Transcripts For MSNBCW Morning Joe 20130301

You can use your Citi Thankyou points to travel whenever you want. Visit citi. Com thankyoucards to apply. To travel whenever you want. Capella university understands nurses are dealing with a than wider range of issues. And there are everchanging regulations. When you see these challenges, do you want to back away or take charge . With a degree in the field of healthcare or nursing from capella university, youll have the knowledge to advance your career while making a difference in the lives of patients. Lets get started at capella. Edu. Shimmy, shimmy chocolate. Shimmy, shimmy chocolate. We, we chocolate cross over. Yeah, we chocolate cross over. [ male announcer ] introducing fiber one 80 calorie chocolate cereal. Chocolate. At the top of the show, we asked you, why are you awake . John, what are the answers . Two here, james writes, im up writing my apology letter to bob woodward. And john writes, this cavens kids got talent. Were going to cue the music. Im going to do my tap dance lesson here in a second. Oh, wait. We dont have any time for that . I guess well have to do that next time. Great show back there in the control room. Morning joe starts right now. I guess the Republican Party feels like that pell grants and food stamps and the faa and Home Mortgage Interest Deduction and all this other stuff in the federal government should be shielded, but those who have been fighting the war that protects us all from radical islam should be on the chopping block. Ronald reagan should be rolling over in his grave. Shame on everybody who agreed this was a good idea on our side. Yeah. Good morning, everyone. Its sequester day. Does anyone know what that means . Friday, march 1st. I just felt the earth tilt on its axis. I did. You know what . Oh. There it was. I feel the earth move under my feet. I dont know what time it is. Does anybody care . Look whos here, eugene robinson, John Heilemann and Richard Wolffe. Look at this pulitzer prizewinning columnist from the Washington Post and political analyst, eugene robinson. And from washington wait a minute. She has been literally do you ever leave the hill, Kelly Odonnell . Seriously. This morning im in the bureau, but the rest of my life is spent in a very small booth on the hill, yes. A shot of that bureau so people will know you didnt exactly trade up. Thats a middle school. Its good to have kelly on board. It was built as a bomb shelter. I think it was. Theres that know oneostalinis. Thats comforting to know. It feels like going home. You know, kelly just said, its comforting to know it was built as a bomb shelter, because we know, the sequester. Yeah. Ronald reagans rolling over in his grave. The russians, al qaeda we should cover that story. The chinese, the head of the red army, they are coming. Lets not overcorrect. They are coming. And in the words of mike tyson, theyre going to eat our babies. This is going to be very bad. Frogs are going to rain down from the sky. I saw that tom cruise movie. Magazinolia. This stuffs going to happen. Fear and loathing. Snakes on a plane. Snalocusts descending from t heavens. It is the seventh plague, and Lindsey Graham let us know, none of us are going to be immune from this pain. Thank you, lindsey. Lets make it a good one. Lets make it a good one thats everything. The last show. Lets go. And Kelly Odonnell, youre at the bomb shelter. Tell my children that i love them. Were sorry, kelly, for him. Thank you for being here. Good to see you all. Reporting from capitol hill where youve been there 24 7 covering the story. Today 85 billion in acrosstheboard spending cuts hit federal agencies and the pentagon. The two competing plans to avert the sequester failed doomsday budget machine. Thats a better name. As was expected, in fact, the democrats plan didnt get a single vote from the republicans across the aisle. Although the budget cuts are widespread, the biggest drivers of debt and the economy are largely spared. According to the wall street journal, the government spent over 50 of the federal budget last year on medicare, Social Security, medicaid and interest on the federal debt. But the entitlement programs are almost completely untouched by the new cuts. The number of americans who receive Social Security Retirement Benefits is expected to grow 40 over the next decade. In just three years, the Social Security Disability Trust fund is forecast to burn through its reserves. And medicare funding to pay hospital bills is projected to run out by 2024. New york city mayor Michael Bloomberg is calling for more leadership from the white house. I think the mistake that was made here is we let Congress Write the Health Care Bill so that its just a collection of special interests. You got yours. He got his. And i voted for both of those because i got mine. And it doesnt make any sense. Nobodys ever read the bill. Its just not going to work. The same thing is true with dodd frank. Congress shouldnt be writing specific laws. The president should send to congress the specific law that was created by people who are experts in the field and then sell it to them. They may have to tinker a little bit here and there to get some votes, but fundamentally, the leadership has to come from 1600 pennsylvania avenue and not the other way around. Theyre the reason why, actually, and the wall street journal points this out, the reason we go from one stupid budget exercise to the other is republicans spent the last decade spending more on entitlements, you know, 7 trillion drug benefit plan. Democrats dont want to touch it. Mmhmm. When republicans touch it, they get killed. When democrats touch it, they get killed. Why cant they do it together . What are we doing . Were cutting discretionary domestic spending, the last place we should go. Were cutting defense, which i want to cut defense, but lets cut defense in a smart way. But we wont do it because everybodys afraid to talk about entitlements. Well, but, you know, i think there can be a conversation about entitlements. Its just we didnt have to go through this this exercise, this silly sequester exercise. It seems like both sides overshot. Well, undershot, i think. Undershot . You know. I think there was a bigger deal to be had in 2011, and they didnt have it, so weve kind of rolled our way to this point where were doing gratuitous harm to american citizens. You know, its kind of silly. I want to show reverend al found this. This is just a compilation of and how it works in local news, the major newspapers sometimes get stuff from the white house and from washington. Then the local newspapers run some of those articles. And then the local news use those articles as sources. And then this is what people across this is actually if New York Times gets a press release from the white house i did not say that. Lets check it out. I am. But if youre a local news guy, newswoman, news director, it goes straight from the white house unfiltered into the local channel and fear and loathing in middle america. This is what people are going to get. Meals on wheels in hastings and provides a hot meal to 80 seniors. But the possible sequestration could bring that all to a halt. Fayetteville will lose 145,000. Money that helps level the Playing Field for students in poverty. Special education would take a 91,000 hit. One of the biggest impacts for the city and frankly all of Liberty County are civilian jobs. Thousands of people get a paycheck because they work at fort stewart. More than 3,000 children take part in hillsborough countys head start program. But like many government agencies, its been bracing for cuts from the sequester. If inspectors are pulled from the line, it could slow production. That means youll be paying more for your meat. If this would go away, youre talking a lot of people that would not have a nice hot meal. Does that take you back . Your hot meals are going to be gone. And youve got to pay more for your meat. All these things are true. No, theyre not. No, theyre not. But the point is no, theyre not. Listen. Listen. Lets bottom line it. Its stupid cuts, mika. Exactly. At the ends of the day, the 85 billion in stupid cuts the cbo says will only be 44 billion in stupid cuts. Stupid cuts. 44 billion of a 3. 6 trillion. Thats one penny in stupid cuts out of a dollar of federal spending, well probably survive. But the penny we spend to inspect your meat. By the way, can i just say because John Heilemann, so many people say, this is a great point, that our government is not efficient. Maybe not 99 cents out of a dollar is efficient, but this one penny out of a dollar keeps our planes in the air, keeps our meat safe and cheap, feeds seniors, takes care of young children. Hot meals on wheels. Hot meals on wheels. Head start. Lindsey says this one penny protects us from al qaeda. Head start. Russians, the soviets from dennis rodman. If we could just harness the power of this one penny, John Heilemann, it would be efficient government. This is a dreadful penny to cut. And why we would cut with all the wasteful government spending, why we would cut this one penny, i dont get it. Why cant they get together and make real cuts . The republicans are trying to make the president do it now. Why dont they do it together . They know they have to. Thats the only way. Does anyone want to answer . Yeah, i do. Okay. If this one penny that theyre going to cut out of a dollar is so dreadful, why wouldnt the president say because id do it. Yeah, let me make the cuts. Give it to me. Ill cut the one penny. But the president balked on it. Well everybody is punting on this. I know, but if you believe, like the president believes, that this one penny out of a dollar, this 44 billion out of 3. 6 trillion thats going to be cut from the budget is going to destroy national defense, is going to endanger americans lives, and their meats going to be more expensive and seniors will be thrown out onto the street, if you guys dont have the courage to save seniors and keep meat prices low, ill step in and do it. Yes, well, youre using a very vivid illustration to make the point that theres a lot of scare talk around this, and its a political exercise in which people are trying to drive rhetorical points. Theres a bigger this is about a bigger thing. And the bigger thing is, you know, this is, i think, not just about this fight thats coming to at least a temporary conclusion today, but about the fights to come over the debt ceiling and over the continuing resolution, keeping the government going. The president is playing a hard game of politics right now. To try to get the whip hand over republicans. Republicans are playing another hard game with the president. These guys are this is not about that one penny on the dollar. And i think youre vividly illustrating the fact that thats a rhetorical trope, but its about whos going to have the advantage Going Forward on issues of taxes and spending over the next few months. The president right now is and im not knocking him. I mean, if youre a politician, this is what you do, the president is really hes getting his sea legs. Hes got the republicans on their heels. Hes bearing down on them. He killed them on the fiscal cliff. He could give them relief. He could do the cuts himself. Hes staying after them here. Hes now talking about marriage equality, putting them on their heels there. This week conservatives have been put in the position to be against the Civil Rights Act of 1965. Last night, they were against violence against women. Right. I mean, you know, rich lowrie with the National Review wrote a column that said our party right now, were sort of in the ditch. You know, just get a blanket. Find an old blanket on the side of the road and pull it over you because were going to be in the ditch for a while. But they are setting republicans some of the wounds, of course, are selfinfli selfinflicted, as they always are, but the president s on a run, and he is not going to let them off the mat right now. Kelly, we have republicans on, and i say, okay, how come you wont talk . Its because we wont raise taxes. The president wants to close loopholes. I will ask in that same conversation, are you for closing loopholes, and theyll say yes. Why, then, cant they come up with the cuts that they want since they need so badly to be done . I dont understand. Well, closing the loophole is something that john boehner again yesterday said he is for. The thing that really counts here in terms of how they negotiate is they dont want to sort of spend that chip now in this conversation. Theyre prepared to do it in a bigger conversation about reforming the tax code, about trying to change the structure of entitlements for the long term. So they say theyre willing to do it but not for a smaller package. You know, when you go back to where we were in the summer of 2011 when all of this was coming into being, people didnt believe this would actually happen. And here we are, weve sort of worn down peoples expectations about what government can or cannot do, what congress will or wont do. And theyve let the 11th hour come and nearly something. And instead of the usual hectic pace to resolve it, it was sort of a big eh, you know . So let me ask joe the same question. Because if this party is supposedly so intent on making responsible fiscal decisions. Fiscal decisions. And these arent. These cuts are random across the board, and some of them are cruel. And ridiculous given the amount of money that needs to be cut, which you found out is even less than what were talking about which wasnt even that much. The cruelest penny. Why cant they talk about entitlements, and why cant they bring something to the table . Why would they put this on the president now when the president is only proposing to close loopholes, which they agree with . Because republicans support a balanced approach. If you look at whats happened excuse me. Worlds are colliding. Yep. You guys want to finish . Im loving it. Thats some phlegm. Keep going. So republicans support a balanced approach. Uhhuh. Mr. Wolfe. Its friday. You need a sip of that . We have all day. We have three hours. No, im truly curious. Republicans support a balance add approach. So republicans have taken the president at his word that he supports a balance add approach, so they support a balanced approach, too. What have we had, the fiscal cliff, and now we have sequester. The president decided, and congress decided, that the fiscal cliff, instead of being a balance of tax increases and spending cuts would be 100 tax increases. So now we move to the next step in the process. And this is the sequester. That has always been about spending cuts. Yeah. And so if our last exercise, budgetary exercise, was 100 tax increases, lets make this all about spending cuts. The two do balance each other. And we move forward. And then lets talk about a balanced approach where well close the loopholes, which i support, but mr. President , you say you support reforming medicare and medicaid and Social Security. So if you really support that, well do that all together. I dont think that the republicans do support that. The republicans do support that. Really . Yeah, they do support that. I dont think the president supports entitlement reform. I mean, so here we are. And were going around in circles. Richard wolffe. Richard wolffe is there. His throat is cleared. Finally. Friday. A massive, a massive clump of phlegm. I can think of worse things. Not you. Okay, stop. What was inside your throat . Im a little bit perplexed. First of all, lets all agree that not only are they getting the approach to the budget wrong, and i mean they, were obviously talking about