we're going to begin in tucson, arizona, where sarah palin and john mccain are together again for theirst time since losing the presidential election. mccain is running for re-election to the senate but facing a tough conservative challenger in the gop primary. that's where sarah palin's support may help. nbc chief washington correspondent norah o'donnell is live in tucson. how big a deal is this and what can we expect over the next half hour? >> reporter: well, it is a very big deal as of course more than two years ago or less than two years ago john mccain plucked sarah palin from obscurity, made her a star, now she's here in tucson to bring some of her star power and vouch for john mccain's conservative credentials. i spoke with a senior mccain adviser who tells me sarah palin is going to deliver a very meaty speech in about a half hour. she'll be introduced by cindy mccain and sarah palin will speak for 10 to 12 minutes then introduce john mccain who will only speak for about half that time, five minutes. the whole event is centered around sarah palin because they want sarah palin

to vouch for john mccain.or his conservative credentials. sort of an ironic twist given that he made sarah palin a star and now she's here trying to shine the spotlight on him. >> and it is ironic also because there was so much of a dust-up between sarah palin and john mccain's former staff, the campaign staff, certainly in her book and theirs and yet, he always remained loyal to her. resisted prattling on and the criticism and she is returning that loyalty. >> absolutely. it's payback time now and sarah palin is going to pay back john mccain. she's now a multimillionaire, a celebrity in her own right, but john mccain needs help. he's facing his toughest election ever. so, sarah palin is going to bring out a lot of people here. it's two rallies today and tomorrow, then she's headed off to nevada to do a big tea party even there. one other thing i want to mention. there's a wild card in this race. the state republican party and some conservatives are looking to close the primary to independents, so it would onl

john mccain has never been a draw.e had him at a town meeting and we had 4,000 people atvil vilan university. i could see heroineing winning iowa, getting second place in new hampshire, going up to michigan and blowing it out of the water with mitt romney. she can do it. the question is, is the republican party comfortable electing someone who is not really substantive? i don't think she's sitting around doing her homework, i think she has perfected her platform skills, which are probably the best in the business right now. >> let me ask you about health care reform and how it affects this upcoming election. mccain, among others, is calling for a repeal of the health care law. do you think that's still going to be the pivotal issue come october? >> it's pure nonsense, of course. republicans take pride in their knowledge of the constitution, but the constitution requires a two-thirds plus one vote in the u.s. senate. 67 senators would have to vote to override a presidential veto. so as long as president obama is preside

and john mccain says, give me the bottom line. and she says john, high-risk, high reward. and john mccain says, you should have told me that. i've been taking risks all my life. and that was it. now, ultimately the campaign of john mccain was sealed by the economic collapse. i think it would've been almost no way for him to have won even if the economy had not done what it had done, but nonetheless once that happened, there was no hope for him to win. >> the one person going into@@@p more than mccain as a prohibitive favorite to win her nomination. she opted to have the best brand in democratic politics that she had a network among both financial and organizational all around the country, with one important exception, which i will get to in a minute. she had a team of people who had been together ever experienced, and part of some of whom had been involved in winning two presidential campaigns in the 1990s. the first time any democrat had done that since roosevelt. she was smart, tough, she had gone through the crucible of new york politics, which is very rigorous and all

howard deane had began to exploit it, even john mccain in 2000. but the obama complain carried it to much different levels. particularly in the area of social networking and what they were able to do on that front. create their own version of facebook to keep people within a sense of community and to be able to kind of keep control of it. i think one the things that's not as well known about what they did, they not only attracted thousands and thousands of volunteers all around the country. they empowered those volunteers no other complain ever did. most the time, complains used volunteer. volunteers are told what to do by staff. in this case, they had volunteered with the responsibility to organization other volunteers. and i think that ability in a sense to recentrallize responsibility but still hold people accountable was something nobody had ever done. >> thank you. >> sir? >> i was really like a lot of people, inspired about singing about the message of hope for mr. obama. and i was inspired when he appointed van jones and until he fired him

