threatened suicide before running for president saying on several occasions that the heart isn't in it. and yet, one question still persists. will the outspoken darling of the republican party run for president? in a speech last night at the reagan library, christie dug in the heels once more despite pleas from the audience to reconsider. >> i mean this with all my heart. we can't wait another four years to 2016 and i -- i really implore you to -- as a citizen of this country to please, sir, to reconsider. >> that heartfelt message you gave me is also not a reason for me to do it. that reason has to reside inside me. i thank you for what you're saying. and i take it in and i'm listening to every word of it and feeling it, too. >> i'm joined by tara tadel and ron christie.

welcome to the both of you. >> thank you. >> good morning, alex. >> ron, the governor didn't exactly slam the door shut. he said i'm feeling it, too. but the question is, why is the gop so obsessed with christie? >> well, i think he's a successful governor and a blue state of new jersey. he's done very well to help balance the budget and work across the party lines with the democratic legislation to balance the budget but the fact of the matter is, alex, i think this is a lot of courtship or could he? i don't think he runs. i think he is enjoying his moment. >> okay. that may well be the case. tara, david axelrod that president obama's facing a titanic struggle to re-election in 2012. were governor christie to make a run on the white house, how would that affect the president's chances in 2012? could he be the most formidable opponent throughout? >> i think the governor would be a formidable opponent but if he runs which i don't think he

will, would he make it through the republican primary? while clearly the fact people court him to the extent they are demonstrate they're unhappy with the field of candidates he would be starting really far behind the curve and also governor perry, all that glitter is not gold. governor christie has some issues, too. unemployment in the state of new jersey, the state where i'm from is higher than the national average so it remains to be seen whether he gets through the primary, raise the money and form an organization. >> in terms of attack on the other side he is vocal about a lack of leadership about the president and took aim to the congress for the relative debt debate. let's listen. >> we watch a president who once talked about the courage of his convictions but still has yet found the courage to lead. we watch a congress at war with itself because they're unwilling to leave campaign-style politics at the capitol's door. the result is a debt ceiling

limitation debate that made our democracy appear as if we could not govern ourselves. >> do you think this is the kind of conviction that has republicans clamoring for a leader with this style, this call it like i see it politics? >> well, certainly, they like christie's style in your face and always pretty up front whenever you speak to him. certainly that appeals to people especially in these times. people like to hear people talking tough, particularly in tough economic times but i think for governor christie, i think this is really more about him using this opportunity to raise money for his own efforts in new jersey. i don't really think he's going to run. and interestingly enough, though, i should say, i don't think he's going to run now. i think governor christie absolutely wants to be president later. >> well, we'll see if that comes to pass but with regard to economics there, ron, how's this impacting other gop presidential candidates and ability to raise money for their own campaigns? >> i don't think much at all,

alex. the front-runner, governor romney, amassing a war chest to use and start contrasting himself with republican candidates. it's not an issue. the issue we have as republicans, alex, is we are disgusted with the way the country is going, disappointed. unemployment's too high. there's a low optimism about the future and just going through the primary process. the fact of the matter is republicans will coa les around the resistance. >> okay. tara and ron, thanks to you both. >> thank you. >> pleasure. as president obama prepares for a pitch in a half an hour or so from now, experts seem to be putting stock in his plan. blomberg says economists say it would keep the country from dipping in to another recession. good morning to you, christin. what rels the economists saying about this plan? >> reporter: hi there, alex.

it's interesting. they're saying if the jobs plan passes it could decrease the jobless rate by .2%, could increase the gdp by .6% by 12012 and could add about 275,000 jobs. that estimate, that 275,000 number is a little bit lower than the 1.9 million estimate we have seen other economists make. still, this could be politically significant for the president if this were to pass by 2012 because it would essentially mean that the unemployment rate would be lower by the time the voters head in to the polls so really interesting statistics coming out of that bloomberg article, alex. >> indeed. looking at .2% as something deemed significant -- >> reporter: yeah. >> speaks volumes of where we are right now. >> reporter: absolutely. >> in a few minutes, the president will take questions at the white house at the first ever hispanic focused roundtable. unemployment rate is 11.3%.

