor, but t

she told that to andrea mitchell? you know, i offered to pay for aspirins. i thought that i had been quite compassionate here. you know, also, one thing that is obvious is that when the left wants to pretend they have no sense of humor, they are excellent at it. >> sense of humor. slut? and he mocked the president for showing compassion towards you. >> apparently sandra fluke told obama when he asked her if she was okay, she said that obama told her that she should tell her parents they should be proud. okay. i'm going to button my lip on that one. the president sells sandra fluke, a 30-year-old sandra fluke, parents should be proud. okay. >> so joan you and i are pretty articulate on matters of politics, and i think something strange in the water with rush limbaugh joining in this fight from his high level, i must say it's a high level, basically attacking an individual for being part of the debate and then going after them and making comments like i never heard somebody make about another human being in the context of public debate. >> right. you know, you

nbc's andrea mitchell covered the protest and has never really believed in covering a story at arm's distance. today she got a whole lot closer than that. as she reports tonight, it's all an effort to do exactly what it did, focus attention on atrocities taking place overseas. >> reporter: he is using his celebrity to sound the alarm, trying to arouse the world to stop atrocities by the leader of sudan. >> we are not talking about military intervention. not talking about money. we are talking about political wills. work on the sanctions, freeze this man's money so he can't buy weapons. >> reporter: time is short. in weeks the rains will start. urgently needed aid won't get to a half million starving people. desperate times call for desperate measures. today the actor and his father nick clooney, along with civil rights leaders and four members of congress, deliberately stepped on to the walkway in front of sudan's embassy and were immediately arrested. >> andrea, it's actually a humiliating thing to be arrested, but i'm proud to be standing with my father. >> very odd place to be for

andrea mitchell with us tonight from our d.c. news room. good evening. >> good evening, brian. mitt romney is hoping to get most of the 54 delegates up for grabs in illinois tomorrow where rick santorum didn't even file slates in four districts. romney did get some attention when he acknowledged the economy is improving, but then santorum also raised eyebrows by saying he's not concerned with unemployment. his point being government shouldn't be in the business of creating jobs. and santorum was also asked today about a louisiana pastor who introduced him outside of baton rouge with fiery words. >> if you don't love america, you don't like the way we do things, i got one thing to say. get out! i said we don't worship voodoo, we don't worship mohammed. we don't worship allah. we worship god, god's son jesus christ. >> this afternoon, santorum responded. >> i think i made that pretty clear throughout my campaign, that i believe very much in freedom of religion. >> with another distraction on the day before another crucial primary showdown between those two candidates. >> andrea m

. >>> this is andrea mitchell in washington. they are both young, smart, devoted family men with the world on their shoulders, looking like two friends trying to blow off steam, but this duo travels better than most. marine one to air force one then a motorcade to an ncaa basketball game. if it was david cameron's first hot dog, you couldn't tell. he wolfed it down getting points from the nation's number one basketball fan. >> getting some tips. he'll help me fill out my bracket. >> he's going to teach me cricket. >> reporter: at downing street, the prime minister said he was taking a crash course to get ready. >> long as i don't have to play the basketball and fly the plane, i'll be fine. >> reporter: he was the perfect guest, trying to make up for that dust up a few years back. >> i'm a little embarrassed as i stand here to think 200 years ago my ancestors tried to burn this place down. you're clearly not taking any risks with the brits this time. >> reporter: despite the pomp and circumstance, at heart this so-called special

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i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. in our daily fix today, mitt romney winning the delegate math. so why can't he get respect? the romney campaign argues that the race is over. but southern states lie ahead. and romney's rivals are not letting up. chris cillizza is an msnbc contributor and managing editor of postpolitics.com and joins us now for our daily fission. what about the fact that mitt romney did win super tuesday, such as it was. he's got the delegates, certainly the delegate momentum on his side. but take a look at what rick santorum had to say, responding to the sort of active god moment, where romney said that it's just not even possible for them to catch up. >> what won't they resort to, to try to bully their way through this race? you know, if the governor thinks he's going -- he's now ordained by god to win, then let's just have it out. >> is mitt romney correct that it would take an act of god for either of the other two to pass him and be able to cinch this nomination? >> i don't want to say "act of go