john mccain. bs coming from the mainstream media, lately, about this, about this inciting violence. don't let, don't let the conversation be diverted. don't let distraction like that get you off-track, keep fighting hard for these candidates, who are all about the common-sense conservative solutions that we need. >> you know, i think she took a risk there. i think if something really bad happens this weekend and she's saying this stuff didn't matter, she'll be pulled into it. she put herself into it. your thoughts about the kind of rhetoric, the noose being sent, the windows being broken. the threats to stupak. i would have thought that the people on the right would be sort of sympathetic to him. they're mad of him as an apostate because he ended up signing the bill. what do you make of this? >> the threats to stupak, the threats to gene schmidt, a republican, any of the threats is really just totally out of place, outrageous. what we need to be doing is condemning violence and bullying and threat

sarah palin sturms for john mccain. but can she really help him more in his tough senate campaign than she did in 2008? >>> rescuing homeowners. a new plan from the president aims to save the housing market and why should that spark controversy? >>> the no-cussing kid takes on vice president joe biden. we'll hear why. >>> and paying more at the box office. prices going up. you might be surprised how much it could cost your family just for a night out at the movies. >>> good morning, everyone. i'm contessa brewer. >>> sarah palin will be back in the campaign spotlight as she tries to rally support for senator john mccain in arizona. they're in tucson yesterday. >> we're being accused of being the party of no because we oppose some of the things that the administration's doing. the louisiana governor says, well, no, we're not the party of no, we're the party of hell no. >> well, mccain is facing a tough re-election fight of his senate career. he's leaning on his former running mate to boost his conservative credentials. n

, john mccain, john mccain, john mccain, john mccain, john mccain, john mccain, john mccain, john mccain- [applause] >> i will hope that he sunday will realize that john mccain spent 5.5 years as a pow in efforts to defend our constitution which gives him the right to protest. [applause] the >> these issues are spreading across this country and this is a grass-roots movement that is putting the government back on the side of the people. some are calling this the tea party movement and it is a wonderful buying. it is a grassroots movement we are all part of this movement. i have been travelling across the u.s. and meeting folks and ask me about my friend, john mccain at these events. -->> at these events. i tell him think about it. what is the root of the tea party movement? back in 1773, remember the freedom fighters fighting against tyranny and big government intrusion and throwing tea into the park the -- t into the harbor to protest? they are saying no more intrusive government. that is what we are doing today. that is part of that tea party movement. i just have to remind people that

everybody here today's supporting john mccain.e're all part of the tea party movement. >> the tea party happened in my hometown. i'll have to go through the history books. >> nice jacket, by the way. >> you like the jacket? >> republicans wearing leather, we are moving forward. that works. i think this is a real test of -- what unites republicans and tea party voters greater than what divides them. what unites them is fear washington's out of control, they can say anything, do anything, spend anything, no matter what americans think. and we saw that today in arizona. now, if palin can get those tea party voters there to support mccain, what does that mean? that means republicans may go into this election in a lot of districts like you were just looking at up there united. this could be the sarah palin we had in the campaign that energized those folk but was people had doubts about her, maybe they won't have those doubt. sarah palin with the great taste and no calories. >> it's sad to see john mccain driven out of the republican pa

>> reporter: well, i think that john mccain believes that sarah palin can vouch for his, quote-unquote, true conservative values as she said in that radio ad. i just spoke with the senior mccain adviser, who tells me that both todd and sarah palin are here with cindy and john mccain and that the bulk of this event is going to center around sarah palin. this adviser telling me sarah palin is going to deliver a very meaty speech that is going to be ten to 12 minutes long, about twice as long as when john mccain's speech today because this event is meant to show case her and spotlight her support for john mccain. why is that so important? because john mccain is facing his toughest re-election of his life. he is facing a challenge from the political right. another republican, j.d. hayworth, who's running against him in the primary. there's a lot of arizona conservatives, tea party supporters, who don't trust john mccain. they're worried because he has advocated for immigration reform and a path for citizenship for illegal immigrants. two, he voted for the t.a.r.p., that bailout for wall st

i thank god for john mccain. country the greatest country on earth and a country we are so proud to be part of. we are always proud to be americans and we are not going to apologize for being proud to be americans. he is standing up for time tested truths. he is believing that the government that governsç least kpwofrpbs best. believing that the constitution provides the path toward a more perfect union. it is the constitution. and knowing that only limited government can provide the opportunity for prosperity for all of us equally. it is only limited government that can do this. and that time-tested truth that we all know and that is that we don't work for government. government is to work for us. and, friends, that time-tested truth knowing that freedom is a god given right and freedom is worth fighting for. these are the great principles that ronald reagan and barry goldwater embraced and believed in. and it is what john mccain is fighting for. he, too, knowing that it is america's finest are men and women in

