Transcripts For MSNBCW Weekends With Alex Witt 20120311

happened. >> forced the u.s. soldier obviously left the base in kandahar in the middle of the night and shot back afghan civilians. >> the spokesman said the motives are unclear and incident is being investigated. joining me is general mccaffrey. welcome. i'm sorry under these conditions but good day to you. general, i-want to hear what you think, what your immediate take when you hear this. >> well, unfortunately, alex, it sounds like a senseless tragedy, soldier wandering around the dark murdering civilians in two villages. the investigation, of course, trying to sort out obviously the mental illness problem. how does a soldier get off a base in the middle of the night alone and why wasp there some reaction? they will sort it out. president karzai has now jumped on it and termed it an assassination. it is a kinder box following the accidental burning of the koran. this could be the start of a -- further unraveling of any hope of cooperation during the afghan population and the nato forces. >> assassination could be attributed to both sides. there were the two high-profile service members, two of whom were u.s. and major and colonel that were shot at point blank range. it is the kind ever thing that led to protests. tell me how you see this playing out. >> well, we are about to find out. my guess is that this furthers the -- the fundamental problem in which we are dealing with an afghan government that's corrupt and incompetent. and not in control of its own police and military. and governors. and -- conversely, a situation which the american people don't support a $10 billion a month, you know, $5 500 a month killed campaign. president obama understandably in my view said we are coming out in 2014. secretary panetta said it is 2013. this could turn into a huge diplomatic and military problem for us in the short run. >> general, we should say that -- defense secretary panetta has come out and said he's deeply sadden by what happened. you mentioned 2014 versus 2013 time frame. do you think this might be prompt a quicker exit by u.s. soldiers to afghanistan? >> the american people conclude that thisment is going to work, that the talibanes ensly a giant drug criminal operation. and the karzai government, many of them, appear to me to be looting the treasury with both hands. knowing that the end is in sight. once you conclude that, you then start to ask yourself well, if it isn't going to work, then why are we going to continue until 2014. so that's the question on the tail. have you people like senator lindsey graham, sober-minded guy, saying i wonder if this is worth it. add to that, the u.s. political campaign and we have a real problem. >> general, may i ask you then conversely, can you give good reason for why we should stay in afghanistan? >> well, i suppose we took a long view of it, you know. we say for god's sake we have invested $90 billion or more. we have 16,000 killed and wounded. we don't want afghanistan to turn into fertile ground for international terrorism. but those arguments are not compelling to the american people at this point. and i -- oh, by the way, our problems on afghanistan which arguably immensely more important to u.s. national security and -- afghanistan are huge. they have -- they turned off our supply routes through pakistan. they have gotten talk lar wenuc weapons. that situation is worsening, not getting better. >> already, general barry mccaffrey. thank you very much. appreciate your time. >> good to be with you. we are monitoring reaction from the white house on this breaking news story. we will take threw for a live report at the half hour. let's go to politics now. gop presidential primary. rick santorum is hoping a decisive win in kansas will propel him throughout south. he easily beat his rivals with 51%. romney at 21%. newt gingrich coming in at third. ron paul placing fourth there in kansas. the republican race head to the deep south as we said. alabama and mississippi holding primaries. santorum and ron paul looking for more wins. newt gingrich is hoping for a comeback. >> reporter: good to see you. rick santorum picked up a win yesterday in kansas. mitt romney picked up a win in wyoming. for newt gingrich he's no longer counting on mississippi and alabama a must-win state. he is saying once again going all the way to the republican convention. >> we are here, we are in it to win it here in kansas. >> reporter: before tuesday's big southern prime in mississippi and alabama, rick santorum got another run after winning kansas. >> we are headed to mississippi and alabama and we will have a sweeps this week. >> reporter: after he returned south santorum set to challenge newt gingrich on what the former speaker hopes is essentially home turf as the pace of the race begins to quicken. >> this is the wildest roller coaster. you don't know where you have been. you don't know where you are going and you are not sure where you are. but it is real exciting. >> reporter: with two primary wins in the south gingrich called on his southern roots to mitt romney. >> i got started right with cheesy grits. >> reporter: reminding voters of his georgia upbringing as he tries to gain ground. >> if you don't understand grits there is a like hood you don't understand the rest of the south either. >> look at that, look at thalt little guy. got him. it really was than a dock roitsch. >> reporter: while romney isn't crushing the competition as some thought he would the campaign tou he won some of the islands. he is spending the weekend off the trail in florida. the victory for santorum is not expected to be duplicated tuesday. mississippi and alabama show a much closer race with newt gingrich actually clinging to a slight lead ahead of the field. >> thanks for that. well, let's get more front page politics. i'm joined by msnbc contributor managing editor, julianne reid and department if i national post editor for "the washington post," ladies, good day to you. you are right next to me here. i'm going to reach out to you. tell me in terms of kansas and rick santorum, do you think this amounts to a big momentum build important him? >> i don't think so because this is one of those races where it was evangelical had -- performs well under the kinds of races he expected to do well in. i think the problem for rick santorum is over the long haul romney cam subpoena right. the delegate smath not on santorum's side, not now. >> and to you now with mitt romney having put a lot of time in financial resources into alabama and mississippi, if he wins one of those states, how much of a surprise would that be? and then would that turn into a sense of inevide-- >> mitt romney is having a hard time having a sense of inevitability important him. he said it will be super tuesday in ohio and wins it and still a challenge for him. i think -- so to answer your question, i think that if he were to win, there would be campaign certainly makes the case he's wrapping it up. it is reably the delegate count at this point. the case they made and so far is strongest is they are ahead in the delegate count and hard for the others to catch up. no one race will be a tipping point from here through the end. >> okay. let's talk about in addition to delegate counts, joanne. money count. i have this report about this super pac group. it is 1.76 -- close to $2 million behind santorum. regardless what happens tuesday, does it mean you are going forward? >> well, it does but you -- problem for santorum is the super pac money he is bringing in is only for television. what he lacks is a campaign. what mitt romney has is money within his own campaign to get out the vote and can use to take that and be valid. santorum is fighting an air war without much on the ground. so going for he is going to need more money in his own campaign. not just ad money from super pac. >> in addition to that meeting politico quotes the family research canceled tony perkins who says newt gingrich is, quote, most influential guy in american politics right now. he could be a kingmaker. do you agree? could he be the kingmaker? what would he think of playing that because once he plays it what's in it for him? >> i think the point might be mute. it is hard to see newt saying i can be a kingmaker for day if i'm going to drop out and endorse somebody else. i think that your question is right. it is hard to see what leverage it would get him and what gains beyond that and regardless he's suggested he will stay all the way through the convention. i don't think we are going see him do that any time soon. listen, that could change after tuesday. if he doesn't win on tuesday, which he's -- suggested he may not, it is going to be an even harder path for him. again, i'm skeptical. >> okay. we are turning to president obama's campaign right now. president's campaign manage her this to say. >> i don't think that it is going to be the referendum. i think it will be a choice. we are going to -- have a choice in this election by whether we are will con positive job growth and go back to the policies of cutting taxes for the wealthy and ignoring the middle class. many