how's the president planning to sell his jobs plan to that audience? >> reporter: right. as you know, some hispanic voters expressed frustration and african-american with the high jobless rates in their own communities and the president focusing on the fact if the jobs plan passes it puts teachers back to work, construction workers back the work and probably bring up the tax breaks that middle class families would get and, of course, the extension in the unemployment insurance. so, he's going to be selling his jobs plan to this community as we have seen him do in the past few days. alex? >> okay. thank you. coming up, everyone, at 11:40, speaking with education secretary arne duncan. day two of the manslaughter trial of michael jackson's personal doctor begins about 45 minutes or so from now after an emotional and explosive first day. just minutes in to opening statements, the prosecutor showed this photo you're about

to see of jackson. his lifeless body on a gurney in the hospital. it is a picture never before seen in public. a short time later, the prosecution played a recording audio of michael jackson and witnesses say jackson's family was stunned. >> when people leave my show, i want them to say, i've never seen nothing like this in my life. >> joining me now is legal analyst rickki cleiman. you were friendly with michael jackson to the point that i thought people might like this to see. this is a personalized invitation from michael jackson for the opening of the london concert.

tragically, something you were never able to do. for you, this is giving a legal perspective and trying to think about things but this is emotional. >> it is emotional. not that we were such friends with michael jackson. we were friends with michael jackson's lawyers and we were friends with people from aeg who are the people who promoted this concert. and aeg witnesses will be on the stand throughout this trial. we were set to go to the jackson concert and, yes, it is emotional, but still, i could be a very fair and impartial juror in the case like this because it's just my legal background to say i want to hear it all. so yesterday, opening statements, 80% of jurors make up their minds at the end of an opening statement. on the one hand, the prosecution shows michael jackson, we hear this terrible, terrible recording but remember, when michael jackson was recorded, he was not on propofol. there's a lot of news reports saying that this caused this.

clearly not. he was definitely on some kind of tranquilizer or a pill like that that could have caused that. on the other hand, the defense, the brilliance of ed cher november as dr. murray's lawyer to really explain a different side here. that is, michael jackson desperately needed to sleep. >> do you think, though, that the defense claiming -- i mean, you say the defense attorney is brilliant but do you think the jurors will buy the prospect of michael jackson administering to himself a fatal dose of propofol? >> the defense better have good experts because the image of michael jackson administering his own fatal dose is probably hard for anyone to swallow. no pun intended. because it may have been not necessarily an injection. it may have been that orange juice, that empty orange juice container. but what you do have here is the question for the defense as a juror looking for doubt. and if a juror is looking for

doubt, and the defense has some great experts, it may go another way. but yesterday you have to say when the chips fell, they fell in favor of the prosecution. >> they did. the trial begins today with testimony of the producer of the jackson "this is it" tour. back on the stand. he said yesterday, jackson was so enthusiastic about this tour. didn't seem to be slowed down in the rehearsals for the video saying he wanted in terms of conrad murray, though, a $5 million a year deal to be jackson's personal assistant. they had, you know, discussions. they stopped those discussions and finally settled on about $150,000 a month. >> correct. >> what does that information say about conrad murray and how damning is it? >> it is damning and the prosecution wants to say is conrad murray just like all those other people that surrounded michael jackson was in it for the money. on the other side of that i'm sure what the defense is going to attempt to do is say, look

what it would cost dr. conrad murray to shut down his practice in order to be able to service michael jackson. and remember this. conrad murray was there to keep michael jackson healthy enough to do this tour that michael jackson desperately wanted to do and the problem with michael jackson was he was so wired from doing this work and he was on other drugs so the question is could he sleep? he had to slope. >> yeah, he did. all right. thank you so much for weighing in. i'll hand this cherished -- >> it is cherished. >> thank you. >> thank you. the battle for the kit call battleground states, new polls show the president in a tight race with the republican rivals in two states hee needs. we'll break down the numbers just released this morning. ele? uh, it is, yeah, it's a chevy volt. so what are you doing at a gas station? well it still takes gas to go farther. but you're not getting gas. true. not this time. uh, don't have to gas up very often.

