remember, you can always follow what's going on in "the situation room." i'm on twitter. you can get my tweets at twitter.com/@wolfbits zer cnn. you go to facebook.com/cnnsituationroom. i'm see you 6:00 p.m. in "the situation room." until then, thanks for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." "john king usa" starts right now. thanks, wolf and good evening everyone. a busy day in politics including a changing of the guard. out with rahm emanuel and in with the kinder, gentler and quieter pete rouse. we'll take a closer look on whether the change matters just to the president in political washington or whether it might make some difference in your life. but we begin with a few big changes in some of this year's big races. this year's version of a classic stump the politician question. how much is a gallon of milk?

the connecticut's republican senate nominee linda mcmahon, how much was the minimum wage? she didn't know. it took minutes for them to say this millionaire business woman was out of touch. it matters more because this slipup in just days showing after mcmahon who made her name in the professional wrestling business pulled surprisingly close and republicans hoping to capture control of the senate began thinking a mcmahon surgeon connecticut might make up form a christine o'donnell fade in delaware. that's how the midterm chess game koez out. a gallon of milk about $3.79 in d.c. nationally, the minimum wage $7.25. in connecticut, it's $8.25. let's begin with the what now question? erick erickson, to you, first. in the sense that earlier in the week, republicans were saying, wow, maybe we got a chance in connecticut. is this the kind of stumble that makes you think maybe not?

>> no. i really doubt it. in fact, i'm sure linda mcmahon will be able to afford a commercial tomorrow, thousand point bye saying she doesn't know what the minimum wage is because she wants all americans to make more than the minimum wage. the political gotcha question is going all the way back to george bush and what's the name of the president of pakistan. they make for grade headlines. at the end of the day, i don't think it has a long-term impact. >> amy, you're shaking your head. her opponent is long-time attorney general dick blumenthal. there are some questions that are reporters trying to make a name for themselves. in these economic times, is this one that could be more than a speed bump? >> absolutely, because this has serious meaning. here is a candidate who, in fact, erick is wrong. she said she would like to see a reduction of the minimum wage. this is very serious. >> so would i. >> it's a billionaire business

woman who wants low-income workers to get even less. these are the people who are most likely to pump money into the economy, whatever it is they've got. i can't think of anything more cruel. >> john, let's listen to her voice quickly. she's at the national federation of independent businesses, a small business organization which opposes increases in the minimum wage which would like to reduce or create more exemptions in the minimum wage. let's listen to a little bit of linda mcmahon. >> i think we need to review how much it ought to be and whether or not we ought to have increases in the minimum wage. >> it was after that event an associated press reporter asked her in the parking lot do you know what the minimum wage is and she couldn't answer the question. damaging or passing? >> look, it's a stumble. that's a gotcha question. but you should know in running on tough economic times what the basic indicators of your state are. she said she thought it should be reviewed, not that she favored a reduction. the tightening in the race has

come from voters who say they're angry. 80% to 20% of voters say they're angry. among independent voters that's where she made the gains in the last two weeks. this adds incredible accusations to the fact that this self-made millionaire might be out of touch when it comes to some of the basic working class realities for connecticut voters. it's not a good day for her. >> here is why, anybody at home, this is why we talk about one race in connecticut. the republicans need to pick um ten to get control of the united states senate. this is one of those, maybe can we get that one. i want to show some polling. the recent poll that came out just this past week, blumenthal 49, mcmahon 46. that's what got the republican party's attention. if you look at the january numbers it was 64-23. erick erickson, she's using her own money to fund the campaign. is this the kind of thing, thinking where do we send more money and ground soldiers? where do we direct resources in the end of the campaign. a stumble like this is one of