of the issues and policies that got into the mess we are trying to dig out from. >> what about gas prices? >> gas prices are an issue. elections are always a referendum when it comes to the opponent and the incumbent wants to make it a choice. same thing that happened in 2004. the american people as you look at george w. bush's approval rating had decided they were not -- the performance but campaign job was to make the alternative unacceptable and managed to get over the threshold against john kerry. i think this election will be like a lot like 2004. have you an incumbent that is improving approval ratings. barack obama is doing a lot better and his job will be to say look at the alternative. maybe things aren't perfect but we are moving in the right direction. which is the reagan message. and then you will add to that the alternative will take us backwards. >> that will be their message. >> ann, how far can an economic message carry the president if unemployment remains at about 8% to 8.3%? do you think it is trajectory to -- is enough? >> it is tough. i mean, trajectory is better. gas prices make it harder. unemployment is still at an incredible high. they will talk about the trajectory but joanne's exactly right. they will be talking about the alternative. things -- not going say things got where they need to be but will say look, we are doing better and finish what we started and look at those guys. they will take you back to the whole message that started us in -- mess it started us this. >> good to have you both. here's a look at the updated delegate totals for you. mitt romney has 377. rick is an tore drum is second with 146 followed by newt gingrich with 112. ron paul has 31 to his name. gingrich campaign release as new film so what's it about? wel next on "weekends with alex witt." time out. sweet. 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[ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ amen, omen a day of memorial in japan. today is the one-year anniversary of a deadly earthquake and tsunami that devastated japan to the northeast coast. much of the country is honoring the thousands that died in the disaster with moments of silence and a prayer. as for recovery, photos of the prefecture show that some progress. one neighborhood reduced to smoking ruin is now clear of debris. however, this boat is still grounded inland after barrelling ashore. ian williams has more on this report. >> reporter: they stood in silence in remembrance, mock marking the moment the tsunami hit. shattering lives along the east coast of japan. the time was 2:46 in the afternoon. the tsunami followed a 9.0 magty tud earthquake, strongest ever recorded in japan. almost 20,000 people died. one in five of them in the small city alone. it is a day that few will ever forget. it brings back so many painful memories, she said. the family chose today to return to spot where their home once stood and from which his mother was swept away. after losing so much, how can you just move on, he said? the raging water obliterated entire towns along the coast. sweeping away just about everything in its path and leaving fields of twisted wreckage. most of the debris has now been cleared. piled into these vast mountains of trash which now line the coast here. there's still no real plan for getting rid of it which could take years hampering the recovery. >> the cleanup, nothing has changed. it is the same. >> reporter: more than 300,000 people still live in temporary housing. the government has yet to come up with a blueprint to rebuilding. the tsunami destroyed 90% of the region's fishing ple ining regi. it marks the anniversary weekend with a celebration. taking delivery of a fleet of ten new boats from the u.s. >> a lot of the boats that were lost were like -- smaller boats. big need for those. >> reporter: the u.s. operations left the home builder in maine because so many japanese builders were knocked out by the tsunami. and going to do a lot of fishing with this, he told me. i lost everything. i'm starting with less than nothing. there's plenty of time to make up. these are resilient communities determined to rebuild. today was also a time to remember and to reflect. back to you. >> thank you so much for that report. let's go now to number five on our first five web stories. isikoffrage of the great lakes falling 71% over the past 40 years. going to the american meteorological society. researchers found isikoffrage dropped the most on lake ontario by 88%. scientists say el nino and la nina play a role in the decline as well as global warming. evaporation and leaves lakes with lower water levels. 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>> well, as you know, and little -- the dugout starts to chant at the third quarter you have to quit now and we can expect that but don't want the press box to join in doing that. i understand that as -- rick santorum said the other day he would like for everybody to quit. we see the strength of newt's ideas. when you stop ask think who is going to on first -- day one, who do you think will actually do something to bring about energy and independence? who would get rid of all the immediate czars? who is the only person alive today that was able to balance a budget for four consecutive years and never happened since he left the speakership. as we look at the crisis economically and as well as what's happening militarily and africa and elsewhere we need the experience and expertise of a man that's prepared for that. >> all of that aside, sir, we are not hearing calls for rick santorum to get out of the race and draw his -- throw his support behind newt gingrich. general consensus out there. looking at poll numbers and looking at the delegate count numbers. would be that rick santorum for the conservative community might have a better shot. >> well, in a race you have three things. you have money, and we know that mr. romney is the best of that. we have organization and perhaps ron paul is the best at that. but what is the deciding factor when people go into the voting booth irvariably actually ideas. and people are concerned, three out of four people are frightened america is on the wrong track. and, therefore, we can't just have a change in election. we have to have a change in direction. and who knows what to do and how to do it from dawe one thy one, expertise ability to work with others. he was able to reform an entitlement, move people off of welfare to education ask work roles. and be able to control deficit spending and able to balance the budget and we need it now. >> how about the gingrich campaign released its -- about 15-minute film, let's play a part of that. >> i grew up in an idyllic children's background. i visited my uncle and aunt's farm, the family would rent cabin in the summer in the mountains in central pennsylvania. go see my grandmother and get sugar cookies and wander around. >> paint a pastoral image. is gingrich selling himself as the anti-romney candidate? >> well, as you know, he grew up in a family in which his father was in the military. he's the longest serving professor at american defense ministry, long nest our nation's history and the question was asked of churchill once what's the best preparation for our leadership. he said three things. he said study history, study history, and study history. and so we have a phd that grew up in rural america, as the son of an army infantry officer, the background that i think we immediate in leadership in washington. >> all right. former represent tv bob mccune. thank you so much. >> thank you. in just a moment we are going the hear from the writer who adapted game change into a movie. that's coming up for you after a break. it wasn't game change on "snl" last night. tina fey and sarah palin's impression was a big hit three years ago and drew huge laughs as pat of the overall narrative during the 2008 campaign. last night's take on game change and palin made people wonder where's tina fey? >> okey-dokey smokey pokie. >> not only is the look wrong but you don't know anything about sarah palin. >> well, that's just -- big fearing snow machine. i'm still the same iconic sarah palin i have always been. and then it is like -- uh-oh, can't name my newspapers. watch out for katie couric and the gethcha media. >> gotcha media. teen as was supposed to do this. >> tina got sick and i'm killing it. >> you are not killing it. >> oh, yeah. people keep asking me what does sarah palin think of this new game change movie? 