>> a lot of things happened, mike barnicle, from south carolina. >> yes. >> to florida. >> quite a few things happened. >> right here. >> no, max is from burlington, vermont. >> are you a vermont boy? >> anyhow -- >> where's max's mom? never give mika a baby. >> he wants to hear the poll numbers. >> max, do you want to hear the poll numbers. >> he might be having some trouble. he wants to talk about it. with us onset, mike barnicle and national affairs editor for new york magazine and political analyst john heilemann. >> the late nighters and early mornings -- >> and you can tell the ones that came to see the show and the ones that came in from the clubs. >> i've never seen -- and then we'll move on -- a dress that has nothing in the back. there's nothing there, it's amazing. >> let's ask you this quickly as we're trying to sort out which of the south beach viewers are our fans and which ones are from the clubs. the ones with the glow sticks

mike barnicle what, did you learn?freshing to see a terrific filmmaker like ed burns making stories, putting them on film that are easily accessible to people and are about normal things that happen in life. >> easy to make, too. >> wes? >> earlier you asked a question about football field is. no official answer, between 100 yards and

mike barnicle and then dr.tions that we all are a part of. we always want more and we want it now. when it comes to medicine and the cost of medicine, and i myself have been guilty of this in the recent past. you want the latest test, you want them to use the latest machine, most expensive machine. how does that factor into the rising cost of health care? and how can we address it if it does? >> well, that expectation and patient demand factors in with the fact that doctors make money to exceeding to the demands and giving patients those advance tests even when they make no difference. and i think this is the important thing. no one is talking about or should be talking about cutting medical treatments that work, that really are effective for patien patients. but we're paying for a lot of stuff that's not proven to be better or is proven not to be better. and i wrote a couple of weeks ago in the new yorks times about therapy for prostate cancer not proven to be better. costs medicare about twice as much as regu

and we also have financier and "morning joe" economic analyst steve rattner with us, mike barnicle backethnic slurs have been coming out of the -- >> mike murphy goes to a bar, he goes to a bar. what do the polish do at 11:00 -- >> we go to the bar. we're good. >> you got an e-mail from dan senor. it has the menu. he likes the black angus filet, he says it's pricey, but if your guy keeps speaking mandarin on stage -- >> i had a bet saying he would get double digits in new hampshire. if you look at new hampshire, is this a question of how well romney does and whether huntsman can go on after new hampshire? that's what it boils down to -- >> yeah, but it's a hard thing. to me the magic moment was what huntsman said to romney yesterday when he came back at him about there's something wrong with serving the president of the united states when he calls you to duty. and you spent years over there as a mormon missionary and you're asked to do it and there's something wrong with that? i think -- i don't think that gets you elected, but certainly excites me, the fact somebody can still stand up

. >> look, yesterday, mike barnicle, you've got mitt romney singing "america the beautiful."the entire speech and not find anything of substance in that, that stump speech that he gives day in, day out. that americans haven't heard before. that floridians will listen to and go, you know what, he gives me a reason to hope that we're going to turn this economy around. and then you've got newt gingrich as well. spinning wildly about kosher food and, i mean it's so small. both sides. >> you know well i think there are a number of things wrong with the political process lately and it's all being magnified in the republican primaries. one of the major things that's gone wrong is the way we cover politics. politics is now over the last ten years, has become so intertwined with our culture, that the media doesn't really cover the cultural aspect of campaigns. it sticks with the politics. so it will cover mitt romney singing "america the beautiful" or referencing newt gingrich talking about kosher food being unavailable to seniors in massachusetts. instead of they go out and do mortga

hey, your neighbor's here, mike barnicle. >> governor, first of all, congratulations on winning last n the week when inevitably the "manchester union leader" will have a front-page editorial and a picture within the front page editorial of you and ted kennedy signing the massachusetts health care bill. what's your response going to be? >> you know, i understand it's going to be coming from all different directions. and i'm very proud of the fact that what i did for my state i think was right for my state. and people in that state agree. one thing i want to make very clear, i'm going to repeal obama care. i understand health care pretty well, and what obama care does for the nation is absolutely wrong. people don't want it. if i'm president of the united states, i'm going to stop it in its tracks on day one. i understand people are going to try to tear me in various directions. but don't forget, i ran four years ago and mike huckabee and i were the conservative alternatives in the race. i'm a conservative republican, i'm proud of those roots and i'll be getting ready for a campaign i k

