the race are growing by the minute. the perry did a face-plant in florida this weekend putting major resources into the state's straw poll only to watch underdog herman cain win by a wide margin. mitt romney focused in on michigan and came away with a sizable win in that state's straw poll. but the weekend's big winner explained why he came out on top in the sunshine state. >> message is more powerful than money. rick perry and mitt romney, they both spent a considerable amount of money in order to try to influence that florida straw poll. the people are listening to the message and not simply, with all due respect, just to the media. >> politico's patrick gaven joins me to talk about it. let's talk about this. it's been a rough couple of days for rick perry, especially coming out of this weekend in florida, a big setback. and we have people talking about the poor performance that he gave on thursday. here's more of what herman cain said on "today."

>> i believe it hurt him a lot because not just in terms of what he said but in terms of how he said it. it's more than being able to come in with some prepared sound bites. you can't come into a debate like this with some prepared sound bites. >> how can the perry camp stop the bleeding? >> a lot of folks are saying, here's a guy that's had, at least by his own calculations, a good jobs performance in texas. he needs to do down-and-dirty retail politics in florida, which he's been a little bit hesitant to do. it's a ding on rick perry. but mitt romney has said, i didn't really try. but the reality is with the money, with the exposure, with the name recognition that he has, coming off the heels of a very strong debate performance last week, for him to just get 14% and to not only lose but to lose to herman cain, with all

due respect to herman cain, who will probably not win the nomination, mitt romney didn't do very well. >> and mitt romney's been running for the last five years. him coming out third is a big ding. >> it is. it's not so much about rick perry and mitt romney. it's about the fact that the gop base is very unsatisfied with everybody that they see, which is kind of why you see somebody like herman cain win. she gave a very good speech. but it is really a protest vote saying, none of the above. that's why people are looking for chris christie. even though rick perry and mitt romney are the frontrunners, the gop elites don't like what they see. >> it is a scattered fields for republicans to get behind. who do they want to be their leader? when we have to talk about this, we can't not bring up chris christie. i want to read you a piece from this weekend saying, the only

reason perry got into the race in the first place was that republicans yearned for an alternative to romney. this weekend, they were drunk-texting chris christie. but for now, perry is proving to be romney's best asset. so again this morning, the office of chris christie is saying that he isn't budging saying that he is not interested in becoming a viable option at this time. at what point do you believe people will leave him alone? >> i believe every politician when presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be president of the united states or at least your best shot, i have a hard time believing anybody would say no to that. while he's publicly saying no, he also keeps on picking up the phone, not ending these conversations, not saying no to all the speculation and not saying no to the meetings with donors. he is very much entertaining it. but i think he's learning some lessons from rick perry as well as a late entry into the race sometimes means you're a little

slow, your stump speech isn't as effective. your knowledge on policy isn't as good. sometimes a slow start can be a bad thing. i think that chris christie is learning some lessons from rick perry. >> patrick gavin, great to see you, thanks. in what is becoming a regular appointment when candidates do visit new york, mitt romney stopping by for a sitdown with the donald. it's their first time meeting each other. we'll look at the implications of this coming up at the bottom of the hour. president obama is in california on day two of a west coast fund-raising blitz. the president could pull in more than 8 billion bucks in just three days at big-ticket events like a dinner last night costing nearly $18,000 a person. he was in full campaign mode in seattle hammering republicans on taxes. >> so, yes, the republicans are du dusting off their old talking points and calling this class warfare. but if asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a

plumber makes me a warrior for the middle class, i'll wear that charge -- i'll wear that as a badge of honor. >> in a few hours, the president will be in mountain view, california, where he will participate in a social media town hall. later, he will travel to san diego for a fund-raiser and attend two more in l.a. tomorrow, the president will wrap up the trip with a speech on his jobs bill in denver. joining me now is nbc's kristin welker who joins me from mountain view, california. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, thomas. >> the president toughens not only his -- >> reporter: we're here -- >> go ahead, kristin, sorry. >> reporter: sorry. i was going to say, we're waiting for the president to arrive here a little bit later on today in mountain view. he's toughening his tone against the republicans in congress. we've also see him do that behind the scenes in some of

