either way. i don't think that we should -- do i think we should have to have taxes. i do think that people have to pay their fair share. i do think that the majority of the money is going to come from the wealthy. that's where the money is. on the other hand, today is not the right ways to do it and if you were to do it, you have to do it with meaningful cuts done in a time frame that is believable. good morning, it is monday, april 259, tth, the day after er and we're in london and with us onset, we have roger bennett and we also have senior research fellow, my educator according to some, and columnist for news week magazine, neal ferguson. >> we're so excited to be here. first of all, the sun, but of course we didn't come for the sun. we came if one reason. >> yes, absolutely. a major story. >> it's a huge story. in just a few day, and i'm counting down like four or five days -- >> i'm counting the seconds. >> really the event of the year as far as i'm concerned. >> of the decade. >> i wouldn't go that far. >> but arsenal. arsenal will be playing manu. and actually i think -- roger, you tell me, is not the future of english premier league football on the line? if arsenal wins, chelsea could still back into it. >> it's huge. >> i can't wait. >> how exciting to have roger here. there's a wedding here, also. little known fact, we've actually met roger the same way that william first met kate. and that is in a lingerie show. >> and i couldn't believe it, i thought, wow, roger is hot. >> yeah, he is. >> i don't think they're taking britain seriously. >> no, we are. >> about as seriously as they should be. everything that's great about britain, military vehicictory, political princess and pigeons. >> just a few weeks ago, anarchists had overrun the square. >> a month ago, i think it was march 27th, a great protest here. the police moved the protesters to this very square and they took it apart. it this place was littered with graffiti. this is not a place you come to do live television. this is a good flies come for a little bit of a rum fest and fight. >> and the question is will austerity work in the times of london, word that nick clag may be seeking higher political ground, actually he's starting to attack cameron. is this grand coalition falling apart? >> no, i don't think it's going to fall apart. liberal democrats don't have anywhere else to go. they have to stay on board the ship or they're goners. and actually i think it is working in the sense that if you look at the imf's latest forecasts for the uk economy, it's 2% growth that's better than the euro zone which is 1.5%. i think people will look back and say george osbourne is the finance minister here got it right. he acted before the bond market took britain down. so i think things are looking remarkably between considgood. >> what about the politics of it all? cameron's numbers are going down, thatcher's numbers went down in '79. i get the sense, though, that cameron is no margaret thatcher, he wants to be seen like george w. bush was originally, sort of a compassionate conservative with a short of a nod and a wink i'm not doing this because i want to cut, i'm doing this because i have to cut. >> i think that's true. i'm old must have to remember 1982 which was the low point of the thatcher government's fortunes and the economic situation was in many ways worse even though the kind of cuts were somewhat less than what we've witnessed. but remember the key figure in terms of economic policy in this government is not the prime minister david cameron. about think of h chk think of him as the chairman of the board. george is a political animal who is much more concerned with the long term prospects for the conservative party than with the short term macroeconomic numbers. and he's clever. they've both been very smart, they have the liberal democrats in to the coalition, they can't ex without -- >> you're saying they can't escape. willie yesterday, you went out on a mission, you wanted to see how this wedding was going to stimulate the economy and and i must say, i'm very excited. jeffrey emelt is bringing good things to life that will stimulate the economy. . tell america and britain about it. >> we'll have a full report on just how grand the scope is of the industry. but especially the rerefrigerat, not a gimmick, not a mini fridge. >> a big one. >> you put it into your house for all eternity and it's got kate on one door, william on the other. >> did you get the kate and william vomit bags? they have them. >> you're going to see those in our piece. and let me just say, roger was talking about the protesters on the square. they were all here yesterday. i don't know what happened in the last 12 hours or so, but they were camped out in tents. >> they're going to queens park rangers are going to clinch today. >> love it. >> so let me ask you about the ge refrigerator. is the picture of will before or after he started losing his hair? >> oh, stop it. you're just -- >> oh, there it is. is that like one of those zero -- >> wait a minute. seriously? do people buy them is this. >> that's the official engagement photograph. arguably improved by the water carrier. >> someone will have this? >> it's available only in the uk, so about if you want one, you'll have to get it while you're here and have shipped. >> let's get to news. there goes our wedding coverage. we're done. we wrapped it up. >> so let's go to news. >> well, we'll go back home, there's a lot going on in washington. some members of congress are vowing to fight the obama administration's plan to raise the federal debt limit. two members of the senate's gang of six appeared on "meet the press" yesterday to discuss the growing battle. kent conrad defended a short term extension of the debt ceiling. >> i will not support any long term extension of the debt without a plan or proposal or process in place to deal with the debt. and so i've voted for short term extensions, but i won't vote for a long term extension and i won't do it now unless we have a plan to deal with this debt because at the end of the day, this represents a fundamental threat. >> bipartisan team continues to work on a compromise that does not include significant tax hikes. republican senator tom coburn was pressed on his position regarding tax reform. >> but here's -- if people's taxes go up in some way, it would appear to be a violation of the pledge that you signed with a well-known americans for tax reform taxpayer protection pledge and the second piece of this is that you vow it on it oppose any net reduction or him mags of deductions in credits unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates. if taxes end up going up in some capacity, would you not be in violation of that pledge? >> well, i think which pledge is most important, david? is the pledge to uphold your oath it to the constitution of the united states or a pledge from a special interest group who claims to speak for all of american conservatives when in fact they really don't? the fact is we have enormous you are urgent problems in front of us. >> the treasury is expected to hit its debt ceiling in may. i still see it as a fake struggle. it has to be done. >> what we just saw on "meet the press" was fascinating. powerful force in american politics since days of reagan. he has the no new tax pledge. most conservatives signed them in their campaign. tom coburn, a good friend of mine and very tough conservative, just said we're going to do whatever it takes. if we reform the tax code to bring in more revenue, i'll do that if i get more spending cuts. really does seem now everything is on the table in this american budget battle. >> that's good in a sense that it would be very unfortunate in the positions became locked into a completely in-combatability polarized debate which threatened to happen. i think the key issue is to recognize that if americans want to keep entitlements at the kind of level that they seem to want to keep them at, something's got to give. my question is whether it should be income tax. one of the problems of federal finance is that there is no value added tax and no sales tax. it may well be that in truth the federal need as new tax source. right now the debate is just about income tax and or corporation tanks and i think that's a flawed debate about that we need to ask whether the federal government needs a new tax whether sales or value added tax like they have here in europe. >> and of course if you have somebody like coburn talking about bringing in more revenue to the federal government, he's not going to take that step unit democrats meet him halfway. and go after these entitlement programs. that's something that in american politics has always been the third rail. you touch it, you die. it appears both sides realize now medicare, medicaid, social security will be touched. and that's happened in britain with the retirement age going up to 66, right? >> from my vantage point, britain is about a year ahead of the united states in grappling seriously with the fiscal crisis and i think it's refreshing that just in the last few weeks we've seen a change of mood in washington. long overdue in my view. it's game of russian rue heoule being played with the bond market. its first act was to take decisive steps to reduce expenditure to get the welfare expenditures under control. it's taken nearly 12 months for the same kind of debate to happen in the united states. it's just in the nick of time. >> willie driving around london and i'm struck, you hear about austerity all the time and you come over here and expect debate to happen in the united states. it's just in the nick of time. >> willie, driving around london and i'm struck, you hear about os steert all the time. you expect something different. and pension cutbacks and this seems to be exploding. >> it's a wonderful place and people in this country came to the epiphany we better doing something or else. i wonder in america if it's that and see the polls, yes, we believe in deficit reduction, can we cut into medicare? no, only 10 to 15% question. a political question. >> the one thing the deposit last year, the national health service was a sacred cow in the way medicare is and everything else has been cut quite steeply. it must be said these cuts haven't yet happened. it's been programmed to start. >> haven't experienced yet. there is a sense even though it's been discussed, pain is about to become and reality. and london, you don't have to travel far from here to encounter a different country that doesn't have all the prosperity. >> sounds like he's talking about liverpool. a lot of money coming from the middle east. >> cuts now even more dramatic than thatcher is in '81-82. >> the wear ra legal is remarkable. took more than the fact lands war to change the spirit of the nation and libya, people have said it's cameron's effort to have falklands action is very erie. >> let's talk quickly about these weddings. a lot of times, skeptics come in and look at the numbers, say cost $6 billion, but only bring in $1.5 billion. doesn't that discount the fact so many americans, my family included, first came here because britain, in the land of kings and queens and the history, that's all part of the fabric that pulls millions of people to this country every year? >> i must admit, i have great difficulty talking about this subject without waves of nausea sweeping over me. >> thank you. i could kiss you. >> even more than the clinton wedding, i want to throw up. i'm leaving the country tomorrow morning so i won't be here. >> the economic, be a math man here. >> as long as we can confine ourselves to economics. >> please talk about your nausea. >> let me ask him a question. what do you think the dresses is going to look like? >> stop! >> i would get sick if got into this. >> let's talk about money. is it a plus, a negative financially for this country? >> i think it is trivial to the point of disappearing. >> how much is being spent? >> how much is being wasted? >> compared to what is happening because it's a holiday today. the people you see in this background are not british. the british have fled to the seaside. only tourists and the american media are here in the country. >> please don't leave the country, please stay. >> i'm leaving. i felt the same way about the last royal wedding, it always makes me very queasy. i don't believe it has any economic significance at all and why i don't want to talk about it. >> the austerity, britain's budget. roger, you want to chime in here? >> it's like fenway park. the royalties are the last ones standing. every other monarchy has made them like commoners and hated and despised and like fenway, the only one left. there's a backlash to the backlash. "new york" magazine and english people will start to come around by friday. >> oh, neil. all right. we're just getting started on this special edition of "morning joe," live from london, when we come back, an exclusive first look. top stories from washington, we bring in the bureau chief of the "new york times," john burns and martin bashire and senator chris coons and tavis smiley. first, straight to get some lies. >> that's what they call it in hon don, lies? half-truths in