♪ at the end of the hour when i'm drained of all power i still find the resign to believe ♪ and as we leave you, let's remember 9/11 and all those still fighting for a reason to believe. "the daily rundown" is next. jobs, jobs, jobs. president obama makes his pitch to congress, and a big speech has one big message -- pass the bill. but can the president convince enough house republicans to work with him on this? republican reaction, a mixed bag. depending whether you're sitting on capitol hill or hitting the campaign trail. talk to a leading senate republican about what's actually possible. and ten years of a 9/11, law enforcement officials report an unconfirmed but credible threat

of a terror plot here in the united states. we'll have the latest details in minutes. good morning from washington. it's friday, september 9, 2011, i'm chuck todd. right to my first read of the morning, of course, we begin with the speech. a fiery president in the house last night. the president struck a populist tone in a speech scrubbed of washington-speak. the president had a message tomatic sure no one missed it, he repeated it some 17 times. >> pass this jobs bill. >> pass this jobs bill. >> pass this jobs bill. >> pass this jobs bill. >> pass it right away. >> pass it right away. >> pass this jobs plan right away. >> you should pass it. and i intend to take that message to every corner of this country. >> well, the 447 billion dollar american jobs act, which the president formally sends to congress next week called for this -- tax breaks for companies that hire new workers with special incentives for someone who sent

more than six months looking for a job or for hiring veterans. extend unemployment another year, cut payroll taxes in half for every american and every small business. the president says that would save the typical family $1,500. a continuation of a tax payroll pay cut for this year. and a word, modernize 35,000 schools and rehire laid off teachers. i noted, he never said some of these buzz words, like infrastructure, sounds like government spending. sometimes just makes people tune out. in his speech he attempted to sound as unwashington as he could be. he made clear not just what he wants to run from, washington, but also who he would like to run against. the u.s. congress. >> the question is whether in the face of an ongoing national crisis we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy.

there should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation. everything in here is the kind of proposal that's been supported by both democrats and republicans. and everything in this bill will be paid for. everything. >> the president's hard sell starts today in richmond, virginia. white house claims it's a coincidence, but we'll see, because it's the home district of the number two republican in the house, eric cantor. next week the president is going to be traveling to boehner's home state of ohio. last night we saw a two-front republican response to the president. the congressional leaders were conciliatory. house speaker john boehner said in a written statement, the proposals the president outlined tonight merit consideration. it's my hope we can work together. congressman cantor, taking exception for what he called the president's all or nothing approach was also measured. >> let's come together now and come to a con sen is.

the american people are hurting, they're expecting washington to produce rauts. regardless of the tone and the way it was delivered, i do think there are policy areas we can agree on. >> okay. so house leadership had a message they were going to send no matter what the president said. the challenge facing the white house is whether a presidential primary underway will fire up a republican base. even if they would like to cooperate some on parts of the president's plan. critical relief from the presidential candidates flew fast and furious follows the speech. really most not surprising. it's the primary. mitt romney released a web video criticizing the president for taking so long to talk about jobs. the number of days in office. 961. michele bachmann and rick perry also slammed the plan as well. >> really what we saw is just a sequel of all of the failed policies that the president's put forward in the past. >> i'm telling you, the promises

and the platitudes that we're going to hear are not going to cut it. this is about an administration that is the problem. mr. president, we cannot spend our way to prosperity. >> so we'll see. the next couple of weeks will tell us how much of this actually gets done. how does it get chopped into pieces? is it one bill? obviously, the white house would like all of it and get all of it passed. realistically, they know this thing will be piecemeal. let's go to the big story of the moment -- law enforcement is investigating an intelligence report about three men who may be trying to detonate bombs in new york and washington. vice president biden said the thread wasn't confirmed but officials are taking it very seriously. >> people are likely to try over the next period of months and year, but the point is that we are using every single asset we can, including local law

enforcement, to help thwart the possibility that it could happen. >> all right. people williams is nbc justice correspondent. pete, howaries serious is this taken more seriously because we're in the 9/11. he r commemoration moment? >> reporter: that's part of it but not ought. a trusted source in pakistan who has told american intelligence officials that he picked up word of a threat to the u.s. the source that he was told, three people from there plan to fly to the u.s. and set off car or truck bombs in new york or washington either today, rather saturday, sunday or monday. around the an of coursery of the 9/11 attacks, but the information said very little in the way of specifics. timing, target, and officials stress they have no idea whether this is true. whether there really is such a plot. whether these three people exist, and whether they actually ever came here. nonetheless, there is an intense effort to try to run this down.

