we're going to get rid of that. >> eugene robinson, why didn't he show up tonight?hat is the strategy not to be seen anywhere? >> well, because he must have worried that he was going to lose, and he didn't want to be in the position of being in one of those states and having to give a concession speech and having to stand up there, having finished third. i mean, he is supposed to be the presumptive nominee and it is kind of embarrassing to finish in third place in two states in the heart, in the republican heartland. that clip was interesting, though, because, of course, you know, there's a clip of him donating to planned parenthood and he invented obama-care before obama did. but never mind. >> richard wolffe, i want to talk about illinois now. moving forward. if rick santorum had not had a rough week, talking about social issues, he probably would have done a better job in ohio. ohio and illinois, i think, demographically and structurally, politically, are very much the same. what does santorum have to do to get things going in illinois and could he take it away f

we're going to get rid of that. >> eugene robinson, why didn't he show up tonight?hat is the strategy not to be seen anywhere? >> well, because he must have worried that he was going to lose, and he didn't want to be in the position of being in one of those states and having to give a concession speech and having to stand up there, having finished third. i mean, he is supposed to be the presumptive nominee and it is kind of embarrassing to finish in third place in two states in the heart, in the republican heartland. that clip was interesting, though, because, of course, you know, there's a clip of him donating to planned parenthood and he invented obama-care before obama did. but never mind. >> richard wolffe, i want to talk about illinois now. moving forward. if rick santorum had not had a rough week, talking about social issues, he probably would have done a better job in ohio. ohio and illinois, i think, demographically and structurally, politically, are very much the same. what does santorum have to do to get things going in illinois and could he take it away f

msnbc analyst michael steele and eugene robinson will join me. stay tuned. >>> and more politics tonight, msnbc news projecting mitt romney will win the illinois primary with 96% of the vote in. looks like he's picking up 69 delegates, at least that's what at stake. the numbers right now, he's at 408,289 with 47% of the vote out of 97% in with 69 delegates at stake. with this vicious race for the republican nomination has taken a toll on his favorability ratings, according to polls, mitt romney's unfavorability ratings are up 13% since he got in the race while his favorability rating stayed flat, which means most undecided voters have decided they don't like mitt. maybe it's the dog story, i don't know. and we still have a long way to go before anyone gets enough delegates to clench the nomination. joining me tonight is msnbc political analyst michael steele, also with us student is associate editor and pulitzer prize winning columnist for the washington post, eugene robinson. gentlemen, thank you for burning the midnight oil tonight. >> for you,

let's turn to eugene robinson. good to have you with us tonight. >> great to be here. >> the democrats couldn't ask for beater lineup. they ought to be able to campaign against this in heartbeat. >> this means that mitt romney now owns the ryan budget. he obviously is going into this with his eyes open. when ryan came out with this romney pent much further in embracing it and everything but kissing it, and, so, if this is the program that you want to bring before the american people, bring it on. i don't think it's going to fly very well, but bring it on. >> going after the big three, especially health care, social security as well, medicare and medicaid, social security. giving tax breaks to the wealthy. none of these things poll very well across america. they are all in the minority. why would the republicans be so dogmatic about things that don't have the populous view? >> paul ryan believes this stuff. he believes that society shouldn't have this sort of safety net. he encourages or requires his staff to read t

let's turn to eugene robinson. eugene, does this feel the anger in any way? what do you make of it? >> i think it does change the case. i think the important part is that the lead investigator did not find george zimmerman's account of events kredsable. the sequence of events that rerelates that trayvon martin started the fight. he was bashing his head and he was in danger, those -- that account comes into question including who started the fight, who approached whom. how did the encounter begin. obviously, some of that stuff, the lead investigator didn't buy. >> many on the right wing have almost gone so far to come to the aid of zimmerman saying the facts are on his side. now that this comes out, aren't they now in a position of asking us to believe people who were not there instead of believing the lead investigator who thought that manslaughter charges should have been filed? >> that's absolutely right. what are the facts? the facts are an unarmed 17-year-old young man was walking home from a convenient store. was stalked by this guy he didn't know in an suv and then on foot. th