these fund-raisers that he attended that you mentioned where he's really actually started to lash out at some of the gop candidates, really the first time we're seeing him do this. i think we have a graphic of one of the heated comment that is he made last night during a fund-raiser in the silicon valley. he said, you've got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change, you've got audiences cheering at the prospect of somebody dying because they don't have health care. and booing a service member in iraq because they're gay. that's not reflective of who we are. of course, the last part of that comment in reference to the recent gop debates. what's interesting about this is, thomas, is that we're seeing president obama in campaign mode right now. he's here fund-raising on the west coast but he's also trying to rally his base. he knows it's something he has to do ahead of 2012. take california for example. he won this state overwhelmingly back in 2008. now for the first time in his presidency, fewer than half of californians approve of the job

he's doing. so he knows that he's really got to reenergize his base. that's what he's doing in some of those public comment that is you played. that's what he's doing behind the scenes at some of the fund-raisers. >> kristen, thanks so much. president obama has had some tough words for the congressional black caucus this weekend, asking them to fall in line behind him. with frustrated lawmakers questioning if he's done enough for poor and working-class blacks, the president went on to say and tell the caucus member that is as with the civil rights movement, progress takes time. but he challenged his critics to keep marching with him. >> stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying. we are going to press on. we've got work to do. >> joining me now is missouri congressman emmanuel cleaver, the chairman of the congressional black caucus. sir, nice to see you this morning. the president said stop complaining. and congresswoman mechanics een waters today said she didn't

know who the president was talking to. who do you think the president's message was aimed at and how do you think it's going to be received? >> well, i think the president stepped away from his prepared text as many of us do who speak a lot. and in the passion of the moment, he talked about the complaining that he's hearing around the country inside the party. and he's saying that that's not helpful, join in, we need all of the members of this coalition working together so that we can successfully deal with reelection. i think my colleague, maxine waters, is also right when she says that this would not have been said to another audience. but the reason that it would not have been said to, say, the hispanic caucus or to an assembly of gay leaders is that president obama is much more

comfortable with and willing to engage this kind of an assembly because, let's face it, he's an african-american and he also was a member of the congressional black caucus before he became president. >> absolutely. but the cbc has opened challenged the president to fight back and toughen up. do you think he got that message, especially when maxine waters is speaking out saying she doesn't know who she is talking to? >> i think during the month of august, the congressional black caucus traveled around the country and we were successful in raising the level of national awareness about what was going on in this country with regard to unemployment. 16.7% black unemployment is depression level. and we think that it also helped the president as he prepared to push for his jobs agenda. the congressional black caucus supports the president. we intend to be as strongly

pushing his reelection as anybody in the country. we don't criticize him. i don't think any member of the cbc has criticized president barack obama. there have been disagreements from time to time with policy issues. >> right. >> and mainly about targeting. >> congressman, the president's reelection campaign, speaking of targeting, is launching what it calls "operation vote," an effort to reach ethnic, religious and other voting groups. what do you think of this? and will the president have a problem with turnout come 2012 because of the economy, because of the high unemployment rate when it comes to minorities in this country? >> trying to get the maximum turnout is going to be challenging. there's no question about it. i'm not going to pretend that it's going to be easy or even comparable to what we had three years ago. but i think starting 14 months

out, we've got to go out into these areas of unemployment and speak very candidly to individuals who may be disgusted and even angry over the fact that they don't have jobs. and tell them that the president is, in fact, working to solve this problem. but that the president doesn't have a vote in congress. and most people don't even realize that. it's amazing what people don't realize about their government. the president doesn't have a vote. he can make suggestions on legislation. he can even send over ideas on legislation. but it's the congress that has to wrestle through and get legislation approved. and if we make a decision to stay home next year for the 2012 presidential election, we're making a decision to put someone out of the white house who genuinely wants to stop the bleeding, if you will, of those