yet these tea party activists don't like john mccain. >> reporter: mccain's opponent staged a dueling rally in phoenix today with another reminder of the '08 campaign, a certain plumber named joe. now, it's no surprise that sarah palin was not pleased with the jay john mccain's presidential campaign was run and his former aides have criticized her publicly. but both the senator and the governor have always gone out of their way to be civil to each other in public, perhaps knowing they would need each other on a day like today. harry? >> smith: ben tracy in tucson tonight, thanks. in arizona and across the country jobs and the economy are big election issues. today the labor department reported that unemployment fell in only four states in february compared to a year earlier. cities are struggling. nine out of ten were forced to make spending cuts last year and national correspondent dean reynolds tells us there's a lot more to come. >> reporter: five fires broke out in flint, michigan, this week, on the very day the city began laying off 20 of its 94 firemen. running an $8 million def

sarah palin is campaigning for john mccain. democrats are saying that the hate-filled rhetoric is too real, and the parties are raising money on the threats. >>> also, tonight, there is how many people remember sinaed o'connor tearing up a picture of the pope in the 1990s. and now with the biggest crisis in the vatican, she is speaking out, and also against the current pope who has not given an open and honest accounting of the abuse investigations in pedophile priests. she is our guest. >>> and a former lingerie model accused of turning herself into a queen pin and models into drug a queen pin and models into drug mules. she is on the run from cops. first, keeping them honest. sarah palin and developments in the ugly health care reform. out in arizona she hit the media hard on acts of violence and inflammatory rhetoric against the democrats. >> you know, hearing in the news reports lately the agenda controversy about us common sense conservatives inciting violence because we happen to oppose some of the things in the obama adm

sarah palin, john mccain together again. can she help mr. mccain win?times you need tomorrow to finish what you started today. for the aches and sleeplessness in between,

hayworth and more likely to challenge john mccain. i'm not sure her endorsement will bring a lot of the votes and j.d. hayworth said after this rally in north carolina, i look forward to sarah palin endorsing me after the primary, which she would, of course, if he were to win the republican nomination. could she bring them together? i don't know if she can. it's up to the nominee whether it's john mccain or j.d. hayworth. >> and going back to "the washington post" poll, it shows that 46% of americans agree with the tea party's positions on the issues. given what they know about them and then 40% disagree, palin is seen by many as the de facto leader of the movement. so why the disconnect between the tea party's popularity and her own? >> well, i mean, in the broader population they're not that far apart. we saw a 37% favorable rating for sarah palin and 47% agree with the tea party on the issues. what's striking to me about the 46% number is it's not that high. you'd think with all the polls showing opposition to the health care propo

either they're still undecided about john mccain or they were voting against him. some were saying they were voting for mccain, but the undecided here said sarah palin did not change their minds. still a tough fight ahead. >> we'll watch it very, very closely, jessica yellin with that report. she'll have another report in our next hour as well. and now, the icing on the cake for the house speaker nancy pelosi on this, her 70th birthday. she signed off on the democrats' fixes to the health care reform law, a day after final approval by both the house and the senate. >> can you imagine a more important birthday privilege than to be signing health care for all americans? >> the fixes head to the president's desk for his signature next week. members of congress are heading home for their spring recess. but no one expects them to walk away from the fight over health care reform. let's bring in dana bash. first, tell us what you expect the democrats will be hearing when they go back to their districts? they're going to be home for the next two weeks. >> they'll be hearing

for john mccain all politics is personal.nk clearly the defeat at the hands of president obama in 2008 still rankles, really rankles for senator mccain. and i think he has decided that he wants to leave the senate on his own terms, not on j.d. hayworth's terms, his certain primary opponent in arizona. and so he has taken a stand. it is a bizarre stand to say send me back here, and by the way, i'm not going to do anything. >> with mccain there is always the question of his personality, of his character, of what is really going on here. in his case, the question arises, is this just pure bitterness? the people who know him say that he's capable of steaming for a while and holding a grudge and acting this way just out of his own emotional reaction to things. >> well, you saw it at the end of the campaign, lawrence. you saw his, frankly, erratic reaction to the financial crisis. it is one of the main reasons he lost the election or lost the election by the margin he did. he didn't give the impression of being a cool, steady hand

