we worship god's son jesus christ. >> do i agree with his statement that america -- i believe in freedom of religion and all religions are welcome and should be, and i think i made that pretty clear throughout my campaign. >> we've got both campaigns covered for you this morning. peter alexander is with the romney campaign in chicago. ron matta is with the santorum camp, and he joins us from gettysburg, pennsylvania. let's start with you this morning. rick santorum, the underdog, strong underdog in this contest. his campaign is doing well, but they've had some slip-ups over the past 48 hours. how well does he need to do tonight to really stay in this game with the momentum that he has gathered all the way through? >> hey there, thomas. well, it's all about momentum for this campaign. when you are fighting a grassroots effort like they are, momentum brings victories. victories bring cash, and that's what they'll need in this campaign going forward. that's probably why we're in gettysburg and not in illinois today. they don't probably think they can win here. the late polls show he is down double digits in illinois, and we don't know what he will say tonight tonight, but it's also the land of the lincoln. i can point out that there's a race in louisiana. they hope to rebound there perhaps and get a victory there. it's probably more important than today's victory for romney perhaps is on april 3rd we have three races. d.c., maryland, and wisconsin. santorum's campaign is probably weapons inspectoring to win one of those for sure bays we go three weeks before we have races on the 24th of april. it's important for them to go through that spell with some sort of victory, and that's what they're going to be looking for, and perhaps that's what they're going to be talking about tonight. >> ron mott, thanks so much. mitt romney not waste anything time pouncing on the political gift from rick santorum on the unemployment front. >> i'm concerned about the people that are out of work. one of the people who is running also for the republican nomination today said that he doesn't care about the unemployment rate. that doesn't bother him. i do care about the unemployment rate. it does bother me. >> nbc's peter alexander is live in chicago. so, peter, the odds are in mitt romney's favor, and if we look at the money that he spent, he has taken santorum nearly 7-1 in dlaz in illinois, but his first read put it out, it's about the margin, and he needs a decisive win here. >> well, i think that's what a lot of people are anticipating. this would be one of those opportunities for mitt romney to say to the core republicans, look, i didn't just win in illinois. i won by a lopsided margin. even 50% of the vote. his senior advisors said to me earlier this morning -- they said we think this race is a lot closer than the double digit lead you're hearing about in recent polls. obviously, they're anxious to have a loss in the eyes of the narrative, even if they actually win here in the state of illinois given the fact that rick santorum didn't fill out slates for delegates and four of the congressional districts here. there's a good chance romney wins the delegates, but doesn't win the storyline. that's a concern. we're trying to make it very clear that they come away with a win, no matter what happens here. nonetheless, as they continue their focus going forward, their focus remains on barack obama. the president's backyard, of course, is chicago, and yesterday mitt romney went right into that backyard at the university of chicago attacking the president by name 12 times, thomas, in less than 18 minutes. >> he has his eyes on president obama for sure. nbc's peter alexander in chicago for us. thanks. joining me now is illinois congresswoman jan to talk more about what we're seeing in her home state. congresswoman, it's nice to have you here. you've heard the attacks on president obama about the economy directly from mitt romney and we know that illinois looks sharp, look good in november for the president, but it also has a high unemployment rate. i'll remind everybody that sits at 9.4%. that's higher than the national average. in your estimation, could mitt romney's message on the economy really stick with the people in illinois? >> well, it might, although his record on the economy is not so good. actually, massachusetts, which he likes to tout, ranked 47th in job creation when he was the governor. there was a great loss of manufacturing jobs in massachusetts when he was the governor, so while he points to his record, it's not so great. i think what's important to note about the illinois primary is that there's really two things going on. one is what we call the beauty contest when people vote among the primary candidates. santorum and romney. but the other is the hunt for delegates where, as you pointed out, that rick santorum even if he were to win every congressional district would be not able to get all of the delegates because he couldn't launch slates of delegates in four of the districts. and so he starts with a disadvantage, bu if he does very well in the beauty contest, the head-to-head, that will be a very important victory for rick santorum. >> well, we talk about the economy. there's also been a lot of social issues talked about on the campaign trail, and i want to turn our attention now to the so-called war on women. the issue of birth control coverage came up again on the campaign trail. take a listen to mitt romney's response to a question from a student. >> you're all for, like, yeah freedom and all this stuff. >> absolutely. >> yeah, pursuit of happiness. you know what would make me happy. free birth