an old scooby do episode. >> i helped get you your promotion, i can help get you a demotion too. okay? all right. thanks a lot. see you later. "morning joe" starts right now. . >> tonight we had an opportunity to see what a campaign looks like. when one candidate isn't outspent 10 to 1 by negative ads. this is a more accurate representation, frankly, of what the fall race will look like. governor romney's greatest attribute is, well, i've got the most money and the best organization. well, he's not going to have the best organization and the most money in the fall, is he? no, we're going to have someone with other attributes to commend themselves to the people of america. someone, someone who can get up and make sharp contrasts with president obama. someone who can point to the failed record of this administration and say that barack obama needs to be replaced in the oval office. >> that was rick santorum after winning all three primary contests last night. in colorado, the vote was too close to call until after midnight when santorum pushed ahead of romney by less than 4,000 votes. in minnesota, santorum's lead was overwhelming. the former pennsylvania senator topped his republican competition by double digits. and for the first time in the 2012 primary season, mitt romney placed third in the caucuses. and in missouri, santorum's lead over mitt romney jumped to 30 percentage points. ron paul finished in a distant third, newt gingrich was not on the ballot in the missouri primary contest. now, the missouri primary last night was non-binding with no delegates at stake, colorado and minnesota didn't officially award delegates either. the caucuses were just an initial step in determining support for a candidate. good morning, everyone, mika brzezinski and joe scarborough here. with us onset, we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle who made it over from "way too early." we have economist dr. jeffrey sachs, and editor in chief of "newsweek" magazine and "the daily beast," tina brown. and in washington, we have mark haleprin. so a great panel, but, joe, let's start with you. we have rick santorum's win. we have the hhs controversy, which continues today, as well as the vote in california, which really all ties together. put it all in perspective. >> i'll tell you what. sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. rick santorum may be good, but this week the catholic republican candidate has drawn an inside straight. and not only bad news for president obama, but bad news for mitt romney. you look at these three things that have happened. it started with planned parenthood and the planned parenthood controversy against the leading proponent of breast cancer research in the world and moved on to an hhs decision that even the "usa today" said was a dramatic overreach. and i think their quote was that the obama administration, quote, trampled on religious freedoms, violated religious freedoms, and the pullout quote is the obama administration didn't just cross the line, it galloped over it. and then, mika, yesterday, two judges in california, two federal judges overturned the results of prop 8, in the state of california, again, not a conservative state where 14 million voters went out and voted to ban gay marriage in the state. this is a state that hasn't voted for a republican presidential candidate since 1988 or a u.s. senator that's a republican since 1986. and yet a federal court stepped in and overturned that decision. so it's not like alabama or north dakota's doing this, you take all of this together and you can almost hear pat buchanan at the 1992 convention talking about culture wars. but for republicans, and i'd love to go to mark haleprin really quickly, mark, it seems to me that there's a reason rick santorum outperformed last night on what all the polls suggested. all of these things are coming one after another after another, and it's actually pushing the president and the democrats out of the mainstream of american politics. >> well, joe, there's no doubt that santorum's three victories is owed to a lot of factors, for sure what you're citing. the electorates in this contest were very conservative. they find the fire of rick santorum on social issues more appealing than mitt romney's more dry and less emotional appeal. but he also had an economic message. and that power of a social conservative message and a more blue-collar economic message in these states where romney didn't spend a lot of money, where he didn't compete was powerful. the question, obviously, is, can santorum go forward? but again, there's no doubt. as long as gay marriage and hhs controversy are in the news, santorum has a strong voice to appeal to conservatives. and as we talked about yesterday, he can talk about it in the context of the tenth amendment, states rights, washington overreach. the counter attack will be santorum's from washington. i think santorum will come back hard on that and talk about romney's ties t washington. >> mika, of course, we've talked about this before, there is a blind spot in the national media. just because of the way we're based. on some of these social issues. but there's a reason why david axelrod came on our show yesterday and said they're looking for a compromise with the catholic church. they know they need it before november. there's a reason why barack obama refuses to come out and say he supports gay marriage. he knows they're out of the mainstream. this just proves again what prime minister mcmilan said that in politics a week is a lifetime and it's been a pretty rough week for the white house and especially for mitt romney. >> i think it has. i think the messaging has been difficult, and it's been a real opportunity for the republicans. specifically in this case rick santorum. what david axelrod said in our show, the white house will tell you, and they will tell you again and again that that is no different than the plan they put in place and the hhs decision they put in place, the way they define it with the grace period that is looking for the way to work it out within that time. they're not backing down at all on their decision. >> well, you know, if they don't back down at all, that's certainly their prerogative. the president got elected 3 1/2 years ago and chances are very good if you look at the polls in swing states. if they don't back down, if they don't compromise with catholics across the country, they probably won't get reelected in the fall. >> i wonder -- >> i say that only because -- and again, i know that this enrages a lot of people that i'm actually doing political analysis -- like john