with us on set we have msnbc contributor, mike barnicle. >> i like mike barnicle imitating mitt romney. here he goes. >> stop it. >> warning, warning. you remember "lost in space." >> donny remembers "lost in space." mitt romney, holy cow. >> scarf? >> i don't know -- seriously -- >> yeah scarf. >> what's so exciting is, seriously, you know the guys over at "the today show" -- can you call matt and tell him we found waldo. he doesn't have to travel all across the globe any more. >> are you guys making fun of me? they all told me to wear it. >> it's an ali mcgraw, "love story." >> i think it was sent to you because it's the crimson. >> so newt last night, man. holy cow -- boom, frasier's down. he gets back up. boom! i'm sorry, newt just keeps getting up. boom! he hops right back up. >> it does matter. and it matters, because while mitt romney has the organization, and the money, newt gingrich has a 30-year brand, 40-year brand in republican politics, that apparently can just plow right over one problem after another. >> how would you characterize that grin? >> as an outsider. as -- a re

>> jorge -- >> mike barnicle also with us.et's start with president obama starting his day in nevada. starting a battleground tour for the 2012 election. he'll start in vegas where he'll lay out his policy. the president visited a plant in iowa yesterday where he called on congress to provide tax breaks to companies that hire american workers rather than sending jobs overseas. according to the latest nbc news "wall street journal" poll, there are new signs, as joe said, the president's message may be connecting with voters. the poll shows now 48% of americans approve of the way president obama is handling his job, his first positive rating in that poll in seven months where he hasn't been upside down. 48% approve, 46% disapprove. on the economy, 45% approve, that's up six points just from december. the poll also shows that 30% say the country is headed in the right direction, that's an eight-point improvement from december. 60% still say, though, the country is headed on the wrong track. joe, what do you read into those number

in the end it was -- >> mike barnicle did that outside. >> just 20 minutes ago. >> i don't get that. >> he took over the top ranking last year, he's now won the past three grand slam tournament titles, yochovich. >> hey, mike, don't do that after the show. >> well, shell caught me on the sidelines with my shirt off just before we came in. >> well, you've been showing enough skin according to the tweets out there. >> we buttoned it up. >> michael steele joins us here for the must-read opinion pages. you're watching "morning joe" live from south beach. ♪ [ male announcer ] from our nation's networks... ♪ ...to our city streets... ♪ ...to skies around the world... ♪ ...northrop grumman's security solutions are invisibly at work, protecting people's lives... [ soldier ] move out! [ male announcer ] ...without their even knowing it. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. this is mary. who has a million things to pick up each month on top of her prescriptions. thankfully, her walgreens pharmacist recommended a 3-month supply. now, mary gets 3 refills in one and for 3 months she'

with us onset, we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle. nice to see you, mike. you look nice today. and chairman of deutsch incorporated donny deutsch is here, as well. >> what's going on, donny? >> look at him. >> that's my -- >> he's an ad guy. >> he is. >> i'd love to know what he thought. the marketing guy. >> i thought it was a wonderful speech. >> it was america the beautiful, baby. >> you thought it was wonderful. >> pledge of allegiance, it was all there. the few versus the many. that's all it. and all you had to see was the republican response to know that the republicans are in a corner. if deficit reduction is going to be their answer to fairness, they've got a problem. >> well, there you go. >> i wouldn't say taking care of the debt is an answer to fairness, it's an answer, though, to -- >> you're right, but -- by the way, when you're a guy who says, hey, look, 4 million jobs lost before i took office, 4 million before my policies took place, 3 million new jobs, i put a bullet in the bad guys' head and isn't it time we get fair as a country and relive the american dream?

it's just going to -- >> mike barnicle, it is going to be. of the rest of mitt romney's campaign. he's going to win today but tomorrow morning something is going to happen. i can't wait to talk to him about it when he comes in here in a little bit. he's actually going to start being attacked. this has been a really strange campaign because all the conservatives who have been attacking each other and letting romney stay in his own lane, that ends if newt comes after him. >> this, joe, is a newspaper guy's definition of heaven. we're just about to go to new hampshire. mitt romney's back yard, his adopted home state. it will be a tension convention with newt gingrich slamming him left, slamming him right, slamming him 24 hours a day. and when you put that recipe -- >> and the union -- >> doubling up on romney because they've endorsed newt gingrich. when you put newt's background into the equation given his -- he'll have ample opportunities for making a monumental gaffe verbally, rhetorically. >> yeah. >> i can't wait to get to new hampshire. >>