control. >> let me tell you something -- if you are looking -- if you are looking for free stuff, if you are looking for free stuff you don't have to pay for, vote for the other guy. that's what he is all about. okay? that's not -- that's not what i'm about. >> so congresswoman, what do you make of the response and then the parade of abortion, ultrasound, contraception bills that are popping up all across the country? >> well, mitt romney, i think, is trying to double down on the war on women because, of course, when he sought the support of planned parenthood, that was in 2002 for his campaign for governor. he is going the extra mile to prove that he is really against these kinds of things for women, but i'll tell you, he was on the campus of bradley university. people -- young people are completely offended by the idea that access to birth control should not be one of the preventive services that's available, much like screening for prostate cancer, making that service, birth control, available. i think that he is at great risk of losing the majority of women in this country who also happen to be the majority of voters in this country. >> congresswoman, it's fwraet to have you on this morning. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> i just want to remind everybody, you can follow all the latest right here on msnbc. we'll have coverage through the day and the evening. we move on to breaking news right now in the shooting of an unarmed florida teen that has sparked such outrage across the country. florida state attorney general norm wolfinger has announced a grand jury will investigate the debt of trevun martin. that neighborhood watchman was heard on tape during a 911 call being told not to approach the teen. family, friends, activists, they have demanded that the alleged shooter be arrested and charged in the teen's death. we'll have much more on those calls and the case. nbc's maria ski campo joins me, and the reverend al sharpton joins me as well. there is a massive manhunt going on right now in france. this after hundreds of police have been on the lookout for a gunman who opened fire outside of a jewish school yesterday killing four people. three of them children. authorities believe the suspect may have filmed this shooting and could also be responsible for shootings last week. schools observed a moment of silence this morning to honor the victims. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. do you really think brushing is enough to keep it clean? while brushing misses germs in 75% of your mouth, listerine cleans virtually your entire mouth. so take your oral health to a whole new level. listerine... power to your mouth. the sleep number bed. the magic of this bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape. wow! that feels really good. it's hugging my body. it works in a minute. i can get more support. if you change your mind once you get home you can adjust it. so whatever you feel like, the sleep number bed's going to provide it for you. at our semi-annual sleep sale, save $400 to $700 on our most popular bed sets. sale ends soon. only at the sleep number stores. where queen mattresses start at just $699. only hertz gives you a carfirmation. hey, this is challenger. i'll be waiting for you in stall 5. it confirms your reservation and the location your car is in, the moment you land. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team. >> open mouth, insert foot. there are a habit of gafs on the trail, and the candidates have been running neck and neck in all these primary contests, and neck and neck in moments that just make you go huh? >> happy birthday. should we sing that? ♪ happy birthday to you >> what's your name? it's cathy. ♪ happy birthday to you loirnz happy birthday to you happy birthday dear cathy ♪ >> i don't care what the unemployment rate is going to be. it doesn't matter to me. my campaign doesn't hinge on unemployment rates and growth rates. >> it's time now for our political power panel with doug thornell, a former spokesman for the democratic congressional campaign committee, trey, former press secretary to congressman tom davis, and msnbc political analyst richard wolf. gentlemen, it's great to have you here. doug, i want to start with you because you wrote a blog on the gaffs of the trail titled "dumb and dumber." who do you think has been the biggest gaffer in chief as we've been watching this go down? >> i think this has been the best thing for late night tv since sarah palin. it's been one gaff after another, between mitt, newt, rick. you know, it's like a trailer for the new "three stooges" movie. i'm actually surprised by mitt romney and how undisciplined he has been as a candidate and the problem for him is his ga ffs are reinforcing this image that he is out of touch with middle class ordinary americans. when he talks about not caring about the very poor. when he talks about his wife owning two cadillacs or making the $10,000 bet with rick perry. those things really help to support a narrative that democrats are trying to build around this guy not being -- disconnected with ordinary folks. >> same kwu to you, trey. who do you think has made the most mistakes that has been the soint byte dujour. >> it's want surprising to me that he went to the talking points for the dnc on mitt romney. clearly the obama campaign is worried about him most. listen, these candidates need to be better about this. in this day and age where there are gotcha moments and every word and every sentence are going to be dissected by the media, they've just got to be better about it. i can tell you as former campaign staff, it drives campaign