comments since his jobs plan failed in the senate. he's going to be speaking at a hispanic heritage forum at the department of the interior. his support in that community has been dropping dramatically since he took office. we're going to bring you the president's remarks, as you saw there, they are setting up for that speech later. also, we're going to have the opportunity to speak with l.a. mayor antonio villaraigosa live in a few moments. first up, another debate, and another solid performance from mitt romney who many believe is starting to separate himself from a very crowded field. the former massachusetts governor received strong reviews following last night's debate as he took what his competitors threw at him staying collected throughout the evening's discussions. >> i'm absolutely devoted to making america the strongest nation on earth, and if you don't want that as your object at this, don't vote for me. we already have a president that doesn't make that his first objective. >> it was herman cain's first moment in the spotlight, really

front and center, and he relished the chance to defend his catch phrase from a host of attacks. >> my top priority is nine, nine, nine, jobs, jobs, jobs. >> i thought it was the price after pizza when i first heard it. >> when you take the nine, nine, nine plan and you turn it upside down, i think the devil's in the details. >> we're not going to give the federal government, nancy pelosi, a new pipeline, a 9% sales tax for consumers to get hammered by the federal government. how many people here are for a sales tax in new hampshire? raise your hand. there you go, herman. that's how many votes you'll get in new hampshire. >> herman cain getting a lot of attention. joining me is david goodfriend and j.p. ferar. four debates and we keep saying the same things, romney staying cool and left firmly at the top.

in youour estimation rate his performance. >> we need to make sure to state that not a whole lot of people in florida, new hampshire, iowa were really watching this debate. but looking at romney, i mean, he's been running for six years and that's an important data point to keep in mind. of course, he's going to have the most momentum. he should have momentum after six years, but he can't break 25%. and that's a huge problem. also, let's keep in mind that you're not going to be able to maintain a lead for that long. this has been the longest lead that anyone has maintained in a primary season that i have seen, and i think that it's probably going to falter at some point, especially when you have him still defending romney care. >> we see, david, another man is emerging through the center of all this, herman cain, and he stayed on message really defending all the attacks, several attacks against his nine, nine, nine tax plan. take a listen to this. here he is from this morning

with chuck todd. >> the fact i got attacked so much and my plan got attacked so much last night, that's a good thing. it gives me an opportunity to correct some of those misperceptions. for most people they're going to have a net/net tax decrease because we've expanded the base. >> all right. so is cain about to face off a lot more scrutiny? obviously he was super popular last night in the fact that he was literally front and center of that debate and everybody had their eyes on him. and also, david, do you think that the democrats would like to see holding off romney at least a little bit longer? >> well, there's a connection between herman cain's rise and all the hullabaloo over chris christie, whether he would run and his endorsement. they speak to the same phenomenon going on in republican politics, and that is there's no favorite son, no consensus candidate at a time when the republicans really have an opportunity to consolidate and move forward. they're not.

and that's very unusual for republicans. they usually are the party to fall in line quickly behind the heir apparent and that's not happening now. whether that's a flash in the pan or not, the rise of herman cain and chris christie, all of that feeds into this notion, 25% does not a mandate make. it may be the lead in the polls, but the republican party is still in disarray, and to that extent i think the longer that plays out, it only serves to help the democrats. >> j.p., a lot of pressure on rick perry last night. the estimations today or at least the review that is he kind of sleepwalked his way through this debate side stepping questions on policy. take a listen to this example. >> with the plan i'm going to be laying out over the next three days, and i'm not going to lay it out all for you tonight, mitt has had six years to be working on a plan, i've been in this for eight weeks. >> should he have brought something more substantial to the table or was it just his way of running down the clock and getting out of there without any major gaffes?

>> i think that running down the clock might have been one strategy. i also think the debates aren't really that important to really determining the mettle of rick perry. i think perry also showed a lot of savvy in responding to some of the reagan questions. he responded -- he pivoted well on the solyndra question. i think he's very bright. he's clearly got a lot of things up his sleeve. he's got a couple major policy speeches coming up in the coming weeks, and it's worth noting that this will be an opportunity for him to really come out swinging where, you know, he won't get fired back upon immediately. i think that's probably a smart plan. >> gentlemen, as we all know, romney got the endorsement of chris christie before the debate. take a listen to some of that announcement that took place yesterday. >> i'm here in new hampshire today for one simple reason. america cannot survive another four years of barack obama, and mitt romney is the man we need to lead america, and we need him now, so that's why i'm here. >> i got to be honest, i was talking by the tv set yesterday when i saw that announcement at 2:00. i thought i had turned on