who are unemployed. >> missouri congressman and congressional black caucus chairman emanuel cleaver, thank you for your time this morning. >> good to be with you. while president obama stumps in the west, in washington the government is facing another threat of a shutdown. the senate will vote on whether to fund the government through november 18th. at the heart of the impasse is money going to federal disaster relief. on friday, senate democrats blocked a republican house bill to offset funding for fema with budget cuts to popular energy programs. meanwhile, fema is running on fumes right now. its money could dry up by tuesday or wednesday. protests against wall street taking an ugly turn as at least 80 people are arrested in incidents showing police using what those at the rally say is excessive force. look at this video for yourself. we're going to talk with one of the men who was in the thick of the events next. n overheated ho. but the times have changed. get the facts at remax.com. it's a great place to see all the listings

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jamie, i know you're up there looking on us and you are not a victim. you're a lesson to all of us. so tonight i know it's a bit of a downer, but sometimes the right thing is more important than the music, isn't it? >> an emotional concert tribute from lady gaga to jamie rodemeyer from buffalo, new york, who took his own life after being harassed online for more than a year. jamie was a huge fan of lady gaga. this weekend, the pop star took her krcrusade all the way to th top. she read a state to president obama about the issue and asked everyone in the room.

police in upstate new york say that three students may be charged with cyberbullying and hate crimes in jamie's death. the development comes a day after the teen was laid to rest in his hometown of buffalo. daytime talk show host, steve wilkos joins me to talk about this. nice to see you in person. this is certainly not a topic that i'm happy to talk about, more youth teen suicides going on. but we need to talk about what can be done to prevent more of these from happening. since the news of jamie's death, what's your reaction? >> this is a topic we do speak out a lot about on my show. we have a lot of teens come on. and it's such a tragedy that this young man -- there are so many things that go into the story that i have a problem with. the social media aspect of it where you have the cyberbullying

and these kids that are reacting in such a way where he takes his life. and i think about the parents and how would they ever recover from this. but i also see from a point where we're trying to prosecute these children for doing this. i think it's something that when we grew up, it's always been around, kids bully other kids, it always happens. we encourage teens on our show to speak up. and parents really have to get involved with their children. that's the thing. when you see something like this going on, you have to know what's going on with your kids' lives. my kids were the new kids in school when we moved. and people weren't nice to them. but you get involved. i speak to my kids every day and have them open up to me. unfortunately, sometimes jamie, obviously, slipped through the cracks and he did this. and parents, on the other hand, too, not just knowing what's happening with your children,

but what are your children doing to others. parents have to get involved with their kids. >> i think a lot of parents, a lot of people around this country, bullying stopped roughly at about 2:30 or 3:00 in the afternoon when you go home from school. through technology, it's invited willingly into your home. when we have these cases, these headline case, phoebe prince killed herself after being violently bullied in massachusetts, then tyler clemente who was from rutgers university in new jersey, took his own life. in both cases, there have been suspects that have been charged and prosecutors say they refuse to drop criminal charges against tyler's roommate, deron ravi. it's a tragedy when these kids are brought in for criminal prosecution. but do you think there needs to be a level of criminality attached to hate crimes like these? >> believe me, i'm one for charging the bad guy, prosecuting. but i think about it like the

parents of the guy that -- >> tyler clemente. >> right. what was the intent there? was it college kids just being college kids and embarrassing -- that happens all the time in fraternities and stuff like that. i don't think anybody's intent was that this young man was going to go and jump off the bridge. i think if they knew that this could happen, they probably would not have done it. that's what i'd like to believe. and in all these cases of bullying, i think of so many -- as kids, you make mistakes. you're doing things, you don't think of what's going to happen. like you said, social media has really changed how these kids interact with each other. let's face it, when you can hide behind a computer and harass somebody and you're protected because you can do it anonymously and not be out in the open and not face to face with somebody, i think it brings it to a new level of viciousness. >> people can be very brave when they're honest.

>> right. >> steve, thanks for coming on. as we look at the bullying and other issues, want to give you a reminder about the 2011 "education nation" submit. you can be part of the conversation on twitter and facebook. coverage is continuing all week on msnbc. you'll hear from policymakers, educators, parents and experts engaging in conversation about the state of education in america. [ daniel ] my name is daniel northcutt.