the things the party leaders have to consider when they make those calls. >> they do. they're also going to look at how quickly she recovers from it. i don't doubt she'll be able to recover quickly from this. the question is, republicans for some reason are always entranced by california. and they want to send money to california. karl rove made that mistake with george bush. we'll probably see that with the nrsc making the same mistake with carly fiorina. republicans have a calculation but i'd rather be in their shoes than democrats who have many more races. resources are short for both of them. >> let's move on to what i'll call the case of the mysteriously disappearing christine o'donnell in the state of delaware. she stun it is national political world by beating a guy who won 12 times statewide in a primary. drawing of the pee tarity movement. overnight she raises about a million dollars and gets help from jim demint who raises about $200,000 for her. here is san interesting thing. we came out with a poll the other day, chris coons, 55%,

christine o'donnell, the republican, 39%. a simple rule in politics. if you're down that much with a month to go and you have money, you better spend it to get yourself back in the race. however, in the past 30 days, she has spent zero on television, zero. national republicans are asking what is she doing. chris coons spent about $350,000. christine o'donnell, zero. dana bash and ted barrett reached out to the campaign today. they say they will be up very soon. but is that not, john, a fundamental mistake. it's a long shot to begin with. >> it is a fundamental mistake. it's political malpractice. the thing about that poll i thought was interesting was it said if mike castle had gotten the republican nomination, he would be leading by the exact same margin, 55 down. so here you've got a case where, be careful what you wish for. the republicans nominated a conservative populist out of step with a state in a close primary. she's hemorrhaging 15% of republicans in delaware say they're going to vote for the dem kuralt. that's what you get when you nominate someone from the

extremes. >> the only way to fix that, erick or try to fix that -- delaware is a liberal to moderate state. would be a tough race for her any way. the only chance is to be engaging in the fight on television? >> you know, honestly john, i think that's irrelevant for one big reason. in the past 30 days we've spent more time talking about christine o'donnell than ken buck, rand paul, marco rubio, sharron angle. she sucked all the air out of the roochlt everyone is focusing on her which is a good thing for the other candidates. it's given them leg room. when she gets back on tv, we'll be talking about her again and still not talking about the other candidates the democrats would like to target. >> every one of those other candidates, i'll be corrected quickly if i'm wrong, every other one of the candidates is competitive or ahead. she's down 15 points. amy, i would assume you would expect her to be spending the money the conservatives are handing her.

>> she can't figure out where it was or continuously is changing the story about where she went to school, when she got a disagree. there's a lot to distrust with christine o'donnell. >> a bigger issue here and that's where consultants are getting their money. >> we'll track the reports for that. an excellent point to make. our panel will stand by. when we come back, a big change at the white house, a huge deal in washington. does it matter to you? [ commentator ] lindsey vonn! she stays tough! earlier, she had an all-over achy cold... what's her advantage? it's speedy alka-seltzer!

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in the last 20 months ram has exceeded all my expectations. it's fair to say we could not have accomplished what we accomplished without rahm's leadership, from preventing a second depression to passing historic health care and financial reform legislation to restoring america's leadership in the world. >> changing of the guard at the white house. to the left of the president was outgoing chief of staff rahm emanuel, to the right, the incoming at least interim chief of staff rouse. amy goodman to you first. does it matter to anybody out there in america, particularly those that might be looking to

washington for help? somebody who is unemployed, underemployed, maybe doesn't understand the health care bill coming down the road? >> well, what i start off by saying is the first act that pete rouse should be involved with, what president obama should do, is send him out tomorrow to the major protest rally that's going to be happening in washington. tens of thousands of people are going. it's called one nation working together, it's unions like afl-cio, single payer groups, united for peace and justice, anti-war groups. the media does not pay as much attention, to say the least, to these kind of coalitions that they do to much smaller groupings of the tea party. it's very significant. president obama in the last days talking about the importance of movements, of the abolition movement, civil rights movement, to energize the base, the women's rights movement. i think he's responding to what's going to happen in washington tomorrow. rouse should be there listening very carefully since he'll be

the one who determines who gets president obama's ear. >> an interesting point amy makes. i was e mailing with an auto worker, working now in lansing. but he was laid off for a long time. that's when i first met him. he's coming in to the rally, then busing right back to go to work n. the sense of a new chief of staff, what is his responsibility? amy's point is about the tensions on the left of the president and paying attention to the working class base. what's his responsibility? >> first of all, to your initial question. the selection of a new chief of staff is hugely important in washington. it's important to the whougs, but it doesn't meet a whole lot to joe six pack at home. it's a pretty in size baseball position. what you have is a study of contrast. first it's the fighter versus the fixer. peter rouse is known as an ego-free guy. but rahm emanuel offended a lot of people on the far left of the democratic party by taking on those constituencies and ruffled a lot of feathers. we'll see if rouse can smooth over some of those divides.