"saturday night live" on my tivo and it was life imitating art basically. j.p., are republicans salivating over the possibility that this could be the real ticket, romney and christie? >> they might be salivating over it but i think christie kind of made a mistake, no not in who he picked but when he picked. he could have held out longer, read the tea leaves a little longer and also teased it a little bit. if he had announced support for certain policy proposals that were being discussed in the primary, he would have been able to weigh in on major policy issues. now people are just going to think he's schilling for romney who is not enthusing the conservative base. >> david goodfriend, j.p., good to see you, thanks very much. we're going to talk a lot more about chris christie coming up. also about mitt romney and chris christie's interview. you see the two men there together with jamie. we want to pass along this breaking news we have coming to us out of san francisco. it's about what's taking place out there with occupy wall

street. fresh images coming in, aerial images of what's taking place as protesters have taken to the streets there, basically the occupy wall street edition has gone all the way out to san fran. we're watching hundreds of people marching through the streets early, only after 8:00 a.m. we'll see what it does to traffic and get some early he is estimations of how many people are going to be turning out throughout the day. want to turn to other breaking news in the trial of the so-called underwear bomber. omar abdulmutallab has changed his plea to guilty. he's accused of trying to blow up a detroit-bound plane on christmas day. this follows testimony from a fellow passenger who witnessed abdulmutallab make several trips to the bathroom before the flight. the bomb didn't work because the suspect was badly burned. he later told the fbi he was working with al qaeda in yemen. we're going to follow more details of this story and bring

them to you as we get them right here. now to another really brazen and sensational terror plot all but ripped from the pages of a hollywood film. so outlandish even federal agents who cracked it weren't sure it was real. today one man is in custody, the other at large. both charged in a chilling conspiracy so kill the saudi ambassador to the u.s. using everything from the mexican drug cartels to explosive attacks on israeli and saudi embassies in our nation's capital. iran is denying the charges but vice president biden says the details of the plot speak volumes. >> the idea you would assassinate a diplomat, that is something for the withhold world, every nation in the world will when they learn the facts of this will be outraged that they would violate such an international norm in addition to obviously being a crime to assassinate anybody and in the process probably have killed scores of americans. >> joining me now, nbc's tehran bureau chief ali arouzi is in

studio as well as evan coleman. it's good to have you both. a lot to talk about. evan, i want to start with you. federal officials have described this as shocking. say they haven't seen this kind of activity out of iran since the '70s or '80s. does the legitimacy of this surprise you? >> we haven't seen the evidence yet. there's a lot more to this. we've heard a lot of affirmations from senior u.s. officials, we haven't seen the proof in the pudding. the doj doesn't usually launch charges unless they have a lot of evidence. one of the key issues though is how closely is this tied into the qods force, the revolutionary guard corps? the one indicator we have there may be something to this is the $100,000 that was wired to barng here in new york. that's a lot of money for anybody involved in a terrorist plot. in al qaeda terrorist plots you rarely see that much money. where is it coming from? how did they get that level of cash if they weren't working at the highest levels of the government of iran? >> very good point.

who is making this happen? ali, when we talk about the fact we're learning more about this, the legitimacy, there are documents that say that this went to the highest levels of the iranian government. does this mean ahmadinejad would have to be aware of what was going on? >> not necessarily. if they were involved indeed that is a different issue. he's not the be all and end all. the buck stops with supreme leader. but i have to say khomeini is a very pragmatic careful person and that doesn't wear the hallmarks of a carefully planned operation by the iranians. the qods force is fairly sophisticated. to hire a mexican drug cartel seems quite amateur for theseal taking place in the government. you heard the vice president talking about sanctions. do you think that will play well

diplomatically? >> the iranians said this is a ruse by the americans to build further sanctions, to put people on no-fly lists and some iranians have said this is the murmurs of a war beat coming from the west. these are the initial signs you will see if they want to attack us. they "vanity fair" paranoid about being attacked from the west. if the iranians aren't involved, they definitely think this is a plot. >> evan, what kind of alert should americans be on taking this into consideration? >> well, i mean, look, this was a couple of plots here inside the united states that were apparently being worked out by one operative. it doesn't necessarily reflect there's a greater threat all around the world. one of the key things here, and this is what we were just discussing, is who was responsible for this? was this a faction of the revolutionary guard corps? was this a faction of the qods force? or is this part of a new policy put forward by the iranian government. until we know that it's difficult to say whether or not there's a generalized threat beyond this. it may be the work of a rogue individual within the revolutionary guard corps, maybe someone very influential, but we

need to understand there are competing forces right now within the government of iran, and it's very difficult to say that everyone at the senior level of the leadership knew about this, approved of this, or would approve of other such plots targeting americans elsewhere. >> all right, gentlemen, thanks so much. ali arouzi, great to see you in new york, evan coleman. more drama in the trial against conrad murray. bombshell testimony from the medical examiner who did the autopsy. and a new piece of evidence, a graphic photo of the singer's body that was so disturbing that a fan ran outside of the courtroom in tears. also, courting the hispanic vote. president obama hosting the american la at the knee community at the white house. will his message get through to this very important electorate? i'd race down that hill without a helmet.