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welcome back. breaking news to pass along this morning. three schools are on lockdown in marshfield, massachusetts, police are on the search for a suspect. police described a homicide. they were searching for a person nearby in the woods. three schools in that area are now on lockdown and they are

looking with k-9 units on the scene for the person of interest. three schools on lockdown in marshfield, massachusetts. here's a look at what else is happening in the news now. an attack on a u.s. facility in kabul, afghanistan, kills one american and officials say a lone gunman opened fire on the cia office there is as well. one u.s. citizen was killed. another wounded. the attacker was an afghan citizen employed by the u.s. government to work in that building. the american hikers held for 781 days in an iranian jail are free now and are finally able to say what they think about the country that imprisoned them. >> they do not deserve undue credit for ending what they had no right and no justification to start in the first place. >> this was never about crossing the unmarked border between iran and iraq. we were held because of our nationality.

>> josh fattal, shane bauer and his fiancee, sarah shourd, were arrested in 2009 when during a hiking trip, they were accused of crossing the iraq border to spy on iran. the three say they were not prisoners but hostages. a major milestone in saudi arabia. women will be allowed to vote for the first time in modern history. saudi king abdullah also granted women the right to run for local office and be a part of the king's advisory board. the changes take effect in 2015. activists have long been calling for expanding the rights of women's roles in the kingdom. while women will be allowed to vote, they still are not allowed to drive. another brave try at a record setting swim for diana nayad comes to an end. she was stung several times by portuguese man of war halfway through the track. doctors warned her more stings could kill her. she called quitting, quote, a

bitter pill. "saturday night live" returned this weekend and in its opening sketch, the cast didn't leave any gop candidate unscathed. >> this is when you normally get tired and confused. >> not tonight. i'm ready. >> uh-oh. >> border control -- >> and he's asleep. that concludes tonight's debate as a reminder to chris christie, it's wide open, buddy. >> it may be a spoof but how real is the buzz surrounding chris christie to get into this race? we'll break down all this talk about the new jersey governor. 0 what's going on here? hey, whats up guys? this is not how witness protection works! when we set you up with that little hardware store

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now live from the thurman memorial museum, it's either the seventh or eighth gop debate. >> i believe social security is a ponzi scheme. i believe we need to build a fence to keep the illegals out. however, should any illegals get through and have children here, we should open our hearts and pay for their education. do-over. >> next to newt gingrich, i have a normal human-size head. next to mitt romney, i'm the fonz. >> the people at "saturday night live" have a little fun at the candidates' expense over the weekend with their opening show right there, rick perry is trying to rebound after following two disappointing straw polls and a week performance last week. check out his new web ad just released today. >> i know what i stand for, i've written it down, words have meaning. >> it's portable, affordable

health insurance, something people have been talking about for decades. please don't try and make me he treat from the words that i wrote in my book. >> joining me now is msnbc news campaign reporter carrie bed who's been traveling with rick perry. how are they spinning what went wrong in florida and how they move on? the game plan now? >> when team perry got to florida before that debate, they were expected to do very well in this straw poll and solidify their reputation as a frontrunner who's really good at talking to grassroots activists. obviously that fell apart on thursday night during his debate performance. i talked to a lot of the delegates who voted in that straw poll who ended up supporting herman cain. i asked them what it was that bothered them about rick perry's performance? they mentioned his idea for his support of -- instate tuition for illegal immigrants. but it wasn't just the policy.