republicans and democrats in washington, but they are also getting themselves wrong. The sequester was designed to force themselves into a position, and they didnt even believe themselves and believe their own deadlines. They didnt even agree with their own motives. If republicans are not willing to stop defense cuts, then the sequester was structured all lo wrong, and they dont know who they are. Thats the biggest problem of all. If they dont know who they are, how are they going to get to a deal . You talked about the president wants 100 tax rises. Its all taxes in terms of revenue. The fiscal cliff was 100 tax. I do think it was a mistake to pull those things apart. The whole initial strategy for the white house was to deal with the bush tax cuts and spending and lump them together. So in splitting it apart, weve ended up in this limbo. Its a netherworld. And the problem is that you say, well, its just one penny. But theyre not dealing with the 50 pennies in the dollar on entitlements. Theyre not dealing with another 30, 40 pennies. Exactly. On defense. Let me underline, i do think that the 85 billion that cbo says will be 44 billion, i still think thats reckless and stup stupid, and there are people that are going to be hurt by it. Its not the right way to do it. Im not underselling it, but when everybody comes out and says the worlds coming to an end, everybodys overplaying their hand. Especially since they could have avoided stupid smaller cuts. Weve got to go to break. Because we want politico to come in and tell us whats happening with this whole bob woodward at war thing. I have some emails from gene spurling ill be reading later. I have 15 years worth of gene spurling emails. Im going to read them all. As a friend, i think you might regret. Whoa, be careful. Alex is screaming in all your ears to be quiet. Former white house adviser David Axelrod, general ray odierno, moderator of meet the press, david gregory. Peter king takes on marco rubio to fund raise in new york. Well explain why in the politico playbook. First heres bill karins with a check on the forecast. Good friday morning. First day of march. It doesnt feel like it. This wont be like last year. Probably a little later arriving spring. Already snow showers this morning. You look out evansville, louisville, even chicago. Not a lot of bad weather for your friday. Let me take you through it. Just nuisance snow showers in the midwest and northeast. Not bad in the southeast. Still a little chilly by this time of year by the standards. 48 today in atlanta. L. A. , by the way, 85. Were worried about the fire danger out there. We did have a fire that formed last night in riverside county. By the time we get to saturday, continued snow showers. The cool air continues to be in the southeast. Kind of a chilly first weekend of march. When things get a little more interesting is when we go into sunday and into next week. Watch billings. Thats where we get the cold air, and were also going to deal with a snowstorm. This will be the big story next week. I showed you this map yesterday. Ill show it again. Thats the storm track. Sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday. That white strip shows you where the potential is of snow next week. The pink would be where the potential is for heavier snows. Notice that pinpoints areas possibly all through the midatlantic and maybe into even southern new england. That would be mid next week. That will be the big weather story next week. And of course, well track that for you here. Just a little heads up for anyone traveling across the country next week, youre probably going to have to deal with that storm on the roads and in the air. Youre watching morning joe brewed by starbucks. [ male announcer ] Marie Callenders puts all the things we love about sunday meals into each of her pot pies. Like tender white meat chicken and vegetables in a golden flaky crust thats made from scratch. Marie callenders pot pies. Its time to savor. Ya. Alright, another one just like that. Right in the old bucket. Good toss see thats much better that was good. You had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. Lets do it again watch me. Just like that one. [ male announcer ] the durability of the volkswagen passat. Pass down something he will be grateful for. Good arm. Thats the power of german engineering. Back to you. Time now to take a look. Look how pretty. Thats where we work. We work in the Empire State Building . No, new york city. I always get kind of i just get overwhelmed. This is like the coolest city. What . Theres one penny helps fund chopper 4. All right, stop. The Charleston Post Courier the lights are off. The lights are off. The Charleston Post Courier the cruelest of pennies. Boeing is looking to cut its temporary work force that currently employs more than 6,000 workers. Its a costcutting move that will reduce certain factory teams in South Carolina by as much as 20 . The company says the cutbacks are not related to the recent problems with the 787 dreamliner jet. Of course theyre not. Im eating a munchkin. Can you read the detroit news . If you give me half to throw away. According to reports this morning, michigan governor rick snider will officially declare a financial emergency in detroit, setting up the state to take over the motor city. Just have a munchkin already. Its like a little chick in her hand. 327 million budget deficit and 14 billion in longterm debt. You know how much you want that . Its like a little chicken. Its like a baby chicken in her hand. It has your name written on it. So lovely. Have the munchkin. Oh cruel. Wow oh goodness. No. Now, that was the cruelest penny. Seriously. I mean, children are starving in japan. A million munchkins. Youre welcome. The boston globe, theyve identified four spots in the human genome that may hold the key to helping those with mental disorders who throw away munchkins. According to a new study, theres a common genetic link between five mental disorders, schizophrenia, autism and adhd. Thats groundbreaking. Thats incredible. Do you know what funds the human genome project . That penny. The wall street journal. Groupon has fired ceo and founder andrew mason. In a statement, mason said, after four and a half intense and wonderful years as ceo of groupon, ive decided that id like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding i was fired today. I like this guy better already. Someone will hire him just for that. The New York Times. It just didnt work out really well. She wants more of these munchkins. I do. Youre not going to have these or my lucky charms. The u. S. Department of agriculture is likely to approve a horseslaughtering plant in new mexico. With the usdas approval, it would be the First Time Since 2007 that horse meat suitable for human consumption would be produced. Heres a good one. The st. Louis postdispatch. Girls gone wild has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Oh good lord. What is wrong with you, gene . Show us your torts. What . What . Show us your torts. What the hell . Can i have a munchkin . Im uncomfortable. We should keep gene in washington. I dont know what that means, first groupon, now girls gone wild. The company owes more than 13 million in lawsuit claims. Could that be parents who didnt want to see their daughters pulling their shirt up at spring break . The company says the bankruptcy filings will not affect its operations. What a nightmare. Thank god. What a stupid concept. Totally taking advantage of young, stupid girls who go to florida and pull their shirts up. Why are you picking on florida . Really . You just assume florida cancun or whatever. Where girls go and pull their shirts up . Wherever they go for spring break. Im probably wrong. No, they go to florida. Really . He says knowledgably. Thats why joe loves the Sunshine State so much. I miss the Sunshine State. You certainly do. Drunk people acting stupid being taken advantage of, put on camera. I think yeah. Boca, baby. I think that could be every parents nightmare. I hope they go down. Go boca vista. Theyre not. Well, actually whats next . You want me to do this one, too . Yeah. Id better just be quiet. And in this weekends parade magazine, a day in the life of a country doctor. Thats going to be cool. I like that. Thats going to be great. I love that managazine. With us now, mike allen is here with the morning playbook. Hi, mike. Happy march and happy friday. Yes oh its spring break time. Time to clean. Mike, at the end of our show yesterday, the woodward email surfaced between bob and the white houses gene spurling. Politico released the email from spurling to bob. Im assuming bobs going to be on today. I apologize for raising my voice in our conversation today. My bad. Come on, baby. I love gene. Hes a bully, thats why. My bad. I do understand your problems with a couple of our statements in the fall but feel, on the other hand, that you focus on a few specific trees that gives a very wrong perception of the forest. But perhaps we will just not see eye to eye. But i do truly believe you should rethink your comment about saying that potus asking for revenues is moving the goalpost. I know you may not believe this, but as a friend, i think you will regret staking out that claim. My apologies again for raising my voice on the call with you. Feel bad about that and truly apologize. We find out at the end of the show yesterday, because we were talking at the beginning this was probably just some stupid under, you know, some lowly staff member. You know, they get in there, they get excited. We find out at the end of the show that this is gene spurling. We know gene. Towering. Hes a good guy. Bob knows gene. Bob knows gene. And bob, at the end, after that last email says, you know, you never have to apologize to me, gene. Genes never threatened anybody. Well, you know. Yeah. Hes sort of known as the tony soprano of democratic politics. Thats how ive always thought of gene. So anyway, bob woodward is backtracking last night. Hes doing the backstroke. Mike . First of all, around the table, you guys know how intimidating gene spurling is. We now call him gene the fierce. Oh, thats cute. And it rhymes, too. It doesnt really work. Because hes so nice. So whatted there . What happened there . A lot of questions around this table. Why would woodward come out yesterday and say all this if he knew that there was an email trail. This aint 71. 72, 73. You dont have guys whispering to you in basements anymore. Its all on email. Bob woodward, i think, his sense of proprity was offended. Respect must be paid to woodward. I think he didnt like the tone and content of this message from the white house. His reporting from his bestselling book, the price of politics, had convinced him that the white house has been wrong about what theyve been saying, about the genesis of the sequester. He didnt like this brushback from gene spurling. I guess they had had a shouting match. He says they have not had a makeup conversation. But his bigger point is, he says he doesnt think this is the way to do business by the white house. And he says that its a reflection of how thin skinned that they are. That this is a white house thats not used to taking criticism. Thats a key word because were looking at just what happened yesterday and not looking at this completely in context. This has been going on for some time between the white house and woodward. Things got ugly. Woodward said the president wasnt telling the truth. Jack lew wasnt telling the truth. They pushed back on that. Then woodward came back. The white house lobbing bombs at woodward, him lobbing them back. I wonder, did it get personal and maybe bob got a little thinskinned. You could say that and look at this exchange of emails. The tone of the emails actually is pretty friendly, as you saw there. This is a little bit two mobsters talking to each other. These are people who expect to do business with each other again. Gene sperling from the beginning was convinced that the woodward book about the grand bargain was going to more come out on the side of speaker boehner. They spent a lot of time with woodward, and thats whats fascinating about this. Even though theyre taking shots at each other, the president gave bob woodward a long interview for this book. Almost every key player in this drama, many of them around the dining room table of bobs house in georgetown where jim and i sat down with him and talked to him on camera about these emails. So let me ask you this because even last night and i cant wait to talk to bob about this because im really curious but as of last night, he was saying that its sort of like a coded message for, youd better watch out. And i know i was a reporter for many years. My husband is an Investigative Reporter in new york city. I hear the phone calls between him and representatives, what, from the Mayors Office or housing or from state officials in the Governors Office in new jersey and connecticut. I can hear the other side, too, screaming at him. I can hear fbombs flying at times. The emails back and forth, everyones pushing in a little bit. Thank god you dont hear that at work. I know, exactly. La la land here. I look at this email, and it sa its at docile and polite as it gets, mike. I think, first of all, bob woodward would say what youre describing there is not the way business should be done between Public Servants and the press. And his argument was that he, your husband, had been doing this for a long time. They can take it. They can dish it out. But hes saying for a younger reporter might take this as a little bit more of a push. And he just didnt like the tone of it. He didnt like the way he was being treated. It also followed, again, a 30minute screaming match on the telephone where he had been yelled at apparently, he claims, for 30 minutes. And i will say i dont know. As a lawyer or former lawyer, i wasnt a good one. Clearly. Clearly. Why dont you go off set and clear your throat. Selfdeprecating. You do choose your words carefully. If i wanted to be polite but brush somebody back, a little baseball metaphor, not throw at their head but just brush them back, i would say regret. You may regret it. Its not a threat. But regret is a word you use words you understand what im saying . Im not saying bob didnt overreact here. Right. I am saying, though, regret is a word i would use if i just wanted to push somebody off the flight. As a friend, because theyve known each other for many years. Come on, though. You know what . You know how many times ive gotten on the phone and said, listen, im your friend. Im your friend. Thats the best one. Can i just tell you this as a friend . Youre dead. Youre a dead friend. I just want to protect you because gene, i want you to know, if you write that column, i love you. I so appreciate that. Ill write anything you want. Im telling you as a friend. You would never dot, dot, dot. Id love to have a nickel for every time ive been told a similar thing by a news source. Yeah. Or a penny. The penny funds social services. Mike. The point to this, whether its coded or whatever the message was there, whats fascinating about this, and the reason that politico posted them originally went and talked to bob, did this as part of the behindthecurtain column with jim vandehei is that people read woodwards book, and they wonder how he gets his stuff. Theres an amazing fascination with what woodward has seen and learned over the decades. And here, as you point out, because of the email trail, for the first time were seeing in realtime how bob woodward does his job, which is very fascinating to people who both work in washington and want to work here. So you can think its clubby or friendly. You can think that its a little mobsterlike. Whatever you think of it, for the first time we have a window into how Gene Sperling, bob woodward talk to each other. As we say goodbye here, next month, next week, wednesday at the white house, the president is welcoming the university of alabama bcs champions, roll tide, baby. I love it mike, thank you so much. Every year, mika. Bob woodward is going to be joining us later. I cant wait. Interesting to hear his insight. Seeing how Gene Sperling does his job, thats the real window were getting. Ive talked to him on a few sunday nights as hes trying to grapple with his kids and the economy. Up next and saving the economy. A and getting his kids to bed. I dont know whats harder, teenagers or the economy. Teenagers. Hes going to be on in a little bit. Also, diplomatic tension overseas as north korea threatens miserable destruction on the united states. Boy, they must the fearless leader must have had a bad basketball game with dennis rodman. Who better than basketball great dennis rodman. There he is. Kim jongun. Well show you the surreal pictures from his trip next. I know what youre thinking. Transit fares as in the 37 billion transit fares we help collect each year. No . Oh, right. Youre thinking of the 1. 