from the "washington post," bob woodward, and from the "new york times" helene cooper. and finally, my conversation with george clooney to stop ethnic cleansing in sudan. nbc-universal television >>> good morning, puerto rico, universal television >>> good morning. >>> good morning, puerto rico, 48 hours to go until the big stakes illinois primary, 54 delegates on the line there. >> we're going to show on tuesday the conservative movement in illinois is alive and well on election night on tuesday. >> after a pair of third place finishes in alabama and mississippi, mitt romney is fighting hard for a rebound in illinois trying to cement his delegate lead. he stands at 423, and santorum at 184. and here to talk about the fight here at home and abroad, arizona senator, john mccain. senator, welcome back. >> thank you, david. >> i want to talk about afghanistan, but i want to start with politics. where we are in this race, rick santorum was interviewed on the "today" program this week, and he made a strong point. watch it. >> if you can't with an overwhelming money advantage

joining me, helene cooper, bob woodward, jon krakauer, and wes moore. all by cob....rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro. uh, nope. just, uh, checking out my ad. nice. but, you know, with every door direct mail from the postal service, you'll find the customers that matter most: the ones in your neighborhood. print it yourself, or we'll help you find a local partner. and postage is under 15 cents. i wish i would have known that cause i really don't think i chose the best location. it's not so bad. i mean you got a deal... right? [ bird cries ] go online to reach every home, every address, every time with every door direct mail. when bp made a commitment to the gulf, we knew it would take time, but we were determined to see it through. today, while our work continues, i want to update you on the progress: bp has set aside 20 billion dollars

author of "where men win glory" about the death of paul tillman, jon krakauer, bob woodard and helene cooper. finally, my conversation with george clooney on his fight to stop ethnic cleansing in sudan george clooney on his fight to stop ethnic cleansing in sudan and some politics as well. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good morning. republicans in purt rerto rico o the polls there. >> we're going to show on tuesday that the conservative movement in illinois is alive and well on election night on tuesday. >> after a pair of third place finishes last week in alabama and mississippi, mitt romney is fighting hard now for a rebound in illinois, trying to cement his delegate lead. this is how it looks. it stands at 423 delegates. santorum at 184. gingrich and paul farther back. here to talk about the nomination fight here at home as well as the continuing fight abroad for security in afghanistan and the toll it's taking on u.s. troops, arizona senator john mccain. senator, welcome back. >> thank you, david. >> i want to talk about afghanistan, but i'd like to start with a littl

joining me white house correspondent for "the new york times," helene cooper, and from the "washingtonwoodward, and author of "where men win glory," and an iraq war veteran, paul rieckhoff. welcome to all of you. i wish we did not have the focus on this conversation. you have a tragedy in afghanistan with the death of afghan civilians and the tragedy of our forces, some of whom are put in a situation where the cost of war is so high, it's affecting them in the theater of war, war that goes on and on. we see the photo of robert bails, and more is being learned about him. more in the headlines have come out about what may have been behind this rampage is also striking. he was a soldier strained by deployments. it was his fourth deployment between iraq and afghanistan, and this caught my eye this week about the question of what was behind this, and where military institutions are failing our soldiers. and a retired major wrote this in the washington post. before we get too involved perhaps it might be right and proper to suggest the underlying position is not the failure of our army, and

helene? >> i called and woke up my mom to tell her i was on your show. i wanted to plug her. hi, mom, best mom ever. alise cooperay. no offense to you, mom. >> game change premiere at the museum. tom hanks is going to be there. julianne moore. >> but donnie deutsche is not going to be there. you saw him the -- that's it for this"the daily ru" coming up next, chris jansing. have a super thursday. bye-bye. >>> here is your business travel forecast. rainy weather over the next couple of days, especially in texas, arkansas, louisiana. one more beautiful day in areas of the east. a chance of showers in the great lakes as we go throughout the day. the chance of thunderstorms, maybe severe thunderstorms from dallas to shreveport. have a great day. i knew it'd be tough on our retirement savings, especially in this economy. but with three kids, being home more really helped. man: so we went to fidelity. we talked about where we were and what we could do. we changed our plan and did something about our economy. now we know where to go for help if things change again. call or come in today to take control of your personal

they lead to, helen whitney have access to the information for documentary and they openly cooperatedout mormons. i worry that if there is this sense -- you know if the court in new york -- if the "new york times" editorial page is nearing have us, or if the republicans do not vote for mitt romney, that it could crush that moment of revelation and openness that is on the ascendancy. those are always tricky. >> i want to push to vote on this pragmatism question. you have emphasized mitt romney's pragmatism. steven, you have talked about how the mormon chain -- the mormon church has changed on a dime, so to speak. there is something admirable about that because it suggests that being dog -- locked into dogmatic positions or sectarian positions, we would not admire a church that held fast to principles of racial segregation and we can appreciate the flexibility of trade -- of change. but pragmatism can go to such an extreme that you wonder if you can trust someone who is so pragmatic that he essentially stands for nothing. it seems to me that is part of mitt romney's political problems t

they lead to, helen whitney have access to the information for documentary and they openely cooperated with that. we are trying to be ok with people talking academically about mormons. i worry that if there is this sense -- you know if the court in new york -- if the "new york times" editorial page is nearing have us, or if the republicans do not vote for mitt romney, that it could crush that moment of revelation and openness that is on the ascendancy. those are always tricky. >> i want to push to vote on this pragmatism question. you have emphasized mitt romney's pragmatism. steven, you have talked about how the mormon chain -- the mormon church has changed on a dime, so to speak. there is something admirable about that because it suggests that being dog -- locked into dogmatic positions or sectarian positions, we would not admire a church that held fast to principles of racial segregation and we can appreciate the flexibility of trade -- of change. but pragmatism can go to such an extreme that you wonder if you can trust someone who is so pragmatic that he essentially stands for noth