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[ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." we have more on the breaking news from afghanistan. an american service member is under arrest. accused of a horrific crime. local officials say that the unidentified soldier opened fire on at least a dozen afghan civilians. they were sleeping inside their homes. many of the dead reportedly are children. we are going right to the white house and nbc's mike viqueira. good sunday to you. what can you tell us about this horrible story? >> well, details are still sketchy it other than the fact this was a sergeant that walked off his base in southern afghanistan and apparently led to the terrible incident that you mentioned at least 16 afghans are said to have died. the reaction is coming in, regrets from all quarters of the u.s. government. here is what we are hearing from the white house. we are deeply concerned by initial reports of this incident and we are monitoring the situation closely. we understand that the president has been briefed, alex, obviously that -- this is -- horrible situation and horrible time. the president just had another in a series of teleconference was hamid karzai over the course of the last couple of days. of course, this comes after that incident of the inadver ten koran burning. the killings of u.s. soldiers there in retaliation for that, there are a number of back and forth issues here between the united states and afghanistan and the president said that u.s. troops will be withdrawn from a lead combat role by the end of 2014. they were negotiating that. there is talk of an earlier withdrawal and now we have a response from across the political spectrum in washington. john mccain, of course, senior member of the senate armed services committee had this to say. >> obviously it is a terrible situation that happened there and it is -- it is one of those things that you cannot explain except to extend your deepest sympathy to those victims and see that justice is done. >> one interesting dynamic here in the reaction is you hear john mccain. he wants u.s. troops to remain in afghanistan. he talked about the origination of the 9/11 attacks. of course, al qaeda had its camp in afghanistan and warns today that they could return if we withdraw prematurely. newt gingrich on another sunday show said the following. we don't have the will power or the capacity to fundamentally change the region. he is calling for a more rapid withdrawal of u.s. forces from afghanistan. >> okay. the latest on just a terrible story. thank you very much. let's go now to the gop presidential race. rick santorum is turning his focus to the south. the former senator came away with 51% of the vote despite romney leading the delegate count, santorum disputes the math. here is what he told david gregory today on "meet the press." >> we barely won iowa by 34 votes. they had their conventions yesterday. we are going to win the vast majority of del ghats the state of iowa. nobody has that in their count ands have us winning by one vote and will not the case when the delegates from the caucuses are actually elected. >> you can watch more of rick santorum's interview on "meet the press" and coming up at 2:00 p.m. eastern right after our show. has the primary season prove ad boon for the re-election campaign? former press secretary robert gibbs appeared on "face the nation" this morning and took a shot at the gop candidates. >> this entire process for them has become -- i think it has become destructive. i think -- as you see them roll out tax plans that cut taxes for the wealthy and add trillions of dollars to deficits, it drives the independent voters away. so -- it is a fascinating process to watch. >> joining me now is karen hunter. msnbc contributor. as well as gop strategist ron. good to sue both. ladies first, karen. to the president, himself, remained quiet on the primary. when do you think he's going to jump into it? >> when he has to. right now he's doing a lot better not staying in it at all because these guys are doing the job for him. i couldn't imagine a better campaign push than what the republicans laid out for this president. he can lay in the cut probably until mid summer and not have to lift a finger for his own campaign. beautiful. >> "new york times" has a front page piece out today saying that the president's re-election campaign is launching an effort to attract women voters. birth control debate going on last few weeks. how does the republican candidates secure the female vote amid that debate n. >> well, i will tell you, that's a very good question. you know, the battle over the female vote isn't going to be won over the bishtds control or contraceptives. i think both parties -- getting wrapped around the axel on that one. the key here is -- everyone wants more jobs, better economy, more food on the table, less -- lower costs of gasoline prices, and they don't care about the social issues here. they want the fundamentals to be taken care of because that's the biggest concern in this economy. if the obama campaign gets really involved in this and overreaches could it backfire big time. republicans are trying to pivot away from the debate and get involved more in the economic issues. i think tax time is going to really help with that. >> i want to get to you with the potential back fight here. the president, you know, took a bit after victory lap saying that americans -- america's coming back. the election is still a long eight months away. do you think he may be getting himself in the hole if the economy lips in that time? >> yes and no. i think vonn wrong. republicans made you the social issues an issue. they -- really -- quiet when that rush limbaugh thing exploded. 67% of independent women voters adree with president obama's birth control message. birth control plan. and so -- that issue that the republicans made still is going to be part of the whole primary discussion and part of the general discussion probably. this president is -- economist twist, could possibly have a problem but i don't see that happening. i don't see it happening at all. it will continue to be a positive direction. because quite frankly, you know, the way it is start -- started before interest can't help but continue to do better. >> i want to ask you to respond that and do so with regard to social issues versus economic issues. extent to which you think you will focus on one versus the other, particularly if the economy continues in an upward trend. >> well, you know, the economy is still very dicey. we have good signs of job growth and that's great but we still have -- we have -- rising gasoline prices, exploding defenseits and debt. we still have more than 25 million americans who are unemployed or underemployed, not just looking for work. president obama is under 50%. he hasn't been automobile to break that mark. in fact, his support has been -- pretty much, you know, catatonic throughout the whole period of time. so republicans are focusing on -- economic issues and you are going to see them concentrate more on that than the social issues. i hope that -- i hope the obama campaign says let's focus on the birth control debate. so we can pivot away from that and let them get wrapped around the axel of that one. >> you say 50% obama but none of the republicans cracked 35%. we are still in a situation -- >> have you the president of the united states that's -- in the white house and everybody knows who he is. yet, you have four republican candidates -- >> mitt romney in the second-go around and nobody knows who he is and is leading. the bottom line here is this president is working towards building the economy and while the republicans are always talking about social issues. >> focused on birth control. i thought "the new york times" said that's what he was going to be -- focused on. >> can i -- i want to ask you, ron, with regard to the primary what's happening on tuesday. delegate count aside, if mitt romney has a big win in the southern primaries, either of them, do you think it is game over for the other gop candidates? >> i think it is very difficult for the other candidates to try to take him out. he's clearly going to be a front-runner if he does a sweep. i think he has a plurality of delegate votes that -- they are there still is going to be a race here. santorum and gingrich and ron paul. they are hoping to keep romney from getting over 1145 votes. the majority in order to capture the nomination. and that's their strategy now. they can see the math. and they are trying to see if they can get to a contested convention rather than letting mitt romney get to that majority vote. >> okay. i want to thank you both for being here. karen hunter and ron. thanks. we are going to get now to what a lot of people are talking about which is "game change." the movie. movie premiere order hbo last night after a lot of build-up. here is your clip. >> romney, crist, bloomberg, who can we win with? >> none of them. >> a changed year, sir. we desperately need a game changing pick. none of these middle-aged white guys are game changers. >> this is sarah. >> joining me is danny strong, screenwriter for "game change." was it worth it to stay up late and burn the midnight oil in new york city. >> thank you so much. i'm glad you liked it. >> it was a great film. i'm cure curious what you thought when you first were presented with the prospect, why screenwriter on this one? >> well, when they came to me with this project, i just thought that this is the great american story. and an individual no one has ever heard of who overnight becomes one of the most famous people in the world in a heartbeat away from being like being president of the united states and they were winning the election and i thought that this is the ultimate