hell no. >> reporter: senator john mccain needs her help. his re-election is in jeopardy as he fends off a challenge from a more conservative opponent in the state's republican primary. >> john comes home and campaigns as a conservative. but he goes to washington and legisla legislates like a liberal. >> reporter: lately mccain has moved to the right on bailouts, taxes, even on his signature issue, immigration. >> we failed because the american people were not convinced that we were really going to secure our borders. >> reporter: the hope here? that palin's conservative credentials will rub off. >> you know, many, many years ago i competed in a pageant. and, you know what? coming then from an expert, i can tell you, he could win the talent and the debate portion of any pageant but nobody's ever going to dub him ms. congeniality. >> reporter: she even declared mccain a candidate for tea party voters. >> everybody here today is supporting john mccain. we are all part of that tea party movement. >> reporter: but is it enough? did sarah palin's

was it john mccain or sarah palin? >> that would be palin, campbell. le were pouring in here with her book, wearing sayer have a shirts. as they were waiting, they were chanting sarah, sarah, sarah, never john, john, john. initially we were told sarah palin was going to be the keynote speaker and john mccain would speak before her, which is enormously unusual at an endorsement event. they changed that at the last minute, but it just shows you a new world order, campbell. >> i'll say. mark, you know, the last time we saw these two together was 2008. it was right after the election. and since then, we have learned all sorts of behind-the-scenes campaign drama, much of it documented in your book. what do we know about the two of them now? do they talk? are they close? what can you tell us? >> they don't talk regularly, but they do talk on occasion. and they have smoothed over some of the rough issues around my book and some of the other issues where there was questions about tension between sarah palin and some of the people who worked for john mccain. thi

plus today john mccain and sarah palin are joining forces again on the campaign trail.palin help mccain beat back a tough senate primary challenger? >>> check out these spectacular views of earth from above our atmosphere. they must have been taken by nasa with help of a multi-million dollar satellite, right? wrong. a private citizen got these pictures for less than $1,000 bucks. the details are amazing. >>> we're going to start on capitol hill. in just moments house speaker nancy pelosi -- in fact, you can see some of the families lined up there -- house speaker nancy pelosi celebrating her 70th birthday today will put her sit on the companion health care bill approved by the house last night. >> the yeas are 220, the nays are 207. the motion is adopted. >> the measure removes controversial things in the original bill like the cornhusker kickback and gator aid measure for florida and adds improved benefits for families across the board. the voting in congress done, political debate may continue until the midterm elections in november. so president obama hit the road an

but this time john mccain faces a very tough re-election battle. was palin to the rescue or so mccain hoped. we're going to talk about the palin effect. >>> and the sex scandal that is shaking the catholic church. pope benedict is being asked questions about what he knew and when. >>> also have you noticed the price of going to a movie lately? it's going up, in some cases it can now cost a family of four almost $100 including popcorn and drinks. >>> we're also going to show you some scenes from a new movie that are absolutely priceless. the stars? you're looking at them. four adorable babies from four different countries. coming up we're going to tell you how this movie has become such a hit, two months before it hit theaters. it's all about the trailer. >>> but before we goat all of that, let's talk about what happened in arizona overnight. john mccain and sarah palin together again, lee cowan was there. >> reporter: it's been 16 months since they shared a campaign stage and some things never change. >> we're going to take it on on november 10 when

that's good news for john mccain. now, he's hoping sarah palin can share some of that star power in these two rallies in arizona. and then sarah palin, she's then headed to nevada where she's going to host a big tea party rally there with ann coulter. >> thank you. >>> my big question today, how much can sarah palin really help john mccain? give me a shout on twitter or on facebook or e-mail me. >>> looking at the horrific scene on an interstate in southeastern kentucky, 11 people killed after a tractor trailer crossed the median and slammed head-on into a passenger van this morning. the truck's driver was also killed. transportation investigators say the interstate could be closed for the next eight hours. >>> a fire destroys an historic courthouse in north carolina. we'll tell you what it has to do with an affair and john edwards. >>> making strides when it comes to fighting poverty. nicholas kristof weighs in on why there is reason to hope. >>> plus, the salahis are soon going to crash a tv set near you. we'll tell