madden analyzes football games. i'm not really -- you never hear me screaming about social issues here. i'm telling you, though, when you have the "usa today" gallup poll showing romney splitting the states with a lot of catholics, this is going to swing one or two percentage points if the president doesn't -- if the president's being called by "usa today" a president that is "trampling on religious freedoms," that's just not good. that's not the "national review" saying that. and the same thing with gay marriage. it wasn't 14 million voters in alabama that were overturned by two judges yesterday. i'm saying, this just plays into the worst suspicions. forget whether you think that's a good thing or a bad thing, i'm just telling you, this is going to have a real impact on middle america. >> and people need to understand, it's a prognostication as to how this is going to be translated whether or not you agree with it or not. let's get to dr. sachs on this. but first, more news on last night, voter turnout was down raising questions about republican enthusiasm heading into the general election. in colorado, votes were down a couple thousand points from 2008, but in minnesota, there was a 15,000 vote difference. and in missouri, over 340,000 more votes cast in 2008 than last night. in his last presidential run, mitt romney won the colorado caucuses with over 42,000 votes and last night he came in second with just under 23,000 votes. romney also took minnesota in 2008 with almost 26,000 votes, but last night he came in a distant third with just over 8,000 votes. >> golly. that is horrendous. >> it's horrendous. and in missouri, romney had o r over -- >> oh, my god. >> this is more of the mitt romney story in my opinion. and i want to get to haleprin on this, but let's walk through all of the issues here. because dr. jeffrey sachs, whether or not what joe is saying and what the white house is saying about the hhs decision, could ultimately be the same thing, which is looking for a different way of doing business when it comes to contraception, like, for example, the hawaii model because there may be a way to work this out. and it's not our views, it's not my views. my views is religious institution should not be forced to provide services they don't believe in. but there are ways to give people access to it without putting religious institutions into that place. i think the white house is looking for that. whether or not -- put that aside. what we think about that, put it aside. look at the votes that came in for rick santorum who is very clear and far to the right on social issues. this is an opening, this issue, is it not for republicans and the right to get a voice? >> i think this is so stunning for romney, though. basically there is no enthusiasm out there for him. and i think the national polls that pair him and the white house and obama really show that his chances of winning are really low and falling in the fall. it's stunning. >> every time he wins -- >> the big news is, this is not the white house, it will find a way to make a compromise. i think joe's right on that. but for romney, absolutely shattering that in the mainstream when now he was supposed to romp to the nomination loses three in a row. and that collapses his vote compared to four years ago is remarkable. >> tina brown? >> yeah, well, i think romney has been increasingly with the negative campaigning et cetera really begun to define himself as this 1% candidate. i think the comment about not caring about poor people, you know, the tax 14% thing. he's really being now carved out as that sort of rich guy candidate, which has not been helpful to him. and also shows the only reason to vote for romney is a sense he's supposedly competent financially executive. as soon as the conversation shifts to any other aspect of what people care about, he's nowhere. and, you know, in a campaign is a long time. you can't be just kind of one-topic candidate. i really think that, you know, there's too much that happens that comes out of the box. like this last week when all of a sudden the conversation wasn't so much the economy, it was actually the social concerns, which where romney has no -- >> and tina, let me ask you this question. could you imagine a margaret thatcher being lobbed an hhs softball, or being lobbed this gay marriage where two judges overturn the voting will of 14 million people? can you imagine what a margaret thatcher or a ronald reagan would do with this type of issue? forget the underlying issues of gay marriage and abortion or contraceptives. mitt romney can't speak the -- he can't deliver that conservative message. and i think that's really what his biggest problem is. somebody like thatcher would hit these softballs out of the park. >> i don't think there is any of that core in romney. and that's why he keeps getting exposed as a candidate. in the end, you cannot be this one-note johnny all the way through one campaign. you can't feel that every time you get thrown something that takes you off script. and that's why i don't think he's going to get anywhere. i don't. >> i've got mike barnicle here. mike then mark. >> the vote last night in these three states, you know, it reminds me of an old sports thing. don't let someone back in the game. and what happened last night, the conservative element of the republican party, they got back in the game. whether it's rick santorum, newt gingrich, ron paul, or whatever, i think they got back in the game. they are now energized that wing of the republican party, joe, i think is now energized. much more so than it was 24 hours ago because of what happened last night. >> the social issues. there's always that hot thing that keeps rising up. >> true. >> joe, go. >> and the crazy thing is in this case, mark haleprin, it seems to be the left that is reengaging in fights and they don't need to reengage in. but let's talk about mitt romney for one minute. the guy's been running for president for the better part of six, five, six, seven years. and you look at those vote totals and it's absolutely staggering. in one state he got about 33%, 35% of the votes he got four years ago. you can't spin that, can you? this guy is being rejected by the republican base. >> well, they are spinning it, and they're right about a couple of things in boston. one is they did not compete in these states the way they have in the states they won. they didn't spend a lot of money, they didn't have tv ads, didn't systemically set out to destroy the person who stood in their way. santorum now has an opportuni opportunity -- but you've got to look at the calendar going