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a three-day service outage to the blackberry has spread to the u.s. and other parts of northern american frustrating its millions of users around the world. customers have had limbed e-mail ability and no access to browsing as well as messaging. now, the maker of blackberry, research in motion, says that it is working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. new twist, well, it seems to be coming out by the day in the search for a missing baby in missouri, today being no exception to that rule. surveillance video obtained exclusively by nbc shows lisa irwin's mom in a convenience store hours before the child vanished. it hasn't provided any new clues to the baby's whereabouts. investigators are growing more and more frustrated. >> with a 10-month-old somebody knows something, there's no doubt about it. we're a week later and we're not any closer. >> peter sachs -- alexander is

live from kansas city. explain more about this video and the investigator the family has hired. >> reporter: as you noted, the vid know shows lisa bradley and an unidentified man five hours before lisa vanished. you see them making a purchase, picking up boxed wine, baby wipes, and baby food before leaving the store. we reached out to the family to find out if they could tell us who that unidentified man is. we haven't heard back on that note yet but a relative told us they believe that person is either a family friend or a neighbor who was driving lisa's mom to the store because debra bradley herself does not have a license. police say they have seen this, they have looked at the video, and right now it's not providing them any significant leads. the other significant element today is that for the first time we're hearing from a private

investigator who has been brought in for the irwin family. take a listen to what bill stanton had to say last night. >> i know everybody is watching this family and watching this house and that's fair. keep one eye on them, but also keep the other eye out on the streets, in every place because there is a bad guy out there or bad people with this child, and we want to get this child home safe and sound. >> reporter: stanton says his top priority is finding baby lisa. we looked up just a moment ago on the missouri division of professional registration, and in this state you have to be licensed as a private investigator. there are 286 individuals who are licensed here. william stanton is not among them right now. there are also some new questions to pose to him today. that's the latest, thomas, back to you. >> peter alexander in kansas city for us this morning. peter, thank you. democrats on the hill are trying to see what they can salvage from a white house jobs plan that couldn't even take the first step on the senate floor. democrats barely came up with the 50 votes in the upper chamber for the american jobs

act. majority leader reid switched to a no, so he could move to reconsider the vote in the future. vice president joe biden says the white house did everything they could to get this bill passed. >> we not only rolled up our sles, our sleeves, our pant legs, werp we were in our gym shorts working like the devil. they've made it real clear that under no circumstances are they prepared to pay for anything that we need to do now so we don't raise the debt further in order to help people have jobs. >> let's bring in nbc capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. a lot of people widely expected the vote totals to be roughly exactly where they are. so what is the next step? >> if anything they expected a couple more democrats to go along with republicans, and that didn't happen. i was in the chamber when the vote was happening and i saw some hearty handshakes and back slapping when a few of those who were expected to vote no actually did vote with their fellow democrats. so now there's a lot of

political finger pointing today but the most immediate step is to break apart the president's jobs plan into individual pieces. for example, taking the payroll tax as one bill in and of itself, moving forward on that. the senate will also be dealing with free trade agreements which not a part of this but are related, and so they're going to try to move forward by making little pieces, not a sweeping piece of legislation. republicans say they could go along with some of that. we'll see if bipartisanship breaks up. thomas? >> nbc's kelly o'donnell. great to see you this morning. thank you. we're following developing news out of the white house. just minutes from now president obama will speak at the american latino heritage foundation. it honors latinos who have helped shape history. it's an effort to shore up president obama's support within the latino community. in recent months the president has seen his support dropping some 20 points since the last

election. i'm joined by los angeles mayor antonio villaraigosa. sir, it's nice to see you today. the latino community has been hard hit by this recession, the unemployment within the latino community at 11%. that's two points higher than the national average. now the president's jobs bill not going to pass in one piece. do you think the president has spent enough time focusing on the help needed for the hurting latino communities? >> i do. remember, he doesn't have a vote in the congress, and you heard the vice president say how hard he's worked, and i know that as well because the mayors across the country have gotten behind the american jobs act. it's an act that says we've got to put people back to work by repairing our roads, our bridges, our ports, and our airports. repairing our schools, putting our first responders back to work, avoiding the layoffs that could happen at state and local governments. he's done a great deal to tried

to bridge the divide between democrats and republicans, but as you can see, the republicans have said no to virtually every effort to create jobs. so when you don't have a vote in the congress, it makes it especially difficult. what does it mean for his re-election chances? it means we've got a tough row ahead, but i think people also realize that the republicans have been unwilling to work with the president on any proposal, even proposals that they have supported in the past year after year after year. >> mayor, on a different front there are a number of hispanic lawmakers that have criticized the president on his immigration policies. more than 1 million illegal immigrants deported since he took office. secretary napolitano saying next year is going to be even bigger. this while you have all these states passing tougher immigration laws. does the administration in your estimation need to shift its focus? >> look, again, the president doesn't have a vote in the

