up next, nbc's chuck todd, david gregory, and tony perkins joins us. >>> but first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill? >> good morning to you, mika. a little bit of light rain greeting people this morning from d.c. to philly to new york. so far, the airports are doing all right. no delays reported. we could have minor delays, but it's going to be another warm day. not going to rain in this region of the country. just light rain on and off from now until about noon. forecast today, look at these temperatures. this is march weather, folks. 67 in d.c. today, 62 in new york. and just soak it up while it lasts. temperatures around the southeast also warm. as we look toward the west coast, rain this morning in seattle, that should clear out for this afternoon. a peek at tomorrow's forecast, a big highlight come thursday and friday. a little rare winter snowstorm. do you believe that? it can snow this winter. watch out denver to omaha. you're watching "morning joe"

in our washington bureau, the moderator of "meet the press" david gregory. david, let's begin with you. as you look at tonight, and as you look at what we knew the challenge was for the romney campaign, are they going to be able to claim a lot of goals met? >> well, i think the big one is electability. if you look at the last couple of weeks, ten days coming out of the south carolina, what was the big question? why was romney so defensive? why would he allow himself to be bruised so much on the campaign trail over wealth, over taxes. those are really defensiveness brought on -- defensive responses brought on by himself. he really righted that. very strong debate performances, and he went ugly. he went mean against gingrich and that paid some dividends here. but there's still, where does he go from here, among conservatives, brian. i still that's a test. how does romney use this next period to make the case and the connection to conservatives who still have a lot of doubts about him. until he can do that, newt gingrich is going to look at some of these exit po

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now for what's coming up on "meet the press," here's david gregory. david? >> thanks, chris.g up, the return of the culture wars sparked by the white house's controversial decision on birth control. this morning i'll talk to the president's new chief of staff, jack lew, about that and other issues. then, live from the campaign trail, presidential candidate rick santorum, he's got the ht t hand as he vies for the nomination. we'll talk about the birth control decision and other issues and how he's trying to energize conservatives, plus other political news, the conference last night, the cpac gathering of conservatives and how republicans are sizing up obama. that's on the "political roundtable" coming up on "meet the press" and stay tuned for my "press pack" conversation with tony perkins, head of the research council, only here on nbc 4. >> thank you very much. >>> this morning, at least one person is waking up nearly $300 million richer. >> the winning powerball ticket was sold in rhode island. the winning numbers are 1, 10, 37, 52, 57 and the powerball ♪ pierre! your fashi

. >>> david gregory is moderator of "meet the press." he joins us from washington. we don't know the outcome in nevada right now, but if gingrich can't pull this off, what does that say about his ability to raise money and stay in the race to the end as he hope hopes to? >> well, the end for gingrich is about getting to super tuesday where there's a some southern contests where he thinks he can be successful. we're looking at home turf advantage for mitt romney and it's twofold. it's the contest, where they are and also the calendar. this is a very light month. only one debate. not a lot of attention. and so that's bad for gingrich. gingrich not only has to raise the money, but has to be very concerned about falling behind romney. if gingrich should finish third in nevada another blow for him on top of the money issues. and where is he going to build that contrast with romney now you? see him starting to compare him to president obama. but i think gingrich needs a second act here. a way to really distinguish himself on conservative record from romney. >> david grego

david gregory, host of "meet the press." good having you. >> good to see you. >> david, aisle turn it over to you. thank you very much, jeff. thank you for having me. a terrific honor to be on this panel. let me jump right into it. we are in washington, some of the government questions, publish-private partnership questions. let me start with the broader economy. we were talking backstage about what you see, what we all see over the next six months in a political context, but just for americans who are going through such a time of slow growth and high joblessness. jim, why don't i start with you and ask you, what you're seeing out there and how it looks? >> i see a normal recovery except for real estate and construction which is oftentimes two or three points on the unemployment, a point and a half on gdp growth. but i think i see pretty moderately strong global demand with the exception of europe, particularly asia and the middle east. u.s. recovering. so finish where i started. pretty normal recovery except for constructio