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2012 on the trail today. rick perry's trying to reassure republican leaders and donors who are concerned. he held a telephone town hall monday night with thousands of activists in the early voting stages of iowa and new hampshire and top campaign strategist with a conference call this afternoon with leading donors. this morning, gop candidate michele bachmann addressed students at liberty university. she described her spiritual journey. >> jesus took me through college, through law school and during my time in law school that's when the lord gave me my life verse. >> meantime, in a new strategy video bachmann's current campaign manager calls the iowa caucuses a must win for her and days after the florida straw poll, herman cain is dissed by sarah palin calling the candidate, quote, the flavor of the week. palin still hasn't revealed if she's even running for the presidency.

new polls today point to a tight race in critical battleground states to decide the presidential election. in pennsylvania, quinnipiac shows president obama would tie mitt romney and the president tops texas governor perry 46% to 40% there in pennsylvania. ohio, things just as tight with president obama getting 44% to mitt romney's 42%. and the president's still beating rick perry 44% to 41% and too close to call. peter brown is assistant director of the quinnipiac university polling institute. peter, welcome. >> thank you, alex. >> two states, same basic picture there and i have talked -- spoken recently with ed randall and they're saying here with the numbers of mitt romney is electable but rick perry is not. is that the message you see, too? >> well, when you see is that the governor romney has a slight edge over governor perry when

matched against the president but the differences are not that great. he has it and that's current -- but you have to understand romney's running for president for several years whereas perry is relatively new at it so to some degree there's a curve involved. here's what's important about the states. mr. romney, if he were to win pennsylvania, would probably win the white house because it's very difficult and i'm sure david axelrod or dr. randell doesn't argue no president is elected without ohio and the fact they're so close tells you about the shape of the race nation al nationally. >> looking at ohio, the president's approval rating back to the lowest ever. you say here at 53% of the folks out there disapproving of the job performance, 51% saying he

doesn't deserve re-election. looking at pennsylvania, 54% disapproval. 51% doesn't want him back. how does the white house read these numbers? >> the president's got some problems. re-elections are about the incumbent. should voters reconsider their choice about whether the guy deserves another four years? clearly, voters are willing to reconsider their choice. what the next year is about is whether they think however the republicans put up is better than the guy in the oval office now and that's what the primary race is about and from there so that the white house has to try to make the case that whoever the republicans nominate is not fit for the job. >> okay. peter, thanks so much. >> you're welcome. president obama's annual back to school address where we're talking to the head of one of the nation's fastest growing charter schools of what she would like to say today zwrirks a new york high school rocked by a cheating scandal where teens

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or visit one of our local offices today, and we'll provide the coverage you need at the right price. liberty mutual auto insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? 19-year-old college student sam eshagal was arrested in new york along with six other students from a high school on long island who allegedly paid him $1,500 to $2,500 to take their s.a.t. exams. they believe he showed identification with his picture but another student's name. authorities identified the students after finding major discrepancies between the grades in school and his eye-popping s.a.t. scores. he faces up to four years in prison if convicted. later today president obama makes a back to school speech

and calling for sweeping change. my next guest is an american educator whose front line work is highlighted in "the lottery" and "waiting for superman." the headmaster of the harlem success academy and founder and ceo of success charter networks. being a mom who has kids in the education i welcome you to thank you so much. >> thank you for having me. >> let's talk about where the standing is right now of no child left behind, how that's working or not working and trying to guarantee that some kids in the differences between those who have the moneyed schools and those who don't are falling through the cracks. >> no child left behind had important aspects to it and forced the schools to disaggregate data from race and ethnicity and even some schools doing fairly well were not doing well for all children but