piece of americana and -- the fact that there was so much chaos going on behind the scenes, made it particularly dramatic and powerful story. >> you interviewed over a couple dozen people and that -- people that were with the -- what did you get? anything different than what the book told you? >> first off i wanted to confirm the voracity of the book. so -- like you said, i interviewed 25 people in the palin campaign and did get over and over again the book was very accurate. and then i was given more -- further depth into the characters and individuals and dialogue here and there. it was a really helpful to talk to those people. >> i want to ask you because -- there are a lot of critics, people that are pro-sarah palin, did you have on to hold back any sort of partisan influence of our own? were you able to do that? >> yeah. very easily. you know, the way that any good reporter can be nonpartisan. you know, our goal here was to get the story right. to tell the truth. to make it as factual and accurate and dramatic as possible. >> here's one thing i have had ed rendell on the program yesterday. when you have a book that's based on unattributable sources, not going on the record, you have to wonder who is behind the story and what is does it serve to that person? having seen it, i can see a couple of people going oh, my gosh, i know mark and john talked to these people because the way they were portrayed. does that at all reduce the integrity of the film? >> that's why i go out and interview 25 people within the campaign, to figure out not just one person's point of view or two people's point of view but so many people's point of view. and you know, the stories that i was told were coming up over and over and over again. so -- >> perspective same story? >> different and same story. and different perspectives but not denying the other person's perspective. you get a full multi-dimensional dynamic point of view after what really happened. >> personally, i had a -- i -- vacillating take on sarah palin. i felt sorry for her being put into a position that she may not have been prepared for. according to "the game" she was not prepared for what happened to her. >> sure. >> do you understand that sentiment? >> absolutely. i mean, how could you not be sympathetic for a person put in this position that has never been on the national stage before? it is a very intense, very scary situation for any person to be in. she had all these individual -- on her. you know, a son going off to iraq, pregnant teen daughter, she just had a bay by and she's being asked questions in front of 300 million people. she doesn't know many of these answers. so to fully dramatize the film you have to get in her point of view and it is a very sympathetic view at times. >> last point, though, at the end of the -- i think the overall only september is she's rather vilified. >> well, i don't know. i think people will decide for themselves if they feel she is i will have fade or not. i think it is a multidimensional portrait of what happened in this campaign. >> well, it is a fascinating -- after i got home, playing again on hbo. i found myself watching it going go to sleep. >> i love that. >> all right. thank you so much. >> pleasure. we have been asking you today, was it worth the wait and hype? here are some of your tweets and facebook responses. a great movie and gave me insight about why they picked palin as vice president. showed me she was mccain's downfall at tend. david fine says yes, go palin. she is just what we need now. the obama team that is. julianne moore was fantastic. ed harris was fabulous. praise the words. it reinforced palin was not chosen for her skills in politics but looks. seen but not heard. i watched it and thought it was great. it made me understand why palin was selected and why the media inquiries are important. >> you like that? >> i do. >> i'm also on facebook for you. i will get to more of your messages later on. stay with us. 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[ male announcer ] help your family stay afloat at aflac.com. plegh! workers in japan's fukushima nuclear plant mourning the tsunami victims today. it has been one year since that tragedy. that site, ground zero of the radiation, ranks the worst since the chernobyl meltdown. 9.0 magnitude quake started the disaster leaving much of the region and ruins. today the death toll, 16,000 people. the cost nearly $32 billion the most expensive natural disaster. as the people of japan wrestle with the human economic and psychological cost of that disaster, there are questions about how the country is progressing on the tour to recovery. travel journalist delia joins us and will talk about the challenges. thanks for being here. >> thank you, alex. >> staggering losses. human death alone, 16,000 people. as you look to your visit do you get a sense of normalcy return ing a year later? >> you absolutely do. i was there for 12 days and i went everywhere which was west of japan. hiroshima and kyoto and tokyo. then you stay in those areas and i really feel that there is a lot of hope and in that 12-day period i only did see two americans and they were part-time residents of japan. so i thut that was pretty telling. we are hearing about the statistics of the rebound being greater than that. i didn't personally see that. but it happens to have been offseason and cherry blossoms were not in bloom. that's with you are going to see more people returning. and the business travelers are really leading the resurgence. >> okay. so overall the steps are that it is coming back just it is not where it was prior to. >> that's correct. it actually dropped by across the board about 60% everywhere from the traditional -- up to the hyatt regency kyoto. they are saying little by little they are coming back up there. the business travelers from meeting the surge and seeing as we only see after a disaster, see an opportunity for tourists. we are seeing deals. you get your third night free at the hyatt regency kyoto across the board. you can find some deals there aside from the fact that our dollar is really not that strong. we have to keep an eye on some going to japan for -- they have a non-ticking culture. >> yeah. when you get out there, given you mentioned all those cities you traveled there, tell me about the mood of the people. do you get a sense that they are back? >> they are. very orderly people. it is very clean and very safe. but they are oh, so welcoming. i just put a video on my website that i taped every one of the people in tourism industry because all they do is waved and bowed to us. it was so cute. we felt so welcomed. you know, they really want us back. they are bringing back a lot of journalists. i think a lot of the statistics are reflecting the journalists going back to spread the word. >> check that out and take a look at japan which you say is a good deal right now. >> yes. beautiful destination. more for intrepid travelers. once in a lifetime trip. >> thank you so much. good to see you. duggard is here at the united nations on provide with oprah win provide. the awards ceremony. duggard received the inspiration award from her foundation that helped families recovering from abduction and wraf math. duggard was kidnapped at age 11 as she walked to a bus stop and rescued 18 years later. with swiffer wetjet, cleaning better, doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i'm going to... drink this... on the porch! ♪ give me just a little more time ♪ [ female announcer ] mops can be a hassle, but swiffer wetjet's spray cleaner and absorbent pads can clean better in half the time so you don't miss a thing. swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back. and for dry messes big and small try swiffer sweeper vac. fight both fast with new tums freshers! concentrated relief that goes to work in seconds and freshens breath. new tums freshers. ♪ tum...tum...tum...tum... tums! ♪ [ male announcer ] fast relief, fresh breath, all in a pocket sized pack. i was 18 years old before i had my first fresh bun. the invention that i came up with is the hot dog ez bun steamer. steam is the key to a great hot dog. i knew it was going to be a success. the invention was so simple that i knew i needed to protect it. my name is chris schutte and i got my patent, trademark and llc on legalzoom. 