david gregory, before we get to the only real floridian in our discussion, mr. a question to you about mr. romney. and again, if the polling we' been reading for days holds true, let's say he emerges tonight victorious from this, what's the battle plan for that campaign? >> well, inevitability. he wants to go back to making that argument. that's why electability will be such a strong outcome tonight. if the numbers do hold up. we know it's very important. if he can have a big win tonight, and especially on that idea of who can beat president obama, i think that becomes very important. look, florida, if romney can win, is important, because he proved he can throw a punch. he was on the defensive, mostly out of his own doing, and he came back hard at gingrich and he may have proven that he's capable of neutralizing that threat. he may have driven up his negatives in the meantime, and he's still got to find a way to tear down the other guy but build the other guy up, particularly with the conservative base, that tea party base which is still looking and seeing a re

now for a look at what's coming up on "meet the press," here's david gregory. >> good morning.s super bowl sunday, we are focused on the big political prize of the year, the gop nomination. mitt romney grabbed his second straight convincing win in nevada last night. can he be stopped? we'll ask his primary challenger, former speaker of the house newt gingrich. then, with the super bowl just a few hours away, the governor of indiana, mitch daniels, mayor of new york city, michael bloomberg, and governor of massachusetts, deval patrick, join me live to discuss the economy, politics and football. plus, our "political round table," all coming up this morning on "meet the press." and be sure to stay tuned after the program for my special "press pass" conversation with former football star turned republican congressman j.c. watts. we talk politics and football as well, only here on nbc 4. >> all right, david, thank you. ♪ >>> one d.c. man will have an extra incentive to watch the commercials during the super bowl. ♪ pizza hut, making it great ♪ ten dollar any pizza any way you like i

david gregory is moderator of nbc's "meet the press." rning. >> hey, jenna, good morning. >> so we are just a week away from the primaries getting back into the swing of things. a lot at stake for two of the candidates. for newt gingrich, whose campaigning in his home state of georgia. mitt romney campaigning in his home state of michigan. both of them have this santorum surge to contend with. how big a factor is that going to be? he's really picking up steam. >> yeah, i think it's huge. i mean for mitt romney right now, the prospect of him losing michigan threatens to throw this entire race into a completely new dimension. and nobody likes it in the republican party. what that new dimension is. rick santorum is connecting with socially conservative voters in this primary. he is coming across, as i think more authentic than mitt romney is, and these are problems that romney's been struggling with for awhile. he could pull it out in michigan and he'll long stronger again. but i think it all goes to the point that the party is not satisfied

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conservatives, because he's up against somebody in romney who does not have a voice on these issues. >> david gregoryit is always an honor and a pleasure to have you on this show. >> thanks. >> thank you for your time. david will be speaking exclusively with two governors this sunday -- not these two -- on "meet the press." california's jerry brown and arizona's jan brewer. do not miss it. that is must-see television this sunday on nbc. >>> coming up, the cheerful candidate, newt gingrich, is under scrutiny from the s.e.c. for questionable spending. we'll talk to rick tyler when he joins us next on "now." >>> newt gingrich chose cheerful as a word to describe himself last night, but gingrich is now facing some less than friendly questions about his financial dealings from the fec. joining us now from washington is rick tyler, a former gingrich spokesman and now a former adviser to the gingrich super pac, winning our future. rick, thanks for being on the show. >> glad to be here. >> rick, i know you are not coordinating in any way with the gingrich campaign, but i thought this was a telling quote. "th