they've been checking travel records of the past several weeks, but it remains unconfirmed. now, there is a greater police presence on the streets of both washington and new york, chuck. what they've done to some extent is simply ramp up what they've planned to do anyway for the 9/11 anniversary. so they had a lot of plans in place. they sort of pulled the trigger on them a little earlier than they planned to. >> and, pete, is it fair to say they went public with this in part because they would like the public's help? >> reporter: oh, without question. you know, if you look at the statements that were made last night by the mayor of new york and the mayor of washington. they were almost deidentical. you see something suspicious, call 911. see something dangerous. that's the eyes and ears, the public, and they'll put more people answering phones because they are asking for and expect to have more calls. but it's not just that. they'll be more presence at

bridges and tunnels and more towing of parked cars, things like that. >> thanks very much, pete williams. that terror plot has the white house on alert as the fred ta president takes his jobs bill to the people. dan, outside, first i want to start with what more you has the president been briefed again this morning about the latest developments in the search for what some reports say are three or four different suspects that could be in the united states? >> reporter: well, chuck, the vice president said this morning this is a specific credible but unconfirmed threat. we've known for a long time that this is a -- al qaeda is interested in major dates like this one. we learned that from intelligence gathered in the bin laden compound in pakistan after that operation. four months ago the president talked with john brennan, top

terrorist adviser, focusing, coordinating the government how to prepare to protect the american people ones they day. the president was briefed yesterday. he's being briefed today and kept up to date on a regular basis on that. >> and, dan, this is assumed to be an al qaeda plot? >> reporter: i can't give specific information. we know that al qaeda is interested in -- al qaeda and terrorists are interested in dates like this. the anniversary of 9/11 is always a date folks are concerned about. >> let's shift to the president's speech last night and what the president is doing today in richmond. clearly you guys have a plan to go around the country over the next few weeks to keep talking about this. the start in richmond, is this all about going right to the heart of some of these districts among key house republican leaders like eric cantor? >> reporter: no. this is not about going to eric cantor's district. the fact is, it's part by what

his willingness is to work with the president. a good start. the president said we have to put the political circus aside and some response from senator cantor and speaker boehner suggests they're going to do that and we're heartened by that. >> the bill gets sent to congress next week. are you guys assuming that it gets sort of piecemealed, that at the end of the day you're going to get some of what you want but not all of what you want? >> we're not assuming that. the president said it 16 times, you said, i'll say it 17th time today. he wants them to pass the jobs bill act. it's a simple thing. puts the american sector to work and more money into the pockets of working families. our belief is that everything in this bill is reasonable. everything in the bill has bipartisan support and will be in effect right now and we want them to pass it. we're going to work with democrats and republicans to do that, but there's nothing in

this bill do draw anything out other than out the politics. >> it's going to be paid for in the quote/unquote out year, not over the next year or two, you believe that would defeat the purpose of the stimulus portion of this. so when he sends the bill to congress is he also going to have specifics how he wants -- does he want the super committee to figure how to pay for this? tack on an extra $450 billion to their job? explain to me the process of paying for it. >> well, two things. the bill we send up next week will be very specific how it gets paid for. what's happening, the super committee -- the congressional super committee will, is working on, has a mandate from congress from the deal cut after the debt ceiling to raise $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction. we're going to raise -- more

deficit reduction than that to pay for this, to cover this. that's exactly what we should do. help teachers, veterans and firefighters. also keep our eye on the long term, on the fiscal situation in the country and deficit reduction. you have to be able to do both. that's the only way to have a good, strong, vibrant economy. >> and does we hear correctly? last night the president, he's going to talk about his deficit plan next week as well and when does he deliver that to the sump committee? >> that will be in about ten days, he will do that. a week from monday and lay out his specific recommendations how to cleave deficit reduction beyounld what's mandated by the committee to pay for the americans jobs act and we should do more deficit reduction than that. like tax cuts for the wealthiest americans and folks on our side being willing to do, reform entitlements and strengthen

them. we should be able be to achieve that. >> dan pfeiffer, white house communications director, dan, thanks very much. >> thank you. president obama says nothing in his jobs plan is controversial, and everything should have bipartisan support. up next we'll ask a republican. senator bob corker of tennessee, how much of this proposal his party is really prepared to embrace. and remembering 9/11, ten years of a the worst attack on this country, in this country's history. we're going to be live at ground zero. but first, a look ahead at the president's schedule. heading to richmond right now. got to be motorcading because of the weather to andrews then fly to richmond. you're watching "the daily rundown," only on msnbc.woma ] j. you've been stuck in the garage while i took refuge from the pollen that made me sneeze. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®.

whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪

it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk.

now, i realize that some of you have a different theory on how to grow the economy. some of you sincerely believe that the only solution to our economic challenges is to simply cut most government spending and eliminate most government regulations. and it was followed by a ton of applause. not the president's intention. a bit of an awkward moment for the president when the criticism of conservative philosophy was sblu interrupted by extended applause. senator corker, good to see you. >> thank you, sir. >> i want to start with what you heard last night. how much can you support in this plan? i know it specifically doesn't get up to the united states senate until next week, but from what you heard, what do you think? >> chuck, i think the real

emphasis among people that really want to deal with their economic issues is on the super committee. i think most of us know that to really deal with our short-term issues we've got to indicate that we can deal with our long-term, more structural issues. i really think the strong bipartisan consensus around tax reform much like was laid out in bowles-simpson entitlement reform and pushing towards the $3 trillion number, not the $1.2 trillion, $1.5 trillion to date. a long-term highway bill, where people really know we're going to deal with infrastructure over the long haul. i'm not being critical. i just hope that with that consensus growing we don't have sort of presidential politics injected into the middle of that and cause that to break apart, because i really am very hopeful that -- >> you think the president's

jobs plan as he introduces it is going to disrupt what's going on on the super committee and disrupt this other stuff? >> i fear that. i think people will move on beyond it pretty quickly, but, look. i was with 26, 27 senators just the day before yesterday. i really do think there's strong bipartisan support towards dealing with this longer term issues, and i think anybody who's actually been a job creator, like myself, and several others who are in the senate, understand that we've got to create that long-term environment for people to go ahead and make those investments and know that our country has -- my sense, we have tremendous opportunity in november and december to do some great things for our country, and i think that's where most of us want to remain focused, and hopefully that's what's going to happen. >> but you don't want a short -- you don't think there should be some short-term injections of

tax credits and some spending on some of these projects around the country over the next 18 months to try to jump-start the economy a little bit? there's a piece from moody's saying if passed in full, could increase gdp by two percentage points next year? >> yeah. again, i'm like to see infrastructure take place if we pass a long-term highway bill that's exactly what you would see happen. and so, look, it's just -- i don't think this fiddling around at the edges is the kind of thing that strikes confidence or shows that assess a country in congress we've shown the courage and will to addressed issues. now, i will say, i am looking forward to some documents that i guess will be coming up. i was a little confused as to when the timing is, but i know the president plans to lay out

some things with entitlement reform, and that could be -- no, i don't think -- i'm not particularly interested at anybody'sing at the edges. i really want us to do the things that structurally reform where we are as a country. i think there's tremendous consensus around that, chuck, i really do. to me, that's the ticket towards moving us ahead. >> how -- >> i'd love to hear from martin zandi would say about us doing all of those things and what affect that would have on the gdp. my guess is he would say, hey, that's a home run. this other -- i don't know. >> okay. i've got to leave it there. republican senator bob corker. good to have you on this morning. happy friday. >> thank you. well, wall street is marking the tenth anniversary of 9/11 today. we're going to take you live to the new york stock exchange for what is going to be a pretty emotional moment. that's next. first, today's trivia question. when was the first time a joint session of congress was televised live?

tweet me the answer at chucktodd and @dailyrundown. the answer coming up on "daily rundown." we'll be right back. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health.