6 million daily Customer Care interactions xerox handles. Or the 900 Million Health insurance claims we process. So, its no surprise to you that companies depend on todays xerox for services that simplify how work gets done. Which is. Pretty much what weve always stood for. With xerox, youre ready for real business. Which is. Pretty much what weve always stood for. Ive always kept my eye on her. But with so much health care noise, i didnt always watch out for myself. With unitedhealthcare, i get personalized information and rewards for addressing my health risks. But shes still going to give me a heart attack. Thats health in numbers. Unitedhealthcare. You name it. Ive hooked it. But theres one. One thats always eluded me. Thought i had it in the blizzard of 93. Ha never even came close. Sometimes, i actually think its mocking me. [ engine revs ] what . quattro congressman peter king who represents long island is blasting senator marco rubio for raising money on wall street after voting against an emergency relief bill in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Thats pretty bad, right . Congressman king tells the new York Observer this. Being from new york were not supposed to be suckers. Its bad enough that these guys voted against it. Thats inexcusable enough. But to have the balls to come in and say, we screwed you now make us president . Wow. Wow. Thats tough talk. Kelly odonnell. Take it away. Foreshadowed indeed by congressman king. When we were in the heat of this battle over Hurricane Sandy funding, one of the big arguments you had from lawmakers from the northeast is that when tornadoes or floods or other terrible things happened around the country, they voted to provide that funding, and they felt really sort of abandoned by their colleagues who were making the fiscal argument that some of the things in the bill maybe werent the best use of the money. And peter king said it then. Dont come to new york to fund raise if youre going to turn your back on new yorkers now. He was hot about it then, and hes proving to be consistent. So putting some heat on marco rubio, encouraging donors. And you know, new york is the place they all go. New york, dallas and california, it seems, are always the finance trips. Encouraging big donors not to support rubio or others who voted against it, to say dont go against your selfinterest and hold their feet to the fire. So its interesting to see that kind of the fire he had on the house floor when this was all unfolding. Hes carried it. Hes got a long memory, as some in new york do. Its not like hes from kansas. I mean, its not like marco rubios from kansas. Hes from a state, im sure peter king understands these things. Over the years peter king has probably paid, you know, voted for without questioning funding for florida hurricanes. Its fascinating. Wow. Kelly, youre the best. Thank you so much. Thank you, kelly. Good to be with you. Have a great weekend. Thanks. Coming up next, cpac leaves governor christie off the speaking list prompting outrage some in the Republican Party. Up next, well get a full explanation from the head of the american conservative union, al cardenas. Youre watching morning joe brewed by starbucks. [ male announcer ] ok, heres the way the system works. Lets say you pay your guy around 2 to manage your money. Thats not much you think. Except its 2 every year. 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Flexible layers move with your body while thermocontrol wicks moisture away. Keep moving. Stayfree. Here with us now from washington, chairman of the american conservative union, al carden cardenas. And al, how are you . Hey, im doing great, mika. Joes made my mama cry all week over the cpac issue. No, no. I told people i was misquoted. Al. I told everybody youve been a dear friend of mine for years. My moms darling. Son, you see what joes been saying all week . I said, well, maybe hell give me a chance to explain. Mrs. Cardenas, i love your son. Ive loved your son for decades. Yes. He should just invite chris to the party. And me. I love him. What happened to me . Remember i danced at the last one . At cpac. It didnt work for you . It was fun. You did great. You guys are on top of my list, certainly way ahead of peter king, i can tell you that. Wow. Oh wait. What list is that . Is that a good list to be on the top of or a bad list . Yeah. Youre on a great list, joe. Okay. Weve had you a few times. Joe, you have a lifetime average of 92 with the american conservative union. How good is that . Can you correct you . Its a 95. And not that im paying attention. But i think its a 95. All right. So al, i guess because i know you so well and, you know, and when i say that, i mean, i remember, we would travel across florida when you were running the party. Id introduce you. And your same message all the time, a lot of times to audiences that were 100 white, 100 wasp, country club republicans, you were talking about the need to expand the party base. Before everybody else was talking about bringing hispanics into the party. You were delivering this message. We have to have a big tent. Its the message that the bushes picked up had they started running for governor and president. Yeah. So i guess its strange. It seems sort of exclusionary to keep out a guy thats got a 74 Approval Rating. This isnt ill be honest. This isnt the al cardenas that i was going around the state of florida with in the 1990s talking about growing the party. Well, the good news, joe, is were going to have the most diverse and i think representative view of america this year, cpac. Weve got, you know, tim scott, arthur davis, marco rubio. Weve got a lot of talented upandcoming young women. And for the first time ever, im highlighting ten Young Conservatives all across the nation, africanamericans, hispanics, women who are out there in their 30s doing great things. An africanamerican speaker of the house in oklahoma, for example. I think the whole theme is that, you know, the conservative Movement Needs to grow with the demographic realities of america, and were going to be painting that picture at cpac. But shouldnt you also be reaching out to overweight guys from jersey that got a 74 Approval Rating . Ah, thats the question. If i was chairman of the Republican National committee, christie will be one of the first guys on my list. But im chairman this time around, joe. The conservative organization. Part of the movement. And the cpac, its like an allstar game for professional athletes. We figure out, who are the 30 people that we thought over the last year were the most serving . We had Chris Christie last year because we thought he did great things. But you know, we just dont like what folks have done this year. Were in the middle of this conversation about the 85 billion sequester. And Congress Just adopted a 60 billion stimulus package of which only 10 was for Disaster Relief. Now, i cant for the life of me understand why a good conservative would want to promote the 60 billion pork barrel bill when in reality all we need to do was approve a 10 billion Disaster Relief bill. Like being from florida, thats what we used to do. Youre talking about sandy, but youve got, with Chris Christie, a guy thats conservative fiscally. Hes balancing the budgets. Hes spending less this year in his 13 budget than the democrats spent in their 08 budget. Hes taken on entrenched union interests in jersey where theyre the most powerful, and hes won. Hes taken on democrats in the senate. Hes won. The guys taken on the teachers unions that wanted to stand in the way of reform. Hes won. I understand you disagree with him on what he said on the sandy bill, but is this one issue really whats disqualifying him . Because i had heard also, there were people that had concerns about his position on guns. Joe, we had him last year. His position on guns, his position on social issues was also well known last year. And i had no i had no reservations in asking him to be a keynote speaker last year. Look. The whole goal here is to invite over a threeday conference the 0 folks who we thought most deserved it this year. That doesnt mean he wont be on our list next year. But we had to pick 30. Now, weve got 300 members of congress. Youve got 30 governors, republican governors. Youve got a lot of standalone people that folks wanted to hear from. We have mitt romney coming whom no ones heard from since the election. So weve got a lot of these unique opportunities. I think dr. Carsons coming. You know, weve chosen 20 elected officials to be on the main stage. We thought we chose the ones that deserved it the most this year. So thats all it is. You know, as i said, if i was the chairman of the Republican National committee, i would have made sure he came. All right. Interesting. Okay. Fair enough. Wouldnt we all rather hear from mitt romney than christie . No, absolutely not. Al, im still waiting for my invite. I hope your moms watching. You think shes watching right now . Yeah, i think she thought today was fair. Al cardenas, thank you. Mom cardenas, i love your son. Hes a great guy. Appreciate you being with us. Coming up, former senator Russ Feingold will be here. Standing by in the green room, David Axelrod and Melody Barnes. The only two people more intimidating at the white house than Gene Sperling. [ male announcer ] julia child became a famous chef at age 51. Picasso painted one of his master works at 56. Doris taerbaum finished her first marathon at 50. Not everyone peaks in their twenties. Throughout their lives. Passion keeps them realizing possibilities. An ally for real possibilities. Aarp. Find tools and support at aarp. Org possibilities. Ya. Alright, another one just like that. Right in the old bucket. Good toss see thats much better that was good. You had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. Lets do it again watch me. Just like that one. [ male announcer ] the durability of the volkswagen passat. Pass down something he will be grateful for. Good arm. Thats the power of german engineering. Back to you. 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On mondays show, Nicole Wallace is going to be here. Senator kirsten gillibrand. Valerie plame and mika brzezinski, all blondes. Its going to be an allblondes show on monday. Did you just say that . I did. Its a fact. Hes just being a good journalist. Is that a problem . Whats wrong with that . Seriously . Oh, look at that. Coming up, David Axelrod and Melody Barnes. Youre watching morning joe. Mine was earned in djibouti, africa, 2004. The battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa Auto Insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaas commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. Begin your legacy. Get an autoinsurance quote. Usaa. We know what it means to serve. [ construction sounds ] [ watch ticking ] [ engine revs ] come in. Got the coffee. That was fast. Were outta here. [ engine revs ] from capital one. Boris earns unlimited rewards for his Small Business. Can i get the smith contract, please . Thank you. Thats three new paper shredders. [ boris ] put em on my spark card. [ garth ] boris Small Business earns 2 cash back on every purchase every day. Great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. Read back the chickens testimony, please. Buk, buk, bukka [ male announcer ] get the spark Business Card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. Choose 2 cash back or double miles on every purchase every day. Told you id get half. Whats in your wallet . Welcome back to morning joe. Look how beautiful. Its beautiful everywhere. Gorgeous. John heilemanns style with us. Can we go back to that shot . So when are they going to put the barricades up around the Washington Monument . Okay, stop it. I know what youre getting at. The bricks are already falling off the side of it. After the sequester, the thing is just falling apart. Parents, do not let your children go inside any of those buildings today. Joining us on set, former Senior Adviser to president obama and director of the institute of chicago politics and msnbc contributor, David Axelrod. Hes been running around intimidating everybody. I think hes going to Say Something to threaten me. As a friend, dont point at me. And bless your heart. I just say this as a friend. Bless your heart. Arent you something . What, are you southern now . Yeah, that means youre dead and i dont like you. I do. I got that when i went to the south. And i realized i was in big trouble. Oh, bless your heart. Former director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and ceo of Melody Barnes solutions, good name. Melody barnes joins us as well. All right. How you guys doing . Were great. Good. Its friday. Its going into effect. You should be freaking out. Are you a little nervous . About did you fly in here . The sequester . Did you fly in here . I snuck in here yesterday. Theres a chance with all the Airline Delays youll never get back to chicago. You might be stuck here. No, i rented a car. Oh. You know, the toll booths arent working. Were going to be walking back. Just drive through the gates. Im confused. Youre kind of making fun of it, too. Well, look. I think one of the ive said this before. One of the dangers of this whole debate is i dont think a, i think the public has fiscal crisis fatigue. And i just dont think that they are i think theyve tuned out to a lot of this. And i think the second piece is that and melody knows this well, shes a veteran of government, this isnt going to be a slowrolling deal. This is not going to be a deal where everything happens at once and people are going to recognize the difference at once. Some communities and some sectors will, but not most. So melody, i remain an optimist. What i find is every time when did that happen . I stop being optimistic now, come on. I think youre a guy, at the end of the day, whos going to do the right thing. And you like him. And i like him. I find every time that the Eternal Optimist, i finally give up hope, thats when great things happen. And i just feel like, you know, its one crisis after another. And like david said, we have this fatigue. Maybe, just maybe, at the end of all of this, the two sides can come together and have a grand bargain. The president started talking about it a couple of days ago. Right. Maybe that happens after we give up hope that washington can function. Well, i