john mccain believes in equality. eves in the power of women too and i'm thankful for that senator mccain, strong independent -- cindy mccain strong, independent woman, will speak her mind i appreciate the relationship they have and the friendship and respect that comes from this couple. cindy mccain is a great american. she is a perfect example of behind every good, successful, strong man stands a very surprised woman. >> greta: next more wi senator mccain and governor palin. do they disagree about immigration? find out minutes from now. plus, it is war. some states are furious at government over health care and they are taking action. the wisconsin attorney general wants to join in that fight. someone is stopping him. who is stopping him and why? find out from the attorney general of the great state of wisconsin, he's here. are you ready for this? is president obama says -- [ inaudible ] nature knows just how much water vegetables need. so, to turn those vegetables into campbell's condensed soup, we don't boil it dow

you know john mccain.e is a guy with a straight face, a guy in washington, d.c., a congressman since 1982, saying he was duped to signing on to a $700 million bill. >> i don't see what his point is, though. he said we thought it was going to go to toxic assets. who did he think held the toxic assets? one way or the other, they were trying to bail out wall street. everybody knew that. what's the method for bailing out wall street? >> why is john mccain saying this now? >> because of j.d. hayworth, your old buddy from the house. >> we have the sound bite. do you want to play it now or wait until later. >> let's play it. >> he talks about his decades of experience, and knowing washington, and knowing bipartisanship when he sees it. >> which one is it? >> here is john mccain on this issue. >> you said you were misled by former treasury secretary paulson. >> we were all misled. he said they were going after the toxic assets. the toxic assets were the housing market. he testified to that. i mean, we were all mis

well john mccain hasn't stopped fighting for us. in fact the day he went back into office as united states senator, when the campaign was over, he didn't hang his head. he didn't take a break. he got right back to work. on the first day back in congress, he introduced pieces of legislation. and that is, was just the start of his continued work for the great state of arizona. and america. you know, that doesn't sound like the party of no and having no solutions. that's not the party of no. it sounds to me like john mccain is leading the party of ideas. and he's standing up, john mccain is standing up for the time-tested truths that have built this country into the greatest country on earth. and it's why we are so proud to be americans. and we don't apologize for america. he has stood up for these truths. the belief that the government that governs least, governs best. and that the constitution provides the path to be on to form a more perfect union. it's the constitution and that's why we fight to protect it. the belief that only lim

be making two stops in arizona on behalf of john mccain. interestingly enough they probably won't be together on friday because mccain is going to be voting back here in d.c. on this health care stuff but on saturday they'll be together and then sarah palin is heading to nevada to headline a tea party event with ann coulter. >> such an interesting time to watch sarah palin both for good and bad reasons. thanks as always. >> you're welcome. >>> as the tea party continues to take shape, we are learning more about who they are and how they might impact the next election. >> they're not your extremists. they're not, you know, they're normal people. they're old people in wheelchairs. you got people with families and stuff like that just coming here out of desire, out of a belief in what our forefathers put forward. >> a new quinnipiac poll shows they are angry with the country's direction and most are republican leaning. 88% are white. joining us is the author of "the big black lie, how i learned the truth about the democratic party" and kevin ja

that's where john mccain says, hey, we were misled.uestion is, were you intentionally misled, did you -- everybody seemed to hear what they wanted to hear during this debate, not just john mccain, but what treasury was saying to the white house, was saying to the two presidential campaigns at the time, was saying to congress. in defense of john mccain, i think it's clear that it was confusing, but also it does seem as if, looking back in hindsight, it's hard to -- we knew there were multiple reasons why they wanted that money. >> jeff zeleny, i didn't run for president. i didn't have decades in the united states senate. i'm not sure saying that i was confused would be the best answer to give to the voters even now, in arizona. besides which, he halted the campaign, came back. had the meeting with the president in the roosevelt room, was undecided whether or not to even go to the mississippi debate, the big debate, you know, having suspended the campaign. he made a big deal out of this at the time. >> he did make a big deal out of this

republican senator john mccain. but now senator john mccain says entitlements should not be part of a reconciliation process. it's too important, he says. senator mccain now proposing to outlaw something that he has done repeatedly. john mccain once again taking a strong stance against his own beliefs. health reform is going to happen. health reform is going to happen. it has passed the house. it has passed the senate. they are going to bridge the gap between the two bills using reconciliation. republicans can do nothing about it. they lost this one. but in the meantime, this is what they're flailing about, it looks like. they are so desperate, for example, to stop democrats from using reconciliation to pass health reform that they've taken to calling it the nuclear option, a scary sounding thing that has absolutely nothing to do with reconciliation. in fact, the real nuclear option was a republican threat back in 2005 to take away the filibuster altogether. but since it sounds scary, why not call reconciliation the