there's problems with the law. i think it's hard to get accountability at a 50,000-foot level and so there are changes afoot but at the end of the day education, excellent education occurs or doesn't occur in the individual school building and we have to focus on training teachers, training principals and we are not going to fix american public education unless we invest in our people. >> so, i'm going to ask you something to ask the education secretary duncan coming up. is the problem primarily financial or is it making sure that the teachers that are in the classrooms are doing a good job and qualified to do it? i'm sure you had good and bad teachers in your own education. >> sure. i believe in investing in education. i don't think there's anything more important than our young people but we're spending a lot of money on education and right here -- >> misspending any? >> we are not spending it smartly, that's for sure. we have to put money in to training. we have got to put money in to

books. i know technology is a very sort of hot button issue but we spend a lot of money on computer labs and didn't always get a good return on investment. a great teacher has to be well trained. a great principal has to be well trained. you wouldn't let a doctor in to an operating room without a tremendous amount of training and training at a very, very high level. our teachers deserve that kind of investment. >> i'm curious about these trigger laws which have been met with controversy. three states with them right now. california, mississippi, texas. with 22 others considering them. these are laws for those who don't know where a majority of parents look at a teacher or administrator saying you're out of here feeling the job is not well done. what is your stand on those? >> i think the parent trigger laws have a lot of potential in the sense of a whole school is failing, as the mother of three and a public school parent myself, you know, i don't want to be stuck in a failing school.

i can't wait for the reforms to come, ten years later. my kids need good education right now here and now. and i think parents are quite capable to know the difference between a great school and a lousy school and doesn't education training to know that. giving parents more power to decide if the school is working for them, that's very different than parents deciding on a particular personnel matter. >> okay. eva, thank you so much for weighing in. >> thank you for having me. >> stay tuned a bit later this hour talking with education secretary arne duncan part of the continuing coverage of the second annual education summit nation here on msnbc. looks like facebook likes politics and showing how much it likes by paying for it. why the social media company is forming a political action committee. and amazon hoping to light a fire with the new kindle. will it prove to make a dent in the ipad? i don't know. we'll see.

facebook is raising its political profile ahead of the 2012 presidential election. the social media giant which has 800 million users worldwide formed a political action committee to allow facebook to expand the washington footprint. fb pac will allow them to donate to political candidates. joining me now is michael sheerer. what are the intentions of facebook here? >> i guess they wanted more friends and what better way to get more friends than to create a pac and buy some? they really need the influence in washington. there's all sorts of issues that the companies are facing. privacy issues, regulatory issues, taxes. and i think they recognize they couldn't -- they needed some more influence. >> okay. but it's not the first to do this. the company already as we know spends hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying washington politicians.

why's this a big deal now? >> i think two things. the competitors are a step ahead. and so, in some ways, facebook realized that they were a step behind. it's also different to be lobbying washington. that's an important thing and these companies do it, giving to lawmakers already there. but it's also important to get ahead of the game for these big-time companies and their employees trying to pick the people that are going to be in congress and hopefully, you know, have a better climate for their company. >> okay. i'm curious about consumers in all of this because with facebook and google increasing donations, google, rather, having donated some $570,000 to candidates, microsoft employees donated $722,000. that's a lot of money. do consumers end up losing here with the money going to political action committees? >> well, i think, look. the one way it probably affects

consumers the most is the extent that these -- the money helps keep regulation off of the backs of these companies, then, you know, potentially when it comes time for these big companies to make decisions that affect consumers, to merge in ways that might raise prices, you know, if there's a regulatory climate that doesn't keep -- doesn't have the consumer in mind, that's a potential downside. but keep in mind that, you know, this is still a very small portion of what these companies do and still ultimately catering to the as you mentioned 800 million customers that are in the example of facebook that they have and so there's a real, you know, pressure on them to still cater to those folks as opposed to the lawmakers. >> yeah. real quick with google doing things like sponsoring debates and linkedin with the president, is this changing and reshaping the political discourse? >> i think so. you know, i mean, this is an evolutionary thing and saw it in