they said it was the way that perry defended that policy. he said the people that didn't agree with me might not have a heart. when i talked to delegates, they said things like, his frontrunner status has gone to his head, he's talking down to voters. he's not explaining this policy well enough to us. going forward, he's going to really have to be something that they have to address, how to defend this policy to voters without turning them off. >> carrie, nice to see you this morning, thank you. mitt romney is in new york city today to meet with donald trump and the democratic national committee is taking aim. take a look at this ad. >> mitt romney and donald trump are meeting today. well, they do have a lot in common. they have both done well for themselves. both support on economic plan that would help out the richest and the big corporations. and what do the american people have to say to those who would return to the same failed policy that is created our challenges? >> you're fired. you're fired. >> joining me now is msnbc

campaign embed garrett haik. how important would a donald trump endorsement be for mitt romney? >> for the romney campaign, this is more about the endorsement than the photo. trump was pulling as high as second place back in april when he was flirting with running for president. if he can go out there and get this endorsement, it will be big for him. but he doesn't want to be seen to be chasing. the campaign hasn't confirmed he's meeting with donald trump today. all of this is coming from trump's people. >> we don't know if it's going to be pizza for jean georges for food. >> not going to be pizza. romney gets to pick the restaurant if there is one. and trump picks up the check. >> do you think this really is important to romney to try to make a trump inroad? >> like i was saying, it's a double-edged sword for him.

if he can get that tea party base that backed trump, it helps a lot in the early nominating states. if it looks like he's pandering, the democrats are going after him. jon huntsman's spokesman went after him on twitter bringing up the birther controversy. >> garrett, good to see you. thanks so much. all of this uncertainty in the republican presidential field is sparking a new and a serious cry for a gop messiah. someone to step in and be the perfect antidote to president obama. there's one name that keeps popping up again and again, new jersey governor chris christie. here's new york city mayor michael bloomberg speaking about all the buzz. >> he's been a good governor in new jersey. he's shaken things up in a state that's had ongoing problems. if he wants to run, he certainly should just get in there and go do it. >> would he be a formidable candidate? >> yeah, i would he would be a

credible, formidable candidate. >> mark joins me now. chris christie said emphatically he's not getting in. what about the pressure? will that help? >> there is a lot of pressure. his phone is ringing off the hook for people who are either disappointed with rick perry so far, maybe not a mitt romney person, trying to find a champion to take on president obama come november 2012. but he and his office continue to say that he's not running. and at some point, you almost have to take him at his word. it is interesting that he's actually been governor of new jersey for less than two years. but he has had this rock star type of status within the republican party. while polls show that the republicans are satisfied with their current field, there are some people including donors and establishment types who want one extra person in the race. >> do you think he's more 2016-bound than he is 12-bound? >> probably. if a republican ends up winning

in 2012, 2016 is probably off the table. sometimes you have to strike when the iron is hot. timing is everything. and 2016 could be a different environment. but you're right, come 2016, if obama wins reelection, christie will be somebody definitely to watch. >> mark murray, great to see you. thanks. rallies against wall street took a really ugly turn in new york city this weekend. reports of at least 80 people arrested and several videotaped incidents show police using what occupied wall street supporters are calling excessive force. in one, cops spray a group of female bystanders and do so with mace. take a look. where is this movement heading? and why sit having an impact?

we'll talk with kelly harrisy. he was maced over the weekend. he joins me in studio. as we see there, some very tense moments. some violent moments taking place. explain why all of that happened. what was the precipice that got it to that level? >> thank you, thomas, for having me on. i just want to say i appreciate you having me here. this is the first time that this movement has been covered by one of the six major networks. so i really appreciate you having me here. but the incident that took place with the macing of the females, that happened when the march was leaving union square. the police mobilized and they brought out orange nets. as we were marching down university place, they brought the nets out and started to divert the march to 12th street.

i was at the front of the pack. when i saw the nets coming, those of us at the front ran to avo avoid being penned in. but we saw that half of our march got diverted. so i came back to where they were at and i was on the opposite side of the street. and at that point, the nypd started making several violent arrests. and i saw a cop take a young african-american male, slam him very forcefully onto the cement. he took his arms and pulled them up behind his back and was stepping on him. at that point, i took out my camera and came up right behind the cop to take a picture. and he saw me and turned around and sprayed me with pepper spray. >> msnbc news hasn't independently verified these reports. but we see the video taking