, john mccain, john mccain, john mccain, john mccain, john mccain, john mccain, john mccain, john mccain[applause] >> i will hope that he sunday will realize that john mccain spent 5.5 years as a pow in efforts to defend our constitution which gives him the right to protest. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] . . >> at these events. i tell him think about it. what is the root of the tea party movement? back in 1773, remember the freedom fighters fighting against tyranny and big government intrusion and throwing tea into the park the -- t into the harbor to protest? they are saying no more intrusive government. that is what we are doing today. that is part of that tea party movement. i just have to remind people that before there were these recent protests on main street and marches on capitol hill, there was the maverick in the senate fighting for the same issues. john has been leading the fight against waste, fraud, and reckless spending for decades. today, he is leading the loyal opposition that is

it was the thing that on the surface didn't help anybody who didn't want john mccain made president. it was the kind of thing that people naturally reject. then, what happened if mccain stood up and said george bush is behind this. south carolina republicans like mccain and bush and liked them both. not one in a thousand would believe george bush was capable of doing that. my personal viewpoint it happened was i was afraid because i thought mccain with these upon it to talk about himself. the story behind he and his wife's adoption of a young baby from a bangladesh orphanage run by mother teresa is an incredible story of compassion and love, just the kind of thing in a campaign that would explain a lot about to john and cindy mccain and serve as the norma's plus for them. but instead of saying hold on, let's wait a minute, here's what i want the people of south carolina and america to know. instead, he said bush did this and shame on bush and i have no evidence that bush did it, but you know, shame on bush. and as a result -- it was the whole mindset. this kind of attitude made itself

sarah palin and john mccain, back together again, their first time on stage since that defeat. and afternoon so much talk of bad blood between the two, senator mccain is turning to palin in the fight to keep his senate seat. david wright was there. >> reporter: good evening, david. well, right down to the songs they played from the podium, it was time warp 2008. it couldn't help but feel a little bit of dejas have vu, but a sense that the last time these two appeared together, times have changed. the couple that could have carved a different path -- >> she energized america and still does today, and i'm proud of sarah palin. >> reporter: together again, for the first time since the day they lost. >> arizona, would you send the maverick back to the united states senate. >> reporter: mccain is facing his toughest re-election fight ever. >> john mccain bailed oument the big banks, exploded the deficit, mortgaged our children's future. had enough? so had j.d. hayworth. >> reporter: his challenger in the gop primary, a former congressman, is casting the senator as an out of touch ins

in the presidential election. >> host: you also relate an incident he had a chance to meet with john mccain later on. >> guest: in 2004, mccain offered through a longtime aide and person that i knew that mccain would campaign for and they made an appearance with president bush in washington state which was non-political and in a campaign rally and the president said on this first swing i don't want to belong but you can work out your problems with mccain leader and he laughed, he thought that was funny. and so the first trip by spend with mccain is in florida. we flew to pensacola florida, then took a bus to riceville ansi site at the end of the day in panama city. when we got on air force one at andrews the president had a cia briefing so he said go back and talk to mccain. entertain mccain on telling ready. this is sort of awkward because mccain and mccain's campaign and even his wife, his wife famously said, she said -- she was asked if she had a chance what she stabbed me in the back and she said no i wohlstetter him in the front. there were high emotions. so we go back to the cabinet a

together again, sarah palin stumping for arizona senator john mccain over the weekend. >> senator mccaink what he could have counted on and looked forward to was the transparency that john also talked about in the campaign that's so necessary, in order to build more space into your government, citizens are feeling so disenchanted because of the lack of transparency that the obama administration has ushered in. john wouldn't have done that. >> that sounded pretty good. why are palin's supporters upset about the two of them appearing together? joining us for a fair and balanced debate, we have stacy carlton, former speechwriter to former treasury secretary henry paulson and the author of "you, me and the u.s. economy." and josh gottheimer, former speechwriter to president bill clinton. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> stacy, what -- sarah palin has been embraced by the tea party crowd. and yet, a number of them simply don't like john mccain and don't like the fact that she was supporting him in his bid for re-election. why? >> well, some people certainly think of john mccai

