a free market was never meant to be a free license to take whatever you can get however you can get it. >> tough talk on wall street. president obama proposes sweeping financial reform but what's it mean to main street? on the verge of collapse, an oil rig in the gulf of mexico could sink into the ocean. that is the latest fear. we've got a live report in moments. yeah, what a riot. security guards run for their lives after hooligans at a soccer game get rowdy. and royal wedding in the offing? new speculation today about prince william and his long-time love kate middleton. and a good afternoon to all of you. i'm alex witt. thanks for joining us. president obama traveled into the belly of the beast today paying a visit to the center of the financial world with a speech delivered at cooper union in lower manhattan. he is trying to close the sale of his plan for the reforming of the financial industry. here is the closing they heard today. >> i believe in the power of the free market. i believe in a strong financial sector that helps people to raise capital and get loans and invest their savings. that's part of what has made america what it is. but a free market was never meant to be a free license to take whatever you can get however you can get it. it is essential that we learn the lessons from this crisis. so we don't doom ourselves to repeat them. make no mistake. that is exactly what will happen if we allow this moment to pass. and that's an outcome that is unacceptable to me and it's unacceptable to you the american people. a vote for reform is a vote to put a stop to taxpayer funded bailouts. that's the truth. end of story. and nobody should be fooled in this debate. >> nbc's ron allen joins me live from the new york stock exchange and, ron, a good afternoon. we've gotten the news that the first vote to start debate in the senate now is scheduled for moay00 p.m. that's what's going down in washington right now. how about the president's speech on wall street? how was it received? >> i think a lot of people thought it was going to be tougher than it was. and a bit of relief that perhaps we're getting past the us versus them, main street versus wall street i hear so much about. dave henderson is a trader here. your take? was the president, did you agree with what he had to say or think he went too far? what are your concerns? >> i think he gave a great speech once again. he always seems to give good speeches. he is a great orator and comes across well. what remains to be seen is what is going to come out of this and what they'll put together down in washington. >> he says he is for free markets but not people being able to do whatever they want in a free market. you were talking about how this place is about capitalism and growth and free enterprise. are the two not compatible? >> they are definitely compatible. we are one of the most regulated ninds the world as it is today and maybe there are some things that got out of control and out of hand and maybe a need for more transparency of which he was talking about which i agree with and a lot of us here agree but you have to remember that wall street and main street are very industry twitertwined and wouldn't be main street without wall street. >> reporter: i think there is a perception in the world out there that wall street is not regulated enough and that's why the financial crisis happened. >> i don't necessarily agree. i think what happened was rules of the game changed down there in washington and when the rules changed, wall street adjusted to the rule changes and did what they had to do. most of it has to do obviously with the mortgage situation and what happened. i think that they came up with products they were able to sell to the world. things that are rated triple-a and what have you and i think it worked very well for the moment obviously. everything then blew up so it needs to be addressed. i think what they're doing is the right thing. >> we'll see. of course the big issue here i think alex is the senate bill and what's in it. and the particulars people here are concerned about what the new rules of the road will actually be not so much what the president is saying in a speech that people separate, try to separate the politics from the real business of it. alex? >> absolutely. we'll see how that all goes down on monday. perhaps a test vote to see what harry reid does with that after the fact if he's got the votes there. thanks so much from wall street. for more on what this means from wall street as well as for you the average american let's bring in our guests. shwe have dylan ratigan of course host of the next hour at 4:00 p.m. coming up right here on msnbc. art, i'll go with you first. here is the question. after listening to the president, how confident are you that his plan for reform has got the teeth necessary to prevent any sort of future crisis that led to this one bailing out the big banks? >> i don't think it does have the teeth to do that to be honest with you. i mean, larsonous behavior exists and i don't see how you can really effectively control it. i like a lot of what he said by the way. i love the accountability, the transparency. and i also like the idea of washington reform. but i really think he misses the boat when he says we had to bail these banks out, we had to use taxpayer money. there was no reason in my mind why we should have used taxpayers' money in the first place and there's no idea in my mind that anyone is too big to fail. the only reason they're too big to fail, alex, is because the government believed they were and then used taxpayers' money. that's where i stand on it. >> so you think some of the banks should have gone under? >> oh, i believe they should have gone under right away and i don't think the government should have used t.a.r.p. i think bush was really a mistake in putting t.a.r.p. in and i think all of the bailouts were a real mistake. >> dylan? >> i agree with your assessment that this doesn't prevent future catastrophe as long as you have too big to fail institutions or at least the perception of too big to fail institutions. you will always have the implicit guarantee, excess risk taking and exploitation of the leverage over the government, the democrats' plan minority republicans' plan solve this. it just creates a two class banking system. and the other thing we did not hear and i agree with art, transparency, huge movement, but the cops still work for the crooks. >> exactly. >> the incentive system is still set up for the ratings agencies and the regulators to be incentivized to get money from