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touch at the time. all we know so far is he left the base and returned to base after the incident and taken to the straightway and the investigation is ongoing. >> joining me now with the latest on the phone is nbc news chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. mik, thank you for joining us. i know we are still getting details on thisins zpent conflicting reports on the number of dead. what do we have confirmed so far? >> you know the most consistent reporting in terms of numbers, casualties here, come prosecuting the afghan government themselves including president karzai. who said that 16 civilians were killed and five wounded in the shooting rampage. and among the dead, according to president karzai, nine women -- nine children and three women. if in fact this was a pre-dawn shooting in a village can -- occurred inside at least one, if not two or three homes inside, one or two villages all still very confusing. and that would indicate in the predawn hours that these would have been groups of families in their sleep when this lone gunman reportedly allegedly walked into those houses in the villages. and opened fire. now, according to the u.s. military officials, the soldier walked back to base and immediately surrendered himself to house superior officers and back at the military base. and military officials, senior military officials, just a short time ago, was very emphatic and in stressing that these killings are considered a murder. that -- these are murdered victims who died in the hail of gunfire and this was not part of the u.s. military operation and even though president karzai has already described it as a nighttime raid. they are emphasizing that as of now, it appears to be the act of a lone gunman, motive unknown. but clearly, alex, this had to be a troubled person. >> the way you describe this and this soldier walking back to the base just to, you know, explore what he had done, you can only imagine the reaction on the base. not only to the horrific nature of what allegedly had been done but the timing. talk about that. interest couldn't come at a worse time. >> it is coming on the heels of the burning of the koran north of kabul which sparked violent rye sxots protests across the nation, killing dozens of protesters and ending indirectly in the deaths of at least six u.s. service members who are -- killed in retaliation for the burning of the koran. and -- look, you know, general john allen, top u.s. commander, who happened to be back here in washington right now, norah series of hearings and meetings, issued a statement saying he's shocked and the u.s. military dedicated to have the committed -- those who committed the wrongdoing be held fully accountable. it sounds very familiar to the language that occurred right after the burning of the koran. and i know it is really too early to tell exactly what happened in this case but with these two incidents, so closely occurring to each other, one has to start wondering about what the military calls the command climate there in afghanistan. our soldiers -- are the means rsh are the leaders there becoming a little slack perhaps in their discipline or enforcement of the rules and as the u.s. military is preparing to withdraw from afghanistan. u.s. military officials insist that is not the case. but, you know, this is -- this is too -- too much of a coincidence so close together. not to have people at least question what is going on in there -- there in afghanistan and has the discipline eroded as forces are preparing to withdraw. >> well, muk mjim miklaszewski, thank you for your insight. we are going to keep a watch on the breaking news story. a live report from the white house at the bottom of the hour. we are keeping a close eye on what's happening. out to the southern showdown two days away from the all-important gop primaries in alabama and mississippi. mitt romney is looking for a crucial win and newt gingrich is banking on the region for a comeback. meanwhile, rick santorum is celebrating a weekend win today. claimed victory saturday in kansas gop caucuses. >> we had a good day today in the state of kansas. >> final results. santorum finished with 51% support, romney came in a distant second with 21%. followed by newt gingrich and ron paul. now romney is also celebrating today after weighing the presidential delegate vote at wyoming county convention on saturday. anyway, in addition he won contests in guam, u.s. virgin islands, and the northern islands. let's get the latest tuesday's primary from nbc ron mott in alabama. hi, ron. >> reporter: good sunday afternoon to you, alex. we have two big key southern primaries on tuesday. here in alabama next door over in mississippi. now yesterday rick santorum picked up an easy victory at can't and as hoping that he will roll to two more victories in the south tuesday. he is coming into what really is the base of the republican party here. it is -- blue collar vote and there's a highly evangelical vote here and those voters are responding on his conservative method. he is working to be very competitive here and principle competition is newt gingrich, southerner, grew up in georgia and his two primary wins have occurred here in the south, georgia and south carolina. former speaker at one point of his campaign said mississippi and alabama would be must-win states and is now -- now backed off of that a couple of days and saying he's staying in this race all the way to the republican convention. and he's actually claiming to a lead in some of the late polling in alabama and mississippi. he's very much looking to get victories here put him back on the map and hut him back in contention. for mitt romney who has campaigned here over the past few days, and mississippi and alabama, perhaps in an acknowledgement of his chances here on tuesday he has taken the weekend off and is down in florida off the trail. there's a form here on monday. we are not sure whether he will attend that forum in birmingham. two key races here in the south. then we have a couple of other events later in the mop most of those you a pier to be the favorable to mitt romney -- i'm sorry, favorable to newt gingrich and rick santorum. we will have to see. could have a new narrative here come wednesday morning. for more, i'm joined by christina bellatoni and msnbc contributor terry bacon jr. hi, good to see. >> did you good to see you. >> christina, who do you think -- sorry, good morning, afternoon. depends where you are in the country. who stands to gain the most, christina, and who stands to lose the most on tuesday? >> well, romney is -- very important to point out when he comes out with the results able to win the caucuses there. romney ended up taking away more delegates from the actual weekend. that's a very important thing to keep in mind you look at the results. regardless of who wins, all of these candidates are going to probably pick up delegates and add to the total. it is still such math game they are not able to reach that 1,144 number. you know, gingrich does not win here. it is difficult to see how he can continue to justify the potential to win in this race. and if romney does win, that's a really good sign for him. now, santorum on his heels. probably a close result particularly in mississippi. >> you know the candidates are campaigning pretty hard in the south. romney made news for hi y'all and saying he now likes to eat grits and then newt gingrich, poking some fun at that comment. let's take a first look at romney and newt gingrich's response. >> now turning me into -- i don't know, unofficial southerner and am learning to say y'all. i like grits and the things are strange -- strange things are happening to me. >> to point out that one of my competitors i have had grits before. >> so who outsoutherned her in that exchange? >> newt definitely won that one. it is bad for rom my when he tries to overpander. earlier in the campaign talking about how he at some point was worried about laid off. also likes the grits thing, didn't ring true. in terms of the vote, though, i think people who are looking for a true southerner are going to lean towards the direction and romney in alabama to win the voters are looking for more moderate electable candidate. if he can collect those voters, he can pull off an upset. >> christina, is there a scenario in which you see any of these candidates dropping out after tuesday? >> of course. you can envision that happening but none of their actions up to this point suggest that they will. particularly with fwrich able to win or both contests. they are going to attempt to say if romney does not win either of these two contests, the other candidates are going to say he has trouble winning in the south. it is important to remember i was looking at polls out of mississippi, just a couple of months ago, voters in mississippi prefer michele bachmann to barack obama by double digits. this is a very conservative state. a state barack obama is -- very unlikely to win in the fall. so -- a republican nominee, whoever that may end up being, is probably not going to have a lot of trouble in the south. you know, you are going to continue to hear clamoring from the santorum cam and gingrich to get out of the gingrich camp because mathematically neither has the past while the other one is still there. >> perry, given this conservative description crease tina is painting here, the report in "the new york daily news" which says the romney camp poured a lot of resources and cash into alabama. if romney manages to win one of these states on tuesday, do the others have to realistically think about dropping out? >> i don't think they will because of what christina said. if mitt romney won both states, let's say, that would really -- from the south and everywhere. hard for him to continue. my guess is if romney won one of the states and santorum and gingrich won one or the other they would say romney won only because we split the conservative vote. they are constantly going to keep eight game of blaming one another. gingrich and santorum for splitting the vote among conservatives. i think that -- the case where neither one of them will drop out. i think they are running until someone really forces them out. they are going to keep pushing until the tea party vote is no longer with them. >> ron paul's effect on all of that, too. pull a couple delegates here and there. >> as he has involven. as he has proven. the latest delegate count. republican primary which has mitt rom my maintaining strong lead while rick santorum wideens the margin between himself and newt gingrich. mitt romney took in 35 delegates yesterday. 