he's saying john mccain is too moderate for arizona. we'll have to see. but we will see john mccain and sarah palin on the stage together once again in an hour from now. megyn: if you want to see not just john mccain and sarah palin but if you want to see j.d. hay worth you can. today on the neil cavuto show. by the way, on our web site at foxnews.com anita will be posting updates throughout the afternoon. log on to foxnews.com/liveshots. staggering new numbers out on the deficit and the national debt. the cbo says the problem is bigger and worse than we previously thought. governor mike huckabee is here next with a warning on how this will affect your family. most dogs just chase cars occasionally. this guy eats them. nature knows just how much water vegetables need. so, to turn those vegetables into campbell's condensed soup, we don't boil it down, our chefs just add less water from the start. ♪ so many, many reasons ♪ it's so m'm! m'm! good! ♪ i just want fewer pills and relief that lasts all day. take 2 extra strength tylenol every 4 to 6 hours?!? tak

and john mccain says, give me the bottom line. and she says john, high-risk, high reward. says, you should have told me that. i've been taking risks all my life. and that was it. now, ultimately the campaign of john mccain was sealed by the economic collapse. i think it would've been almost no way for him to have won even if the economy had not done what it had done, but nonetheless once that happened, there was no hope for him to win. >> the one person going into this race, late 2006, 2007, everyone had an opinion about was hillary clinton. and yet in reading the book it seems to me that she is probably the person that changed the most or the people's perceptions change the most as she went through this really long process, that challenge her shirt was that she probably never foresaw. >> you know, each of these three characters stories is fascinating. and i think that for hillary clinton, the story is that she performed best when it counted least, and she performed worst when it counted most. and i will expand on that. she started out the campaign far more than mccain as

it was the kind of thing on the surface just didn't help anybody who didn't want john mccain made president. it was the kind of thing that people naturally reject. then what happened is mccain stood up and said george bush is behind this. south carolina republicans like mccain and bush. liked them both. not one in 1,000 would believe that george bush was capable of doing that. my personal view when it happened was i was afraid. i think mccain would seize upon it to talk about himself. the story behind his and his wife's adoption from an orphanage run by mother teresa. instead of saying hold on, here's what i want the people of south carolina and america to know about me, instead he said bush did this. and shame on bush. and i have no evidence that bush did it. but, you know, shame on bush. and as a result, it was the hole mindset. it wasn't just this one evidence. that kind of add to and made itself evident in other says that's south carolina than i talk in the book and lost the primary and hence lot the nomination in the presidential election. >> you also had an incident to meet john mccai

what about john mccain? getting sarah palin when these two -- my god, you read about how that campaign ended. it was terrible. >> disastrous. >> well, you know, look, john mccain -- >> i'm talking about the night they lost and they were trying to push their way on the stage to speed and mccain's people were elbowing them out of the way. it was ugly. >> i'll tell you this, john mccain is bringing her back a second time tells me j.d., who i thought was pretty far behind, is a lot closer than people thought. >> pat buchanan, thanks a lot. >> thank you. >> sorry about that, willie. >>> still ahead, we have senator claire mccaskill going to be with us coming up straight head on "morning joe." right now you can get a great deal on any volkswagen. wow, the tiguan's great. mm. and the routan has everything we're looking for. plus, every volkswagen includes no-charge, scheduled, carefree maintenance. so, what's this punchdub days about? you know, where you punch someone in the arm every time you see a volkswagen. red

john mccain is in trouble in arizona. so much trouble, today he was forced to call in reenforcements. his old running mate sarah palin. our own lee cowan is in tucson for us tonight. lee, good evening. >> reporter: well, good evening, brian. as political reunions go this was awkward as the two haven't spoken all that much in the last year and a half or so. sarah palin seemed to be trying to do the best not to upstage her former boss, all the while knowing it was in large part her this crowd came to see. it's been 16 months since they shared a campaign stage. some things never change. >> we're going to take it on on november 10th when we take control of the house and the senate. >> reporter: although the podium and signs were john mccain's, it was sarah palin who stole the spotlight. >> arizona, do you love your freedom? >> reporter: she revelled in the opportunity to blast the administration. >> fidel castro likes obama care, but we don't like obama care. doesn't that kind of tell you something? >> reporter: and she drew