place. these demonstrations have been taking place since september the 17th when this began. >> correct. >> explain to everybody, why is this an ongoing demonstration, and what do you expect to get out of it? >> i'm just an individual. i can't speak on behalf of the entire movement -- >> why did you get involved in the movement? >> well, i first heard about it through social media and it resonated with how i was feeling. and i currently have a blog that i'm writing. it's called live rent free or die.blogspot.com. it's documenting my experience with intentional homelessness. back on july 1st, i negotiated out of my lease with my landlord and decided that i would not pay rent for one year. so this blog is about my experiences. that was part of the reason i got involved, was my ongoing protest against the rent prices in new york city. >> i know you said that we are one of the first networks to

jump on this and have you on. we'll continue to follow this. nbc will work on confirming the reports of what you say took place there. and hopefully we'll have you back to talk more about itment appreciate your time. >> thanks a lot. with mortgage rates at once unthinkable lows, are you in a position to actually cash in? what you need to know if you are considering this, refinancing your home with money expert carmen wang ullrich coming up next. y and responsibly. at exxonmobil we know the answer is yes. when we design any well, the groundwater's protected by multiple layers of steel and cement. most wells are over a mile and a half deep so there's a tremendous amount of protective rock between the fracking operation and the groundwater. natural gas is critical to our future. at exxonmobil we recognize the challenges and how important it is to do this right.

welcome back, everybody. as president obama continues to tout his $447 billion jobs plan on the west coast today, small businesses are speaking out. that sector which employs half of all private sector employees is expected to benefit from the plan by receiving more than $250 billion in tax breaks. that's all to encourage job creation. but a new survey shows despite the tax incentives, 68% of small businesses say the president's plan will not sway them to hire more workers.

i'm joined now by todd mccracken, president and ceo at the national small business association. explain to all of us. why do a majority of small businesses in this survey say they're really not encouraged to hire more workers as they look at the american jobs act? >> a couple of things are happening here. etch in the most robust times of economic growth, most small businesses aren't hiring at any given point in time. it's not surprising to see that a marge of them would say this particular plan wouldn't encourage them to hire, especially because it's a temporary tax cut. they see hiring as a permanent, long-term commitment. one they don't intend to go back on unless things really change. so that reflects what i would expect from the small business community. but it doesn't necessarily follow, though, that it would be a bad thing to do because it would actually encourage a number of small companies that are on the fence to go ahead and take the plunge, hire one or two more people, put more money in

the pockets of a lot of workers, encouraging them to go out and spend at small businesses which would encourage those small businesses to hire and it would improve cash flow for small businesses which would enable them to do more things in the community. it would have positive economic benefit, even though a lot of those benefits would be tertiary or secondary. >> what's the biggest sticking point right now for what's keeping companies from hiring more? >> it comes down to confidence. it comes down to -- confidence in this economy and confidence that our politicians in washington know what they're doing and are willing to do it. so i really do think that -- i hope that this fall, as the super committee does its work, as this brinksmanship continues in washington, our leaders have find a way to come together in a bipartisan way. a lot of american who is do have jobs are saving a lot of money. a lot of big corporations are

sitting on stacks of cash. a lot of those people aren't willing to let go of that and spend it right now because they don't know what's going to happen next. if our politicians can inject a little bit of confidence and stability, i think that could go a long way to helping get this economy going again. >> todd mccracken, thank you, sir. appreciate your time. >> you're welcome. >> if you have a story or a company that you'd like to see featured here, send me a tweet @thomasaroberts. the latest effort by the federal reverse to boost the economy is spelling good news for certain homeowners out there. right now, 30-year fixed rate loans are available for less than 4%. great news for people lucky enough to have good credit ratings, bank accounts and some home equity. how do you know if you fit the refinancing bill? personal finance expert carmen wong ulrich is here to talk about all of this for us. carmen, nice to see you. explain what's going on with these low rates we're getting from the fed and how can people