andrea mitchell, nbc news, havana. >>> and still ahead for us tonight, women, weight, and cancer. what could be a very dangerous combination, and there's new research tonight they're saying could save lives. >>> and later, a half a billion dollar dream. a lot of people tonight are in it to win this. >>> as we mentioned, new numbers on cancer deaths tonight are showing something of a gender gap. the numbers are getting better for men but not as much for women. our chief science correspondent robert bazell has more for us. >> in its annual report to the nation on cancer, the government finds that the overall death rate is falling, but not as much for women as for men. and the incidence of cancer continues to decline in men, but for women, it's leveled off. no one knows all of the reasons for the trends, but in a industry report, the government emphasized that obesity and lack of exercise are increasingly recognized as major risk factors for many kinds of cancer. a separate study out today concludes that fully half of all cancer deaths in the u.s. could be prevented. the biggest prev

andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. >>> still ahead here tonight, the final phone call before the shooting death of that teenager in florida, and the young woman who was on the phone with him as the situation took a dangerous and terrible turn. >>> and later -- she disappeared 75 years ago, trying to fly around the world. tonight, why hillary clinton has joined in the hunt for amelia earhart. >>> in florida tonight, demands for the arrest of a neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed an unarmed teenager last month, they are demands that are growing in the wake of revelations from a victim's girlfriend that she was on the phone with him as the incident happened. and the involvement of the justice department, the other new development in this case. nbc's ron allen with us tonight from sanford, florida. ron, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. hundreds people are here inside and outside this church to confront local authorities and demand an arrest for the killing of trayvon martin. today in washington, the justice department said it would investigate the case. he

our report from our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. >> reporter: sporadic gunfire on amateur video. the rebel neighborhood of homs, perhaps the last resistance after a devastating month-long government siege. syrian state tv showed workers cleaning up for the onslaught as residents escape with what little they have left. the opposition calls all this a government effort to hide a massacre, war crimes. after being barred for a week, finally today a u.n. official is permitted to see for herself. and relief workers resume distributing some aid. but regime forces have reportedly now turning their fire on other towns, near the turkish border, terrifying residents. will anyone come to their aid? today john mccain demanded to that the u.s. arm the rebels. >> how many more have to die? 10,000 more? 20,000 more? how many more? >> before i recommend that we put our sons and daughters in uniform in harm's way, i've got to make very sure that we know what the mission is. >> well, let me tell you what's wrong with your statement. you don't mention american leadership. americans

tonight, nbc's andrea mitchell has a look back at its namesake. >> reporter: andrew breitbart was the shooting star of the conservative blogosphere. a one-time entertainment writer who worked for both arianna huffington and matt drudge, only two nights ago, he was analyzing the michigan results. >> i would argue that he missed an opportunity. >> reporter: today, he was mourned by the republican candidates. >> it's a big shock. what a powerful force. >> reporter: mitt romney tweeted that he and his wife were deeply saddened by the passing of a brilliant entrepreneur, fearless conservative, loving husband and father. breitbart who called senator ted kennedy a villain and worse when he died called himself an accidental cultural warrior. most memorably exposing anthony weiner and grabbing the stage before the congressman could resign. >> the media says breitbart lies, breitbart lies, breitbart lies, breitbart lies. give me one example of a provable lie, one. >> reporter: one prominent breitbart target, agriculture department employee shirley sherrod, fired unfairly after breitbart posted

our report from andrea mitchell. >> reporter: across the country, protests lying this one in texas, against new state laws restricting access to contraception and other women's health care. >> maybe they don't want us to have freedom, but we're fighting back. >> reporter: a fight college students took to mitt romney monday night. >> you're for freedom and all this stuff. >> absolutely. >> you know what would make me happy, free birth control. >> if you're looking for free stuff, if you're looking for free stuff you don't have to pay for, vote for the other guys, that's what he's all about okay? >> reporter: contraception is not okay, calling a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be. in 39 states, legislators with similar views are rolling back access to contraception or abortion or considering proposals. >> i think what we're seeing across the country andrea is so many legislatures that are doing everything they can to shame women, and to make it more difficult for them to get health care. >> reporter: arizona's legislature would force women

>> andrea mitchell in our d.c. newsroom tonight, andrea, thanks. >>> in russia, he's back. vladimir putin who served two terms as russia's president before becoming prime minister won his old job back in yesterday's presidential elections with more than 63% of the vote, despite rampant charges of fraud. nbc's jim maceda remains in moscow tonight where putin has already made clear he is not putting up with challenges to a comeback. >> reporter: brian, vladimir putin is now officially back in the driver's seat. his victory in russia's presidential election was so solid that even taking into account all of the reports of vote fraud -- and there were many -- he would still have won a majority. and tonight he let some 10,000 anti-putin protesters know he's not going to tolerate them much longer. when a few hundred tried to overstay their allotted two hours to protest on a square here in moscow, riot police swooped in and arrested at least 200, including several top protest leaders. six more years of putin will be a hard pill to swallow for this opposition, which is threatening y