hope so. Like you, im an Eternal Optimist as well. I always see the glass half full. After 20 years in government, ive always seen a solution come at the last minute. So this is highly disappointing, actually. But i know and david knows from our years working in the white house that the president certainly is there. And i also believe that there are people on the other side of the aisle, and once people start to feel this in communities, over time, it will be an accident that happens in slow motion, that that will start to galvanize the country around a serious conversation. And the president has said entitlements and closed loopholes, weve got to take these issues on. We also have to make Smart Investments at the same time so we can grow our economy and prepare our people for that new economy. It has to happen. Otherwise we are rome. Some people like paul krugman dont believe that medicare and medicaid are a crisis. He says lets wait till 2025, wait till the programs start going under, then we can address it. Just to be clear, thats not the president s position, right . He knows weve got to take care of entitlements before 2025 . Hes started to do it. We started to do it in the Affordable Care act. That, in fact, was one of the rationales behind the Affordable Care act, to try and reduce the cost of medicare, reduce the cost of health care and extend the life of medicare, did by ten years, as you know, governor romney ran around the country attacking the president for cutting medicare during the campaign. The president understands, we still have to go back and take hold on. Let me ask this because i want to get it on the record here. The president does understand and this is you know, weve talked privately. Yes. Youve assured me for four years that he does understand that we have an entitlement crisis, that it squeezes out funding for defense, that it squeezes out funding for the poor, that it squeezes out funding for education. He does understand that, right . Its beyond that. If you care about medicare, then you have to do some things to make sure that medicare is strong and solvent for the future. He understands that. The question is just how you do it. But the president , even in his proposals, has committed himself to significant reduction in medicare costs. Hes committed himself to changing the way we calculate Social Security. And melody can tell you that that hasnt pleased everyone on our side. Certainly not. But in this discussion, why did we get to this point . I think as you know, joe, that there was a lot of disquiet in the Republican Caucus about the vote for the tax increases. I think in certain ways the Republican Leadership felt they had to go through the sequester point because they would have had a rebellion among some of their troops if they hadnt done that. And the question is, where do they go now . They dug a hole so deep, they cant get back from it. Because we do need a balanced answer. We do need a balanced answer. Do you think we can get a balance add approach if they dont go back and move on it and make some action . Now weve had a fiscal cliff issue that was taken care of by all taxes. It looks like the sequesters going to be taken care of by all spending cuts. And there were spending cuts a year, a year and a half ago. A trillion dollars in spending cuts. Do we move forward now to this balanced approach where we close tax loopholes for the super wealthy and we also take care of entitlement programs . Well, i think i hope we small fractures have started to appear in the republican position. When the president went to newport democratic position on entitlements maybe, too . On both sides . Well, yeah. We had the leadership in the white house with the president in december saying, this deals still on the table. And we have to start addressing entitlements, and we also have to close loopholes. He took representative reigle back down to newport news, a republican, that we have to start dealing with more issues and more revenue. Lindsey graham said if entitlements are on the table, im open to more revenue. So these cracks have started to appear. And i hope that that is the beginning of something larger that brings both sides to the table. And brings a balanced approach. Did you see the floor yesterday . I saw a little bit on the show. Have you built a bomb shelter yet . No, i havent built a bomb shelter yet. Al qaeda, the russians, zombies, were in trouble. Yeah. Flesheating locusts. Flesheating locusts, frogs flying from heaven. Dont you hate those . But your hope for a balanced approach, you know what people are thinking . It cant be done. The sequester, sorry, or doomsday devastation machine, was set up so that this would be done. And its not done. And david, how do both sides not suffer even more in terms of faith in government and in washington and in congress after missing this deadline. And by the way, being seen on video last night walking home from their long break out of the halls of Congress Looking happy that theyre going to be going home for the weekend. Well, look. If you look at the numbers of the republicans in congress, theyre about as low as they can go. But as you guys have discussed on this program, many of them come from districts that are homogenous where their only concern is a primary challenge. And so theyre pinned down in those positions. Look, i think part of the issue here is, i dont think they view i dont think the leadership of congress viewed you say this was the sort of watershed moment. Wasnt it . I see this as part of a continuum, and i think weve got a long way to go before it plays out. I dont think its a watershed moment. I think this is one more chapter that hopefully gets us to a better conclusion. You think about whats happened here in these last two battles, there are two things that are kind of interesting. One is that republicans who had ever accepted a tax increase for a very long time did in december under force, but they did. Now youve learned of the sequester thing is that what was supposed to keep this from happening on the republican side was republicans were supposed to be so concerned about defense cuts that they would never let the sequester happen. So weve now learned that republicans will accept the tax increases they did in december, and they now have acknowledged tacitly that theyre actually open to defense cuts. Theyre not they did not if they had been so paranoid about the defense cuts that it worked the way it was supposed to work, we wouldnt have seen the sequester. Youve got a couple of sacred cows that are no longer so sacred. And actually, if you think about it in the long run and you get to the next debt ceiling debate where are the consequences for the economy unlike the sequester which is not going to kill the american economy, where if we hit the debt ceiling and exceed it, you can imagine as were moving in a very ugly, very pointless, very frustrating way towards a situation where the stars might align, and we might be able to finally get that grand bargain. Everybody knows what the solution is. Everybody knows that its a combination of additional revenue that comes through tax reform, closing tax loopholes. Boehner said last year that he could identify 800 billion in loopholes that he was willing to close. And some entitlement reform. Everybody understands what the deal is. The question is whether i think its mostly on the republican side, whether they can manipulate the politics of their own caucus to get there. But david and melody, tax reform is not going to get us to where we need to go to save entitlements. And no ones saying that it is. But the president s saying heres the thing, though. The president is saying some reform on medicare, but you look at what allen binder said, what other economists are saying, democrats are wrong when they say we can take care of the entitlement crisis by raising taxes. Thats not the answer. Joe, no one is saying that. What were saying is that if youre going to ask democrats to vote for entitlement reforms, that you have to at the same time have revenue increases on the other side of the equation in order to move forward. Jump ship together. Think about it. A year, year and a half ago, people would have said immigration reform, absolutely not going to happen. Things change. It is a chemical situation. The election happened. People are looking at demographics. Can you not say a chemical situation, John Heilemann . Start shuffling through his pockets. Sweating. It does change, and i think this, as weve said, is the chapter as the American Public gets galvanized around this, that well start to contribute to the challenge. Joining us from washington, pulitzer prizewinning associate editor of the Washington Post, bob woodward along with David Axelrod, melody and heilmann. Bob, good to see you this morning. Thank you. What is the followup . Weve been questioning the emails between you and Gene Sperling and whether or not regret means threat. And i want to know how you got there in terms of that was a watchout point of view statement. Well, it was not i never said it was a threat. Politico was doing the story about the column that i wrote on sunday, calling out the administration, making it clear from the reporting and finally to jay carneys credit that the idea for the sequester came from the white house and that theyve changed some of the arrangements. And so i mentioned that i got an email from somebody like lots of things in washington then, the details leaked out. As David Axelrod knows, Gene Sperlings one of the really decent, hardworking people ive dealt with the Obama White House and axelrod a lot. Its just unusual to say when theres not this wasnt a factual disagreement. This was a disagreement about i was challenging them on something, and gene said were not going to see eye to eye, and youre going to regret staking out this claim. Axelrod and i have disagreed many times, but hes never said youre going to regret reaching a conclusion that we dont like. He doesnt say that to you because he says that to me all the time. Im still waiting for you to regret something. All right. Keep waiting. Bob, let me ask you this. Given all the reaction this has gotten and given the nature of the emails as you read through them, do you think, because youre not, you know, a young reporter starting out who might be intimidated, youre not. Youre bob woodward. Do you think you might have overstepped the way you described the scenario . No. I mean, the emails speak for themselves. They do. People have characterized them. But the issue here is, this is where we get tangled up in ourselves is the automatic spending cuts and the sequester and how we got there and what its going to mean to people. And its often a technique employed by white houses either unintentionally or intentionally to say oh, lets make the conduct of the press the issue rather than what they did. To people out in the real world, the issue is these automatic spending cuts and the human toll they are going to bring to many people and many families. You know, bob, i want to talk about actually the news of the day thats actually important. The sequester. But before i do that, David Axelrod, hes a small person. What . He wants to he wants to get involved in the mundane sort of machinations of the minutia. The minutia. Hes a man who lives in the weeds. Who lives in the weeds. Read all of his books. David, i want to ask you from your perspective and then you can take it. Because you were a journalist. Yes, i was. You know both sides of this. I do. Take it away. First of all, one of the reasons i became a journalist was because of bob woodward. I bet youre sorry now. Uhoh. Bob woodward inspired a whole generation. Dont blame me. Exactly. A whole generation of journalists. In fact, you talked yesterday that seems like an awful lot to place on bobs shoulders. I was the City Hall Bureau chief of the Chicago Tribune when i was 25 years old, and the mayor threatened to have me ejected from city hall because she didnt like the coverage i was doing. So i know what intimidation is. And bob, you know, the headline in the Washington Post, your newspaper, was woodward says that he was threatened by the white house. But i never have. Come on. You know that. No. They got the impression from what you said that you felt you were being threatened, and you just read to the politico one line from that email. When the full emails came out, they were as cordial as can be. His email was cordial, and your response was cordial. So if you felt threatened, why didnt you say to gene, dont threaten me . Bob . No, i did not feel threat you know, what i have said, david, come on. You are putting words in my mouth. I said i dont think this is the way to operate. And you and i have had many discussions. Youve never said to me, oh, youre going to regret doing that. Am i correct . Yes, but this was a specific discussion about a specific point you had raised. It seemed like gene, thin that email, was very polite in the way that he pushed back on it. You should have heard the im not putting words in your mouth, bob. Its your newspaper that said, you said you were threatened. So let me step in here, bob. Sure. As i said for some time, weve just been looking at what happened in this chain of emails. This comes after the white house pushing back pretty hard on you for quite some time because the president said he had nothing to do with the sequester. You pointed out in your piece that he did. The white house started pushing back furiously. Gene called you up. And we love gene here. But it was a 30minute call. As i said to david, i mean, lets just not pretend here. That when you say the word regret, and this whole i said it as a friend, wed always do that in washington. Youd put your arm around somebody, youd bring them close and youd say, hey, listen, jim. Were good friends. You know i love you, but ive just got to tell you, buddy, if you go out there and put this amendment on my bill, youre going to regret it. Im only saying it because i love you. But youre sending the message, watch out. Duck. Exactly. And this is the code. Now, look. Gene is not a threatening sort of person, and ive never said this was a threat. The point is, what really happened here . Were at one of the pivot points again in washington about budget and fiscal issues, god help us that were there again, but we are. And these automatic spending cuts which really dont deal with the problem of entitlements, and thats very, very significant. These automatic spending cuts. Everyone says are the worst are irrational. I mean, how do we get to the point where we have the government, our government is the biggest obstacle to continue in the economic recovery. That is the reality everyones facing. Mika, can we get a shot of davids face . Did you see that look on his face when he asked the question . I thought he was going to follow through on the threat. These are not the right way to move forward. The president agrees with that. Bob, from the very beginning, he said we need a balanced way forward that includes both cuts, and that includes cuts in entitlements, and revenues. And thats exactly what he wants to do now. And to say i think what gene was reacting to was that you suggested he had moved the goalposts. The goalposts have been in the same place from the very beginning. No, they have not. Because in 2011, he made a deal, biden and Senate Minority leader mcconnell, made the deal that we wont have to go back for more Borrowing Authority negotiations in the Election Year 2012, something very important to the president and to you and to the white house staff. And the agreement was then there would be, in the sequester, which