aflac! oh, i've just got major medical... major medical. ...but it helps pay the doctors. pays the doctors, boyyy! [ quack ] oh yeah? what about your family? ♪ we added aflac, so we get cash! it's like our safety net... ♪ to help with the mortgage or whatever we need! so my family doesn't feel the pain too. ha! [ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. [ pigeons ] heyyy! hooo!!! [ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. diabetes testing? what else is new? you get the blood, hope it's enough, it's-- what's this? freestyle lite® blood glucose test strip. sure, i'll try it, but-- [beep] wow. yep, that's the patented freestyle zipwik™ design. it's like it-- [both] targets the blood. yeah, draws it right in. the test starts fast.

you need just a third the blood of one touch.® okay. freestyle test strips. i'll take 'em. sure. call or click-- we'll send you strips and a meter, free. can't i just have these? freestyle lite test strips. call or click today.

live pictures there at the new york stock exchange where they're about to observe a moment of silence to mark the 9/11 anniversary. a host of other new yorkers, hillary clinton, they will ring in the trading day at the white house. the same group of people who rang the opening bell on september 17th. let's observe the silence. [ moment of silence ]

and there it is. the same group of people that rang the opening bell september 17th when the markets reopened after the 9/11 attack there's that hit lower manhattan. once the opening bell rings, of

course, the business day will begin and we're going to see how investors are reacting to the president's jobs plan at this point. the markets yesterday -- we'll see what happens. at that point. but they've been underreacting to washington a lot of late. overreacting to what's going on in europe. you saw yesterday, over 100 points down at that point. it's friday. you have the 9/11 commemorations that are taking place on wall street, fwhaut doesnbut that do the markets are going to slow down. that's the market report for now. we will check in with more after this and have more of what's going on with the ground zero commemorations. we'll be back in 30 seconds.

this weekend marks the anniversary of the horrific attacks on washington, new york and pennsylvania. as americans across the country prepare to remember those losses, residents in particular in washington and new yorkamid . willie geist joins me from ground zero. willie, we expected to be on heightened alert because of the commemoration and the ten-year mark as it was. what have you seen that makes you think, wow, okay. new york city is taking it up a notch? >> yeah, chuck. this is going to be locked down

as it is. ten-year anniversary, always a popular situation for chatter. particularly this time, ed earl the mayor giving a press conference saying there is a credible, key word, unconfirmed report. generally means a single-source report, that al qaeda and pakistan, planning something involving a car or a truck. extra vigilance in the city. we've been talking to friends across town. sixth avenue and other places, every car over a certain period of blocks is being stopped and checked. every single car. 34th street and north on sixth avenue is being checked. they're not taking this lightly at all. subway checks, bag checks there. and you see, if you live around new york, you see once in a while a stream of about 20 or 30 cop car, sirens on, lights on, flies down and avenue. you wonder what's going on? it's just to let somebody know

the new york police department is here and on the scene. having said all that, chuck, mayor bloomberg went out of his way last night to the say the ceremony this weekend will ge on despite this threat and, in fact, took the subway to work this morning as you said he would last night. arrived at city hall by subway. he deemed them safe. just wanted people to know about the threat. ceremonies are going on. >> walk me through what's going on particularly at ground zero? >> tomorrow we'll begin to see things. the big one, of course, on sunday. the ten-year anniversary of september 11th. as you know, president obama will be here. george w. bush will be here. mayor bloomberg and former mayor giuliani as well to dedicate this national 9/11 memorial and museum. to really surround these two resent por pools. people were fighting, saying it should look one way, others say

look another. beautiful, two pools. amazing. i have to point out, all the construction workers, about ten minutes ago came down for a moment of silence because some of them will be be here on sunday. came down, in their reflective safety vests, took off they are helmets and sat for a moment of silence, at the end a flag was unfurled at one world trade, the 1,176 feet when it's all said and done. the emotion has begun down here already, chuck. >> willie geist, as ground zero for us today. willie, thanks very much. >> all right, chuck. well, 700 of the nearly 3,000 americans who died in the 9/11 attacks were from new jersey, and so as the nation remembers residents in the garden state joining think neighbors across the river and remain vigilant as new threats to their bridges and tunnels are investigated. we're joined by new jersey democratic senator robert menendez, senator what can you

tell me what are you been briefed about from federal and local officials about the nature of this threat? >> well, that it is a credible threat, but whether or not it is plausible enough to take actual action is in question, but nonetheless, on an anniversary such as the tenth commemoration of september 11th i think all of law enforcement entities are doing the right thing in making sure that the threat is ultimately reviewed to the maximum. that the precautions being taken are to the maximum. some suggest that this may very well be by virtue of a truck bomb type offest. but that while it's plausible, it may not actually be one that will be actively pursued.