staff crazy when some of these candidates talk too much or get off message. rick santorum doesn't have a speechwriter. he prides himself on that. this is the problem you run into when you are not being well advised or not listening to the people around you that know what -- know campaigns and know about staying on message. >> isn't it a bad narrative, though, to have all this gotcha stuff. here's the thing. people come into interviews. i don't give you the questions. any question i ask you, you can say, oh, that's a gotcha question because you're not prepped for that, and then it gets everybody side tracked. is gotcha the right way to go when candidates are just giving the answers that they feel are the ones that people want to hear? >> i'm sorry. i think you are misunderstanding me. i don't mean gotcha in temz of gotcha questions. i'm talking about in this new social media world where everyone has smartphones, everyone has cameras, everyone has videos. no matter -- you know, candidates need to be careful about who they're speaking to, when they're speaking to them because every single word that they say on the campaign trail is on the record officially. that's what i mean about the gotcha moment, that it's going to appear somewhere in the media no matter what they say. >> richard, today we expect to see more numbers. i'm talking about money from fundraising. the obama camp has disclosed that it raised $45 million last month. that's more than romney's campaign. they did $11.5 million. still big numbers here, but president obama also trumping romney's campaign fundraising for all the quarters last year. richard, do you think that romney is going to be able to sustain this long running campaign, or is he burning through money because of this primary? >> well, i think his campaign is going to be struggling as it has been, but then he has these tremendous resources in the super pac, and the mismatch between his campaign and the super pac, i think, is going to be a problem moving forward because while he'll have the resources, and i imagine this is going to be a zero sum game between the obama campaign and if it is the romney campaign as we all pretty much expect, as the republican nominee, they'll cancel each other out, but super pacs are really unpopular. the idea of the lack of disclosure, of big money people, it's unpopular with republicans, democrats, and especially independents. they don't like any of this stuff. if the super pac ends up overshadowing the romney campaign moving forward, it will be a problem that really puts into a sharp perspective the question of funding and romney's own resources as well. >> doug, on that point of big money, the washington post, though, is reporting today that president obama is struggling to draw in these big dollar donations with half as many people writing large checks to his campaign than they did this time four years ago. some bundlers have stopped supporting him entirely. can he count on smaller donors throughout the country to pull him through? >> well, he is counting on them, and i think those are the people who are powering his campaign. 98% of his donations come from folks who contribute about $250 or less. if you look at mitt romney, that figure is 10%. all of the money that mitt romney is getting is from a lot of big donors. it would be nice if i would also point out it would be nice if mitt romney disclosed who his bundlers are. that's something he hasn't done. overall, you know, the problem i think for mitt romney is he is really burning through a lot of money. you know, his cost per delegate right now is over $90,000 per delegate. when you look at rick santorum, he is spending about $28,000 per delegate. he is having to spend in a lot of states he probably didn't anticipate. so what does he have to show for it? his favorable numbers are really low, and his independent numbers are really low, so that's a real problem for mitt romney. >> i want to get your take on this because obama campaign senior advisor david axelrod was on "the daily rundown" this morning. he had to say, though, about the money and super pacs. >> there's a lot of money massed on the other side. particularly in the super pacs that are carrying the load for romney in this primary season. so we're concerned about that, and we're going to continue to urge people not to be complacent and to take this very seriously. >> all right. here's where both sides go like this when it comes to the super pac. they point this way and that way and try to call each other out. do you think democratic complace ensy is a real risk for the president's re-election? >> thomas, listen, talking about money and politics is petty because i'll take issue with what richard said. the people -- american people do not care. if you look at the polling numbers, they never cared about campaign finance. it never polled high on across the country or in campaigns. they expect money to be in politics. there is going to be a ridiculous amount of money that is raised and spent before this campaign is over, and it's going to be historical, and it's just a fact. it's going to be raised by both sides. at the end of the day the american people assume it's going to be in politics, and they just don't care. >> richard, do you want to just get in there real quickly? do you think americans are worried about elections being bought? >> the polling on super pacs is really clear. 