were now dealing with, no tax increases. It is a laydown case that he has change the president has changed the argument here. Now, is that a felony . Is that a big deal . No. But its the reality. Its not a felony or a big deal, its just not true. The fact is that the president said that the sequester was never meant to go forward. And the president said the way to solve it has oh, but it has. Is includes revenue and entitlement reforms. As weve discussed here, thats the only way that it can move forward. He Still Believes that. Thats what he said all through 2011, 2012 and 2013. The goalposts are right where he put them in the first place. Bob, final word. The goalposts got moved, and they know it, and thats what theyre upset about. Look, he made a deal in 2011. He got an immediate benefit. The republicans are out there saying, okay, well go along with the sequester. They are to blame. Everyones to blame. But the sequester is a giant nightmare. And it could have a real impact on the economy and peoples lives as the president has said. And thats what this is about, not some kind of email exchange i had with somebody in the white house. Bob, thank you so much for being on the show. We greatly appreciate it. Thank you. You know, we consider you a great friend of the show. I just want to say. I really do. I think youd better write a really nice story about me, being a champion of budget restraint. Really, im your friend. And im thinking i dont think youre going to print it. Dont you think hell regret it . I do. I do. Listen, but i love you. And listen, youre welcome back any time even if you dont. I just kind of think youd probably better. Front page. Front page. Bob, thank you so much. Thanks a lot. Have a great weekend. David, how you doing over there . Great. Grumpy. You are grumpy. Im not grumpy at all. Bob was the one who raised the emails in the first place. David can you just at least admit this . In washington a lot of times, if you want to get something done, you dont get in somebodys face and say let me tell you. You go up to them, you say, listen, were friends. We know how this works. What is Gene Sperling going to do to bob woodward . Oh, my god, sperling . Now, now, now. Bob woodward who faced down as a young man h. R. Halderman is worried, feels intimidated by Gene Sperling . Do not diss Gene Sperling. He is a fierce, fierce man. Hes the Albert Schweitzer of economists. There you go. Hes the taupeony soprano of politics. Do you know what kind of threat that is . Well be right back. Weve got so much going on. Chuck todds here. Weve got the general coming, david gregory. Blah, blah, blah. Well be right back. Stay around and youll regret it. [ dad ] find it . Ya. Alright, another one just like that. Right in the old bucket. Good toss see thats much better that was good. You had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. Lets do it again watch me. Just like that one. [ male announcer ] the durability of the volkswagen passat. Pass down something he will be grateful for. Good arm. Thats the power of german engineering. Back to you. [ female announcer ] some people like to pretend a flood could never happen to them. And that their Homeowners Insurance protects them. [ thunder crashes ] it doesnt. Stop pretending. Only Flood Insurance covers floods. Visit floodsmart. Gov pretend to learn your risk. Its time for get to know the sequester. Presequester. Lincoln memorial. Postsfeser. Lincolns statue is laid off. Get to know the sequester. Oh, man. There it is. Hes not in there. So pretty. With us from washington, moderator of meet the press, david gregory, political director and host of the daily rundown, chuck todd. Guys, hows it going, man . Were still here. I want to hear more of axelrod. Awesome. How you doing, david . Im great. Youre grumpy today. Im great. You think hes grumpy . I do. I feel great. What are you guys talking about . So david gregory, hows washington . Can you report postsequester . It like the day after, that movie . Are tidal weae aal waves come potomac . Everything is still here. Except congress. They went home for the weekend. Exactly. But the congressional leaders are here, and theyre going to go down to the white house for what promises to be a productive meeting this morning. But do both sides ever sell this, on defense cuts . Lindsey graham yesterday on the house floor talking about al qaeda and john mccain quoting chairm chairman . A lot of the conservative critics are all over the place. On the one hand, theyre issuing these warnings and the speaker of the house said this would threaten national security. And then you have other republicans saying that these are, you know, these dire warnings are unfounded. The reality is that neither side wants this. But the politics of this at the moment tend to favor the republicans in that theres no immediate effect of this. This will take time. Not everyones going to be affected by this. And look, theres a lot of americans who hear this and say, really . 2 of the budget, you cant cut 2 of the budget . I think we can live with that. Now, theres lots of people who will be affected, whether its by head start or furloughed employees in the military. So there are certain pockets of the country that will be impacted, and there will certainly be an outcry. My sense is wherever that outcry gets the loudest, whoever feels more pain, maybe we see some movement as a result of that. But its not going to be immediate. This is not the fiscal cliff. And chuck todd, its not going to be widespread. Its not like the Government Shutdown of 1995. This is about, if you believe the cpo numbers, 44 billion out of 3. 6 trillion, thats a penny on the dollar. Some people will be affected. Some people will be hurt. But overall, it may not have the political impact that the president and the democrats may think it will have. Not only that, you know, there was the way the white house was spinning this this week, they were almost making an assumption that government workers were just going to drop their hands and stop working and not work as hard and all of this. Meat inspector were going to start spitting in food. The other part of this, theres a lot of agency heads who frankly never thought sequester would kick in who are going to keep biding time. Theyre not going to make certain whacks. Theyre probably going to delay, delay, delay. I think its going to be less than a bumpy feel. Yes, some places are going to feel it more than others. And theres going to be that uneven feeling. But i think theres a chance its even less than people think because youve got a lot of agencies still banking on sequester being rolled back sometime between now and, say, july of this year before we get to the end of the fiscal year. What a ridiculous spectacle this week. Can i just say this . Just a ridiculous spectacle. Its ridiculous. There was not a single serious meeting. Not one. If sequester is so bad, not a single serious proposal or counterproposal from the white house or congressional republicans. I mean, come on. This is awful. Let me ask everybody around the table, and you guys in washington. Ive been reading the wall street journals been talking about this for some time that actually the president has much more discretion than were hearing. That he actually has the ability, like the department of hhs has ability to move around a certain percentage of their dollars. And hes got the flexibility to mitigate this damage. Of course, the conservatives will argue, he doesnt want to do that because he wants the cuts to seem as painful as possible. But how much flexibility does the president have moving forward to mitigate some of the sharper edges of the sequester . Anybody know . Melody, youre a youre the expert, melody. Melody barnes solutions. I know its not fair. Last night when i was rifling through. Thats melody. Sort of shaped on Graham Rudman which allowed, back in 86, allowed agencies to move the money around so they could make sure that essential Services Like making sure that our meat is safe could they could move the money from nonessential services to these sort of frontline services. Is that the case . Well, its a highly technical process, as i understand it. Right. Which works really good on morning television. Right. Which is why im not going to go into the highly technical process. Oh. I know, im sorry. Do we have a white board . But agencies, there is some level of flexibility, but at the same time, they have to look at their contracts. They have to look at the kinds of responsibilities that they have, the commitments that have been made, and that in and of itself starts to shrink the parameters of how you can make and where you can make cuts. And where the greatest impact will be on people so that you arent hurting the most Vulnerable People. The president isnt sitting in the oval office saying, lets increase the pain as much as we possibly can. I, the leader of this country, for the sake of a political argument, but at the same time, weve got to figure out a way to do this given the kinds of contracts and commitments that departments and agencies already have. Well, there wont be the immediate pain that some anticipated. There is, as i said, a slowrolling issue here that will get more severe as time goes on. So you can ameliorate things in the short term. If this were to stand in the long term, it would be a big problem. If it were to stand if congress were to come back and increase funding in some of these areas. John. Yeah. I want to ask david and chuck, first ill quote the great Mike Barnicle who said sequester is latin for incompetence. Lets start with that. But let me ask you guys, coming into this, there were a lot of debates about coming into the sequester about who had political lemppli political leverage. Republicans thought they had a certain amount of leverage. Now were past this day, and were heading into some other things, right . The continuing resolution, the debt ceiling coming up over the course of the next couple months. What happens in terms of leverage now Going Forward . Who has the whip hand coming out of this and heading into those big battles . I dont happen to think its clear. Because the one thing that republicans have proven here is that they may not like it, but its at least on their side of the column. If they want to force the president s hand on more spending cuts, the sequester, the white houses idea to force an outcome different from this is what they can allow to prevail. Theyre not going to win points in terms of the standing of congress, but the feeling is that they can withstand that because because some of their individual members can be strengthened if the president comes after them. I think the bigger fight moves now to the funding of the government for the rest of the year. And does the president want to kind of turn the levers on shutting down the government partially to call republicans out, knowing that, whether its on tax reform or tax increases, generally theres a lot of evidence in the polling that suggests the public supports him on doing that. And indeed, if you look at tax reform, republicans were for this a couple months ago, getting more revenue out of tax reform. But they refused to do it unless its, you know, for the money to be paid to then turn around and lower rates. So i think that theres some room to make the republicans hu heard on this. Yeah, the white house thinks they have Public Opinion on their side, and obviously the evidence is there that they do, but i think theyve made a fundamental miscalculation on where the republicans are because youve got to go back to the republican leaders. John boehner, Mitch Mcconnell and john cornyn. They cannot at all look like theyre compromising on anything having to do with taxes to replace any of the spending. If they do, they will be out of a job. Theres not a, they could be out of a job. Its politically risky. No, they will lose. Theyre both up. They had front row seats to paul and cruz in their own states. Thats how theyre operating. Theyre handcuffed. And if the white house doesnt see that, then, you know, theyre not going to get what they think theyre going to get out of this. And maybe they think, okay, theyll take it to 2014. Thats a long way from now, and thats a lot of supposed pain that they say is going to be out there. As melody brought up earlier, people like Lindsey Graham and other republicans, and i certainly would support it, too, closing loopholes, fine, but were not going to have unilateral disarmament again. Were not going to do what happened during the debt the fiscal cliff debate where it was all taxes. Yes, well close the loopholes, but were not going to do it for some stopgap measure. You want to talk about a big grand bargain, then yeah, lets pile it all on. But the political reality is, youre exactly right. Republicans in the house, republicans in the senate, they cant do this without having a much bigger grand bargain. David gregory, thank you very much. You have an exclusive this sunday on meet the press. Its exciting. What is it . Gene sperling . Gene sperling. Gene sperling. I do have Gene Sperling, but ive got the speaker of the house to top off the program on reaction to what happens today at the white house. Thats pretty good. And how we get past this. Thats pretty exciting. Keep them separated, man. David axelrod, thank you. Good to be with you. Good luck getting back to chicago. Yes, yes. Chuck todd, thank you so much. See you at 9 00 eastern time on msnbc. Hey, chuck, weve been a little late the past couple weeks. Thats all right. I take it out you know what happens, i take it out of jansing, and we pay it forward. And so i just tell her to blame you. So jansings going to be all after you. Its the circumstanle of lif. Goth that, chris . Its all joes fault. Its all my fault. Former senator Russ Feingold joins us. More morning joe in just a moment. For over 125 years weve been bringing people together. Today wed like people to come together on something that concerns all of us. Obesity. And as the nations leading Beverage Company we can play an important role. That includes continually providing more options. Giving people easy ways to help make informed choices. And offering portion controlled versions of our most popular drinks. It also means working with our industry to voluntarily change whats offered in schools. But beating obesity will take continued action by all of us. Based on one simple common sense fact, all calories count. And if you eat and drink more calories then you burn off youll gain weight. That goes for coca cola and Everything Else with calories. Finding a solution will take all of us. But at coca cola we know when people come together good things happen to learn more visit coke. Com comingtogether rudy gay scoring, i think Tayshaun Prince and tony allen can take away from opponents with their defense. The style they play, again, that kind of fits in as we get work from carl pietrus. I do think they have a chance to be successful without rudy gay. Lets move on. The denver nuggets. 