or jobs from the very people they supervise. until you get to the root of the evil, which is the inherent conflict of interest, in that people make money by being corrupted by those they are supposed to be policing, you will not solve this problem. >> so then if the ratings agencies are still working for the banks, how do you change that up and what does that mean for the folks on main street. >> art, go ahead. >> i don't know that the rating agencies only work for the banks and the regulatory agencies only work for the banks. >> it's where they get their money. >> they do get their money indirectly from the banks. that's true. but the regulators also get their money indirectly from the banks. the congressmen and senators. >> exactly. >> you saw how much they've contributed to every democrat and every republican. goldman sachs gave a million to the president. i mean, you know, there are obligations that come with that. >> that is the problem. >> that is exactly the problem. you and i are right on the same line. >> until they separate bank money from political theater so bankers can stop calling treasury for new accounting standards which creates opportunities for people like john paulson and goldman sachs to say this is a pile of crap, let's bet on it, let me ask you a question, art. you say let them fail. >> i do. >> the argument at the time was once they take care of bear stearns, let lehman go, the argument was if we let lehman go and don't set a fire wall, merrill lynch goes. if we let merrill lynch go morgan stanley goes. if morgan stanley goes, general electric goes. if general electric goes, goldman sachs goes. if goldman sachs goes, jp morgan goes, and at that point you've lost millions of jobs, millions of pensions. that is the implicit leverage. >> i understand. >> that these banks have. so how can you revert back to let them fail as opposed to break up the banks? >> dylan, let me just use an example if i can. i may be wrong on this issue but i try to think it through as best i can. in 2000 we had a very similar situation to the crisis in 2008. only in 2000 we never brought in the t.a.r.p.s and all these other programs and we barely had a recession. we had a huge collapse in the financial markets. we had a redistribution of assets and the system came right back. this time when we put in t.a.r.p. and the stimulus packages and all of these bailouts, what happened is the system then compounded on itself and became a depression. and that's what i think caused it in my view. >> the one distinction between 2000 and now is in 2000 the commodity futures modernization act had not been passed, glass/steagall had not had time to be repealed and banked and there wasn't a $600 trillion secret betting parlor that had come to develop which created the linkage that threatens general electric, goldman sachs, jp morgan. that's good leverage in a room with a politician. >> but i don't think that would have spread, dylan, i really don't. you may be right but i don't think you are. i think what would have happened is we'd have had the financial collapse tlchlt would have been a redistribution and the unemployment rate never would have gotten over 6%. my view of the world. i could be wrong on that. >> instead we get a government-facilitated wealth extraction the largest we've ever seen in the history of the world. >> i agree with you on that. that is amazing. >> we'll end on that agreement point. art laffer, dylan ratigan, can i have three or four minutes at the top of your hour? just kidding. >> yes, please. i love it. >> art, too. >> all good. >> do be sure to catch "the dylan ratigan show" coming up next with reaction to the president's speech from congressman mike pence and democratic senator richard durbin. meantime, existing home sales took an unexpected jump in march. home sales rose 6.8% last month reversing a three-month decline. in fact, sales are up 16.1% compared to a year ago. much of this is due in part to home buyers racing to take advantage of a tax credit that expires in april. let's go to the coast of louisiana where an oil rig that has been burning in the gulf is sinking or really has sunk pretty much today. right now we are awaiting a news con frenls. 11 workers are still missing. coast guard helicopters have been searching all day. nbc's jay gray is in belle chasse. with a good day you to, what's the update? >> good afternoon, alex. >> reporter: i'm just outside of new orleans and this is the joint reserve base where the rescue teams are staging and moving out 50 miles into the gulf. so far today they have combed the area to no avail, found no evidence of any more survivors from that blast late tuesday night. as you talk about the fire that burned for more than 36 hours, ultimately collapsed that rig. it's fallen beneath the waters in the gulf and that presents what could be a very dangerous environmental situation. they are assessing what's happening there. but continuing with the rescue effort and that is the primary concern at this point. 11 men still missing. at this point rescuers understand that time is running out, that the window is closing on finding any of those men alive. they say the conditions are perfect, though, the seas are very calm. the water temperature is very good. and so they'll continue to search until they're told there is no chance that these men are alive. again, this is continuing around the clock. right now one helicopter, one fixed wing plane, and three coast guard cutters in the water, all looking for any signs that there may be more survivors. overnight more than 100 survivors were reunited with their family members. 