some are with the left wing of the democratic party. >> in 20 months rahm emanuel went once to the senate republican leader's house and zero to the republican leader's office. do you expect an effort -- after the election is a different question, between now and the election, any effort to reach out or are we in war until november 2nd? >> by and large, congress isn't going to be around. but yes, there will be reaching out if only for laying the groundwork. the white house knows what's going to happen even if the republicans don't pick up the house and senate, they'll get extremely close. the odds are they'll pick up the house. they might as well put the fires out and try to rebuild some of the framework so they can start negotiating. the white house knows after november they'll deal with a senate republican leadership that continues to compromise, that likes to compromise and that thinks on all sides of the senate that's what you do. obama is a fighter. republicans are compromiser. fighters always beat compromisers. they have to look like they're

working with them. >> amy mentioned some of the president's recent rhetoric. i want you to hear something that stirred up quite a bit in the blogosphere. >> we've come out stronger from war to depression to the great struggles for equal rights and civil rights. it took time to free the slaves. it took time for women to get the vote. it took time for workers to get the right to organize. but if we stay on focus, if we stay on course, then ultimately we will make progress. >> one of the bloggers on your site, erick took great offense at this. what's the big deal in your opinion? the president mentioned pretty much the same language in university of wisconsin, in 2009 at a town hall he used the same language. what's the big deal? >> for me i think it's kind of funny you've got him going out and telling the liberal base they need to buck up.

joe biden saying they need to stop whining, his campaign tour is in essence him whining and refusing to buck up saying you have to stick with me even though we haven't done what we intended to do. maybe he needs to buck up and stop whining. >> amy and john, come in quick. >> i want to say one of the organizers is the a. phillip randolph institute, greatest organize ermsz of the 20th century. he met with fdr and told him about the condition of working people. fdr said to him, i don't disagree with anything that you've said, but you've got to make he do it. obama has repeated that over and over. but i think that's what is critical here, is movements making demands. also the media picking up those demands and making them do it. >> you know, with the activist groups on both sides who always try to dominate the debate, the source for a lot of disconnect and frustration with the moderate majority voters. this isn't about either side trying to win the debate. what president obama is talking about is unobjectionable. he's going through a litany of

great struggles and how we've overcome them. the fact that the blogosphere is trying to turn it into a political football is absurd. the american people are smarter than that. they understand they're being gamed too often by people on either side, folks putting everything through a hyper partisan filter. >> john, amy and erick, see you next week. one month till election day. when we come back, we'll take a closer look at the city of chicago where rahm emanuel hopes to be the next mayor. is it his kind of town? we'll go one-on-one with a "new york times" reporter who finished a fascinating profile of the fox news host glenn beck. for the line ♪ ♪ come precisely on time ♪ that's logistics ♪ ♪ there will be no more stress ♪ ♪ cause you've called ups, that's logistics ♪