243 at home. They are tied with miami heat in terms of road wins and home losses, excuse me, the spurs thats hilarious. After the show today, joe and i will be holding a live twitter chat with our followers. Im nervous. Well be answering your questions. I can see you guys tend to really cut to the chase on things here. On everything from politics to how we get morning joe on the air each day. You can send in questions now by using the hash tag askmojoe and following us on twitter morning underscore joe. Russ feingold joins the conversation next. Weep keep it right here on morning joe. [ male announcer ] this is bob, a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat. The usual, bob . Not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib Atrial Fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. I dont think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. But not anymore. Bobs doctor recommended a different option onceaday xarelto®. Xarelto® is the first and only onceaday prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem, that doesnt require routine blood monitoring. Like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce the risk of an afibrelated stroke. There is limited data on how these drugs compare when warfarin is well managed. No routine blood monitoring means bob can spend his extra time however he likes. New zealand xarelto® is just one pill a day, taken with the evening meal. And with no dietary restrictions, bob can eat the Healthy Foods he likes. Do not stop taking xarelto® rivaroxaban without talking to the doctor who prescribes it for you. Stopping may increase your risk of having a stroke. Get medical help right away if you develop any signs or symptoms of bleeding, like unusual bruising or tingling. You may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. Talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you currently have abnormal bleeding. Xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. You are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto®, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. Tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. Before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. Ready to change your routine . Ask your doctor about onceaday xarelto®. For more information including cost support options, call 1888xarelto or visit goxarelto. Com. Oh, look at that shot. Here with us now, former democratic senator from wisconsin, Russ Feingold. Hes the author of while america sleeps a wakeup call for the post9 11 era now out in paperback. As we were talking in the break, you know what he said . Whats that . He agrees we should be on delay in l. A. We should. And were going to be. Because he has to get up too early. Ive been teaching at stanford law school, and i miss you guys. Youve gone all west coast on us. The weather is very nice. You guys come on too early for the west coast. Were going to take care of that. Our friends at comcast are taking care of that right now. We have to. Lets talk, first of all, i want to get into the buck, but really quickly, look at whats happening in washington. You look at the sequester. You worked with republicans, actually, on cutting spending, on being more rational in our budgetary approach. What are your thoughts today . Well, i work with you. Right. In the gold old days when we were there, the thing that was different, joe, and i think youll agree with this, the public was engaged in the idea of bringing down the deficit. They didnt have this division where one side said, you cant raise taxes. And the other side said we have to increase spending. We had this sort of almost unfriendly competition to see who could be tougher on the deficit. It was sort of fun. You know, why do we have a Helium Program for dirigibles . Why do we have a teatasting board . Why do we have a woollen Mohair Program for the troops uniforms that arent wool anymore . We need to be in a situation where the public is engaged with members of congress and the president in finding even the small things. Yes, the big things matter. But that creates the energy and the enthusiasm that leads to the kind of deal that were going to need to actually get this done. No doubt about it. Lets talk about why america is sleeping in the post9 11 world. You say its not just about slogans. What are we getting wrong . Well, the problem is since 9 11, we obviously took an enormous blow. Ive been on this show talking about this. It seems after ten years we occasionally Pay Attention whats happening overseas, but we tend to go back to sleep and focus almost exclusively to domestic issues. Its a cliche, but we need to learn to walk and chew gum at the same time. You and i three years ago were talking about afghanistan. Talking about spending 2 billion a week. Talking about this endless war. Were three years past that. That one should have ended a long time ago. Ago. We cant shift from north africa to syria, as important as it is, the north africa situation continues. I think the administration was too quick to say bin laden and everybody had their own day, but i was shocked to see the republicans never mention anything until benghazi. Once that ended, theyre not interested in it anymore. We have to maintain a focus. How do we maintain that focus, though . As a people and as leaders in our government have to make it a main part of that agenda. They cant be criticized for whats happening in malli or egypt. They need to be given credit for that. My book is about the fact that our system rewards people for basically not knowing much about the rest of the world. Where do you stand on drones . I think drones are essential, but we need a legal regime, a real law monitored by the judiciary. It cant just be the president and a couple advisers looking at the list. Were you surprised by the Justice Department memo . Very disturbed. I think the Legal Counsel memos need to come out and the public needs to be the legal basis. I think it can be done in a lawful way, but it has to be precisely related to an enemy and not a broader definition of people that might not like us. Thats one of mice worries about how this goes. I want to understand more about what youre saling, islamists, before anyone heard of al qaeda, before al qaeda came together, the algerian islamists were engaged in a brightal civil war with the algerian government. Are you arguing that America Needs to be engaged with islamists around the world, so if thats the case, you and john mccain are completely on the same page. Were not on the same page on this, and let me take your exact example. Heres the fact that people dont realize. The folks in algeria went somewhere first. They went to afghanistan. They were part of the mojadean he was in afghanistan at the time, so it has tore tailored to al qaeda, but this is al qaeda, and we have to realize it. Its not just any islamic group. The book while america sleeps, a wakeup call for the post9 11 era is now out in paperback. We want to teach at stanford. You want to invite us out . Well, i dont have the authority. But its a great place. Give you a plug for marquette. I dont want to go to wisconsin. Just wait a few weeks. You dont have the authority to let news your own classroom . No, i had to start my class that the one thing out of order is discussing the roe bowl, which you may recall was wisconsin versus stanford. Thank you, russ. Well be right back. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. Omnipotent of opportunity. You know how to mix business. With business. And you. Rent from national. Because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. And go. You can even take a fullsize or above. And still pay the midsize price. I could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. Yes, you could. Go national. Go like a pro. Ya. Alright, another one just like that. Right in the old bucket. Good toss see thats much better that was good. You had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. Lets do it again watch me. Just like that one. [ male announcer ] the durability of the volkswagen passat. Pass down something he will be grateful for. Good arm. Thats the power of german engineering. Back to you. As your life changes, fidelity is there for your personal economy, helping you readjust along the way, refocus as careers change and kids head off to college, and revisit your investments as retirement gets closer. Wherever you are today, fidelitys guidance can help you finetune your personal economy. Start today with a free oneonone review of your Retirement Plan. The battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa Auto Insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaas commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. Begin your legacy. Get an autoinsurance quote. Usaa. We know what it means to serve. Coming up next, the sequester does almost nothing to tackle the biggest drivers of deficits in our economy. Have you noticed Richard Wolffe throat, hes having to clear his throat. Yes, hes concerned. Eugene robinson joins us next on morning joe. [ man ] ive been out there most of my life. You name it. Ive hooked it. But theres one. One thats always eluded me. Thought i had it in the blizzard of 93. Ha never even came close. Sometimes, i actually think its mocking me. [ engine revs ] what . quattro but at xerox weve embraced a new role. Working behind the scenes to provide companies with services. Like helping hr departments manage benefits and pensions for over 11 million employees. Reducing document costs by up to 30 . And processing 421 billion dollars in accounts payables each year. Helping thousands of companies simplify how work gets done. Hows that for an encore . With xerox, youre ready for real business. Living with moderate to semeans living with pain. Is it could also mean living with joint damage. Humira, adalimumab, can help treat more than just the pain. For many adults, humira is clinically proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. Blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening Heart Failure have occurred. Before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. Ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. Tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. You should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. Ask your rheumatologist about humira, to help relieve your pain and stop further joint damage. Good morning. Its 8 00 on the east coast, 5 00 a. M. On the west coast. Time to wake up. Just drag yourself out of bed. Say good morning. You could be here and youre there. Back with us on set, richard, john, and in washington Kelly Odonnell. Today 85 billion in across the board cuts hit federal agencies and the pentagon. The two competing plans to avert the sequester failed in the congress today. As was expected, in fact the democrats plan didnt get a single vote from the republicans across the aisle. Though the budget cuts are widespread, the biggest drivers of debt in the economy are largely spared. According to wall street journal, the government spent over 50 percent last year on Social Security, medicaid, and interest on the federal debt. Most of the entitlement programs are nearly untouched. Its expected to grow 40 over the next decade. In just three yours the Social Security fund is forecast to burn through its reserves and medicare funding to pay for hospital bills is projected to run out by 2024. Michael bloom better is calling for more leadership from the white house. I think the mistake that was made here is we let Congress Write the Health Care Bill so its a collection of special interests, you got yours, he got his, and i voted for both of thousands because i got mine. It doesnt make sense, nobody has ever read the bill. Its not going to work. The same is true for dodd frank. Congress shouldnt be writing specific laws. The president should send a specific law created by experts in the field, and then sell it to them. They may have to tinker a bit here and there to get some votes, but fundamentally the leadership has to come from 1600 pennsylvania avenue and not the other way around. The reason why the wall street journal points this out, the reason why we go from one stupid exercise to another is because republicans spent the last decade spending more on entitlements, the 7 trillion drug benefit plan. Democrats dont want to touch it. When republicans touch it, they get killed. When democrats touch it, they get killed. Why cant they do it together. Were cutting discretionary domestic spending, cutting defense, which i want to cut defense, but lets cut defenses in a smart way, but we wont do it, because everybody is afraid to talk about entitlements. Well, but i think there can be a conversation about entitlements. We didnt have to go through this exercise, this this silly sequester. It seems like both sides overshot. I think there was a biggers deal to be had. They didnt have it, so we kind of rolled our way to this point where were doing gratuitous harm to american citizens. Its kind of silly. And how it works in local news, the major newspapers sometimes get stuff, and then the local newspapers has run some of those articles, and the this is what people across the country the numbs gets a press release from the white house stop, i did not say that. I am, but if youre a local news guy or not or newswoman, news director, it goes from the without unfiltered, and fear and loathing in middle america. This is what people will get. It provides a hot meal to 80 seniors, but the possible sequestration could bring that all to a halt. Fayetteville will lose 145,000, money that helps level the Playing Field for students in poverty. Special education would take a 91,000 hit. One of the biggest impacts to the city and frankly all of Liberty County are civiliandowns. Thousands of people get a paycheck because they work at ft. Stewart. Reporter more than 3,000 children take part of the head start program, but like many agencies its been bracing for cuts from the sequester. If inspectors are pulled from the line, it could slow production, that means youll by paying more for your meat. If this would go away, youre talking a lot of people that would not have a nice hot male. Does that take you back . Your hot meals are going to be gone. And pay more for your meat. All these things are true. No, theyre not. But the point is it shouldnt. No, theyre not. Listen joe cmon, lets bottom line it. Its stupid cuts, mika. Exactly. But the 85 billion in stupid cruz. Cbo said it will only by 44 billion in stupid cuts. Its stupid cuts. 44 billion of the 3. 6 trillion budget in stupid cuts thats one penny out of a dollar of federal spending, will probably survive considering the federal spending sh but its the penny we spent to inspect your meat. John heilman, so many people say that our government is not efficient. Maybe not 99 cents out of the dollar is inefficient, but this one penny out of a dollar keeps our planes in the air, keeps our meats safe and cheap, feeds seniors, takes care of young children. Meals on wheels. Hot meals on wheels. Lindsey says this one penny protects us from al qaeda. Head start. The soviets from dennis rodman. This one penny, if we could just hearts in the p s is i s is i s, it could be a efficient government. This is a dreadful penny to cut. With all the wasteful spending, why cut this one penny . Why cant they get together and make real cuts. The republicans are trying to make the president do it. Why dont they get together . Does anyone want to answer . You want to. Okay. If this one penny theyre going to cut is so dreadful ill cut the one penny. If you believe like the president believes that this 44 billion out of 3. 