this time on behalf of her former running mate, john mccain.o have campaigned together since their run for the white house. >>> and new numbers from the commerce department show the economy grew at a rate of 5.6% at the end of last year. that is a slower pace and that previously reported but still the fastest gdp growth since 2003. >> people should realize that's sort of a reestimation, sort of a harder number from that original gdp number. >> but they issue the numbers early and then they revise them. >> it always seems to revise downward. >> "nbc nightly news" las been looking at the fleecing of america. our stories are about our taxpayer dollars being wasted. the debate and implementation of that $800 billion stimulus has produced accusations of both. >> have all members voted? >> when congress voted to pass that $800 billion plus stimulus bill last year, snoorkts conference report is adopted. >> almost all republicans voted against it too much spending they complained, too many nonessential programs and so-called pork projects. >> this tril

arizona senator and 2008 republican presidential candidate, john mccain, is in the fight of his politicalis in danger of using the upcoming republican senate primary to a more conservative challenger, former u.s. congressman j.d. heyworth. today mccain bringses out his biggest gun yet, sarah palin, for a campaign rally in tucson, arizona. cnn's jessica yellin is there. what is going on? spell this out for us? >> reporter: yeah, ali, pretty fascinating how quickly political fates can change. a year and a half ago, john mccain was the standard-bearer, the front-runner in the republican party, the leader, and now he needs his once obscure vice presidential candidate, sarah palin, to come into town to save him from political defeat in the primary. the bottom line is just as the republican party has broadly heard its most conservative voices speak its loudest lately, mccain has felt the same pressure here with a challenge from his right and he needs sarah palin to help him pull out a win in the republican primary later this year. and a big crowd is turning out here, mostly to see sarah palin,

are they systematically trying to drive john mccain into being mr.g to get him so mad that he starts cranking around? what are they up to with these patronizing comments about this senator from arizona, from the white house? >> well, first, chris, thank you about the book. look, with john mccain he's a special case because they have practice from the campaign of painting him as petulant and erratic and the more they can do that to any republican leader they'll do it to rush limbaugh and others as well, they want to do that because they want to see the republic led by the republican party led by people who are petulant. i think, chris, the biggest story in politics route now in the wake of health care is the white house calculation for the rest of the year. do they things substantively and politically to try to build bipartisan cooperation or what joan was suggesting? ram things through democratic-only majority. on education, on financial reform on economic development. they could make the choice, rerunning the choice they faced in the beginning of th

i was john mccain's speech writer, so -- craig said, well, i understand he doesn't use a computer, then what -- oh, no, he can -- he communicates by carrier pigeon. the only trouble is, sarah palin keeps shooting them down. that crazy bitch. >> larry: good delivery. we had this question tweeted to kingstings. we get tweeted, we get facebooked. if asked, would you do "dancing with the stars"? >> i have been asked and i said no thank you. i think cloris leachman took care of that whole department. it would be fun, i would love it. but there comes a time when i don't want to embarrass the audience. cloris did it, and she did fine. i think she's taken care of our age bracket. >> larry: you had a great marriage, didn't you? >> he was the love of my life. >> larry: he left too early. how old was he? >> allen was 64. that bloomin' baked sea got him. what you saw was what you got. he was one of the nicest, dearest people. >> larry: and a great game show host. >> oh, yes, great game show host. and what i fell in love with, what got us together was his enthusiasm. he was interested in everything.

john mccain and sarah palin joined forces again but with a new goal.e put her in the national spotlight in 2008, now she's trying to help to rescue his re- election campaign. >> it is an honor to stand beside him now and ask that you, arizona, for the sake of your state and the sake of our country, send the maverick back to the united states senate [cheering and applause] >> reporter: mccain is facing the toughest campaign since he came to the senate, conservative talk radio host and former congressman j.d. hayworth is running against him in the primary he claims he's too moderate for arizona republicans. polls show voters agree but mccain says he's the real conservative in the race. >> my favorite bumper sticker lately is please don't tell president obama what comes after a trillion [ laughter ] >> reporter: but some conservatives aren't sold. mccain has prided himself in the past for reaching across the aisle and working with democrats. that could spell trouble when arizona voters head to the polls later this year. >> right now, he really needs all t