msnbc contributor mike barnicle with us. msnbc and time magazine -- mark haleprin is with us. and where's willie? what happened? >> i don't know. >> that was fun doing his show. we should do that every day. >> why? >> that show. that little show he does. >> willie has a show? >> yes, he does. >> you don't remember. >> that was before christmas. no, but for people who are new to the show over the past two or three years. this have where it all began. >> this is it. >> and we talk about the moment the show took off was the moment we were in java joes. first of all, i've got to say, phil wasn't going to bring us here. he wouldn't let us come four years ago. and so we said, phil, we're going, and you can bring the cameras if you want. and he brought the cameras and had us on for 18 hours a day. but we came here and mike barnicle, the moment that things really took off was when your buddy -- picture behind you on the wall there, tim russert left the civic center where they wouldn't let us go and came through the front door and goes, hey, you mind if i come in and hang out? of cours

back with us mike barnicle looking handsome today. do you have tube socks on?> bottom line, though? >> rick santorum had a great performance. >> mitt romney was pretty darn good, and newt gingrich didn't show up. it was one of the stranger store lines of this republican campaign. asked afterward by the press in the spin room, where people basically say candidates had vomited on their lapels had a stellar night, newt gingrich's spokesman -- >> that's terrible. >> qush was asked why wasn't he more aggressive? the answer -- i don't know. and then they asked fred thompson why wasn't newt more aggressive? "i don't know." >> that's a good answer. >> it was pretty surreal. mark halperin. >> he's exploring space. >> what got into newt last night? >> in the immortgage at words of fred thompson -- i don't know. >> wasn't that strange? >> i think the answer is the romney campaign for the last few days executed perfectly to discombobulate him, to push back and he was on the defensive all night, and the few times he went on the eavesive, romney pushed back. >> he let a lot

and still with us, steve ratner and mike barnicle. shall we go straight to the polls?at primary day here. mitt romney, still holding a commanding lead in that. he's 13 points ahead of his challengers with 33% support. ron paul coming in second with 20% support among likely primary voters. they're followed by jon huntsman, newt gingrich and rick santorum polling just over 10% for a statistical tie. buddy roemer and rick perry round out the field, both polling in the very low single digits. >> you look at the numbers and mitt romney clearly far ahead, he's got 13 points, but we've talked about this before, any politician running for office, michael steele, is looking at one thing, and that is, trend lines. >> the right. >> and this isn't a knock against mitt. he's got the best organization. i think he's in great shape. but you look at the fact that he started at 40 and then 39 and enthen 38. i'm casting no judgment on what's going to happen here. i'm telling you if i'm a front-runner that started the week at 40 and ending up at 33, i'm nervous. >> you've got to notice, p

mike barnicle? >> that andrew ross sorkin cannot go home and face his children. [ laughter ] thanks to you. >> joe, what did you learn? >> and i learned that washington, d.c. should follow howard dean and me when it comes to keeping debates -- i love you, howard. >> lot, if it is way too early, willy, what time is it? >> it is "morning joe." stick around for chuck todd. >>> thank you, gentlemen. moments of encouraging news on the economy appears to be sinking in with the american public a preview of our upcoming nbc news/"wall street journal" poll finds americans more could have dent about the administration and the country's direction. year-high spikes. how much will president obama benefit politically if this optimism continues? >>> and the florida race, it is neck in neck, newt gingrich, mitt romney, they hammer each other on immigration as they court florida's key cuban population. >>> also, gingrich takes heat for past infidelities, romney struggles to defend as well. >>> and do we really need

there's no reason why -- >> mike barnicle, we were together at dinner last night and both perked up during does is spin the whole occupy wall street narrative that's being used against mitt romney to actually it's the first time i've heard a republican spin it in a way that could be successful against obama. >> i agree with you. again, it gets to whether president obama's election team are going to misread the mood of the country. people are angry, frustrated. people want fairness. they don't want someone else's money. this is a country about achievement. again, i'll say it again, achievement. people go for jobs -- >> ability and achievement and being able to move up and have success. >> i want a good job, a paycheck, i want to pay for my own home, my children's tuition. i don't care what you're doing. good luck to you. i want mine. i want it to be fair. we're on a level playing field. if they misread the mood of the country and play the resentment card, that's going to be difficult. >> it doesn't work. >> because at the end of the day -- and i always talk about my dad and, you know, you t

do you think mike barnicle would be a good friend?ave another one out there also. >> mark halpern. >> these handsome men, of course. and we would like to see mika president, too. >> she's be a better president. >> ladies, thank you so much for being with us. we appreciate you coming out here so early. come back tomorrow. tomorrow stephen colbert will be back with usment we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] let's level the playing field. take the privileged investing tools of wall street and make them simple, intuitive, and available to all. distill all that data. make information instinctual, visual. introducing trade architect, td ameritrade's empowering web-based trading platform. take control of your portfolio today. trade commission-free for 60 days, and we'll throw in up $600 when you open an account. premier of the packed bag. you know organization is key... and so is having a trusted assistant. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or