6 trillion is going to destroy national defense, is going to endanger americans life and seniors will be thrown out into the streets, dont you say, you know what . If you guys dont have the courage to save seniors and keep meat prices low, ill step in and do it. Youre using a very good illustration to make the point that theres a lot of scare talk around this. Its a political exercise in which people are trying to drive rhetorical points. This is about a bigger thing, and the bigger thing is, you know, this is i think not just about this fight thats coming to at least a temporary conclusion today, but about the fights to come over the debt ceiling and the continuing resolution, the president is playing a hard game of politics right now, to try to get the whip hand over republicans. Republicans are playing another hard game with the president. This is not about that one penny on the dollar, and i think youre vividly illustrating the fact thats a rhetorical but its about a serious thing, about you who will have political advantage forward over the course of the next few months. The president right now is if youre a politician, this is what you do. The president is getting his sea legs. Hes got the republicans on their heels. Hes bearing down on them. He could give them relief, do the cuts himself, hes staying after them here. Hes not talking about marriage equality, putting them on their heels there. This week conservatives have been put in the position to be against the Civil Rights Act of 1965. Domestic violence. Last night they were against violence against women. Right. Rich lowery with the National Review wrote a column the party right now were sort of in the ditch. Just find an old blanket on the side of the road and pull it over you, because were going to be in the ditch for a while. But republicans some of the wounds are selfinflicted, but the president is on a run, and hes not get to let them off the matt. Kelly, i say, okay, how come you wont talk . Its because we wont raise taxes. The president wants to close loopholes. I will ask in that same conversation, are you for closing loop holes. Theyll say yes. Why then cant they come up with the cuts they want, since they need so badly to be done. I dont understand. Closing the loophole is something that john boehner said he is for. The thing that really counts in terms of how they negotiate is they dont want to spend it now in this conversation. Theyre prepared to do it in a bigger conversation about reforming the tax code, about trying to change the structure of entitlements for the long term. They say theyre willing to do it, but not for a smaller package. When you go back to where we were in the summer of 2011 when all this was coming into being, people didnt believe this would actually happen. Here we are, weve sort of worn down peoples expectations about what government can or cannot do, what congress will or wont do, and theyve let the 11th hour come and nearly go. Instead of the usual hectic pace to resolve it it was a big, mheh. This party is so intent on making responsible fiscal decisions. These cuts are random across the board and some are cruel and ridiculous, which you found out was less than what we were talking about. The cruellest spinning. Why cant they bring something to the table . Why would they put this on the table when the president is only proposing to close loopholes which they agree with . Because republicans afford a approach. Whoa. Worlds are colliding. You guys want to finish . Please. I want to hear. Thats some phlegm. So republicans support a balanced approach. Mr. Wolfe . We have all day. We have three hours. No, i really im truly curious. The republicans have taken the president that he supports a balanced approach. What have we had . Weve had the fiscal cliff and now we have sequester. The president decided and congress decided that the fiscal cliff, instead of being a balance of tax increases and spending cuts would be 100 tax increases. So now we move to the next step in the process, and this is the sequester. That has always been about spending cuts. Yeah. And so if our last exercise, budgetary exercise was 100 tax increases, lets make this all about spending cuts, the two do balance each other, and we move forward, and then lets talk about a balanced approach where well close the loop holes, which i support, but mr. President , you say you support reforming medicare, medicaid and Social Security. If you really support that, well do that all together. I dont think that the republicans do support that. You have to explain to me. The republicans do support that. Really . Yeah, they do support that. I dont think the president sports entitlement reform. I mean, so here we are and were going around in circles. Richard wolffe is there, his throat is cleared of a massive clump of phlegm besides oh, gross now. Well, thank you. Not you. Okay, stop. Stop. So oop perplexed. First of all, lets all agree that not only are they getting the whole approach wrong, and when i mean they, were talking about reps in washington, but theyre also getting themselves wrong. The sequester was designed to force themselves into a position, and they didnt even believe themselves, didnt believe their own deadlines, didnt agree with their own motives. If republicans are not willing to cut defense cuts, then the sequester was structured all wrong, and they dont know who they are. If you dont know who you are, how do you get to a deal . You said something about the president wanting 100 tax rises, all taxes in terms of the revenue i was talking about the fiscal cliff was 100 i think its a mistake to pull those things apart. The whole strategy was to deal with the bush tax cuts and spending and lump them together, so in splitting it apart, weve ended up in this limbo. Coming up on morning jo celebrity chef tom colicchio. Unacceptable, toms new film takes a look at this fact. And general odierno joins us, but bill has the forecast. Last night a fire caused evacuations in southern california. This is supposed to be the end of the rainy season. It was scary of the possibility of things to come. This is in riverside county, just a good safe distance away from los angeles and also san diego, but some homes were threatened and evacuations took place. That fire is only 20 contained. Its going to be warm and windy out there today, so good luck with the firefighters on the scene, about 200 of them. Just a few snow showers, it doesnt feel like march around much of the country. If youre in the blue or pink, youre below freezing windchills, so a chilly begins to march. Heres your weekend forecast. Today, no real big travel issues out there. As we go through your saturday and sunday, we continue very chilly. The next storm to watch actually comes into montana and the dakotas starting on sunday. This has a chance to be a significant snowstorm as it moves across the country. These are just rough estimates, but heres a general idea of the timing of this storm. Sunday in the northern plains, dips down tuesday somewhere into the Tennessee Valley and could develop into a stronger storm tuesday night. In other words, travel issues the middle of next week, especially the midatlantic. Of course, next week ill try to pinpoint who has to deal with what, including the possibility of heavy snow. We have a shot of a chilly new york city. Skating rink is still open. Its going to be a cold weekend. Youre watching morning joe brewed by starbucks. [ dad ] find it . Ya. Alright, another one just like that. Right in the old bucket. Good toss see thats much better that was good. You had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. Lets do it again watch me. Just like that one. [ male announcer ] the durability of the volkswagen passat. Pass down something he will be grateful for. Good arm. Thats the power of german engineering. Back to you. Here we are, unable to make sure that these young men and women who are serving and in harms way have the equipment and the training and everything they need to defend this nation. We are doing the men and women who are serving this nation a great disservice. And the president did them a disservice when he said in the campaign, not to worry, not to worry, sequestration wont happen. General odierno, the chief of staff for the army, a man whos got decorations from here to here, said that he cannot replace the men and women who are serving in afghanistan under this sequestration, because he doesnt have the ability to train their replacements. Isnt that alarm enough for us . Here he is, u. S. Army chief of staff general ray odierno. Decorated from here to look and looking good. Welcome to the show. Thank you. The one thing we have worried about is the cuts to defense. Not saying that defense could use some serious trimming and streamlining, but they cuts that good into effect officially, what are you looking at . Theres a couple things, not only sequestration, but we also have a problem with the continuing resolution. The fact that we havent had a budget this year also causes us about a 6 billion problem. Its a combination of 12 billion in cuts and sequestration, plus a 6 billion problem because of the continuing resolution didnt put the money in the right places for us in the army. Its both of those things, so first of all its about i havent had a budget since ive been chief of staff, 18 months, so we keep working on continuing resolutions. So that doesnt allow me to plan. Supposed to give you a budget, where would you put the blame on that . Its think its coming to agreement in congress, i mean, and we submit a budget every year, they run it through committee, and actually the Defense Department budget was agreed upon, but they couldnt agree on the rest of the governments budget, so they went to a continuing resolution this year. And so this causes problems for us, because its a mismatch in the way the money is allocated. We cant move it. Were not allowed to move it under the auspices of a continuing resolution. Then you put on top of that sequestration, so in the last six months of this year, i have a 12 billion problem just on our operations and maintenance accounts. Thats what was being referenced there. So well have to stop training this year, because were going to put all our funds to those currently in afghanistan and fund them, because theyre in harms way, obviously. So what i worry about is will we be able to train those that come the time after that. Well have to stop training for the rest of this year. What are the immediate impacts of sequestration that you can see in the department of defense in the next week, two, three weeks . It probably will there wont be much in the next couple weeks. Where youll see it is probably away the first of april, 251,000 in the army, 251,000 people furloughs, probably about 8,000 jobs that will be lost. Well have to cut training, cut support to our installations and our families. All of those things will begin to happen probably around the first of april. Theres a couple things that can happen. By the 27th of march is when the continuing resolution ends. That helps us a bit if they fix that problem, but we still have sequestration. And in 13, we have no say in where those cuts go. They are directed in 13 with sequestration. Beyond that, we can do some planning and potentially try to work through hout we best manage the dollars were given. Richard . General, some people, actually some people around this table this morning and probably a lot of people who you talked to or maybe your liaison people talking to congress, they dont seem to be taking it seriously. Youre being alarmist or stuff you can shuffle around, right . Its a big army. You have lots of money here and lots of money there, so help me understand. When you say it kicks in in april, is it really april . Is it bad planning and no way to run a war . Is it really going to deteriorate what you can do in the battlefield . Part of this is how sequestration works. So in 13 the cuts are directed. I have no say. I cant move them around. It is part of every line item is designated a certain percentage. Whatever the final number ends up being, so i cant move it around to fit what were doing in 13. Beyond 13, if we submit that budget, if it gets approved, and then i throw on top of that the inning resolution, which provides a shortfall, now youre talking a lot of money. Its in very specific accounts. We procurement accounts to buy weapons and systems, operational systems which pay foss salaries, and training and maintaining equipment. Its in those accounts where you have shortfalls. I cant move money because of the continuing resolution and because of the way sequestration is enacted. That causes part of the problems well. Melody . General, im wondering about the Ripple Effect. Some of what ive read is you will have to adjust medical care for those enlisted and their families. Weve talked about the furloughs that will take place. Do you have any sense of what the Ripple Effect will be for your people, not to mention the communities in which youre located . The problem we have is, although these large cuts are in the last six months of 13, where they really start to affect is 14 and 15. Im going to have to cut 37,000 hours worth of flying hours for helicopters pilots. Thats somewhere between 500 and 750 pilots who will not be trained. You cant make that up. So it will move into 14, into 15. It will take us two years to catch up if we dont do the flying hours these years, because you only have so much capacity in order to train, for example. Its those kind of things that will cause us problems, and then well have to take some potential actions in our installations, where we wont have some of the programs that we have now. We wont eliminate them, but well have to trim them. Some of our counseling programs, some of the things important to us, we wont be able to do. You cant make that up. The people who need the counseling need it now. A completely unrelated topic, were talking about guns in washington. I hope we do something personally. We are trying to plan some events around the country, trying to address the issue and talk to people who are concerned about this. Do you see any place in our society for bushmasters, for americans to buy bushmasters and other similar types of i have some concerns about it, you know, with the job i have, i see too much violence already. Ive had to witness chaos in war and killing. So what i would like to see us do is come to an agreement where we are identifying. We can at least register people. Our suicide rate is very high, and the large majority of sue sides are done by guns. So what wed like to do is get them registered to at least understand who has them. That helps us to help them. Thats a military problem, thats a bit separate issue what about assault weapons . This is my personal opinion. Personal opinion. My personal opinion is i dont think we need them, but i do think people have the right to bear arms. We all agree with that. I dont think weve met someone here who is against that. And i think people would be allow to do do that. General ray odierno, thank you for your professional and personal opinions on the show. Coming up next, a place at the table. Tom colicchio teams up with Lori Silverbush on a new project. So if you have a flat tire, dead battery, need a tow or lock your keys in the car, geicos emergency roadside assistance is there 24 7. Oh dear, i got a flat tire. Hmmm. Uh. Yeah, can you find a take where its a bit more dramatic on that last line, yeah . Yeah i got it right here. Someone help me i have a flat tire well its good. Good for me. What do you think . Geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Email marketing from Constant Contact reaches people in a place theyre checking every day their inbox. And it gives you the tools to create custom emails that drive business. Its just one of the ways Constant Contact can help you grow your Small Business. Sign up for your free trial today at constantcontact. Com try. Bjorn earns unlimited rewards for his Small Business. Take these bags to room 12 please. [ garth ] bjorns Small Business earns double miles on every purchase every day. Produce delivery. [ bjorn ] just put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less . Ahh, oh [ garth ] great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. Heres your wake up call. [ male announcer ] get the spark Business Card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. Choose double miles or 2 cash back on every purchase every day. Whats in your wallet . [ crows ] now wheres the Snooze Button . You dont decide when vegetables reach the peak of perfection. The vegetables do. At green giant, we pick vegetables only when theyre perfect. Then freeze them fast so theyre are as nutritious as fresh. [ green giant ] ho ho ho. Green giant one student in particular, rosie, i just felt she wasnt applying herself in the classroom. I couldnt figure out where that attitude was coming from. What i realized was the main issue is that she was hungry. I struggle a lot. Most of the time its because my stomach is really hurting. Im just looking at the teacher, and i look at her and all i think about is food, so i have these visions in my eyes. Sometimes when i look at her, i envision her as a banana, and everybody in the classes like apples or oranges, and then im like oh, great. That was a clip from the documentary a place at the table. Wow. Here is the executive producer of the film, and tom colicchio, also the films codirector and producer, Lori Silverbush. Thank you for having us here. That looks impactful. Obviously it has a message, but now whats the next step . It looks amazing. One of the things we were most inspired by was the fact that 1968 cbs aired a documentary called hunger in america exposing a shocking condition that americans were in some cases starving, and americans watched this and they called their congress people. They reacted with outrage. Within two weeks we had a bipartisan action. Senators bob dole and George Mcgovern reached across the aisle and built our modern foot safety net program, and frankly they funded it by the 1970s we had nearly eradicated hunger, and weve gotten all the way back because the language and philosophy of the times shifted away, and how its in our collective best interests to do that, and how theres lazy people asking for a free ride, and so here we are. You are worried about the sequester, because the cuts that do happen are not good for the issue of hunger. 