25 of those coming from guam. and u.s. virgin islands. coming up at the top of the hour, watch the entire rebroadcast of "meet the press" including david gregory's interview with rick santorum. at the end of the show at 2:00 p.m. eastern here on msnbc. up next, mr. 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[ male announcer ] febreze air effects doesn't mix, it actually removes odors. so you can breathe happy. hbo's game change premiered last might. must-see tv for anyone that watched the 2008 presidential election. however, at least one person was not watching. senator john mccain appeared on fox news sunday this morning and had this to say about the film. >> of course, i'm not going to watch it. it is based on a book that's completely biased and with unattributed quotes, et cetera. >> in fact, "game change" was based on the book co-authored by mark halperin and jon heilemann. this week we may find out if mitt romney has a southern problem. romney and the other republican presidential candidates face important primaries in two southern states, alabama and mississippi. newt gingrich is hoping for wins on tuesday and rick santorum is trying to make a strong showing. joining me from washington is david, political report for "the washington post." welcome. >> thank you. >> as we approach the tuesday's primaries mitt romney has said the south is an away game for him. does he, in fact, have a southern problem? >> well, we have seen him lose in couple of different southern states, georgia and south carolina. georgia was a home game for newt gingrich. he won in practice which people sometimes count as southern state. these stauts will tell us more. i was in mississippi and alabama last week and i think there is a perception among some people that these states are totally out of reach for romney. i don't think that's true at all. lot of people down there that -- find that their highest priority is beating president obama and don't really care who does it. they don't seem to really -- warm to any of the candidates. for that they may because of that may choose romney under electedability argument. lot of people said listen i'm not really that into any of these guys. i don't feel like any of them understand the south the way i do. but i care more about beating president obama. let's pick the guy that can do that. >> electability is one issue. many voters, strong conservative, 50% of them, including evangelicals. . many of them say they will not vote for a mormon. are those numbers tough to overcome? >> those numbers certainly sound tough to overcome. my experience down there you found people who said look, i will never vote for a mormon. i don't believe they are christians, i don't trust them. you also found a lot of people -- mormons that live in the south. i found people that said -- no mormons, i like them and i don't think they are anything to be afraid of. even people that sort of are leery of them in general said look, i think romney is a trustworthy guy. i don't think the mormon problem is as big a problem as people think in the south for romney. bigger problem is he hasn't seemed to connected with anybody in a personal level and the way gingrich and santorum have. >> mitt romney has endorsements and the polls which shows very close race. do you think that he can win in either mississippi or alabama? or do you think that the -- romney campaign has been trying to lower expectations? >> certainly they have been trying to lower expectations. when i saw romney speaking jackson mississippi, he was saying 1% of the poll a few days ago, 2%. i think he is exage rating ask and some polls show him leading in alabama. i am not sure he has a great chance to win either one of the states but certainly will finish strongly there. perhaps more importantly for him, neither one of the states is going to get one of his competitor as clear win. it will be worse for him, i think, if gingrich got out. knocked gingrich out of the race and was facing a two-man race against santorum. i don't see that happen. >> do you see anyone dropping out after this tuesday? >> no. i don't. you think about this race, the way it is running differently the previous presidential campaign. super pacs change everything. easier to run a low budget campaign if you are gingrich or santorum. because you have super pacs behind you. neither one of the guys is running out of money and both seem to be having good time and raising their national profile. i don't see either one of them getting out now. to me does not make sense given the ease with which they have been able to run a low-budget campaign. >> all right. thanks, david. next, clocking the chances for war with iraq. who might strike first. for fastn emily skinner, each day was fueled by thorough preparation for events to come. well somewhere along the way, emily went right on living. but you see, with the help of her raymond james financial advisor, she had planned for every eventuality. ...which meant she continued to have the means to live on... ...even at the ripe old age of 187. life well planned. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. you name it...i've hooked it. but there's one... one that's always eluded me. thought i had it in the blizzard of '93. ha! never even came close. sometimes, i actually think it's mocking me. 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[ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ how close are we to conflicts in the middle east on the iran war clock? are there is a new article in the atlantic monthly this week that introduce ad new measure of war and peace which is now at 11 dl 11:50. opinions of ex-berts the chance of war breaking out over iran's nuclear program. joining me now is man behind the iran war clock, dominick tyranny. senior fellow at the foreign policy reresearch institute. i'm glad you are here. >> thanks. >> you spoke with a number of people, correct, to put this clock together? what did you gather and how did you get ten minutes to midnight? >> sure. so -- with american troops having finally left iraq and u.s. troops on the way out afghanistan, americans will be -- beginning to think the tide of war is finally receding in the middle east. the war with iran is getting closer. and to find out just how close we assembled high-profile panel of experts and kind of dream team of academics and journalists, policymakers, people that really know what's going on. and -- their estimates of the war between u.s. and israel and iran in the next year was 48%. so basically a coin toss. and then based on that number we adjusted the iran war clocks so it now is set to 11:50. >> you have 48% saying this may happen within the next year but i'm going to flip it and say 52% there are -- saying we are still at peace important the next year. and at what point and how much would it take to knock that up to 49% 50% or beyond? >> well, we have a very fast-moving and dangerous situation. i mean, just take israel for example. israel is deadly serious about stopping iran's nuclear program. >> right. >> and they see a narrowing window of opportunity where they can strike iran before iran is able to put its capabilities essentially beyond israel's capacity to destroy and so it is very easy to see how an incident could happen that could escalate and let cooler heads prevail. >> talking about cooler heads prevailing. there is the possibility of talks in the near future. many parties are saying let's do this, let's get this done. do you expect that to happen to the success of bringing down this war clock? >> well, i mean, that's what we would like to see. but most of the experts are fairly pessimistic about the latest round of talks. israel is, as i said, deadly serious about stopping iran. iran is intrance gentleman at the moment. meanwhile, you have president barack obama who is trying to find a way to use sanctions and diplomacy to stop iran's nuclear program without using force. and he has an upcoming presidential election. of course, that's actually going to make his job more difficult. for one thing, you have less time to focus on the iranian question and he's also being constantly attacked from the right for supposed weakness on iran and that may limit the president's room for maneuver. >> is there something that springs to mind, dominick, you think could move the needle either way and incident -- an incident, a talk, a discussion, provocation? >> well, we always hope for a breakthrough. and -- there's a great deal of -- you always hope that the iranian leadership will see that the future of security is not required a nuclear bomb. to be honest with you, i think the most likely scenario in the next year is just that the crisis rumbles on. or that we go down a path to war. >> okay. we will leave it there. a very sobering discussion. thank you so much. >> thank you so much. >> in a moment the latest a deadly incident in afghanistan that no doubt will stoke even more anti-u.s. anger in that country. 