assess if they are financially suited to take advantage? >> a lot of folks are already taking tremendous advantage of this in terms of refinancing. if you can lock in this incredibly low, historically low, ridiculously low rate, you want to do that right now. here's the thing, we have had the request for 15-year mortgages that's gone up 30% compared to last year. it's a seven-year record. what's going on, folks are doing what's called melting their mortgages, basically shrinking them. instead of refinancing a 30-year into a 30-year, they're refinancing into shorter at record levels. >> what's the great benefit from that? >> we can save a lot of money, absolutely. but there are questions you want to think of. should you be doing this and why and how are you doing this? you want to make sure you're really saving money. there's a first point you have to think about. are you staying put? when you refi, you're essentially rebuying your home. >> you're setting your roots in a little deeper. >> and embedding yourself. remember all those closing costs

anywhere from 3% to 8% the cost of the mortgage? you're not going to save unless you're going to stay there five years plus. >> putting in the roots. you say there are key questions to ask yourself. >> you have to stay put. next is, are you on track for retirement? nothing worse than being house-rich, cash-poor. i see this and it's really sad because what are you going to do if you put all your money into the house, if you melt your mortgage so much that that's where all your money is going and you're not saving for retirement. how do you pay for retirement? you want to in i.r.a.s and 401(k) and you're on track with that before you shrink your mortgage. >> last but not least. >> are your monthly payments too high? you don't want to end up trying to save so much money by raising your monthly payment so you can pay off the house sooner.

you could bust your budget. and as you know, you cover this a lot, when it comes to jobs, what's going to happen if you lose your job? you don't want to make your mortgage payment so big to save money in the long run that you actually are hurt in the short term. try to keep it the same as you had your mortgage payment before. >> because if by the chance of you losing your job, you want to at least have six to eight months in reserves. >> absolutely. if your current mortgage payment is $1700 and you shrink it so you're paying $2500 a month, where is that money going to come from? savings? and what happens if you lose income? just be careful. it's a crowded field with many faces, but most are saying that they aren't household names. so how can they be serious about a run for president? when msnbc returns. go beyond the brush with listerine® total care. its multi-action formula works to restore enamel, help prevent cavities, and kill bad breath germs for a whole mouth clean. whooo...

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yes, sadly, we have to ask questions of candidates who can't and won't win.

but we promise to get back to mr. romney and mr. perry as fast as we can. newt gingrich, i'm calling your bluff. do you really want to be president? >> no. >> all right. time now for our "flip side." that was from "saturday night live," poking fun at some of the also rands. those candidates running with little or no hope of winning the gop nomination. it was a crowded stage at the last debate with nine contenders including former governor of new mexico gary johnson who last appeared at a debate in may. while all of them may not be in it to win it, many of them are making their mark on the race. herman caine, we'll have to see if it was a knockout blow. of course, everyone remembers this moment regarding an uninsured american. >> that's what freedom is all about, taking your own risks. this whole idea that you have to prepare and take care of everybody. >> but congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die?

>> no. >> as ron paul continues to fight for relevancy, that exchange raised major questions about health care and ethics. meanwhile, the back of the back candidates will only continue to grow. michele bachmann appears to be fading pretty fast. she walked away from the florida straw poll with just 1%. 1.5%, excuse me, in the michigan straw poll vote after seeing her star rise early on, bachmann may also be slipping into the also-ran category as well. that's going to do it for me. i'm going to see you back here at 11:00 a.m. eastern tomorrow. craig melvin picks things up next and he joins me with a preview. >> how are you, my friend? next, herman caine conquers florida. how big of a setback is that for perry and romney? the head of florida's gop will join me. we'll also talk about all of the presidential buzz surrounding chris christie. maryland governor martin o'malley and mark shriver. all that and lots more straight

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goods monday, i'm craig melvin. we are covering the big stories coast to coast. the top story today, are republicans still out shopping for a credible candidate? >> well, you're going to need a candidate that's going to rock the suburbs. >> this is like high school dating. and no one ever lives up to the expectations. there's no republican romeo. >> perry really did throw up all over himself in the debate. >> the rock that is now michele bachmann and how fast that has fallen. >> i think these are very weak front-runners. >> youch. a bad weekend for republicans on the morning shows. and for the presumed front-runners and florida's straw poll. for herman cain pulling off a surprise win, snagging 37% to perry's 15%. >> straw polls are not easy things to just swoop in and somehow win. but i think they have to feel really