the view he didn't know it was bad to compare the president to hitler because he didn't go to harvard. it's way to early for this. good morning, this is w"way too earl early", the show that went to the school many call the harvard of middle tennessee. i'm glad you're up with us this morning. shoot me an e-mail or tweet me and let me know what you're doing up at this hour. or you can do what herman cain does and text the word awake followed by your response to 622639. mr. cain always adds 999 to the end of that, as well. we'll read the best responses later in the show. the next 30 minutes will be your cram session. a lot to tell you about including president obama's jobs bill voted down in the senate with a couple of democratic defections. what's next? the president drowns some of his sorrow by knocking down beers

withs in florida and rick perry visited a fraternity house presumably for a keg stand photo-op. more on that later. first, though, let's get to the news live at 5:30 a.m. eight republican presidential candidates got together at dartmouth college in new hampshire last night and sat around a table to talk about the any for a couple of hours. the format allowed for the candidates to ask questions of each other. many of them as you might imagine were directed at the frontrunner mitt romney. texas governor rick perry looking to gain back some of the ground he lost in the past several debates pressed romney again to defend his health care legislation the one passed while romney was governor of massachusetts. >> i'm proud of what we were able to accomplish. i'll tell you this, though, we have the lowest number of kids as a percentage uninsured of any state of america. you have the highest. i'm still speaking. i'm still speaking.

we have less than 1% of our kids that are uninsured. you have a million kids uninsured in texas. a million kids. under president bush, the percentage of uninsured went down. under your leadership, it's gone up. >> immediately after, governor perry headed over to dartmouth fromaternity house. he said i get up and try to do my job and debates are not my strong suit. he said that after the debate last night. herman cain has seen a recent jump in the poles. he scored a seat right next to rom 234i last night and also placed his 9-9-9 tax plan at the center of the discussion. >> my top priority is 9-9-9. jobs, jobs, jobs. 9-9-9 is bold and the american people want a bold solution. >> i think it's a catch which i phrase. in fact i out it was the price of a pizza when i first heard

it. >> 9-9-9 will pass. and it's not the price of a pizza. >> when you take the 9-9-9 plan and you turn it upside down, i think the devil's in the details. >> you can't mention 9-9-9 and herman cain i'll have to go back to him every other question. >> that's right. >> 9-9-9, the three tax rates that mr. cain proposes. he also kept to his promise during a radio interview earlier in the day where he said he he would not shy away from going after mitt romney. >> can you name all 59 points in your 160 page plan and does it satisfy that criteria of being simple, transparent, efficient, fair and neutral? >> her man, i've had the experience in my life of taking on some tough problems. and i must admit that simple answers are always very helpful, but oftentimes inadequate.

>> newt gingrich made headlines with a statement about who should be held responsible for our current economic crisis. and more specifically, what should happen to them. >> if they want to change things, the first person to fire is bernanke who is a disaster as federal reserve. second person to fire is geithner. i ought to start with barney frank and chris dodd and let's look at the politicians who created the environment, the politicians who profited and put this country in trouble. >> clearly you're not saying they should go to jail. >> in chris dodd's case, go back and look at the countryside deals. barney frank, look at the lobbyists he was close to at freddie mac. >> gingrich then criticized the media for putting the blame on business saying politicians are the oneses to blame for our weak economy. before last night's debate, governor romney announced he picked up a huge enforcement, that of new jersey governor chris christie. >> i have behind me a man who is

an american hero, he's been battling to rein in the excesses of the government in new jersey. he's a real hero in republican circles because he's a man who has been fort right. he's a man who has a following of a lot of folks across this country. so when he indicated a willingness to join my team, could i not have been more pleased and more happy. >> nudge governor and his style very candid about why he is supporting mitt romney. >> i'm here for one simple reason. america cannot survive another four years of barack obama and mitt romney is the man we need to lead america and we need him now. that's request i'm here. will is not someone who just is deciding to run for president off the back of an envelope, who just wandered mr. to it and said this seems like a good idea, let's see how it goes. this is somebody who has thought and listened and planned for a good long period of time about what he would do if he was given the honor of being president of the united states. >> governor christie added he feels romney is the best candidate to arrest tick could

you later the republican party's vision and more importantly to beat president obama next year. yesterday's event was a case of life imitating art. after this sketch of the weekend spoofed christie trying to drum up support for the former massachusetts's governor and it came to pass in real life yesterday. back in new hampshir also took aim at jeffress. >> i think that any campaign that associates itself with that type of conduct is beneath the officer of president of the united states in my view. >> i just don't believe that that kind of divisiveness based upon religion has a place in this country. i would call upon governor perry to repud i can't tell the remarks made by that pastor. >> a perry spokesman called romney's request an attempt to change the subject from issues like his health care plan noting that perry disagreed with the perry's remarks and that jeff