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[ both laugh ] [ female announcer ] new head & shoulders green apple. welcome back to "weekends alex witt." an american service member is under arrest, accused of opening fire on at least a dozen afghan civilians. local officials say that the victims were sleeping inside their homes as many of the dead reportedly are children. mike viqueira, another good day to you. this is a terrible story. >> reporter: leer is what we are understanding from some of our reporters, the pentagon and in afghanistan as well. first the u.s. embassy has issued a warning to all u.s. citizens within afghanistan and warning that there could be some retaliatory -- not strikes but attacks. warning everyone, as you may imagine, to take heed. we also learned from our folks at the pentagon that lieutenant john allen, of course, the commander of his coalition forces within afghanistan plans to call lakarzai today. conflicting information about how many people were killed and injured in this attack. one minister in afghanistan said it was 15. the president's office, karzai's office was it says 16 with nine wounded. what we believe happened, reports again are still sketchy. it is that a u.s. sergeant walked off a military base, coalition military base in southern afghanistan and volatile region, known as kandahar, went to a village and opened fire in the dark very early hours of the morning there. the president, the white house today put out a statement reading in part we are deeply concerned by initial reports of this incident and are monitoring the situation closely. we understand that the president has been briefed. we have heard from leading republicans on capitol hill, john mccain today, saying united states forces should stay there, newt gingrich on the other hand calling for a rapid withdrawal. that's actually been on the table and, of course, horrible incident and comes at a very sensitive time between u.s. and afghanistan. of course, there was the inadver ten burning of the koran that led to violence there and the killing of u.s. servicemen. that was actually just starting to calm down as well. the president had just concluded another in a series of teleconferences earlier in the week with karzai. they are talking about the status of agreement. the president has pledged to have all u.s. combat forces out of afghanistan by the end of 2014. >> okay. mike viqueira, thank you very much for that report from the white house. let's go now to the gop race important the presidency. ron paul with new remarks saying he is drawing big crowds. when it comes to voting, he isn't getting as big of a response. congressman paul lost his only 3 is delegates. the latest poll has him in fourth place with an 11% rating there of the national race. what's keeping it in there? joining me right now is jessie benton, campaign chairman for ron paul. good day to you and thanks for being here. >> alex, changes for having me. ron paul himself having said that he can't picture himself in the oval office. so if that's the case what is the mission of his campaign? >> the mission is to win. out context quote paul was saying it is not a be all end all dream. he doesn't hit the pill ovary night picturing himself measuring the drapes in the oval office. that doesn't mean he doesn't think he can win or should win. we are having a lot of success here. and we are doing a lot of things under the radar. yesterday we won 57% of the delegates in up -- convention in alaska. we did very, very well in the iowa county conventions yesterday and won a strong percentage of delegates moving to the state convention and won a delegate in wu by. and in u.s. virgin islands. we are accumulating delegates. we are pushing forward and plan to roll to tampa with a large contingency delegates and a lot of delegates that will be bound to other candidates on the first billion on the but free up dr. paul should we get into a brokered convention. >> look, that's a big should we. i will say that most everyone credits your team with being the most successful in terms of organizational skills and getting, you know, people out will and so bravo to you for that. i know you talk about this being a quote taken out of context. that said, if there is any sort of missage by ron paul himself that he can't see himself in the oval office, again, there seems to be some disconnect. you make it crowds but what will make people go into the polling booth and pull the sxwooth doesn't envision himself as president of the united states. >> i think it is a very good thing it is not his dream to take power. that's not why he is running. he wants to be president so he can make real changes and save this country and restore our constitution. he is not doing it for personal ambition, desire for personal power. that's very good and think it is attract turf people. you do make a good point. we need to continue to work harder. we need to push very hard to make sure between don't get -- by the mainstream media which is very difficult. and you know, we also need to continue to make the case. lot of the young people that dr. paul wins he -- very, very strong in the young vote and routinely wins the vote of young people. 18 to 30. we need to continue to make the case then they need to turn out and get them to turn out in greater numbers. it is very critical for people in this age group, this election is now the debt crisis is at our door. do we want to take our country back. we want to let ourselves drift off and become a second rate nation. >> okay. so if he doesn't win, what is his best hope? is he going to try to cut some sort of a eel? you have those conversations? >> we haven't had any conversations outside of just a little bit of -- staff and dr. paul. to tie for. >> like what? >> sure. well, obviously our ultimate goal is for dr. paul to be the nominee. short of that, various things we can negotiate for, lots of different platform changes to the gop cabinet positions for our supporters. vice presidency. whole variety of things. first and foremost goal is for dr. paul to be the nominee. >> and what's the key issue of the paul campaign would like to see lead the debate from this point? >> i guess -- three things go hand in hand. constitutional war. between only go to war when it is declared. number two, sound money, transparency, federal reserve and we want a lot less inflation, no more printing press money and number three, between want civil liberties and authorization act and we want to -- tax reform, patriot act. >> okay. jessie benton, campaign chair for ron paul 2012. thanks, jessie. in this week's office politics, we talk with nbc's foreign affairs correspondent and msnbc host andrea mitchell. we discussed her life with her husband and begin talking about the u.s. options in dealing with iran. >> they at least now agree that containment is not a policy, the united states and israel are aligned and iran cannot go in and clear. the president said this before but he said it in the oval office. he said it publicly. said it at the state of the union. he made it very forceful, that's a commitment. they are in -- grave disagreement over how long one can wait. what the intelligence shows. the u.s. position is that the intelligence will let us know when iran makes the decision to build a weapon and that once that happens, we have a full year before we have to take military action. israel's position is very different. we may not know. we don't necessarily know what iran is up to. a we can't take the chance. we may have to take action, military action, far sooner in order to make sure that iran has not made its nuclear program so invulnerable to attack that we can't get out. what is it that makes you feel confident, if you do, that will actually deter a man from building a nuclear weapon under the regime? >> i don't have access. i certainly don't have confidence in diplomacy. i think the only way to make the diplomacy real is that if the sanctions are hurting iran so hard that -- that they believe that it is in their interest to negotiate. they are beginning to hurt. they are hitting the central bank. they are hurting iran and its ability with secondary customers to see already that -- china is buying less oil from iran. that other countries who want to deal with the united states and want to deal with europe are -- realizing that they cannot buy from iran because they are going to then lose their ability to deal with far more important customers and suppliers. the real -- they are not going to hit until july. when that happens, iran is going to lose a lot of the oil sales. the point becomes when does