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welcome back. let's check in with joe johns

for the latest political news you need to know. >> president obama attended today's ceremony where justice elena kagan officially joined the supreme court. chief justice roberts escorted her outside for the benefit of tv cameras which are not allowed inside. sarah palin has been using her twitter account to attack temporary white house chief of staff pete rouse for keeping his voter registration in alaska even though he hasn't lived there since the early 1980s. today reporters asked press secretary robert gibbs why he's registered in alaska. >> he's not. i was talking to pete yesterday. i don't know who he voted for. but he voted in the mayor's race here. >> all politics is local. it was a mayor's race. the chicago mayor's race that got him in this thing in the first place. >> pete rouse voted in the d.c. mayor's race. he has his new job because rahm emanuel wants to be in the chalk mayor's race. it want to talk about the

challenges for the next mayor of chicago, whether rahm emanuel or someone else will face. america's third largest city. 2.7 million people. the median household income about $47,000 a year. look at this fascinating breakdown. 40% white, 47% african-american and a 27% and rising latino population. a lot of problems in the city including crime, robbery, rape, murder, assault. chicago is above the national average on everything. the next mayor has to deal with a crime problem. also a tough time across the country including in the city of chicago. the poverty rate nearly 22%. the child poverty rate 31%. statewide 17%. you can see the urban areas having a harder time. unemployment in the city last month 9.7%. let's go over again, a huge problem pour the next mayor of the school system. siditywide the dropout rate is 42%. nearly half of the blacks drop out of school, 35% of white

students drop out of school. earlier today i had a conversation about the city and about rahm emanuel's chances in the race for mayor with andy shaw, now executive director of the better government association and our cnn political analyst roland martin. so rahm emanuel calls this his dream job. i wanted you both in so we could discuss the state of the city. we'll get to the candidacy of rahm emanuel in a minute. you have a city unemployment shy of 20%. half the african-americans and 40% of latinos drop out of school before finishing. roland martin, can any new mayor fix these problems? >> first of all, that is a difficult task that any mayor in chicago can have. also understand richard m. daley has been nay your for a couple of decades. his numbers are so low it's unbelievable. they're also angered that he sold off a lot of city assets. so you're dealing with a huge debt as well. i also think you have people in

chicago who don't necessarily want a mayor who controls public housing dollars, city colleges, the schools, metro, plus the city budget. you have one guy running everything. that's going to be a problem for whoever is running for this office. >> and andy, it begs the question, and of course sbodly be the next mayor of chicago, but that who would want the job in the sense of not only do you have all the problems you just listed, but the federal stimulus money is drying up. the city has profound challenges? >> you raised the perfect question, john. i said a bit high per bolly that this is a great challenge since the great fire in chicago. we haven't had a vigorous debate on the issues in the constituent for more than 20 years. it's been one-man rule, a democratic dictatorshidictators. now no matter who runs, we'll get the vigorous debate about schools, housing, crime and all

those things that i think the city will be better for it, not more easy to govern, but better off for the democracy. >> i agree. >> let's talk about it. mayor daley has been there a long time. an african-american, washington, right before him. when rahm emanuel, when he comes home and you have a latino population in the city that's growing, african-american population that is shrinking a bit. do they want a white mayor? >> let me just say that i think rahm emanuel starts with only one advantage and that is some of the infrastructure of the daley organization. that will be helpful for fund-raising and for alliances. but you know, there are three or four very tam lented candidates in this race with teller resumes and good track records. i think at the end of the day organizations like ours are going to hold these candidates' feet to the fire. it's not about who you knew or who you were next to in the oval office. it's about what specifically are you going to do about a $600

million budget deficit, a police department that is terribly demoralized, crime and drugs and gangs running rampant. still a housing crisis, problems with neighborhoods, problems with education that you delineated at the beginning of the segment. it doesn't matter if you were next door to the most powerful man in the world and helped him with the issues in washington. you come back to chicago. what residents here are going to want to know, roland, myself and everyone else, how are you going to deal with those daunting problems? and the candidate with the best plans i think is ultimately going to win that race regardless of race, creed or ethnicity. >> some people got upset with me with my cnn.com column saying why are you invoking race. chicago is a city of neighborhoods. when you break down these wards, you have to deal with those territories, if you will, where you talk about south loop, west side, south side, south side, northwest. and understand out of the top ten voting wards, five are african-american.