fres oig speaks for himself. in an exclusive interview, christie dismissed any idea that his endorsement was an exchange for a spot on the romney ticket. >> did he promise you anything? >> absolutely nothing. >> vice president christie? >> no. >> no? >> no, he didn't promise me anything. >> would he be on your short list? >> of course he would be on anyone's short list. he may take himself off the list and say no way, he'd have no interest, but the truth is that governor christie is one of the leading figures in the republican party. >> she'll share more of her interview later this morning when she joins us on "morning jo joe". now joining us from skype, mark halperin. he was at the debate last night. the first question, are you in a restroom of any kind this morning? >> i'm not. i went to harvard, so i don't make the same mistake twice. we won't have the bathroom issue

yoefrn overhad did shashadow o. i'm near a bathroom, but not in one. >> good to thouknow. it looked like mitt romney had a pretty good night. >> i gave him a clean a. he didn't revolutionize our you view of him, but he was easily the strongest person on the stage as he's been in every debate and he left the debate not just with with strong debate performance, but with that christie endorsement. h herman cain. very strong. and after that, i don't think anybody in the field really distinguished themselves all that much. newt gingrich and santorum continued to be stron. a strong. and the others very weak. rick perry needed a strong debate, he needed to prove something to people and he did not do it. >> what's going to change for rick perry? we've said over the last couple of debates he needs to have a strong performance and yet he hadn't done it. how does he change the way he

participates in these debates? >> i think he has to get his head in a different place, he has to perform in a way that's less passive and less stilted and less awkward. but also may help him hen he actually has some things to talk about. his economic plan in part will be released this friday before the next debate. and then he'll have more to say about the economy down the road. so it's possible what we're seeing is a product of his late start. he's only been in the race for a few months now. he's still figuring out how to do these debates he doesn't have a lot of policy to pitch the way herman cain or mitt romney does. >> and he has money and ads. quickly, how important is the chris christie endorsement? >> it is as we say in jersey huge. there's endorsements that get overstated a lot, but christie give as credibility to romney about the tea party movement and cutting government spending. he's a great fund-raiser, he'll bring at least a million dollars maybe more into romney's

coffers. and he also ises as we saw when he pushed back against pastor jeffr jeffress, he's a great ally to have and it sends a message the romney train is leaving the station. is this now a referendum for the party, do you want mitt romney or not and if you don't, you better find an alternative real quick because romney is looking increasingly likely to be the nominee. >> mark halperin live from near but not inside a restroom at the airport. critical distinction. president obama's jobs bill came up short in the senate as the chamber voted 50-49 to block debate on the plan. all senate republicans plus a couple of democrats, ben nelson of nebraska and john tester of montana voted against the plan. harry reid switcheded his vote from no to kre. he did because that enables him to bring the measure up for a

new vote at a future date. that gives you that final vote. president obama said in the coming days members of congress will have to take a stand on whether they believe we should put teachers, construction work hes and firefighters back on the job. while some some democrats blame politics for the vote, earlier in the day mitch mcconnell pushed back saying democrats designed the bill to fail. democrats and th right here on american soil. it's an alleged scheme that federal officials say involved an iranian used car salesman, mexican drug lords and murder for hire that could have left scores of people dead. these are all allegations right

now. andrew a mitchell h andrea mitchell has the story. >> the impact would have been very real and many lives would have been lost. all right an alleged $1.5 million plot to assassinate saudi arabia's ambassador, a veteran diplomat, by blowing him up in an undetermined washington restaurant and bombing the saudi embassy in washington. u.s. officials tell nbc news a seco behind it all. >> this conspiracy conceived, sponsored and directed from iran. >> reporter: when pressed, even u.s. officials acknowledge it all sounds like a cheap thriller. according to the complaint,

since last spring, he met in mexico with a man he thought was a member of a drug cartel, tried hire an assassin. but from the start, the mexican was an agent for the u.s. government. the iranian even got $100,000 supposedly wired from iran to the u.s. as a down payment to kill the saudi ambassador at a washington restaurant. when the agent warned there could also be senators dining there, others could die, he supposedly said no problem or no big deal. >> there are a lot of details that sound too salacious to be true. it suggests a willingness to act aggressively on the part of the iranian regime that we haven't seen from the iranians sinces 1980s. >> reporter: iran's television dismissed the plot as a u.s. fabrication.u.s. treasury has sanctioneded five iranians you including the man who has led the powerful force for more than a decade. >> this violates international

norms and must be ended. >> secretary clinton and others want to know how high up in the government this goes. we'll get more analysis from andrea when she joins us later on "morning joe." yesterda still ahead her an announcer once said if you are fortunate enough to spend five minutes around tim tebow, your life is better for it. yes, a grown man said that about a college kid. now the denver broncos hope their life will be better for having tebow as their starting quarterback. he gets his big shot and major league baseball highlights ahead in sports. plus hank williams jr. keeps bigging that hole. yesterday an appearance for the ages on "the view." that chip andlip and a check onr

when "way too early" comes right back. >> if as it appear this is was an act of terrorism, it was a december pick only and koud wardly act. we will find out who was responsible and hold them accountable. tle emotional hetlretl?tl