17 people were taken to hospitals. most of those treated for cuts, scratches, some broken bones. three remain in the hospital today in critical condition. it's a situation that continues to change. as you talked about, we should get more information in a press conference coming within the hour. >> okay. jay gray from belle chasse thanks so much. time to go across the usa. first to tennessee where nbc news has confirmed sarah palin will testify in the trial of a college student charged with hacking into her private e-mail account in 2008. her daughter bristol testified she received countless phone calls and text messages when her phone number was posted on the hacked account. the defendant faces charges including identity theft and wire fraud. in texas at least 60 passengers hurt on a carnival cruise ship are back home now. the passengers suffered minor injuries wednesday when the ecstasy maneuvered sharply to avoid a partially submerged buoy near the yucatan peninsula. in arizona this morning a violent home invasion quickly escalate nood a rad into a ragi fire. two suspects broke into the home in phoenix and took a hostage. they set the house on fire and walked out with the hostage. police fired killing one of the suspects. the second suspect ran back into the home. no word on his condition. today there is unprecedented legal action against the vatican in the sex abuse scandal. the lawsuit comes from a milwaukee group involved in the case of more than 200 boys abused at a school for the deaf. the main objective of the lawsuit? to compel pope benedict to provide the names of all known priest sex offenders. today the pope accepted the resignation of irish archbishop james moriarity for his part in a coverup. a german bishop has offered his resignation following allegations he abused children several decades ago. on wednesday the pope promised the church would take action against predator priests. a severe spring storm is moving across the country. tornadoes may be on the way. we'll tell you who will be affected. just as flights finally get back ontrack overseas a new plume of volcanic ash is closing airports. we'll get a live report from iceland, next. they're flying into london today. that's a good sign. flying into london. as a matter of fact, earlier today, early this morning captain sullenberger actually landed in the thames. the airlines lost $2 billion. $2 billion. usually all they lose is my luggage. hello? (laughing through computer) good night, buddy. good morning, dad. (announcer) oreo. milk's favorite cookie. ♪ on this earth day we're getting a rare look at the sun. these are the first shots nasa's new solar dynamics observatory satellite took, just launched in february. nasa says the snapshots will change our understanding of the sun and how it impacts our lives. well, some airports had to suspend flights again today because of the winds blowing ash over scandinavia. scientists in iceland say the volcanos produced little new ash today. nbc chief science correspondent robert bozell is live there in iceland today. what does it look like on the ground? >> reporter: a little cold on the ground but the volcano is shrouded in clouds so we can't see it. the radar from the icelandic meteor logic office indicates the plume is going up to about 10,000 feet here and the winds carry it higher still as it goes towards northern europe. that's why it's causing problems at the scandinavian airport. this has been pretty much a constant, steady eruption since monday. there is no indication of when it's going to end. but it seems to be that the explosive phase we saw on the weekend is definitely over and now we are having this constant flow of ash that's going to continue indefinitely maybe for weeks until the volcano decides to calm down. there are 34 other volcanos in iceland so the situation that we've seen here with this one is something that's going to cause other problems very soon in the future annal lot more thought i think will be given to how to deal with ash disruptions in the very crowded air space over northern europe i know one they're keeping a close eye on is that katla volcano. thank you very much. >> well, katla is quiet thank goodness. >> thank you. it is spring storm season and more severe weather is blowing in from rockies to the east coast. in colorado, marble-sized hail blanketed the denver area while strong thunderstorms caused minor flooding to hit other parts of that state. let's bring in the weather channel meteorologist chris warren for the very latest look at things out there. how goes it? >> well, alex, so far a pretty quiet spring storm season. that is about to change. in fact, already some storms firing up. you take a look here at the map, the big red box you see there is tornado watch. now, the small red box is actually a tornado warning. you can see the southeast part of colorado right now under the gun and much of kansas. the threat tonight continues throughout much of texas, oklahoma, continuing into colorado and kansas looking at large hail, possibly golf ball sized hail coming down out of the sky. then the threat moves off to the east during the day on friday. what we're really worried about here is that dark red. you see that friday night into saturday? that is the potential for some storms. even tornadoes happening during the overnight hours. since it has been such a quiet season we're worried that many people might not be prepared. we have a significant event possibly on the way the next few days. heed notice here and get your plan into effect. make sure you have your batteries in your weather radio as well because things could get nasty over the next few days. >> thank you for the heads up, chris warren. appreciate that. still ahead a college baseball player flipping out on the field. this athlete brought a winning gymnastics move to his game. looks like it hurt, though. up next, we're joined by a special guest on this earth day, alexandra cousteau the granddaughter of the legendary under water explorer and is going to tell us how she is carrying on her grandfather's legacy. time for the your business entrepreneur of the week." dave dahl of oregon rebelled against going into his father's baking business and turned to a life of crime and was imprisoned. after his release his brother glen gave him a second chance and he created dave's killer organic bread which is now in more than 150 stores. for more watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. i'm ed whitacre, from general motors. a lot of americans didn't agree with giving gm a second chance. quite frankly, i can respect that. we want to make this a company all americans can be proud of again. that's why i'm here to announce we have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule. but there's still more to do. our goal is to exceed every expectation you've set for us. we're putting people back to work, designing, building, and selling the best cars and trucks in the world. with our 100,000-mile, 5-year powertrain warranty to guarantee the quality. and the unmatched life-saving technology of onstar to help keep you safe. from new energy solutions. to the designs of tomorrow. we invite you to take a look at the new gm. boon motorcycle insurance, rv,at geiccamper, boat insurance. nice work, everyone. exec: well, it's easy for him. he's a cute little lizard. gecko: ah, gecko, actually - exec: with all due respect, if i was tiny and green and had a british accent i'd have more folks paying attention to me too... i mean - (faux english accent) "save money! pip pip cheerio