the iranian leadership realize that their economy rests on their oil production and if they can't sell their product, then -- they really have to rethink how much pain are they willing to sustain for the -- ability to some day build a weapon that they might never want to use. >> moving to syria, what are the hurdles over which the pentagon, the president would have to do something like that, do you think that's at all realistic? >> we are hearing from secretary panetta and from the chairman of the joint chiefs is -- that it would be so much more difficult to accomplish something militarily. the syrian opposition is moving to a hundred different factions. it is not unified as the libyan opposition was. they are having a lot of difficult problems in post-revolution libya even putting together credible government. so -- that's really not where they -- believe that they can place their strikes. they don't want to arm the syrian opposition because they don't think it is reliable. and -- the u.s. does not want to get involved unilaterally and russia principally -- china, blocking the u.n. action. nato is not going to get involved with libya without the u.n. and so that's not an option. the arab league is not as unified against syria as it was against libya. you may have the saudis and a few other actors being willing to arm the rebels in syria. but i don't think that the administration is at all willing to go down that. >> i imagine you and your husband have interest conversations. you both have -- have high plateaus in your respective careers. i often said to people you should know, i would love to be a fly on the wall at their dinner table. listening. >> who is going to wash the dishes? it is your turn. no, it is your turn. i did it last night. i mean -- like every other couple, you know, domestic -- we both love to talk about policy and foreign policy. we learn from each other. the other thing we talk about and watch is baseball. >> really? >> yes. >> you are fans of which team? >> we are yankee fans. nationals, of course. >> washington didn't have a team for so many years. >> we both grew up in new york. he with the dodgers and me with the yankees. >> it was hard for me, that yankee thing. i'm a dodger fan, as you know. you can all watch andrea mitchell reports weekdays at 1:00 p.m. on msnbc. there is a move afoot in congress to shift election day from tuesdays to saturdays. the weekend voting act just introduced and house recommends the new saturday election day beginning in 2014. sponsors of the bill say a saturday election is just more convenient for voters and would increase turnout at the polls. i habe a cohd. i toog nyguil bud i'm stild stubbed up. 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this is big news. mushroom smothered beef burgers. hearty chicken and noodle casserole. so easy, you just need campbell's cream of mushroom soup to make them and a hungry family to love them. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. your finances can't manage themselves. but that doesn't mean they won't try. bring all your finances together with the help of the one person who can. a certified financial planner professional. cfp. let's make a plan. at the movies, part two. what women want. last men standing. bringing in our big three panel. former white house aide in the bush administration, joe watkins. deputy national political editor for "the washington post," ann. msnbc contributor and author, andrea webber. >> new new articles in "the new york times." sent trust women tell a disenchantment with the gop. other is obama plans big efforts to build support among women. i will start with the only male on panel. you are our gop representative here today. these articles tugt the gop is losing women, specifically because of the recent battle over birth control. there is an iowa city woman in these articles saying that she was going to vote for romney and may now vote for president obama. and so -- what is republican strategy to win women back. >> well, i think republicans have a great chance to win more women voters back and we head into the fall. you know, some of these -- these -- discussions right now may -- play be sensitive and may lose some women voters but again, we have to remember that this is a primary season and the general election, i think, whoever our nominee is, i expect it will be mitt romney, a chance to really work hard to bring the women voters back to the fold. >> let's try to refresh everyone's memory on what some are describing as the gop missteps perhaps. here is the list. february 16, gop-led committee on contraception that has no female witnesses. february 29, of course, rush limbaugh beginning the character attacks on the law student sandra fluke after she testifies about the employers providing contraceptive coverage. march 1, the senate votes down the so-called blunt amendment. that would have over ridden the new contraception rule and allowed any employer to refuse to cover new kind of health care signing by -- service by moral reasons. march 7, you have virginia's republican governor mcdonnell signing a law requiring abdominal ultrasounds for women seeking abortion abortis. how do the republicans walk back on this? is it gone? >> well, i think it is going to be tough, one thing the long republican drawn-out primary has done has allowed for a long and enduring conversation among the candidates. among republican law makers and on the subjects. so even if mitt romney were to become the nominee eventually and try to -- move back to the center not only would he be accused of flip-flopping on some things but voters have been hearing him now for many weeks and having to weigh in on, for example, blunt amendment where initially he sounded as though he want nod part of it and said yes, he was behind it. all of the candidates getting asked about rush limbaugh's comments and in the midst of it, president obama picking up the phone and calling the georgetown law student who was the subject of the remarks. democrats have seen an opening here and have been trying to exploit it and i think for republicans who -- enjoyed a gender gap in -- enjoyed rather neutralizing the gender gap in the 2010 midterm that gap would widen back in democrats' favor and that's a missed opportunity for republicans. >> one of the "new york times" articles says that the president is planning to build this effort to build support among women. do you envision any scenario which the president's camp overplayed this hand on this because it -- it is almost -- it will feels like the picking is too easy. >> it is very obvious, isn't it, at the end of day when it is 71% of independent women believe that contraception should be part of the health insurance and 53% conservative women thinking it should be. however, we have a saying in britain don't overegg the pudding. obama can come up a little hypocritical here. fundamentally much better if that super pac that supports obama given back the $1 million, pretty awful things about republican women in its time. so -- it goes both ways. of course obama will be using this tactic moving forward. >> okay. let's move on to last man stand thing topic. we are looking ahead to tuesday's gop primaries now in mississippi. who do you think stands to gain the most and lose the most, ann? >> well, obviously if newt gingrich were able to pull out a victory in one of the two states then that would be a very helpful for him. he is suggesting he doesn't think that will happen, he will stay in the race. very helpful for romney if he were able to win one or both of them to prove he has standing in the south. rick santorum, more of a natural for him with conservatives and but no matter what happens it is not going to be decisive. this will hot be over on wednesday morning. >> how about newt gingrich, should he drop out to make this a would-man race given a better chance to consolidate the -- conservative vote around santorum and have a chance against romney? >> i don't think so. i think that -- there's no reason for him to -- gingrich to drop out of the race. he has done -- pretty well and stands a chance to win one or two primary this coming tuesday. he doesn't trail santorum by that many delegates. he has a chance to really put himself back in the fray if he wins one or two race this wednesday. >> which candidate to you think democrats would most luke to see exit the gop race and why? >> romney obviously has the best chance romney has the best chann a general election. that's clearly not going to happen. it's actually great for obama. the more they are in the race, the more romney has to go to the right. and also let's face it romney is burning through that cash. he outspent 5-1 and squeaked that way. obama is getting that war chest together. 1.3 now. this is all great for obama the longer they stay in. >> okay. i want you to sit tight because we're going to talk about the game change film. a tweet from the start. nine vols named a 2012 iihs top safety pick. not...that... we'd ever brag about it... turn right. come on, nine. turn left. hit the brakes. huh? how did that get there? 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