>>> i'm david gregory. this is "press pass." we're talking about what's driving washington. this week, the super bowl. it's driving everything. and the sport of politics, with j.c. watts former football star turning republican congressman. the first african-american to win a statewide office in oklahoma and rose through the ranks in congress under speaker newt gingrich in the 1990s eventually becoming chair of the republican congress. he has left capitol hill but weighed into the gop nomination endorsing speaker newt gingrich for president. i want to talk football with you. >> "press pass," does this get me into the super bowl? >> we can work on that. we can work on that. i want to talk football in a bit but i want to talk about politics. as we hit here after florida and in the contest beyond that. tell me in your mind as a support supporter of newt gingrich what's the path at this point and how does he press forward to get this nomination? >> when you look at south carolina, speaker gingrich had 35% more republican voters show up at the poll because newt tapped into the bas

>> i'm david gregory. this is "press pass." an extra conversation about what's driving washington. clashes between religious and politics have rocked the presidential campaign this week from the administration's controversial contraception policy to the court striking down a ban on gay marriage in california. we break down the reaction on the right with ceo of the family research council tony perkins. a leader in the christian conservative movement and powerful voice in the gop primary. i wanted to have you here because of your standing as a social conservative in the party and ask the first question which is are the culture wars back in presidential politics? >> i think because of this administration they are back. a couple of things have happened. in the last couple weeks they've seen positive numbers on the economy and job growth which to some degree has taken pressure off that and allowed people to focus on issues simmering in the background. you mentioned the prop 8 decision in california. not getting a lot of attention but what's at the forefront is the president's decision o

now for a look at what's coming up on "meet the press," here's david gregory. david?hris. good morning, angie and chris. coming up, the republican race for the white house rolls into michigan now, a must-win contest for mitt romney. so, what will it mean if he loses? this morning, we're going to break down the race with our political roundtable. plus, a preview of the fall campaign and a debate about what government can and should do to spur economic recovery. a lot of talk about manufacturin this weekend with the auto bailouts and the president saying they've been working. that's coming up with house budget chairman paul ryan and congressman chris van hollen, coming up this morning on "meet the press." stay tuned after the program for a special "press pass" conversation. we ta talk to tony award-winning performer brian stokes mitchell, only here on nbc 4. >> thank you, david. he actually gets him to sing. "press pass" is going to be good. >> nice. >> that's going to do it for this edition of "news 4 today." thank you so much for joining us, everybody. >> and wake up

joining us now is moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. thank you, david. >> good to be here. >> most polls are showing santorum is leading romney in romney's, i guess, native state, you could say. what changed the tide for romney here, because this is a state he carried back in 2008? >> well, i think santorum is building off momentum where he won several contests, didn't produce any delegates, but won three in a row. and it all of a sudden caused people to say, wait a minute, i thought romney was going to wrap this up after he won florida, and that was not to be. santorum's running a very strong, conservative primary campaign. mitt romney's not doing. a lot more talk about contraception and gay marriage issues which he's much more comfortable talking about in a primary race, and i just think that conservatives look at romney and say they're not connecting with him, that he seems to have a lot of vulnerabilities in a general election and republicans are taking another look. >> ronald reagan used to say the 11th amendment was thou shall not speak ill of a fe

david gregory, thank you, as well.rob portman joins the conversation. "morning joe" back in minutes. [ male announcer ] we know you don't wait until the end of the quarter to think about your money... ♪ that right now, you want to know where you are, and where you'd like to be. we know you'd like to see the same information your advisor does so you can get a deeper understanding of what's going on with your portfolio. we know all this because we asked you, and what we heard helped us create pnc wealth insight, a smarter way to work with your pnc advisor, so you can make better decisions and live achievement. >>> all right. look at this. a live shot of capitol hill. boys, joining us now. we have the republican senator from ohio, rob portman who has endorsed, not surprisingly, mitt romney. very good to have you on. >> senator, great to have you here. chuck todd and i are talking about recruiting classes. how did ohio state do? >> you know -- >> sounds like ohio state is doing great in recruiting. >> listen to that. >> th