600,000 pregnant women, infants and children under 5 will lose their benefits. Its just when you think about it, its the most Vulnerable People in our country. If you look at, in doing the film, we really wanted to put a face to hunger. Theres 50 million americans who are food insecure in this country, one sixth of the population. People are sort of accustomed to thinking about hunger in terms of third world hunger, famine victims, yet we have americans Walking Around that look pretty much normal, but theyre actually hungry, and malnourished. Its just something that we can for example. It does seem ridiculous, the school lunch issue, the quality of our food, our environment, and the obesity crisis, which has everything to do with processed foods, and actually coincides directly with hunger, if i may, because some of the children who are not eating well are malnourished are eating bad foods that make them obese, so theyre unhealthy, hungry and obese. Im actually passionate about this and im going to get angry right now, because in a country of such tremendous wealth, in a country of such tremendous plenty, the idea that we have people who are both suffering from obesity and so many young people suffering from hunger is astonishing. I mean, its outrageous. What really makes me angry, almost as angry as knowing there are hungry kids, is hearing politicians suggest that food stamps are somehow a failure of the government, as opposed to a mark of compassion. We have hungry people in our own community and people think its a mark of failure . Our a failure of the people who somehow have somehow failed in the social contract. But when you have in excess of 43 billion individuals in this country who rely on Food Assistancer were no longer talking about losers or slackers or any of the language that people like to attach. This is a tremendous investment in people. We are showing lawyers, doctors, teachers and celebrities, people who are making it today because at a certainly time in their lives, they needed Food Assistance and our government supplied it. I think whats also interesting, from working on the film, we found that 80 of s. N. A. P. Recipients have at least one member of the family, so were talking about working poor. Thats where we are. You look at what the u. S. Government subsidizes. 84 commodity crops, cotton, wheat, corn, rice and soy. 15 dairy, livestock and another 1 fruits and vegetables. Welcome to our food environment. So its easy to demonize someone for making a bad choice and feeding their kids unhealthy food as if they have a choice, because unhealthy food is really inexpensive and healthy food is expensive. If we move some of the subsidies over to fruits and vegetables, maybe we can lower the price and they can have a choice. And not corn, perhaps, which is a vegetable, but also is i dont have a problem with corn per se, but were subsidizing corn thats going into ethanol, going to feed, to feed a massive livestock venture thats not healthy for anybody. 23. 5 millions americans living in whats called food deserts. Whats a food desert . It can be urban or rural. In fact 75 of food deserts are urban, where you have to travel great distances or spend a lot of time or money, gas, getting to a store thats fully stocked or stocked with any Fresh Produce at all. We show one of our amazing characters in this movie, she has to drive 45, 50 minutes each way to find any fruits or vegetables, because in her neighborhood theres tons of packaged goods, tons of really unhealthy calories, junk food is abundant, but to go that far just to make sure your kids get some vegetables or fruit in your day. So it is what tom is saying. Were used to this culture of blame, saying you people making those bad choices, but, you know, is it really a choice if you have to drive an hour each weight to get broccoli . We dont have a problem beings compassionate about hungry people overseas, but thats something thats hard to understand, but also we dont help people understand how they can how they can create their own food. Cook seg a skill. Who is passing on those skills . If youre working a job, youre going to go for the easy option, and the option is going to be unhealthy, and you may not even know what to do with that fresh food, even if you can buy it. And assuming someone has time. If theyre trying to work two jobs, trying to provide for their family, time is a luxury. When we were making this film, we met so many unbelievable people. We met a cop who has to go to food pantries to feed his family. We met teachers who suffered as one teacher, this wonderful woman, she suffered hunger as a child, and it has made her feel inferior and sort of laboring under a cloud of shame her whole life. What does it say about our nation if were letting 17 million children grow up with a psychological and emotional, you know, scar, real will i. You talk about compassion, richard. We also dont have compassion for the growing numbers of more bidly obese americans, many who are extremely poor and dont have access to good food. Take it to the next step, my book coming occupy in may, which ill give you a copy of and how these foods are adetective. So it creates a cycle of hell for them, bad health, and a short life. We have no compassion for this. These people are called undisciplined. Its not. Its a complete crock. The system is completely stacked against our health. If we cant get our leaders to be compassionate, look at the dollars and cents. Its costing our economy 167 billion in health care costs, on product activity. Its obvious. The estimate is about 30 billion can fix the hunger problem that would save 167 billion in the long run. Its obvious. Thank you for this gift. I appreciate it, tom. You must watch the show. This makes my iphone 5 connect with my 4 charger . Ill bet you have to buy it. You do have to buy it. How much was it, tom . I bought it, i can tell you it was 14. 99. It was on us, please. In making this movie, with el relied heavily on the research and stories you were bringing to date and frankly youve helped shape the conversation where a film like ours has a place at the national table. So thank you. Thank you a place at the table is in theaters now, and on demand today. Business headlines are next with Brian Shactman. How do you keep an older car running like new . You ask a ford customer. When they tell you that you need your oil changed you got to bring it in. If your tires need to be rotated, you have to get that done as well. Jackie, tell me why somebody should bring theyre car here to the ford dealership for service instead of any one of those other places out there. They are going to take care of my car because this is where it came from. Price is right no problem, they make you feel like youre a family. Get a Synthetic Blend Oil change, tire rotation and much more, 29. 95 after 10. 00 rebate. If you take care of your car your car will take care of you. But we can still help you see your big picture. With the fidelity guided portfolio summary, you choose which accounts to track and use fidelitys analytics to spot trends, gain insights, and figure out what you want to do next. All in one place. Im Meredith Stoddard and i helped create the fidelity guided portfolio summary. Its one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. Now get 200 free trades when you open an account. All right. Business before the bell now with cnbcs Brian Shactman the new indicators out this morning. What do they say about the economy . Interesting, mika, personal income and spending. Personal income was down 3. 6 , spending up, and basically that says that Consumer Debt could be on the rise. Interesting thing about income up 2. 6 in december, a lot of companies gave more dividends toward the end of the years, so we dont have that in january, plus we have the payroll taxes going back up. Well see if the patterns next month. Stock futures are down about 50 points in the dow after yesterday, if you looked at the headline, down 20, it was a blah day, but less than 20 points from an alltime high in the dow and in the last hour trading dropped like a stone, so they thought maybe it was electronic trading or what have you. Still not a lot of chatter about huge fears about sequester, but well see. Groupon, probably the best farewell memo that i can remember from andrew mason. He starts it off by says after 4 1 2 years, he did the classic, this is great, i want to spend more time with my family, and then said, just kidding. I got fired. At least the honesty is fantastic. I love the people who come to it took me a bit when i got fired, because its so stunning. So he was right there. Its a horrible feeling, but honesty is great. Were smart enough to know what the real deal is. Exactly. Youve got it. Brian, thank you very much. Up next, the morning joe weekend review. [ dad ] find it . Ya. Alright, another one just like that. Right in the old bucket. Good toss see thats much better that was good. You had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. Lets do it again watch me. Just like that one. [ male announcer ] the durability of the volkswagen passat. Pass down something he will be grateful for. Good arm. Thats the power of german engineering. Back to you. Transit fares as in the 37 billion transit fares we help collect each year. No . Oh, right. Youre thinking of the 1. 6 million daily Customer Care interactions xerox handles. Or the 900 Million Health insurance claims we process. So, its no surprise to you that companies depend on todays xerox for services that simplify how work gets done. Which is. Pretty much what weve always stood for. With xerox, youre ready for real business. Executor of efficiency. You can spot an amateur from a mile away. While going shoeless and metalfree in seconds. And you. Rent from national. Because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. And go. You can even take a fullsize or above, and still pay the midsize price. Now this. Will work. [ male announcer ] just like you, business pro. Just like you. Go national. Go like a pro. The headline in the Washington Post, your newspaper, was woodward says that he was threatened by the white house. I never have. Cmon, you know that. They got the impression from what you said that you felt you were being threatened. You just read to the politico one line from that email when the full emails came out, they were as cordial as can be. His email was cordial and your response, so if you felt threatened, why didnt you say, dont threaten me . I did not feel i have said, david. Cmon, you are putting words in my mouth. I said i dont think this is the way to operate. You and i have had many discussions. Youve never said to me youre going to regret doing that. Am i correct . Its been a odd week in news. Bob woodward went to war with the white house, congress accomplished absolutely nothing on the sequester, and louis schmoozed with his friends on the red carpet during the Vanity Fair Oscar party. Yes, that really happened. This is the morning joe week in review. Sometimes you know, i just try to spur debate. Yes, you do. Thats what i am. Chris christie is being excluded from a party with Approval Ratings in the twitties. His future . Pretty damn bright. Thats a pretty green shirt. Its not easy being green. Anything you want to tell us, pat . Yeah, i want to talk about sequester. Isnt the president asking to close loopholes . Hes offered 900 billion in cuts. Take it the president said it was the republicans idea. They really were sitting around drinking bourbon, in the good old days, they would get this solved after a couple shots, maybe a little Woodford Reserve . Salt, sugar fat, the Food Industry is using those three ingredients to create addicts. Im hungry as munch kin. How much calories in horse meatballs . I dont want to bet on what i eat, and my ikea meatballs. Will you pleat have one d on . I spoke with harry. Hes a little short on the sequester. I always took liam as more of the macroeconomists. You guys are scaring me. Im blowing bubbles to make my mind get distracted from i actually wrote a song called austin texas. The opening lines were, i met a girl from austin texas who turned out to be an l. A. Man. Whats the deal with austin texas . Please help this redneck understand. Up next, did we learn anything . What if anything did we learn today . Humans. Even when we cross our ts and dot our is, we still run into problems. Namely, other humans. Which is why at Liberty Mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. See what else comes standard at libertymutual. Com. Liberty mutual insurance. Responsibility. Whats your policy . Theres a lot i had to do. Watch my diet. Stay active. 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Tell your Health Care Provider about all medicines you take and all of your medical conditions. Get medical help right away if you experience serious allergic reactions such as body rash, trouble with breathing, fast heartbeat, or sweating. Flexpen® is insulin delivery my way. Covered by most insurance plans, including medicare. Find your copay cost at myflexpen. Com. Ask your Health Care Provider about novolog® flexpen today otherworldly things. But there are some things ive never seen before. This ge jet engine can understand 5,000 data samples per second. Which is good for business. Because planes use less fuel, spend less time on the ground and more time in the air. Suddenly, faraway places dont seem so. Far away. From capital one