i think they're doing everything they can to make sure that they do all the intelligence they humanly can to determine how serious the threat is but obviously, on this september 11th commemoration, doing everything they can to ensure that the nation is safe and certainly new york and washington, that safety is heightened. >> one more question regarding 9/11. there was a -- former new jersey governor tom cain and lee hamilton, part of the 9/11 commission. they noted not all of the recommendations have gone through. so here we are ten years later. what is the one thing that hasn't been accomplished regarding the security of this country that makes -- that makes you lose sleep at night sometimes? >> well, the person who pushed in the house, the 9/11 recommendations through, some of the ones that most specifically

to me are of real concern is the lack of the total screening at our ports. this is still a major risk to the united states to have a container that ultimately could host a biological or dirty bomb at the end of the day and once in the ports of our country, if that were could be detonated, the consequences not only to people, most of our ports are in the midst of urban regions. also, it would be an enormous blow to our economy. that's one that i still continue to express concerned that we are taking that too lightly. >> i wanted to switch gears to the speech you heard last night from the president. $450 billion, a mix of tax credit, tax cuts in the payroll as well as infrastructure

spending. did you like everything that you heard? do you wish it were bigger? do you think it's too big? >> well, i think it's a good -- it's a good plan. 55% of it is actually tax cuts. tax cuts for, you know, working individuals in our country. tax cuts for businesses up to the first $5 million of their payroll. half of their payroll tax gets eliminated. for those who hire individuals who have been unemploy the. up to a full elimination of the tax rolle benefit. those are tremendous stimulus to get more people back to work and put more money into the economy. doing the infrastructure work, which means replacing bridges, fixing our roads and our highways, our public school, i think, are critical work that provides the long-term economic growth. at the short term, gives a lot

of construction workers backed to work as well as buyers and certainly the veterans provision is incredibly important. >> do you wish it were bigger? >> well, i think this is the art of it's -- i think economists have said this would create at least 2 million jobs over the next year. that's definitely a good start, and i would certainly, as long as it's paid for, be supportive of a potentially bigger package. >> what's the definition of paid for? paid for in, you know, ten years' time? does the super committee have to figure this out or is it incumbent polling congress as a whole to deal with it separately? what's the plan on that front? >> the super committee, as the president acknowledged, is already in place, and since they are charged with cutting the mission of the $1.5 trillion, it seems to me they can go beyond, and i am hopeful that they will

come to a grander bargain, cuts and revenues at the same time. i think it's fundamentally wrong, for example to continue to give big oil $21 billion when they're make $144 billion in profits just this year alone. so the super committee is already in place. they could just enlarge the cuts and delaying putting people back to work in america. >> we shall see. the super committee task gets bigger. dprem new jersey stay with m as america remembers 9/11. chris jansing will anchor at 10:00 a.m. eastern today from ground zero. on saturday chris matthews is live at the flight 93 memorial in shanksville, pennsylvania, and on sunday, live coverage of the ceremonies at ground zero begins at 8:00 a.m. eastern. all of this on msnbc. a few other stories making headlines today. a state of emergency in

pennsylvania where widespread flooding forced thousands of people to find higher ground. swollen rivers are pushing the state to the brink and parts of new york state are also under water. fairfax county out here in d.c., and binghamton basically cut off. how a simple worker mistake could cut off electricity to millions of people. a power outage yesterday paralyzed parts of southern california, arizona and even mexico. the incident shut down nuclear reactors grounded under the flight, knocked out air conditioning during a time of triple digit temperatures. today, the hunt for moammar gadhafi is going global. intrapolish ud an arrest warrant at 188 countries for the former dictator, his sons. he's been in hide are for months ever since rebels swept into the

country's capital. and heading to eric cantor's stomping ground, the president. the inside scoop on what canter's constituents thought of last night's speech. our panel is here to break down how obama's jobs plan resonated with the swing votes the president needs to win to keep his job particularly in the state of virginia. white house soup of the day. cool day. good day for chicken noodle sloop. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. where'd ya go? there you are. there you go. [ female announcer ] you always went for the tall, dark, handsome types. so who'd have ever thought the love of your life... would be short and bald? having a baby changes everything.