70%, 80% disapproval. they may not care about it compared to unemployment. if it's the kind of campaign then it does have resonance and does break through, but, sure, there are other things that voters are going to decide about if it reinforces a story or a judgment about the candidate, you got a problem. >> all right, gentlemen. thanks so much. doug, trey, richard, i appreciate it. it is official, the broncos are going to announce this afternoon that quarterback peyton manning will head to the mile high city this afternoon. the contract details being wording out. after being released on march 7th manning became one of the most sought after free agents in the nfl. where does that leave current quarterback tim tebow? once the manning deal becomes official, denver will try to trade that popular player. we want to protect the house. right. but... home security systems can be really expensive. so to save money, we actually just adopted a rescue panther. i think i'm goin-... shhh! we find that we don't need to sleep that much. there's an easier way to save. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions, such as tongue or throat swelling, occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. then get lunesta for $0 at lunesta.com. there's a land of restful sleep. we can help you go there on the wings of lunesta. or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business, it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities. that's why we extended $6.4 billion in new credit to small businesses across the country last year. because the more we help them, the more we help make opportunity possible. ♪ you are me i'm jennifer hudson and i believe. i was strong before weight watchers, but i'm stronger with it. i believe weight watchers can do the same for you. i believe you have more power than you think you do. i believe because it works. ♪ if you want it you got it your turn. your time. your year. [ female announcer ] join now for free. hurry, offer ends march 24th. weight watchers points plus 2012. because it works. welcome back. a man attempting to sell himself as a businessman in chief is hammering away at the current command ner chief's economic record. on the president's home tufb of illinois yesterday, mitt romney accused the president of attacking americans' economic freedom. >> the obama administration's assault on our economic freedom is the principle reason why the recovery has been so temped and why it couldn't meet their expectations. if we don't change course now, the assault on freedom could damage our economy and the well being of american families for decades to come. >> joining me this morning from chicago is the obama campaign's national press secretary ben labolt. ben, it's nice to see you this morning. >> thanks for having me back. >> absolutely. let's get through this because mitt romney has been talking about the president doing this really hard during the next 48 hours. is the president confident, ben, to run on his own economic record for re-election? >> there are a lot of specifics about what his plans are, or his record in massachusetts because he can't run on those. massachusetts lagged behind during his denture. it started off as 35th and when he left office it was 47th. he says there will be less debt. well, debt went up to over 16%. over 16% by the time that mitt romney left office, and he raised taxes on middle class families an average of $750 million a year. he is trying to sell us somebody that he isn't. >> ben, real quickly, though, is the akillies heel for president obama and re-election not having the unemployment rate at 8%? having it below that? >> well, i got to tell you, when the president came into office, we were losing 750,000 jobs a month. he has now created nearly four million private sector jobs. >> all right. let's turn now to health care, though, because this is another hot button issue out on the campaign trail. it is the second anniversary of the affordable care act. also called obama care by detracto detractors. the rnc has released an ad attacking it. take a listen to this. >> higher costs for patients, higher costs for taxpayers, another broken promise by obama. >> all right. so the gop has used obama care to fire up the conservative base. it's the first thing that congressman paul ryan talked about when he introduced his new budget plan this morning and repealing obama care. is the campaign ready to depend it, all the way to the general election fight? >> absolutely, and we're in the process of making clear what the stakes are if we repeal the affordable care act. there is a report out yesterday that said that insurance companies are continuing to discriminate against women and charge them $1 billion more for their insurance each year. if mitt romney or newt gingrich or rick santorum had their way, that would continue. if they had their way, insurance companies could continue to deny you coverage if you get sick. 2.5 million young people across the country wouldn't have health care coverage if they were elected president, but it's not just limited to the affordable care act itself. last week -- >> i want to show -- we have a new poll. it shows the public opinion is not on your side. the abc news-washington post poll shows that the majority of americans, 42%, is hopeful the supreme court throws out the entire law. this is the president's signature legislation from his first term in office. if he hopes to get a second. did the white house fumble with the messaging of this? >> the american people are very supportive of what is in the law. they do not believe that insurance companies should be allowed to kick you off the roll if you get sick or deny you coverage if you have a preexisting condition. they do not believe we should deny coverage to the 2.5 million young people who are receiving it right now, but take a look at what mitt romney said last week. this