thank you david gregory and howard fineman. a little slower there.dent has barack obama been in his first three years of office? james fallows is joining us. it's an in-depth article out in "the atlantic." a big thing on the president and how he's done for three years. it's very important for people to catch up on the depth of this guy's administration. this is "hardball" on msnbc. >>> former aide to congresswoman gabrielle giffords will run in the special election to replace her. ron barber was also wounded in last year's shooting announced his candidacy today and will have the backing of the democratic party on that june 12th election. no primary there. barber served as district director for giffords who resigned from congress two weeksing too focus on her recovery. giffords and her husband endorsed barber today. i guess it's all done on the democratic side in that district. we'll be right back. >>> we're back. at the start of president obama's re-election campaign, the journalist james fallows has written a piece on his presidency so far for "the

eugene robinson, our good friend with david gregory. david, let's begin with you.itt romney is the most cynical presidential candidate we've ever had. i won't ask you to agree or disagree, but can you assess where we are in this race in michigan right now and how we got here? >> i talked to a republican this week who said the last thing that mitt romney wanted was to be in an ideological contest someone that conservatives view as a plausible commander in chief. you may believe about rick santorum those watching this that he is an ineffective candidate as a general election candidate. but i think a lot of conservatives who are showing up to primaries and caucuses and the evidence for this is how many he's actually won view him as, a, running a conservative primary campaign which romney appears to not be doing, and b, he is a plausible candidate. says what he believes, you know, does a lot of interviews, can take a punch, and is passionate about standing up for issues that he cares deeply about, even when they cause some anxiety within the republican party. you put a

thank you david gregory and howard fineman. a little slower there.k obama been in his first three years of office? james fallows is joining us. it's an in-depth article out in "the atlantic." a big thing on the president and how he's done for three years. it's very important for people to catch up on the depth of this guy's administration. this is "hardball" on msnbc. want my downy unstopables? laundry smells good for a long time. nmm mmn. really, you can have it! take it joe. ♪ downy unstopables [ sniffs ] see you around. hey kid, catch! wow! no thanks, mean joe. ♪ downy last time i'm doing this. ♪ downy 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. >>> former aide to congresswoman gabrielle giffords will run in the special election to replace her. ron barber was also wounded in last year's shooting announced his candidacy today and will have the backing of the democratic party on that j

. >> coming up, david gregory tells us his thoughts. trouble this afternoon at the school where the president's children attend. the secret service says a homelessan tried to carjack one of their vehicles parked at the school on wisconsin avenue. the guy's name is john gibson. authorities say it was an isolated incident. has nothing to do with the school. gibson has been charged with carjacking. >>> turns out candy caused a hazmat scare on the hill today. capitol police identified a powdery substance found inside the capitol rotunda as a candy necklace. hazmat crews shut down the rotunda about 11:00 a.m. for about an hour before giving the all clear. congressional offices here and around the country have been shut down after some offices received letters with harmless powder in them. >>> the woman called the blonde bandit was in court today and pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from her alleged crime spree last november. the police say that stephanie schwab who lived in manassas spent nearly two weeks robbing banks, stealing cars,

david gregory is moderator of "meet the press." he joins us from washington. we don't know the outcome of nevada, but if gingrich can't pull this off, what does that say about his ability to raise money and stay in the race until the end as he hopes to? >> the end about gingrich valley getting to super tuesday. it's the southern conference where he really thinks he can be successful. we're looking at the run for mitt romney. this is a very light month, only one debate, not a locality t of attention. that's bad for gingrich. gingrich not only has to raise the money, he has to be very concerned about falling far behind romney in that momentum gig. if gingrich should somehow finish third in nevada, another blow for him on top of the money issues, and where is he going to build that contrast with romney now? you see him trying to compare him to president obama, but i think gingrich will tell you he needs a second act here, a way to really distinguish himself on his conservative record from romney, lester. >> newt gingrich will be among your guests tomorrow morning

and then down in washington, we have moderator of "meet the press," david gregory. in politics they say a win is a win and walk away. what if it isn't a win tonight for mitt romney? >> well look, then it is -- there's no overstating the importance of this. it throws the entire nomination process wide open. you will have republican donors to mitt romney calling for a couple of things. number one, immediate changes in the campaign -- staffing, strategy, infrastructure, all of those things. and the second would be possibly start making phone calls to other republicans. again, there would be a full-on panic because you could see santorum, a win tonight in michigan and he could just ride momentum and sweep super tuesday and suddenly romney would be behind. >> and david, the other part, the other side of that question is what would a victory do for rick santorum? >> well, a victory or even a close, a narrow defeat, his team is already preparing for that, to make the argument that they do have some momentum on their side here, that they were able to force a close contest i