out of the top 23, 12 are african-american. you talked about harold washington. many people there still want to see harold washington's vision. you congressman luis gu titerre that could run. a white candidate also loved by progressives. you have reverend james meeks, i'm a member of his church, major disclosure. major force on the outh side as well. so the run-off is going to be the key. no one candidate will win the election in february. the question for emanuel is can you be in the top two? cook county sheriff tom dart is hugely popular. the national media keeps thinking that's manl is a shoo-in. he's not a shoo-in to be the mayor or get to the runoff. it's going to be a tough race. he's dealing with constituents. african-americans, a major democratic strategist told me i will come to chicago and work for free against emanuel. there are people who do not like him because of what he did in d.c. >> that's absolutely true.

but i will say this, i think we'll have a less balkanized election this time than we did in any previous election. i think chicago has come a long way and i think that it's really going to matter much more what kind of plan you have than the way you look and what neighborhood you come out of. let me just say one thing about emanuel. i'm not even going to say he's a favorite in this race. but i will say when bill clinton comes out to chicago to campaign for him, which i think he will out of gralt tud for his service to that administration, and when barack obama comes out to campaign to say thank you for his hard work in this white house, i think those two major figures, both of whom are extraordinarily popular in the city of chicago, that's going to give rahm emanuel a big boost. it doesn't put him over the top, but it will be very important. >> ask terry mcauliffe how that worked in virginia. >> that's the question i was going to ask. with the stamp of approval of the president of the united states who is fond of telling us he began his political career in chicago chicago, that's not

enough you don't think? >> no. if you're the president of the united states. you have been dealing with republicans who have been criticizing you for chicago-style politics he has avoided the state of illinois in many ways, even the race of alexis giannoulias. i'm not sure the white house will want to weigh in on this race. the president has criticized emanuel for not having a strong urban policy. the last thing you want is to come in when urban cities have been coming in saying you haven't come up with an urban agenda. i say let emanuel do his thing. the last thing you need to do is deal with his battle after you have your own battle in november. >> we appreciate your thoughts on what will be a fascinating race for mayor in chicago. have a great weekend. when we come back, if you pick up the sunday "new york times," on the cover, just who is glenn beck? when we come back, we'll talk about the controversial hope.

stay with us. words alone aren't enough. our job is to listen and find ways to help workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. we'll keep restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund. i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna be here until we make this right.

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to follow my passion for food. i saw a gap in the market for a fresh culinary brand and launched behindtheburner.com. we create and broadcast content and then distribute it across tv, the web, and via mobile. i even use the web to get paid. with acceptpay from american express open, we now invoice advertisers and receive payments digitally. and i get paid on average three weeks faster. booming is never looking for a check in the mail. because it's already in my email. a brand new profile of glenn beck captures the phenomenon he created in one elegant sentence. in record time beck has traveled the loop of curiosity from self parity to sage. the sentence and the profile is written by new york times national reporter mark leibovich. i want to ask you, you start spent a lot of time researching

the magazine piece. what surprised you the most. >> he's a guy that wants to be liked very badly. for such a lightning rod, i sort of expected someone to be a little bit more standoffish. he is someone who has a very approachable dee mean nor, almost cat-like in some ways. people come up to him and hug him. i don't really see that with other lightning rod commentators on either side. >> the question is who is he? you wrestle with that throughout the piece. let's show some examples. is he this guy from his rally down on the mall? >> we must be better than what we've allowed ourselves to become. we must get the poison of hatred out of us, no matter what anyone may say or do. no matter what anyone smears or

lies or throws our way. >> is he that guy? or is he this guy? >> the government is a heroin pusher using smiley-faced fascism to grow the nanny state. >> here is just one more example of the guy on tv. >> communists, revolutionaries, socialists, marxists, followers of chairman mao, appointed by obama to the executive branch in positions of the government. call. call me. >> that is -- that might even be more than two different people. the guy on the mall preaching let's all get along, be nice, respect each other to the guy on television who sometimes does nothing of the sort. >> i think glenn beck is going through a phase of his life where he really doesn't know whether he wants to be a uniter or a divider to use the george w. bush phraseology. he has dualing impulses as always of us do. he has become so high profile and has put such a stake in being a leader of a movement in