isn't just limited to the affordable care act. he said that we should get rid of plant parenthood. he said he would stop federal funding for it. he was completely dismissive of the concerned illinois woman yesterday who was wondering where she could get preventive treatment if he got rid of planned parenthood. there is an op ed in the "chicago tribune" today in which a woman says if planned parenthood hadn't been there to provide her care, she wouldn't have been able to have her child because she got a condition that could potentially lead to infertility, so he is entirely overreaching on this issue, and i think that's why you have seen such a steady decline in his numbers among both women and independents. >> ben, great to see you this morning. thanks for making time for us. >> thanks for having me. >> absolutely. i just want to pass along. we do continue to follow the breaking news here on msnbc about a grand jury being convened to investigate the death of a florida teen. the u.s. department of justice and the fbi also both launching their own independent investigations. the reverend al sharpton will join me next as well as a full report from msnbc's maria to talk about the details of the case. c'mon dad! i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. [ horse neighs ] hold up partner. prilosec isn't for fast relief. try alka-seltzer. it kills heartburn fast. yeehaw! i'm michael bazinet, president of creative digital imaging of bangor, maine. we have customers all over the united states. we rely on the postal service for everything that we do. the eastern maine processing facility is vital to our operation and our success. if we lose this processing facility we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times. we would have to consider layoffs as a result of that. closure of this plant will affect all of us. ♪ breaking news we continue to follow now. the killing of an american teen arousing action newsingtory get the attention of not just federal investigators but now a grand jury. as both the u.s. justice department and the fbi investigate the killing of trevan martin. a grand jury will also be empanelled to examine that case on april the 10th. all this a day after protesters called for the arrest of a self-appointed neighborhood watch leader who allegedly shot the teen as he walked home from a convenience store after ignoring police requests to leave him alone. the teen's father calls this an insult. >> my son was being attacked. he wasn't the aggressor in this instance, and the police department is trying to make george zimmerman out to be the victim, and the victim is clear trevan martin, who is dead in the grave. >> not a lot of answers. maria joins me now to talk more about this. mara, i understand there's this new controversy surrounding something we hear from the elongated 911 tape with the watchman. >> yeah. thomas, by now most of us have heard portions of the 911 call george zimmerman made describing trevan martin as suspicious. did he go farther than that? after listening to the tapes more closely, some believe they can hear zimmerman referring to the florida teen with a racial slur. we're not comfortable using that word, but it's a derogatory term for african-americans. we normally wouldn't air this offensive language either, but we wanted to make sure that you could hear it and you can form your own opinion about what was said. let's take a listen to that now. >> he is running. on. >> he is running. which way is he running? >> down towards the entrance to the neighborhood. >> okay. which entrance is that that he is heading towards? >> the back entrance. [ bleep ]. >> now, we know that went by pretty fast. what we're going to do is rerack that audio and play it for you one more time so you can listen to it again. let's take a second listen to that. >> he is running. >> which way is he running? >> down towards the entrance of the neighborhood. >> okay. which entrance is that that is he heading towards? >> the back entrance. [ bleep ]. >> it's that kind of under his breath mutterance that we're referring to. we did boost the audio so you are better able it hair it. it's unclear exactly what was being said, but some say they do hear that derogatory term and demonstrates that zimmerman was, in fact, racially profiling martin when he called police. zimmerman has maintained he shot mart news 10 self-defense, and his family has maintained he is not a racist. thomas. >> mara, thanks so much. joining me now in studio is the host of msnbc's politics nation and civil rights activist reverend al sharpton. it's nice to see you this morning. i know you have been very involved with learning about this case, but i do want to talk to you about the larger issue of race and the police response in this case. where is the conversation going? >> well, i think the conversation is that the sanford police has to really explain why this young man was not arrested. he called the police department. he was clearly told on the tape there's no need to raise the volume there. he clearly told don't follow him. he followed him anyway. he killed him, and he says it was self-defense. yet, there's no threat there when the police gets there, there's no weapon, there's no drugs, there's no crime, so why wasn't he arrested? there's probable cause there to make an arrest. >> you're talking about george zimmerman. he is the man that we heard on that tape. his background, he is hispanic. he and his family, friends, they claim he is not a racist, but we have some more of that audiotape, the 911 call. take a listen. >> something is wrong with him. yep. he is coming to check me out. he has something in