. >>> let's bring in david gregory, moderator of "meet the press." michigan is ten days away.romney's home state. he's behind in the polls there. how critical is it that he holds that ground? >> i think how critical it is is underscored by the question of what if romney loses? there are a lot of republicans saying it would completely turn the race upside down. bring in more calls for somebody to come in as a savior into the race. so you could have another person jumping into the race or a lot of enthusiasm behind that idea. so much volatility. a real question about whether anybody can get the requisite number of delegates to finish this off. >> we have to turn to the caucuses up in maine, romney was declared the winner, but lo and behold all the votes weren't in. they're still counting the votes. could this thing swing away from him? >> it's possible. we are down to less than a hundred votes separating ron paul and mitt romney. we saw what happened in iowa and the caucuses were under fire as well. it actually switched to the winner, it was actually santorum and not romney. i t

up next, nbc's david gregory and chuck todd break down the race from last night's primaries.ing joe" brewed by starbucks. this one's for all us lawnsmiths. grass gurus. doers. here's to more saturdays in the sun. and budgets better spent. here's to turning rookies - into experts, and shoppers into savers. here's to picking up. trading up. mixing it up. to well-earned muddy boots. and a lot more - spring per dollar. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. show the yard who's boss, with this cordless black and decker trimmer, just $84.97. >>> mitt romney plus a mustache equals george hamilton as zoro. >> i'm mitt romney, and i approve this message. >> welcome back at 24 past the hour, joining us now from washington, the moderator of "meet the press" david gregory, and here onset in new york, political director and host of "the daily rundown" chuck todd. i want to start with olympia snowe, you brought it up during the break and i think it's a great conversation point because we've been talking about the primaries last night. we'll get to that and hear you gu

"meet the press" moderator david gregory joins us with some perspective on this. so they reversed it. >> yeah. >> how do they put that into context considering it was a policy issue that they said started the original decision? >> right. i think they totally misjudged how much opposition there would be around the country to this. you know, i was reading in california a number of the branches really lodged a very serious protest. they misjudged that i think and now they had to recalculate. the overlay of politics into this and some questions about who's running the organization and where it goes from here. i don't think that this is easily recovered from. i think there's going to be more fallout from this because it was a policy decision and about how the organizations continue to work together as we move forward. i think that was, you know, certainly not what was intended. but now they've got a bigger problem on their hands. >> it's still not over. >> i don't think so. i think the anger will persist. the decision as you say because it was a policy matter the initi

david gregory is moderator of "meet the press." good morning to you. >> matt, welcome to d.c. >> thank you. good to be here. let's take a look at some of the things that happened inside these caucuses. for the first time since new hampshire, mitt romney won voters who were very conservative. he beat newt gingrich among those who strongly support the tea party. and he even won the majority of white evangelicals. what is the republican party trying to tell mitt romney right now? >> well, that he's got support where he needs it in some of these key states. you know, his advisers will tell you, he's won more conservative voters than niblgs has because he's won the most votes. what's difficult for newt gingrich, if he's going to make the case that he's the ideological leader the conservative wing of the republican party, you look at those results and say, well, maybe not so fast. so, this is really the case that gingrich is making. when romney can put together numbers like that, it's a very strong rebuttal. >> is it that these republica