some ways, and obviously it's translated well into ratings and people on the mall and book sales and so forth. >> he thrives on saying i'm not perfect. yet on television does he expect perfection of those he goes after so often? >> he seems to want to give himself immunity by talking openly about alcoholism, drug abuse, bad behavior in the past. again, he, by confessing so much, feels like he's giving himself license. i think a lot of people find him much more maybe connectible because of that. but at the same time, it makes for some very, very sharp contradictions. >> you spoke to dana milbank who is writing a book. he says in a forthcoming book "tears of a clown" dana rights in the first 14 months of beck's fox news show beck and his guests mentioned fascism 172 times, nazis 134 times, hitler 115 times, the holocaust 58 dimes and joseph goebbels eight

times. what's the point? >> the point is this someone who pushes the envelope. there's an understanding in public life or there has been over the years and some public figures learned this the hard way, you don't go around invoking things like the holocaust or naziism or hitler or slavery, 9/11, things like that. tlr taboo areas in american life that he completely has disregarded and has been very pro dij ous in bringing them up in contexts that are obviously questionable but certainly make his point in a much more blatant way. >> you talk about in his work, and in his conversations with you where he can start down a road and start saying something you know is going to be controversial and then stop himself and sometimes edit himself and sometimes even contradict himself. one of those examples when he talked about the president of the united states, our first african-american president. glenn beck starts down the road saying he thinks the president has a deep seeded hatred of white people. let's listen. >> this president i think has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has

a deep seated hatred for white people or the white culture. i don't know what it is. >> you can't say he doesn't like white people. david axelrod is white, rahm emanuel is his chief of staff. 70% of the people we see every day is white. robert gibbs is white. >> i'm not saying he doesn't like white people. this guy i believe is a racist. >> he did say he doesn't like white people before he said, i'm not saying he doesn't like white people. >> he talks with utter self assurance at all times about things he has just contradicted himself sometimes a few seconds earlier. again, he's a very believable figure but he also unfortunately for him has come of age in an age of videotape and web searching and video searching where you can easily find the contradictions, sometimes within a few sentences of each other. >> you write in tart curveball that he's worried, he wears bulletproof vests at public

events, trying to improve security around his properties. does he receive legitimate threats or is he paranoid? >> you could argue he's taking necessary precautions especially because he has young kids. i wouldn't say he's paranoid. he has a vivid imagination and has a very acute sense of what is possible. >> do you have a more confident sense now of what is real and what is not, who is real and who is not after this in the sense that here's a guy whose hero is orson wells, who was known for his dramatic fantasies. >> i am confident in saying there's a fusion between showmanship and true belief here. i did not talk to a sij person who knows him who says he's really a closet liberal, he's making all this up because it's good for ratings because it provokes people. at the same time i asked myself on many occasions in watching him and spending time with him whether he was doing this for effect, whether those tears are real, whether they are pant mime for the moment.

>> let me ask you lastly a question i would ask about a political figure. we're not sure whether he is or not but seems to be to a degree and that's always who is attracteded to them. any candidate, you spend time at the big rally on the mall, traveled to alaska for a performance he gave, a lecture he gave with sarah palin. who are the people who want to be with glenn beck? >> it's not an angry ununhinged mob that some people would like to believe. these are largely seemingly middle clals, almost entirely white people who seem -- they seem very nice, seem very approachable. i think most of them are republican voters. turned off by the republican party. but republican voters nonetheless over the years. and, you know, i think it sort of struck me as a worried but enthusiastic and certainly energized crowd of people. >> glenn beck's fascinating piece in "the new york times" this sunday. mark leibovich, thanks for your

time. today's top headlines including here in washington t.a.r.p. it runs out on sunday. a fact check on whether you're getting your money back. a look at house speaker nancy pelosi. she made history of the first woman speaker. are the voters about to take the gavel away? ♪

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welcome back. let's check in with joe for the latest political news you need to know right now.