he served as a senior advisor to john mccain's campaign and with us eugene robinson. gentlemen, great to have you with us tonight. steve, let me ask you first, the to 1% would get $150,000 tax break under this ryan plan. there is no polling out there that supports that this is where the country wants to go. how are the republicans going to be able to support this plan and win in november? >> look, i agree with some of your characterizations of the plan. i think that this is a serious governing blue print for republicans. i think it presents a big choice, a big difference between the president's vision and the republican vision. republicans have to do a better job than they did last year communicating the virtues of this. this is a revenue neutral plan. the tax codes are flattened to two rates, 25%, 10% so people's tax rates go down. this is plan that can encourage economic growth, lead prosperity and tleed economic recovery. the republicans are going to have to be able to go out and communicate this against what what you previewed will be an effective line of attack.

eugene robinson will be with me. stay right here.ll be right back. >>> welcome to "the ed show." president obama's re-election team wants to remind voters how far we have come since the inauguration when the country was on the edge of an economic cliff. next week, the campaign will release a 17-minute film about the president's accomplishments in his first term. here's a preview. >> do we look at the day's headlines or do we remember what we, as a country, have been through? >> what was described in that meeting was an economic crisis beyond anything anybody had imagined. >> if the auto industry goes down, what happens to america's factory base? what happens to johns in america? what happens to the whole midwest? >> of course, the president has been on a roll lately, 23 consecutive months of private sector job growth, winning a battle with the gop on extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, unveiling more help for homeowners across america and winning a fight over women's health in which republican leaders look reacti

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joining us now at great peril to hid e and eugene robinson, and our political analyst. thanks for staying up and being with me. i appreciate it. >> happy to do it. >> john, you said earlier a bad night for newt gingrich in alabama or mississippi might render him a nonfactor in the race after tonight, fine he didn't formally drop out. no that it looks like he came in second in both states, does that still seem true and what are you looking at to figure out if that's happening? >> what other conservative leaders say over the next couple of days. i heard earlier in a television interview, a spokesman or deputy campaign manager for gingrich being asked about, is he dropping out? and the answer was -- well, mr. gingrich said he's going to tampa. it didn't sound like the campaign was all in that scenario. so we'll see. the speak has had the conflicts in the past with campaign aides. but i talked to sheldon addleson, you mentioned the super pac donor. i talked to one of his friends and said i think sheldon has written his least check. after last night if that judgment was accu

joining us now at great peril to hid e and eugene robinson, and our political analyst. thanks for staying up and being with me. i appreciate it. >> happy to do it. >> john, you said earlier a bad night for newt gingrich in alabama or mississippi might render him a nonfactor in the race after tonight, fine he didn't formally drop out. no that it looks like he came in second in both states, does that still seem true and what are you looking at to figure out if that's happening? >> what other conservative leaders say over the next couple of days. i heard earlier in a television interview, a spokesman or deputy campaign manager for gingrich being asked about, is he dropping out? and the answer was -- well, mr. gingrich said he's going to tampa. it didn't sound like the campaign was all in that scenario. so we'll see. the speak has had the conflicts in the past with campaign aides. but i talked to sheldon addleson, you mentioned the super pac donor. i talked to one of his friends and said i think sheldon has written his least check. after last night if that judgment was accu

joining us now to try to make some sense of it is eugene robinson, pulitzer prize winning columnist for "the washington post" and msnbc analyst. mr. robinson, a pleasure to have you here. thanks for being here. >> pardon the intrusion, but i refuse to make sense of this. >> give me the view from the beltway. republicans are not dumb, republicans read polls, republicans read the political tea leaves as much as any democrats do. why are they going to keep running with this? after losing today in the senate, now they're vowing to take it up in the jobs, jobs, jobs house. what works for them on this issue? >> i don't get it, frankly. i mean, maybe there's some subtle political jujitsu that they're after here. i think you're right that the framing is supposed to be government intrusion. but it is incoherent, and you can't really claim government intrusion if you're doing the intruding. you're making the intrusion and mandating this ridiculous new policy that you never would have favored or even thought of in the past. it seems crazy to me, and i've been expecting them to try to find some way