the 2008 campaign and now exploded. you sort of can't turn the tv on now without some sort of town hall associated with some kind of online company. i was just at a debate down in florida which was co-sponsored by google and part of the political process now and people like president obama, sarah palin, they have facebook pages with millions and millions of fans. and so it's all part of the new conversation. >> okay. "the new york times" michael sheerer, thanks so much. we are watching michael jackson's family arriving for day two of the testimony in the trial over the pop star's death. his mother arrived there. followed by sisters janet and latonya, as well. there's janet looking fabulous. a witness on the stand today is going to be the promoter for the comeback "this is it" tour. there's his sister latoya. dr. murray is accused of giving the singer a fatal dote of propofol. so, here's a look at what

else is topping the news now. cantaloupes have sparked a deadliest outbreak of a decade. 13 people died, 72 others infected by the strain. 18 states have reported illnesses. the cdc traced the cantaloupes to jensen farms in colorado. a new report by the nonprofit kaiser foundation found insurance companies charging sharply higher premiums this year and rising faster than worker's wages a fact to renew the debate over the effectiveness of the health care overall. family health coverage averages $15,000 a year, a 9% jump from 2010 and triple the rate of the previous year's increase. josh powell, the husband of susan powell, is a subject of a child porn investigation following the arrest of his father-in-law and josh's dad also on child porn and voyeurism

charges. they have placed the sons with her parents. her parents suspect that josh was involved in susan's 2009 disappearance but he's denied having anything to do with it. a verdict could come in days in the murder appeals trial of amanda knox now in italy. knox is expected to address the court thursday or friday before the trial ends. the american college student and her former italian boyfriend were convicted in 2009 of sexually assaulting and murdering her roommate in italy. the father talked about how amanda's coping. >> today at visitation she was very anxious. she knows she's innocent but to have somebody determine your future that you have no control over is extraordinarily hard on her. >> nbc's chuck navell is joining us from italy. court is dark today? >> reporter: that's right, alex. no court today which actually gave amanda knox the opportunity

to meet with her family here. yesterday, the closing arguments for the defense began. after three days of brutal attacks on amanda knox's character, by the prosecution, and parties representing lawyers representing civil parties in the trial, she was called by them a dirty, a witch, even a she-devil. now, yesterday, lawyers for her former boyfriend who's also appealing her conviction said in trial these claims about amanda are not clear. she went as far as to say she is like the cartoon character jessica rabbit from "who framed roger rabbit" quoting the line she is not bad, she's just drawn that way and very tender, very tender and loving. now, knox's family said the attacks have been hard on her, attacks on the character and also tough on the family to hear in court but tomorrow amanda knox's legal team can refute this and the dna evidence that was used to convict her and

hopefully they'll know the fate of amanda knox and her former boyfriend by this weekend. alex? >> okay. certainly winding down. thanks so much. well, amazon is angling to take a big tech bite out of the apple. the online retailer unveiling a tab december let device called the kindle fire. will it catch fire with buyers and eat in to the core of apple's already booming ipad business. whoever wrote this is sharp. let's go to dan ackerman. what's the low down on this in terms of whether or not this thing's going to have the graphics, the gadgets to compete? >> it is tough to compete with the ipad directly. what other guys and amazon is doing is let's build something a little bit less expensive and does the things you want. a color, touch screen. get the games and apps, surf the web and watch movies and $200 bucks. >> pick up on that 200 bucks

thing. you have "the wall street journal" to vote online whether or not they would buy this. over 50% saying, yeah. does this threaten the ipad? >> for that price, that's almost an impulse buy right there. the nook color is similar from barnes and noble. that's too much. 250. 199 you can say, oh, i'm going to pick it up and play around with it. >> amazon is a solid online base from which to draw the ability to advertise, to market all of its home-based products like this. if this is a blessing for that enof their business, could it be a curse as well for the kindle sales? >> the original kindle, that's right, black and white, just does books, they have a new version of that today called the kindle touch for 99 bucks and flip through pages with the finger but they're much more excited about the fire device which does what amazon does well, a store to back it up like the itunes store of apple. >> apple never to be outdone with the buzz right now about the iphone 5.