♪ [ country ] [ man ] ♪ gone, like my last paycheck ♪ gone, gone away ♪ gone, like my landlord's smile ♪ ♪ gone, gone away ♪ my baby's gone away with dedicated claims specialists... and around-the-clock service, travelers can help make things better quicker. will your auto and home insurer... be there when you need them most? for an agent or quote, call 800-my-coverage...

or visit travelers.com. ♪ [ male announcer ] you've reached the age where you don't back down from a challenge. this is the age of knowing how to make things happen. so, why would you let something like erectile dysfunction get in your way? isn't it time you talked to your doctor about viagra? 20 million men already have. with every age comes responsibility. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects may include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor.

see if america's most prescribed ed treatment is right for you. today's daily flashback, all in the family. on this date in 1926, rca created the national broad casting company making nbc the first permanent broad casting network in the country. and we start having the blue

channel and the red channel. remember abc was simply created with leftovers. anyway, the president picked its political targets carefully last night. listen to his pitch -- this pitch for his plan. >> there's a bridge that needs repaired between ohio and kentucky that's on one of the busiest trucking roads in north america. a public transit project in hust than will help clear up one of the worst areas of traffic in the country. >> so in 13 seconds the president managed to hit the home states of speaker boehner, republican leader mitch mcconnell and the presidential front-runner rick perry. coincidence? hmm. the national political editor, our panel, and let me start with -- i was intrigued by the republican response.

not surprised how the presidential campaigns will respond. they're running against him and not going to embrace any part of it, but i was intrigueed by clearly some sort of memo went out to the house republican leadership that said, guys, let's at least -- if we're not open to it, let's not say that on night one. >> the republican leadership on the hill does not want to be the foil for president obama's re-election campaign, and so if he's going to pose as the last reasonable man in washington, they are going to try to outreasonable him and say, look, there are a couple of ideas in here. we can work with you on that and, of course, there are other things we don't like and not just blast him, say, the way michele bachmann did. >> i guess the challenge, though, for speaker boehner in this is that it does seem as if he wants to pass something to say, look, we're going to do something on this. can he get away with that? with his own conference? >> it depends. i think that you know, if it's a corporate tax reform, that piece of it i think would be

relatively easy with republicans. it's the free trade agreements, relatively easy with republicans. talking about even something like extending the payroll tax cut, eventually you can get a lot of republicans there, but you're not going to certainly get all of them and not a bunch of them all at once. >> look, this was a political speech. all things in washington are political, but clearly he needed the president and white house, trying to sort of restart things. trying to fix a lot of problems. there were focus grouping going on last night, including from prior to usa, the democratic counterpoint to american crossroads. sent out a report saying many respondents -- did this in richmond, virginia, by the way. again, just coincidence it happened in a swing state in eric cantor's district. anyway, many respondents came into the room feeling discouraged, dispirited and disappointed. in a memo, the president is keeping up. saw the speech at the beginning

and want the president to continue pressing the case for the agenda he laid out before congress. it's not new a president's speech focus groups well, what's been the challenge for this white house, they never seem to know how to do act two. >> a couple intriguing things about this. they're finally talking about the issues the american people want them to talk about. >> the mitt romney 961 days -- >> conscience to do health care. thought the stimulus would work and to an extent, economists say it did stop the slide. but, you know, this white house has taken all kinds of criticism for doing health care at the expense of the economy and focusing on jobs. you have a president that walked out yesterday and said, i know what your tough issue is and very clear, precise language, he laid out a plan. whether or not the plan is going to work is almost beside the

point. what he's doing, hurtedi istop american people. i'm trying to do something about this. that's something that resonates with every american. who knows someone who doesn't have a job? >> senator corker was on, and he's one of those republicans that, you know, wants to legislate. i found the fact that he really was pretty dismissive of the plan as a sign, boy, maybe a lot less of this plan makes it through congress than i thought. >> oh, i think very little of this plan is actually going to make it through congress. look at the tone the speech last night. it was hectoring. it was sort of lecturing congress as opposed to asking, coming with a conciliatory message. president obama knows that congress has approval ratings in the mid-teens. something he should run against. if you're lecturing the guys who are hugely unpopular, that looks better for him. that's what he's got to do. right now he's picked his targets. >> vice president biden said