his hands. i don't know what his deal is. >> okay. let me know if he does anything, okay? >> he is [ bleep ]. they always get away. >> are you following him? >> yeah. >> okay. we don't need you to do that. >> are you following him? we don't need you to do that. this 911 tape is roughly four minutes long. if you hear this and if this was a white teen, how do you think the comparisons, the contrasts might be different? >> i think that the feeling that many of us had and the father said on my show and the lawyer is that he would have been -- if there had been a black kid that killed i white teen, the feeling is that he would have been automatically arrested. you must remember, we saw a prosecutor here arrest the head of the imf when there was an accusation made and there was physical evidence something happened. probable cause is what police operate on. police do not have to have a conviction. they have to have probable cause. clearly, there's probable cause to arrest zimmerman. >> when we talk about the details of this case, abc news has this exclusive that trevan was on the phone with a female friend, moments, just moments before he was killed. this female friend says that trevan was frightened, thought he was being stalked and knew he was being followed, so do you think that we're dealing with a person here when we talk about george zimmerman that needs to be examined for where he stands in terms of his beliefs, you know, societial beliefs, if the audio, you know -- if people can prove that there is that racial term used. it looks like he is somebody that's carrying a gun with a motive. >> we are told that george zimmerman had made 46 calls to police reporting incidents since january of 2011. clearly, you have an over zealous guy. the question becomes which you raised is what was his motive, and going back to the police department in sanford, what did they question him? they questioned him that night and let him go. did they drug test him? did they test him for alcohol? this did d they question his motive? that is why we want a justice department review. not only on zimmerman violating the civil rights of this young man he killed, but what did the police department do that determined they let this guy just walk out of there when they have a young man dead? who they allowed to lay in the medical examiner's office dead for three days never identified him, never picked up the dead man's cell phone to call the last person he called. just let him sit there like he was worthless. that's why we're going in there tomorrow night to -- on thursday night to protest. >> one thing, reverend, i want to remind everybody about. in the stauf florida it has a law on the books called "stand your ground." we did research back in 2005. opponents of this first of its kind of law said that it wouldn't be long before we see shoot-outs. shoot-outs in the streets. all of this in the name of self-defense. does this go too far, and is this why zimmerman isn't being arrested? >> well, if that is the case, then it's a classic reason why the law needs to be changed and we're going to be raising that question. i raise another question. suppose if trevan had stood his ground? who would have been right there? again, you're not dealing with a policeman. we don't even know this guy was identified. supposed if trevan, as the witness that went to abc said, felt he was being stalked and attacked. supposed he turned around and defended himself. would the sanford police have been as hands-off on trevan as they are on zimmerman who killed trevan. that's why civil rights activists are involved. >> we will see you there on thursday. >> we'll be having a rally with the family at the first baptist church in sanford right where it happened. >> you can always catch the reverend week night evenings right here when he hosts "politics nation" at 6:00 p.m. on msnbc. reverend, thanks again. >> thank you. >> paul ryan is making the rounds inside the beltway promoting a new house gop budget that could spark another partisan battle that bleeds into voting this fall. right now chairman ryan discussing that plan at the american enterprise institute, and in the last hour he laid out his fiscal blueprint on capitol hill. take a listen. >> this year we offer again our path to prosperity. we propose we repeal the president's disastrous health care law. we preserve the guarantee for today's seniors so they can count on the benefit that they organize the retirement around and we preserve that guarantee going into the future for tomorrow's seniors by empowering them with choices. >> not wasting any time. the white house is already out with a response saying, in part, "the house budget once again fails to test balance, fairness, and shared responsibility. instead of strengthening medicare and the house budget would end medicare as we know it." new york congressman and democratic congressional committee chairman steve israel joins me now. sir, i want to start with your reaction straight off the bat from chairman ryan's comments. do you see this as empowering seniors? >> no, i see this as destroying medicare for seniors. this budget can best be described as more for big oil companies, less for seniors. by the way, despite what mr. ryan is saying, we've just received hot off the presses -- we've received the actual budget resolution that he has produced. it is word for word, sill bell for silla bell, verb for verb identical to the budget resolution he produced a year ago which would have ended medicare as we know it. it is day jew view all over again, and they are doubling down on their plan to end medicare as we know it. they said if years ago. they wanted