what is the business on that? set to be launched next week. >> probably available a week or two after october 4. it's been more than a year since the last iphone and some people even though they have a new phone every two years in the contract they get it every year to get the latest one. >> living up to the hype? >> does anything ever really live up to the hype? >> you have a point. thank you very much from c-net. we appreciate your time. pop superstarry hannah got a talking to in northern ireland. a farmer allowing singer to film in the field told her to cover up after realizing she was stripping down. the religious 61-year-old asked her to leave saying the clothing was inappropriate and instructed her to brush up on the bible reading. now to be fair, he had given permission for the shoot but admits he didn't know who she was. she took it well and found another location for that video.

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president obama's about to deliver his annual back to school speech to the nation's children from a high school in washington, d.c. we're going to show you pictures of last year's speech in philadelphia. the white house released the text early today to head off criticism the president trying to politicize students. something that happened two years ago and the message to students today, the country is counting on you. joining me now education secretary arne duncan. good morning to you. thank you for joining us. >> good morning. thank you so much for the opportunity. >> i'm curious about the issues you have to deal with in this era of lean economic times. how do you convince the american public to invest in education when the benefits are not often seen until years down the road? >> i believe we have to invest in education to strengthen our economy. jobs are the future. the jobs of today go to the knowledge workers. we have to look on that of a cradle to college agenda. pushing very, very hard k-12

reform. make sure college is accessible and affordable and not on the status quo. the vision of reform and working together to educate the way to a better economy. that's the only way to get where we need to go. >> okay. what is the biggest challenge, though, to getting what you want done? is it a financial one or is it making sure that every teacher out there is qualified because i'm certain you like me and most everyone else has had outstanding teachers and some that absolutely didn't make the grade. >> we have seen an amazing amount of progress over two and a half years, 44 states raising standards, college ready standards. politicianing stop lying to families and dumbing down the standards. i'm encouraging. we have to move outside the comfort zones. this afternoon, the president will challenge the students themselves to take personal responsibility. it's their job to get a good education and support teachers and support principals.

my wife and i have two young children at home. we have to step up to the plate and be full and equal partners and so no one gets a pass in this. all of us have to work together and seeing a huge amount of momentum and progress despite the tough economic times. i'm actually very, very hopeful of the country going divisionally. >> how about no child left behind? give me an assessment of ten years later and what you think of it. >> no child left behind is broken. what the president proposed on friday is partner with states and waive those things that don't make sense. today it's punitive and many ways to fail. no awards for success. that's cray i to me. very prescriptive. top down from washington and led to a dumbing down of standards, narrowing of the curriculum. none of those things are good for children and the education. we'll partner with states, frankly, get washington out of the way and the tradeoff to me is very simple. have a high bar. college and career ready standards. be thoughtful about teacher and

principal evaluation support. take on achievement gaps and low-performing schools and get out of your way and hold you accountable but let you be innovative and creative. the amount of support and interest from the states across the country is amazing. this is really a fun time going forward to work on this in partnerships with great states and districts around the nation. >> that is excellent to hear. i want to ask you about the headline-making s.a.t. cheating sandal on long island. kids are doing press pat things to make the grade. some kids paid another student up to $2,500 to take their s.a.t.s for them. what does that say, though, about the learning environment and does it need to be changed? >> well, i think, obviously, having students having parents having teachers and principals act with the highest levels of integrity is hugely important. when there's cheating, that's nothing to con dome. if students work hard, get good grades, apply themselves, the test scores take care of themselves and disappointing to