this morning as the point of what they hope to get out of this. >> this is all designed to change the confidence level and attitude of people out there, because, look, ann, the corporations are flush with money. i'm -- that's not a criticism. it's good, and the banks have a lot of money to lend, but why aren't they lending it? >> i think there was an unintended double aun taun dre there. intended to change the confidence level and attitude of people. if you actually did a hard stop. is it confidence level of the american consumer? confidence level of the base democrats or -- confidence level of his own team in the white house? >> i think one way you can tell that this is primarily designed as a campaign document and not as a governing document is the demand for immediate compliance from congress. now, here's a list of ideas, talk about them. see what will work, negotiate it. i want to pass this now. before i even propose it, pass

it. >> 17 times i believe he said it over and over. >> all right. stay with me. the first time the joint session of congress was tell we vised live. the answer, january 3, 1947. all you folks that guessed 1947 and truman, you're not getting credit for this. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health.

let's bring back the panel. yesterday while i was on a plane back from california, there was a lot of press release action between rick perry and mitt romney. it is on based on the debate. it started with this rick perry press release. he says this, "last night, romney said, under no circumstances would i ever say social security is a failure. however in his book which was published last year, romney compared those managing social

security to criminals." the romney campaign went back at perry and said our nominee has to be someone who isn't committed to abolishing social security but who is committed to saving social security. romney went on hannity's radio show and said this to perry. >> governor perry and in his book "fed up" says social security has been forced on us and that by no measure is social security anything but a failure. that is being against not just how you finance social but being against social security. if we nominate someone the democrats can correctly characterize as being opposed to social security, we would be obliterated. >> what do you think of romney making an electability argument against perry on this issue of social security? is that going to play well with primary voters? >> well, right now it seems as though republican primary voters are more focused on ideology than electability.

romney has something else going for him here, which is that most self-described conservative voters, most republican primary voters are not against social security. this isn't just a general election issue, it's a potentially good primary issue. >> iowa, an older state. florida one that florida wants to win as an older state. as stu stevens said to me, there are a bunch of people in west texas that kind of like social security. >> that's true. at the end of the day, rick perry has one goal and that is to win a primary election. right now rick perry is the only person who won a contested primary contest by singing from the tea party song book when he won the race in 2010. he knows how to do this. he is reaching into this populist vein. >> what surprised me yesterday was that while the conventional

wisdom crowd was saying, well, romney at the end of the day got the best of this, perry is in real trouble, these social security marks are going to create long-term damage, there seem to be folks almost defending perry. he wasn't saying discontinue it. he was saying fix the financial part of it. it's clear that's what he was saying. lisa murkowski says sometimes we need to have provocative words around here in order to move the debate. that was interesting. it will spice things up. kelly ayotte from new hampshire, distancing herself from it. there are republicans protecting perry here. >> i think social security is an incredibly tricky political issue. that's because there are folks who look at it like a ponzi scheme. they say we are not going to get

any of this. the point is what we are talking about is an issue that has grown more complex. what romney is trying to do here, you watch what he is doing. he is making a huge gamble here. if he pushes perry to the right further, perry, bachmann and the rest of the conservatives are going to split the vote allowing him to walk down the middle. >> i've got to run quickly. >> my colleagues at national review have an editorial on the perry/romney fight. they give brick baths. >> triathlon this week in washington, d.c. >> coverage story of "national journal" magazine all about campaign technology. i may have written part of it. >> thank you very much. that's it for "daily rundown. in. "see you on monday. [ female announcer ] lactaid milk is easy to digest.

it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk. whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪ way to go, coach. purina cat chow helps you well-being. we're all striving for it. nurture it in your cat with a full family of excellent nutrition and helpful resources. purina cat chow. share a better life.

your nutritional needs can go up when you're on the road to recovery. proper nutrition can help you get back on your feet. three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand for extra nutrition. ensure clinical strength has revigor and thirteen grams of protein to protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. and immune balance to help support your immune system. ensure clinical strength... helping you to bounce back. ensure! nutrition in charge! it's pro-cool technology releases armies of snowmen masseuse, who cuddle up with your soreness and give out polar bear hugs. technology. [ male announcer ] new bengay cold therapy. the same technology used by physical therapists. go to bengay.com for a 5-dollar coupon.