it to wither on a vine. this does just that. >> congressman, as you say doubling down on that plan. i do want to play something that chairman ryan said earlier today on "morning joe." >> i think the wrong thing just from a political standpoint is ducking this issue, is evading responsibility, is failing to fix this crisis and bring us closer to a debt crisis. >> all right. ducking the issue, taking us closer to a debted crisis. what's your response? what are democrats offering that fixes our debt, protects medicare over the long-term? >> well, how about the right and fair priorities. how about we agree that we do have a debt crisis. how about if we ask big oil companies to come up with a nickel more? their budget allows us to continue to subsidyize big oil companies $40 billion over ten years. when they're already making recordbreaking profits, and then ask seniors to be the first to sacrifice. the first to engage in this risky experiment called premium support. if there's a debt crisis, and there is, let's address it together in a commonsense way by asking for shared sacrifice. not asking seniors and the middle class to bare the brunt of that crisis and allowing oil companies and billionaires to get off absolutely scot free. >> thanks so much. we appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> we're going to be back right after this. shazi: seven years ago, i had this idea. to make baby food the way moms would. happybaby strives to make the best organic baby food. in a business like ours, personal connections are so important. we use our american express open gold card to further those connections. last year we took dozens of trips using membership rewards points to meet with farmers that grow our sweet potatoes and merchants that sell our product. vo: get the card built for business spending. call 1-800-now-open to find out how the gold card can serve your business. 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 to fund economic and environmental recovery. we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years. thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i'm glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. we're committed to the gulf for everyone who loves it, and everyone who calls it home. oh. let's go. from the crack, off the backboard. [ laughs ] dad! [ laughs ] whoo! oh! you're up! oh! oh! so close! now where were we? ok, this one's good for two. score! [ male announcer ] share what you love with who you love. kellogg's frosted flakes. they're gr-r-eat! >> that is new segment for you. called bet you didn't know. i hope you enjoy it. watch. ♪ newt gingrich and ron paul are still running for president. bet you didn't know. [ applause ] >> had no idea. >> all right. so you know now, right? late night poking fun at gop presidential hopefuls, newt gingrich and ron paul. the two have all but disappeared from the trail, and then lagged in the polls. yet, both the two remain in the race for the republican nomination. joining me now is political commentator, former radio talk show host ron reagan. it's myself to see you this morning. first up, i want to start off the gate with newt gingrich, politico in a new piece talking about cash running low, supporters getting paid. it's that gingrich leads its worth plowing ahead. why is ron paul still in this race? he does he really find himself to be a viable contender to go up against president obama? >> boy, i hesitate to try and read newt gingrich's mind. i'm not really sure that at the beginning he was running for president seriously as a serious candidate. at some point around south carolina, which, of course, he actually won, he began to get the idea that maybe he could pull this off and once that idea planted itself in its head, he is loathe to let it go. he is a man whose known for having a titanic ego, and i think that the idea of president gingrich is now dancing around in his head. i also think he probably suspects that the longer he stays many this race, the better bargaining position he will have, let's say at the convention if we enter into a broke herred convention. >> sure. reinvigorated political life. a book tour turning into a presidential campaign. who knew? next up, ron paul, who still has a reality solid and good base of grassroots support around this country, he is dead last, though, ron in the delegate count. what's his justification for still being in this and trying to hold on? >> well, ron paul has been running for president since, you know, virtually the teddy roosevelt administration. he is what you call a message candidate. ron paul never thinks he is going to win. ron paul runs so he can get his libertarian message out there to his libertarian fan base, which numbers about 10% or so, and will never grow beyond 10% or so, and he knows that. but he wants to stick around until the convention too and see if he can make some noise. >> there's a "new york times" blog that asks where are the elder statesmen basically questioning why no gop vets have stepped forward to cautiously nudge a candidate out of the race and do so in the name of the party, for the good of the party, so what's the likelihood that this is going to happen, you know, as we get closer and closer to tampa? >> well, here's the thing. if you are talking about the republican elite or elder statesmen in the republican party, most of those people are going to be in romney's camp. now, why would they, say, try to get newt gingrich to drop out of the race? because they're betting -- romney's best friend right now is newt gingrich. the longer he stays in, the more rick santorum's vote is divided, the conservative vote, is