. >>> with 48 hours to go before the crucial primaries, rick santorum will be among david gregory's guest sunday morning on "meet the press." >>> we have exclusive new information on the penn state sexual abuse scandal. the investigation is now widening. the feds are now involved. michael isikoff covers this for is as our national investigative correspondent. he is in washington for us tonight. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. there is a federal investigation into whether top penn state officials and board members may have covered up alleged child sex abuse by former defensive coordinator jerry sandusky, including possible payments of hush money. a grand jury subpoena demands the school turn over records of sandusky dating back to 1998, as well as the computer hard drives of penn state's former president and two other former senior officials. nbc news has learned federal prosecutors also requested files about sandusky from a family of the late coach joe paterno. sandusky is facing more than 50 counts of child sex abuse brought by penn state prosecutors. this new federal inq

. >>> rick santorum will be among david gregory's guests tomorrow morning on "meet the press." >>> now to the weather and tonight millions of americans living along the eastern seaboard are dealing with a serious bad hair day. strong winds are howling from the great lakes up into new england and down to the carolinas around into georgia. snarling air travel on the eastern half of the country. some places today seeing up to 60 higher than 60 mile an hour wind gusts. >>> when "nbc nightly news" continues on this saturday evening, vital news about women and heart attacks. the warning signs you might not recognize. >>> and later how alicia keys and others are bringing a new buzz to broadway. >>> we're back now with important health news about a silent killer among women. heart disease is the number one killer in the u.s. in fact, it kills more women than all cancers combined. and a new study this week is highlighting why so many women are dying. serving as a warning to pay attention to what their bodies are telling them. we get that information tonight from our chief medical editor, dr. na

." >>> david gregory. george stephanopoulos. >> your five sunday tv networks replayed on c-span radio. noon eastern, nbc's "meet the press." abc's this week. cbs' face the nation. the top issues, key political leaders, brought to you as a public service by c-span and the networks. replay of the sunday tv networks talk shows. >>> welcome back. this is "washington today." republicans politics, first on the issue of senator olympia snowe, news tonight that she's not running for re-election. she's confident that she would have won, but she's frustrated by the atmosphere >>> christian science monitor pointing out that rising gas price prices, improving economic data make it more difficult in a head-on assault on the administration's economic policies but gas prices, well that's fair game and today on capitol hill, a number of senators including matt blunt of missouri taking aim at gas line prices now averaging between 3.50 and $5 in many parts of the country. in california, it's now close to or exceeding $5 a g

they do not want this argument to go there. >> david gregory, if this argument is about contraception it's about first amendment, republicans win big. >> or if it's just about health care generally. i mean, i go back to something you said a few minutes ago, which i think is right, both sides like this fight. >> oh, yeah. >> both sides like this fight. and there are liberals highly engaged in this who are going to say, republicans, you want to run against the availability of contraception in this election? bring it on. >> there are a lot of people who don't like this fight. tim kaine doesn't like the fight, catholics don't like this fight because it divides their beliefs. it causes them to choose. >> can i make one other point? what's going to really energize conservative voters? this is the question for romney you're posing, which is not just oppositional to obama. will that get voters out? can conservative voters rally around someone and something bold, bigger message? and i don't know this is big and bold enough with the challenges we face as a country, but i do think it's something

let's go to david gregory and chuck todd in washington. ut and let her sing after florida. and now this. this is a race that doesn't look like it's going to end until we get to tampa. >> well, i think, you know, we've been talking about the donald trump endorsement this morning. i don't think it was helpful when romney turns to trump and says, you know, donald, i've been successful, not quite as successful as you. i don't know that was the best moment of that endorsement in terms of the down with the people campaign. but i do say this, joe. if you think back to past cycles. i was thinking just yesterday to george w. bush. he was already in the general election, but there was a lot of hand wringing stories at one point among establishment republicans about how he was running the race and whether he was more vulnerable. and there's certainly a feeling like that within the romney campaign that he is, you know, he's running stronger than he's given credit for, that he's in a position now to close this thing in february and march, and sort of sq