see something like that. >> all right. education secretary arne duncan, great to speak with you. thanks so much. >> thanks for the opportunity. >> don't forget to all of you watch the president's back to school address live right here for you on msnbc at 1:30 p.m. eastern time. we are getting word that the trial is under way in los angeles for michael jackson. want to let you know that we are watching this in the live feed. the family's back in court. they're hearing from his personal assistant on the stand at the trial of jackson's doctor who's charged with involuntarily manslaughter in jackson's death. the prosecutors are expected to continue with their case. they're painting a picture of a drugged up jackson barely making sense. but dr. murray continued to administer propofol to the pop star. an engineer ready to rappel down the washington monument. day two for them on this structure. they're continuing to inspect the cracks caused by last month's earthquake. not a job i want.

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we're going to take you live right now to los angeles inside that courtroom. you are listening to the tour manager who is being questioned. the "this is it" tour that never saw the light of day due to his death. let's listen to the proceedings. >> yes. >> what was your role in that tour? >> that tour was in two legs. on the first leg i worked for the worldwide promoter. and on the second leg i was the tour executive. >> and the reason for the change in the job on the second tour -- second leg was what? >> objection relevance. >> i'll over rule the objection. >> the reason you changed jobs in the second leg of the tour. >> that's the job they needed me for. >> was it a promotion or just a

different job. >> there were financial problems on the tour. i was brought in to straighten them out. >> did you have occasion to interact with michael jackson? >> yes. >> on many occasions? >> yes. >> you spoke to him quite a bit? >> especially in the second half of it, yes. >> you -- when were you asked to -- to handle the production on the "this is it" series of shows? >> right from the start. >> right from the start? and you are currently employed by whom? >> aeg live. >> how long have you been employed by them? >> 11, 12 years. >> do you recall during the dangerous tour that kenny ortega was also involved? >> yes. >> when you were asked to take over. we will continue to monitoring this.

you are listening to the proceed innovation the michael jackson case and of course against dr. conrad murray. this is the "this is it" tour manager being questioned. first off it is none of your business. i don't and where you send your kids to school. don't bother me. >> take the bat out on her for once. and you know what, and you know what, let me tell you this, you know what, it's people who raise their voices and yell and scream like you that are divided this country. >> you must be the thinnest-skinned guy in america. you think that is a confrontational tone. you should see men we i'm pissed. >> it's time for the flip side, a look behind the headlines. a closer look at chris christie's policies shows he may not be the social conservative savior that many are clamoring

for. he says that america needs a clear path to citizenship but he took aim at rick perry for offering tuition to the chimpb of immigrants. >> i want every child in new jersey to be educated but for those who came here illegally we should not be subsidizing with taxpayer money through in-state tuition. from my perspective that is not a heartless position. that is a common sense position. >> perhaps christie is trying to get ahead of his critics on this issue. now look at climate change. he calls it real. saying that human activity plays a role in the changes. rick perry calls it a hoax. christie used to support abortion rights but reversed his stance. and he has said that being gay

is not a sin. now that like waving a red flag in the face of religious conservatives. if he runs he could have explaining to do with conservative voters. i will see you back here at 11:00 eastern time tomorrow. but craig melvin picks up things today. >> president obama spoke at an open for questions round table discussing hispanic issues. we will talk about the hispanic vote and whether the president's popularity is slipping with that group. bill richardson will join me live. then meet a mother sent to jail for trying to find a better school for her kids. all that and lot's more straight ahead on msnbc. ♪ [ dog barks ] [ birds chirping ] ♪ [ mechanical breathing ]

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underway on the stand right now an executive for aeg live. that's the company that was promoting jackson's comeback concert. a couple of stunners yesterday. there was that photo of michael jackson's corpse on a gurney. and then a recording of jackson's voice from dr. murray's iphone. take a listen. >> nbc's kristne dahlgren is outside the courtroom with more. >> reporter: we are hearing this morning from paul gongaware. he is anex