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she's supporting breast cancer programs for her neighbour's tennis instructor's daughter's 1st grade teacher who's also her mom. help fund breast cancer programs in your community. redeem your lids today 5:48 as we look at a beautiful live picture of the united states capitol. let's get a check on weather from bill karins. bill, good morning. >> so if we're going to have a bad weather day, might as well be wednesday. in dallas/ft. worth, a lot of people will be woken up by a line of thunderstorms. texas is in one of its worst droughts in history. we'll take any rain we get. downtown dallas, give it another 20 minutes and then this will be all over with and out of your area. we're also watching rain, a lot

of green on the map. bring your umbrella with you mid-atlantic, ohio valley. many locations will see rain on and off during the day. philly, d.c., baltimore could have some delays. later tonight is when the rain will shift further north to hartford, boston and toward albany. also thunderstorms even possible in chicago, kansas city and minneapolis. so we've had a great stretch of weather and we should get it all out of here in about two days. friday it will improve a little bit. nice by the weekend. >> we'll hold you to that. thanks so much. let's turn to sports. game three of the alcs, tigers in a must win situation down two games to none. in the sixth, scary moment. josh hamilton lets go of his bat, it flies in the stands an clocks a fan in the head. that's what you you get for those good seats. look at the pain on his face. turns out he was okay. cabrera connects for a solo home

run. tigers up 5-1. in the ninth with the tying run on on deck, cabrera flashing some leather p. the big man diving play. tigers claw back beating texas 5-2. series 2-1. game four this afternoon. detroit can even it up. in the national league, brewers and cardinals play game three tonight. that series tied at one game a piece. some football. the 1-4 broncos have decided to shake it up officially now naming tim tebow their starter for their next game against the winless miami dolphins. that follow this week's bye. tebow got a chance on sunday to prove himself replacing kyle orton in the fourth quarter against the chargers orchestrating a come back that fell just short in the final seconds. this game will be tebow's first start of the season. and one more item for you with the nba lookout looming, some players have considered other

areas of employment. lebron james alluded to a possible career in the nfl tweeting this question to john clayton. when is the deadline for a team to sign a free agent? seahawks head coach pete carroll saw the tweet and jumped in writing hey, king james, are you aware of what the league's rookie minimum is? to which james replayed, yeah, more than what i'm making now, coach. by the way, lebron was a great football player as well in high school. coming up at the top of the hour, mitt romney and herman cain sitting at the middle of the big boy table. cementing themselves as front-runners during the debate last night as rick perry sort of faded off in the background. we'll discuss. and when we come back here, we'll huddle around the water cooler to watch him tell the ladies of the view that he didn't go to some fancy school to teach you you shouldn't compare the president of the united states to hitler. [ female announcer ] investing for yourself is a necessity.

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told you earlier mitt romney getting a key endorsement yesterday from new jersey governor chris christie. time will tell whether or not christie has enough influence to help romney beat historical

odds. if you want to sound smart, tell your friends no republican candidate has won new jersey's electoral vote since president george h.w. bush. he beat dukakis by a margin of 58% to 42%. hank williams jr. yesterday faced "the view" firing squad over the comment that got help fired from espn last week and, yes, he did so much to my chagrin while wearing a throw back yankees jersey. >> hitler is not an analogy to use. you could have said stalin, nobody would be that mad. at ti >> i didn't go to harvard, joy. aim smart enough to know the difference. i want to quote harry truman. he was in the rose garden in 1948. he was asked a political question. he said, son, never kick a cow

turd on a hot the day. >> that is so true. >> that is very true. >> she brought up about stepping in things. the bottom line, folks, is mickey is a mean mouse. and he has stepped into that pile in espn and they're doing this. this is my mickey, this one right here. >> hank, do you understand why using hitler was a pad idea? >> oh, yeah. i told you i'm not smart enough. disney, abc, and espn and me and the opening of monday night football are kind of like the spanish american war. they're history. >> please take off the yankee jersey. please. please. a couple things to show from you yesterday.

president obama drinking beer yesterday joining four unemployed construction workers in orlando, florida. they toasted to more jobs. they were at an irish pub in downtown orlando. we're told president obama enjoying a guinness. and how about a fraternity house? rick perry stopped by the fraternity, no drinks there. just some photo-opes and a strange declaration about the revolutionary war. still ahead, why are you awake? your tweets, texts and e-mails are next. [ female announcer ] secret scent expressions combines great odor protection with a lavender scent. amazing microcapsules absorb and neutralize odor releasing scent anytime you need it. all day long. secret scent expressions deodorant/antiperspirant. also in body splashes. ♪ [ gong ]

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