divided, and the better it is for romney. if there are elder statesmen in the republican party, they're probably telling newt you go for it, newt. we're with you all the way. >> ron reagan, great to see you this morning. thank you, sir. >> nice to be with you, thomas. the president's secret weapon turned on the charm last night on late night tv. first lady michelle obama sat down with david letterman. they talked about everything, everything, from shopping at target to the speaker of the house. take a listen. >> at the end of the day has your husband ever come home and said to you, oh, that john boehner, what an idiot? ♪ >> it has never happened. never. ever. he is always upbeat. particularly about congress. i'm a marathon runner, in absolute perfect physical condition and i had a heart attack right out of the clear blue... i'm on an aspirin regimen... and i take bayer chewables. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. he's my success story. [ laughs ] each of these events is heart wrenching and my thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by this violence, coalition and afghan alike. but i assure you, the relationship between the coalition and our afghan security forces remains strong. >> general john alan, top u.s. commander in afghanistan, speaking movements ago before a house panel about the fallout from the series of violent incidents in the region, including shooting of afghan civilians allegedly by a u.s. soldier, that soldier robert bales in u.s. custody and his lawyer says he has no memory of what happened the night he alleged allegedly snuck off his base and shot 16 people to death, including 9 children. today an important day, we come upon a major anniversary in fight for equal treatment in our armed forces, six months ago don't ask, don't tell, allows lgbt men and women to serve openly in the army and military, full military, officially repealed but that hear moistoryg moment hasn't been without drawbacks, married but are being denied benefits. to gain those rights, it's an issue of equity. one couple who joined in the lawsuit, shannon mclaughlin and her spouse casey. nice to see you. >> good morning. >> as we talk about the anniversary, aubrey said as we celebrate the success we've seen so far on don't ask, don't tell, the repeal, we know the implementation cannot be successful as long as we have two classes of service members. at the six-month mark it would be appropriate to do so. where does the case stand now? >> right now, thomas we're in a stay in the case until the end of april. so we're sort of in a holding pattern at this point. >> casey, for you, as a spouse of someone who is serving in our country's m. military what's it been like and the changes to be opened and fully recognized respect in a certain capacity within shannon's service? >> well, we're absolutely thrilled with the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. i stay at home with our twins and shannon's the sole bread winner, it was a huge weight off of our shoulders to not worry losing her job because of who she is. however we're not considered equal in the eyes of the law and that's why we're involved in this case. >> quickly, i wanted to to point out, charlie morgan, someone left embattled by the issue, she came out on our air six months ago, we wanted to have her back but she's too ill to be here because she has cancer. her case is the very essence of why this is so vital. the other legal options being considered to protect those without protection here, it r l really doesn't exist, does it? >> no, it doesn't and it's unfortunate that charlie is not able to speak with you today. i mean, what we're fighting for is access to recognition and to full benefits for all military families, whether those be health benefit, military i.d. cards, access to the base. >> one example of that is, if shannon were deployed or a military training, i wouldn't be able to bring our twins on to the base to access those resources like other military wives. >> still a great disparity. we'll continue to cover this. thanks so much for joining me today. appreciate it. shannon, i know you have a busy schedule, we appreciate your time. >> thank you very much. >> thanks. >> that's going to wrap things up for me. "now with alex wagner" comes your way next. help us with an experiment for febreze fabric refresher, they agreed. [ experimenter 1 ] relax, take some nice deep breaths. [ experimenter 2 ] at do you smell? lilac. clean. there's something that's really fresh. a little bit beach-y. like children's blankets. smells like home. [ experimenter 1 ] okay take your blindfolds off. ♪ hello? [ male announcer ] if febreze fabric refresher can freshen this couch, what can it do for yours? febreze fabric refresher -- breathe happy. the day starts with arthritis pain... a load of new listings... and two pills. after a morning of walk-ups, it's back to more pain, back to more pills. the evening showings bring more pain and more pills. sealing the deal... when, hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. it can relieve pain all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lois... who chose two aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. [ female announcer ] try aleve d for strong all day sinus and headache relief. oh! [ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ amen, omen mitt romney is putting the ill in illinois. carpet bombing airwave as head of state's primary tonight. but are there any signs the war might be ending? we are a long way from 1144, folks. it's tuesday, march 20th and this is "now" joining me today, mitt romney supporter, phil musser, co-anchor of