forward. the romney campaign's right, this is about delegates. the santorum campaign won no delegates yet. can either of them use the map, the calendar coming up to beat romney in places where he and his super pac spend a lot of money? he's the favorite to win this nomination, but they have a chance in michigan and arizona coming up at the end of the month. one or both of them to try to do more damage to romney. if i could say one thing about the abortion thing and the vulnerability of the white house here on the catholic church, clearly now they have to move politically. they must make an accommodation. the danger sign comes from what we saw in the fight with planned parenthood, which is the left will go crazy. just no matter what the compromise is, there'll be elements of the left who will go crazy and say the president's turned his back on the rights of women. that's a real warning sign for them as they try to navigate the next step politically. and santorum and to the lesser extent gingrich will be there every step of the way. >> joe? >> and let me tell you, mika, you can almost -- wait a second, you didn't see star wars -- haleprin, you can almost sense the emperor landing on the death star and saying -- have we aimed the laser at arizona and rick santorum? they're already planning to destroy rick santorum, which, again, in the short-term may give him the victory and the long-term might make him unelectable in the fall. >> it just might. mike barnicle, go. >> the hhs story and mark alluded to, you know, abortion and contraception. that's the tip of the story. that's the headline of the story. but the real reason the white house is going to have to compromise here and compromise quickly is reality. if you take catholic teaching hospitals, catholic charities, and all the services of the catholic church in this country provides to the poor, the hungry, the ill of all faiths. if you take them out of the equation because of this ruling and what's remedied, you're going to have a collapse of the social network system in this country. >> well, there certainly is a lot of reason why it should work. there are people who are not catholic who work at catholic hospitals who need to -- and they don't have options of other jobs, it's not high-level positions, who should be able to get their coverage and the health care that they consider health care that's important for them, but they don't have to get it from the institution itself. there is a way to work this out. and it seems to me that the white house is clear on that, but it's still an opportunity for republicans to seize on. is it not, dr. jeffrey sachs? it's a great opportunity. i don't get hhs timing right now. >> well, these are big bureaucracies and they're operating on plans that aren't necessarily based on the primary week. >> right. >> i think they'll find a way to compromise for the reasons that everybody is saying. but i think there's another point that is worth bringing up today because it's also topical in the last 24 hours. that's what mark haleprin said. romney didn't spend big money. the super pacs weren't there. think of the role of the super pacs in each of these weeks how the big money is having such an influence and obama's decision yesterday, okay, i'm in it too, start pouring in the money. basically our politics are rotten and getting worse because where you win is where you're able to -- >> are you angry the president's doing this? >> of course. >> what do you expect until the rules are changed? how do you win? >> i think the president actually doesn't have to play the game exactly the way that the opponents do. and i expected more of the president to help lead real reform. how are we ever going to get reform if each side is saying we have to break every norm, every standard, every promise because the other one's doing it. >> isn't politics about saying, hey, i'll win this and then i'll reform it. >> of course it is. >> that always happens -- >> it's clear why it's happening, but our system is so broken, so corrupted that how do we get out of it? >> that was the other big story this week so far we're following and that is the president aligning himself in a super pac. having said that, many say how do you -- how do you even engage if you don't have the same tools? maybe as an incumbent he had an opportunity. >> he did. >> who knows. coming up, we'll talk to last night's big winner, rick santorum, also pat toomey of pennsylvania, as well as kareem abdul-jabbar. up next, the top stories in the politico playbook. but first, todd santos with a check on the forecast. todd? >> good morning. the set up across the east today, a chance for a few snow showers to make in toward d.c. it's a little bit of rain maybe mixing in there. there's a look at a quick-moving system. it's a three-hour loop and making good progress across portions of ohio. a quick 1 to 3 for a few areas. philly may be in the 1 to 2 inch range. part of that, not just the quick-moving nature of the storm, but temperatures very borderline. well above freezing, 32 back in pittsburgh, southern pa., those winter weather advisories go through this weekend. we'll see the chance for that 1 to 3 inches, d.c. just outside of the advisory. and there's a look at the forecast for today. few flakes mix in around new york, but a light drizzle later on today. we'll check in with weather in a little bit. รค%-;n for now, more "morning jo coming your way next. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about how some companies like to get between ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you and your money. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we believe your money should be available ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 to you whenever and wherever you want. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 which is why we rebate every atm fee worldwide. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 and why our mobile app lets you transfer funds, ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 execute trades, even deposit checks just by ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 taking a picture, right from your phone. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck and put those barriers behind you. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 hey, it's sandra -- from accounting. peter. i can see that you're busy... but you were gonna help us crunch the numbers for accounts receivable today. i mean i know that this is important. well, both are important. let's be clear. they are but this is important too. 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