>> indiana republican congressman mike pence who won the values voters presidential straw poll last month in iowa -- actually will be in iowa tomorrow. it's the second trip to the state. the federal government today proposed higher standards for car fuel economy set ag goal from 47 to 62 miles per gallon by 2025. bank of america is the latest in a string of banks freezing home foreclosures in 23 states to investigate whether there were flaws in its process. sunday marks the end of the $700 billion bailout program that kept gm, chrysler and wall street in business. the trouble asset relief program or t.a.r.p. won't be able to loan out any more money, but it will keep collecting dividends and repayment. t.a.r.p. is no longer a dirty word? >> it will still be a dirty word, it won't be giving out money.

we call it t.a.r.p. in washington. most americans call it the bailout. it's an event every magazine over at the newseum. i went back in time because i mentioned this voter unrest. i said take us back, good vote, bad vote? >> we got a phone call september the 19th of '08 where secretary paulson and chairman bernanke got all the democrats on the line and they said, if you do not do this within the next two weeks, the world financial system is going into a cataclysmic freefall. it's the most serious phone call -- the most serious issue i've seen since 9/11 itself. i voted for this. >> voted for it. he said a lot of senators felt ripped off. original cost was $700 billion. a lot of people voted for this. 74 voted yes. 40 democrats, 33 republicans and

the one independent. where are we now? now the government says it will cost $66 billion to taxpayers, $225 billion have been paid back so far. the money paid back goes straight into paying down the debt. some people think even in the long run perhaps the taxpayers will break even or make a buck or two, right now $66 billion. still controversial. people here in washington insist it is working. when we come back, house speaker nancy pelosi made history when she got that gavel. will voters in november take it away? [ rattling ] [ laughing ] [ announcer ] close enough just isn't good enough. - if your car is in an accident, - [ laughing continues ] make sure it's repaired with the right replacement parts. take the scary out of life with travelers. call or click now for an agent or quote. i love my grandma.

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we talk often about the stakes for president obama in the midterm elections but there could be dramatic consequences. the house speaker nancy pelosi, the nation's first madam speaker took the gavel in january 2007 and promised dramatic changes. >> this new congress doesn't have two years or 200 days.

let us join together in the first 100 hours to make this the congress, the most honest and open congress in history. >> but now with a month until election day, most odds makers believe pelosi will be handing the gavel back to republicans in january. let's discuss the beco back in january. let's discuss with gloria borger, jessica yell spin, and a bash. >> you were invited to a luncheon with the speaker she has to know what her strategists are telling her there is a likelihood they believe she will be handing the gavel back. >> not if you listen to nancy pelosi. as if she is living in an alternate universe. she cam out there ae out there of reporters, quote, i would rather be where we are than they are. meaning the republicans. you did the double take. we did the double take. she has every intention of

returning as speaker. although she did at one point, allow this, now she -- >> does she have to take the position talking to reporters. >> we were talking where the country is right now. why there is anti-government feelings. she did say this, she said, "any political party that can't exploit 9.5% unemployment ought to hang up their gloves." so she kind of gets it. >> setting a bar for the republicans. she kind of gets it. as the republicans in her words exploit, they're trying to make her an issue in campaigns across the country. let's listen to one of the many ads that invoke unfavorably, nancy pelosi. >> first, our memorable moments. first date. first car. first home. and on bobby bright's first day in congress, she vote ford nanc pelosi as speaker. he didn't stop there. bobby bright voted with nancy

pelosi, and taken $25,000 from her. firsts -- maybe bobby bright should be the first to go. the national republican national committee is responsible for the content of this advertising. >> bobby bright is a democrat in alabama where nancy pelosi essentially is a four-letter word. >> bobby bright one of the to democrat whose have come out in really a pretty intense and rather crude way distanced himself from the speaker. but, look, i actually asked her when they came back for the month and a half in the summer, home, ads like this were running all over the country, using her as the boogieman about that. she didn't let me finish my sentence. she says sternly this is not about me, this is about the country, about the party. >> let's listen to nancy pelosi saying, what? rung ads about me? no way. >> this has nothing to do with me. it is about our fight for the american people. i think that is the contrast that will be drawn. the republicans are there for the special interest, the special interests are pouring tens of millions if not hundred