joining me "washington post" post eugene robinson and jonathan capehart. what a lineup.h of you have been so strong and so personal. i just want to say the reason we wanted you here today is you have just led the pack of brilliant writing. jonathan, you've been taking apart zimmerman's defense point by point led by lawrence o'donnell and others on our air. what do you find most dispositive about the tape that emerged, the police tape even though it is fuzzy and you don't see everything but he certainly does not appear to be terribly injured. he's walking. >> that's it. we had been hearing until this tape was revealed that he was in a life and death struggle, that they were rolling around in the grass, that his knows was broken, his head had been bashed several times into the sidewalk. and then out comes this video where he doesn't look like he was in a life or death struggle but someone who may have been arrested for illegally driving a golf carton the highway. his shirt is tucked in. he just looks unbelievably presentable. that will to me was literally eye opening to di

eugene robinson, gracious as always.hank you for joining us. >> good to be here, martin. >> next, one of the greatest minds in congress helps us answer the question. >> i am an endorsement romney. the reason is not only because he'll be the republican nominee but he offers at this point such a stark contrast to the president's record. [ female announcer ] experience dual-action power, with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only listerine® that gets teeth two shades whiter and makes tooth enamel two times stronger. get dual-action listerine® whitening rinse. building whiter, stronger teeth. is the pain reliever orthopedic doctors recommend most for arthritis pain, think again. and take aleve. it's the one doctors recommend most for arthritis pain. two pills can last all day. ♪ at liberty mutual, we know how much you count on your car, and how much the people in your life count on you. that's why we offer accident forgiveness, where your price won't increase due to your first accident. we also offer a has

also eugene robinson with "washington post" and also is an msnbc political analyst. thank you for staying up and being here. i appreciate it. >> happy to do it. >> good to be here. >> john, you said earlier tonight a bad night for newt gingrich in alabama and/or mississippi might render him a nonfactor in the race after tonight. even if he didn't formally drop out. now that it looks like he's come in second in both of those states, does it still seem -- does that still seem true to you? what are you going to look at to figure out if that's happening? >> i'm going to look at what other conservative leaders say over the next couple days. i heard earlier in a television interview a spokesman or deputy campaign manager for gingrich being asked about if he's going to drop out? the answer was, well, mr. gingrich says he's going all the way to tampa. it didn't sound like the campaign, itself, was all in on that scenario. so we'll see. the speaker has had his conflicts in the past with campaign aides, but i think -- i talked to one of sheldon adelson, the super pac donors fo

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also, congressman air schock of illinois joins us with eugene robinson.p next, the top stories of the morning. first, bill karens with a check on the forecast. bill? >> the unbelievable warmth continues today from the great lakes through new england. yesterday, can you belief it was 79 degrees in hartford, connecticut. unbelievable. very little snow left in the mountains of northern new engla england. it's unheard of for the middle of march. another day in the oven, 77 in buffalo. mid-70s everywhere. if you get enough sun, someone will have a shot at 80. we are watching rain in texas around san antonio and austin. it's raining hard around dallas. expect airport delays. chicago, today is the sixth day in a row of record highs. 85 degrees today in chicago. everyone is heading out to vote there. incredible stuff. all our friends on the west coast are finally starting to warm up, too. washington, d.c., 75 and sunny this afternoon. you are watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. ♪ hi, i just switched jobs, and i want to roll over my old 401(k) into a fidel