the states. forecast for the royal wedding, in case you're curious, the last two guys weren't. looks nice, beautiful weather for joe and them. by friday, a slight chance for showers but shouldn't interfere with wedding plans. in the states, a lot of fog, thunderstorms, a lot like on easter, very warm, especially around d.c., a lot of rain around the ohio mississippi river valley. if you have any friend or family that live in the memphis area, all through arkansas, they're at risk for potential damaging storms, as far as severe weather, watch out for big airport delay, especially this morning, dallas, dealing with thunderstorms all morning long. you're watching "morning joe," live from london, except for me, of course, live from starbucks. d d are worth 25% more on travel. we're like forget florida, we're going on a safari. so we're on the serengeti, and seth finds a really big bone. we're talking huge. they dig it up, put it in the natural history museum and we get to name it. sethasauraus. really. your points from chase sapphire preferred are worth 25% more on travel? means better vacations. that's incredible. believe it...with chase sapphire preferred your points are worth 25% more on travel when booked through ultimate rewards. it's got a calculator. thanks, dad. this is the neighborhood. you get elm street and you get main street. thank you. and that's just the first quarter. so you want a slide in your office ? or monkey bars, either one. more small businesses choose verizon wireless than any other wireless carrier. where's susie ? is she expecting you ? because they know the small business with the best technology rules. wise the senate on vacation. most of us, if you're jewish, you get passover off, if you're christian, you get good friday off. the congress is taking two weeks off. president's day, you took a week off. if i'm not mistaken, this is now five vacations since january that the senate and the congress have taken. >> it's a good question. >> bob asks great question. >> i totally agree with bob sheiffer. five weeks since january. >> i can say now that i'm not a sitting member of congress, i'm offended. outraged! get back to work like the rest of us. >> can you believe you got paid to do that? >> i can't believe i got elected. >> me, too. >> you're not supposed to agree. >> i'm sorry, you're right. it's amazing, perfect you were elected. "los angeles times," california voters want government employees to give up retirement benefits to help ease the state's financial problems according to a new poll. 70% of respondents said they supported a cap on pensions for current and future public employees. >> at the "usa today," astronaut mark kelly said doctors have cleared his wife, arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords healthy enough to attend the space shuttle launch friday and president obama is planning to attend the launch. mayor michael bloomberg offers a little advice to don't trump on sunday. drop the birther issue. he's not alone. he said republicans are making a terrible mistake in making obama's birth an issue. >> the president was born here. this birther issue is more than one person. there's a lot of groups that have glommed on to this. i think the republicans are making a terrible mistake making this a big issue. we have immigration, the deficit, the economy, those are things the public cares about. my girlfriend always says it's always about housing and jobs, my house, my job. that's what the public cares about it. if the republican party doesn't start addressing that, they will lose and they deserve to. >> he also offered advice to president obama saying he spend more time wooing his political foes in order to get things done. that was interesting. >> let's go to -- who is it today? mike allen. he was the sixth man. >> we have mike allen, the chief correspondent for "politico." hi, mike. >> happy monday, guys. >> we hate to rub it in but it is beautiful here. >> it's always sunny at "politico." >> if you say so. >> wow. >> gas prices always make for good political fodder. you have new reporting what the republican party aims to do to use the issue against democrats. what are they doing? >> in may, republicans will come back and make a big push on jobs and specifically focus on gas prices. they will use legislation, investigation, their oversight powers, all to draw more focus to what they say they can do on energy. now, of course, as you guys know, house republicans can't do anything for gas prices in the short term. this is an effort to stick it to the president, to say he took his eye off the ball earlier on in the administration. >> rising gas prices will be the fault of the democrats, fault of -- >> it is such a potent issue. i talked about i had a very conservative friend in northwest florida never voted for a democrat before in his life, gas prices got over $4 back in 2006, he immediately said he was looking for a democratic president. that's the reality, at least in the united states. we've been immune from the type of gas prices europeans have been paying for years. >> right. it is a politically sensitive issue all over the world, one of the last things george osborne the last finance minister slipped in, break in terms of taxation to try to ease the pain for drivers. it's happening in china, too, the first signs of what could be a serious wave of unrest about inflation in china was action by truck drivers in china, a worldwide issue. neither republicans or democrats are in control of gas prices driven up by supply and demand. >> is this issue -- we had the talk about it around the show, is this a supply and demand issue back in the states? we hear it has more to do with unrest in libya and iran and other places. >> yes. the supply side is clearly dominated by political unrest in the region the world's biggest gas station. that's not going to go away. i've been arguing some time there's a big problem unfolding in the region. it's not over. if it spreads to the really big oil producer, saudi arabia, we can see higher prices. china's growth and not only china, you name it, any major non-western non-developed economy is growing very price and another big reason why there's pressure on prices. i don't see that changing overnight unless the chinese alter their monetary policy. a big change could be china tightening of monetary policy. >> we know the president is watching that closely as his gas prices go up, presidential approval tends go down, right? >> that's correct. we see a little bit of recalibration for house republicans during the election. they were very disciplined talking about wher