million dollars into this campaign to, to try to go back to the status quo that they had before the election of president obama when we took the country in a new direction. >> what you get there is a sense of her discipline, an immediate pivot, this is not about me. but it is about her. not just about her, it is about the record of the democrats. >> i think to be fair, it is, this year it is more the latter than the former, than it is about the record of the democrats and what they have done. remember in 2006, before she became speaker, a lot of the ads running, warning voters in some of the conservative districts who ended up electing democrats don't you do that you will elect somebody who will run the country like san francisco. then it didn't work. there was a wave. the same wave is going on now in the opposite direction. i do think you guys see this when you go out as well, that she might be a boogieman and easy foil, the bigger boogieman, spending, democrats have done. >> she is the face of that to

some out there. that's what the republicans have played with. she is nothing if not a hard-nosed pol, those close to policy tell you she gets it. if democrats have to go out there and what they have do to win, demonize nancy pelosi. >> she wants a phone call with a heads-up. >> she wants to be notified properly. >> we asked her about that today. she said, go for it. just win your race. do whatever you have to do. >> let's close by first reminding people who she is. she represented san francisco, but was born in baltimore to a very political family. grandmother of eight, served in congress 23 years. elected speaker in 2007. the what if question is being asked around town. if the democrats lose the majority, you already see some angling who will be the new democratic leader. a, most unlikely she would stay on as leader of the democrats in the house. b many think she would probably leave the congress. >> i don't know. >> it is not an issue. she will at all address, when you go near it and you ask as we

all do, what if you don't become speaker? what if you lose the house? why are your democrats running away from you? i am focused on i election. she really has an intensity about her, which is, i am going to deal with what i need to deal with now. you can ask me until you are blue in the face, dear. >> carat the kra democrats don' address it. she has been enormously succe successful as a speaker, wielded power effectively and gotten a lot done. >> yeah, i have not detected any conversation she has had or entertained behind the scenes. everybody i talked to, when sheep is calling she is on the road going from fund raiser a to fund raiser b, checking in. focused on that. not going to entertain that right now for all the reasons, you know what. that's she got where she is. laser focus. look, especially as somebody who is a woman knows how to focus that, have five kids by her side. >> grandchildren. >> one month from now we find out if she gets to stay.

dana, jessica, gloria. thank you. when we come back if you were the president's new chief of staff what would be your first piece of advice to the boss. that's tonight's "pete on the street" after a quick break. ♪ ♪ and launched behindtheburner.com. we create and broadcast content and then distribute it across tv, the web, and via mobile. i even use the web to get paid. with acceptpay from american express open, we now invoice advertisers and receive payments digitally. and i get paid on average three weeks faster. booming is never looking for a check in the mail. because it's already in my email. [ evan ] ah it's cool. ah... ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah! ah! whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what is that? how come my dap wasn't like that? huh? it's just an "us" thing. yeah, it's a little something we do. who else is in this so-called "us"? man, i don't know. there's a lot of us. [ chuckles ] ask your friends what it's like to be part of a group that's 40 million strong. state farm insures more drivers than geico and progressive combined. it's no surprise, with so many ways to save

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♪ ♪ so there is a new chief of staff in the white house. what advice would you give the president? we sent pete dominique to find out. >> that's right, john king, rahm emanuel is out. pete rouse is in. i wanted to ask the people in atlanta what do they think pete rouse's advice will be to his new and kind of old boss will be as well. let's go find out. ♪ ♪ >> what i would tell obama to do is to -- maybe work on international relations. >> stop all the arguing and bickering. >> send anyone who needs help, send them up to canada. >> send americans to canada. >> it's free. get a passport. do it. >> you're fired. >> we need to cut our spending. >> i agree. >> definitely, less nascar. >> less nascar, what, what's wrong with it? you want -- >>