it's also being joined by msnbc's analyst michael steele and eugene robinson. >>> and big developments out of florida in the trayvon martin case. details later in this hour, we'll be right back. >>> welcome back to "the ed show." tonight was a big win for mitt romney in the state of illinois, and it raises questions about whether rick santorum has any real shot of being a factor in this race anymore. this was rick santorum tonight. >> all it boils down to one word, and that's what's at stake in this election, and it's right behind me on that banner and it's the word freedom. i was pleased to hear, before i came out, governor romney is now adapting that theme as his speech tonight. i am glad we are moving the debate here in the republican party. >> freedom, well, it's also about delegates, but santorum may be running out of opportunities to move the debate in this race. many of the big contests coming up are favorable to mitt romney, an upset by santorum tonight might have changed the dynamic, but that didn't happen. i'm joined tonight by alice stewart, press secretary for rick santorum

com coming, we're going to bring in tavis smiley, also lawrence o'donnell, eugene robinson, and davidregory. up next, the politico playbook. but first, a check on the weekend forecast with meteorologist ryan phillips from our nbc affiliate in miami. ryan? >> mika, good morning to you. cool start out here in the northeast. clouds on the increase, and we're into the 40s. not quite spring. this is the last weekend of winter. and we're going to get our spring pattern right back in the cards by saturday. 43 in new york, 41 in hartford, 37 in boston. so clouds out there, showers coming in. it's not going to rain all day, but spotty showers, maybe a thunderstorm, highs only in the 50s. but other parts of the nation looking good. down across texas, 70s there, and 80s down in south florida. that's a quick look at the national forecast. stay with us, more "morning joe" coming your way after the break. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough

and washington pulitzer prize winner and our good friend eugene robinson.e, i want to show you some polls. polls show president obama's approval rating at 41%, down nine points for just last month. all time low for president obama. on foreign policy, 40% say they approve of president obama, 10-point drop from last month. and the lowest number for the president since before osama bin laid especially was killed last year. that's down 5 points for february. they ace approve his handling of price. gas price continue to rise. 54% say he could do more to control gas prices. eugene robinson, these are big numbers. 9-point drop here. 10 on a different question. in the white house, as this look at those numbers, if they want to take any sole as at all they will look at head to head matchups with romney and other potential candidates showing romney questioning them. might look at the gallup poll which yesterday had owe mama at 49%. nonetheless, these numbers are good at all for the white house. and i think it's gas prices myself. it's postally what has khepged the la

thank you chris cillizza and eugene robinson. it was two years ago that president obama signed the health care reform law into law. tonight, how the president fought back against republicans in congress. from day one, he was trying to get this guy out of office for president. and let's give a call out to michael smerconish. he has a book coming out, and he features me in an interview in the book. we're now in theaters in your neighborhood. check it out, michael smerconish's book club. ♪ [ female announcer ] introducing new nature valley protein bars. 100% natural ingredients like roasted peanuts... ♪ ...creamy peanut butter, and a rich dark chocolate flavor. plus, 10 grams of great tasting protein in every bar. so it's energy straight from nature to you. new nature valley protein bars. find them in the granola bar aisle. >>> republicans across the country propose legislation restricting access to abortion and birth control and now in tennessee, a new bill in the state's house of representatives would require the state to publish

and coming up next, david gregory and eugene robinson are with us in washington as we take a peek into there. how does he read anything? first let's go to bill karins. he's got a check on the forecast. it's an outline. who is that man? >> i guess the solar storm hasn't hit his office yet. we're waiting for that. >> nice back lighting, the. t.j. >>> possibilities of flooding rains, of course texas had the horrible drought. we always need the rain. we don't want it to ruin your weekend plans. rained hard yesterday, continuing now, about to move back into the austin area, dallas later on today. east coast, definitely colder than yesterday. but you have to expect that after a record-breaking heat. the northern plains is where the cool air's arriving today, bundle up this morning, chicago, milwaukee, detroit, north wards up through minneapolis. the north coast isn't shaping up too bad. and looks like on the west coast, a little wet weather into sunday. by far, if you're watching these weather maps. the big stories over the weekend is a beautiful end to the weekend in the east coast. cloudy,