congress. he has supported comprehensive immigration reform. he supported the dream act. when there were concerns raised regarding their prioritization in deporting individuals, they responded to those concerns. i don't think the problem is with the president. i think the problem is with the congress, frankly, and we've got to work together, democrat and republican, to address a broken immigration system, to address the fact that people are out of work, to address the challenges facing the nation, and in a country so evenly divided and at a time when the partisanship is more polarized than at any time in my memory, it makes it very, very difficult. yes, that means his support has been impacted across the board, but there's not a whole lot of support for the republican candidates for president, and that's what's ultimately going

to happen. he's going to be running against one of them, maybe romney, maybe perry, who knows, and they're going to have to say what they're for, not just what they're against. they're going to have to come up with a jobs plan, a plan to fix our broken immigration system, to put people back to work, and so far we haven't seen much from them in that regard. >> so you just mentioned the dream act in terms of president obama. this certainly a big week in california regarding immigration where the dream act, the california one that is, was signed by governor brown opening up public aid to undocumented students. do you think that california can be used as an example of what can be done on a federal level? >> absolutely. look, people weren't voting to say it's okay to come to this country illegally. what they were voting for is the idea that when kids have been raised here, they've gone to our schools, they ought to have an

opportunity to get an education. that will add, by the way, to our economy because we bring them from out of the dark into the light. we educate them, and they pay taxes and give back to the state and the nation, and i think california can be a model for what we should be able to do across the country. >> you mentioned how the dream act is so influential when it comes to education, how it's going to make a difference for california students. a new report shows just 19% of latinos graduate from college. so is the president able to do enough to bring those numbers up if he can't get something on the level of the federal dream act? >> well, we know one thing, he can't do it alone. we know that democrats got to be there in support, but importantly republicans have to realize that they can't keep on saying no to every initiative on the part of the president to reach across the aisle, to work

with them. again, his proposals are proposals that have historically been supported by every republican and democratic president since the 1950s, and i'm talking specifically about infrastructure, repairing our roads, our highways, our bridges. that could add more than 1 million jobs in the next few years. there should be bipartisanship for support that, repairing our schools, preventing our first responders and teachers from being laid off. these are things we ought to be able to find bipartisan support for and i hope that the republicans realize that just say no really is not going to make it, certainly if they're looking to the election next year. >> los angeles mayor an toe yo villaraigosa, sir, it's always nice to have you on. >> thank you, thomas. >> we're going to be bringing you the president's remarks live from the american latino

heritage forum coming up here. also, coming up after this quick break, the man who performed the autopsy on michael jackson testifying on the stand that the cause of death was homicide. how damaging will that be to the case of dr. conrad murray? and could this be our first look at the republican ticket come 2012? we're going to bring you romney and christie's first sit-down interview together coming up. ♪ [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. get started at citisimplicity.com. helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea,

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taped interview with dr. murray. >> and they cried and cried and cried then his daughter uttered a lot of words of unhappiness and, you know, she will live alone without her dad and she didn't want to be an orphan. she asked me, dr. murray, you said you save a lot patients. you know, you save people with heart attacks and you couldn't save my dad. i will wake up in the morning and i won't be able to see my daddy. >> john, obviously that was emotional to hear that. but the medical examiner's testimony saying there's no way michael jackson could have administered this anesthetic to himself, how damaging was that? >> he didn't say there was no way michael jackson administered this to himself. what he did say was it's much more reasonable to believe that dr. conrad murray administered this thn michael jackson did but he didn't say say anything that

was definitive or would be enough for a jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the doctor is responsible. >> but they did talk about homicide. >> they did, but that's just one man's opinion based on the facts he had. if it was outcome determinative, there wouldn't be a trial right now. >> it was emotional last night in court, not just listening to some of the tapes but also for the pictures that were revealed. the automatic photo of michael jackson's body being shown in court. so disturbing fans ran out of the room because they were so overcome with emotion crying because of it. what is the point of showing the picture? >> well, i'm not sure. it was unnecessary, inappropriate, and, you know, it was much more prejudicial than probative. i don't know why the trial judge let it in. it was a 50-year-old otherwise healthy male, but that's a male, michael jackson, that could have died of a heart attack, could have been a brain aneurysm, it was clearly there to sort of rile the emotions of the jury and i didn't like it. >> did you think in some ways it shows the jury what a frail

human being michael jackson was in terms of why he had doctors' care around the clock basically because he doesn't look like a normal 50-year-old man, at least normal body weight, normal health. it looks like someone who is very fragile. >> i think everybody knew michael jackson was fragile. you know, he was thin, he was publicly visible. every knew he wasn't sort of -- >> robust. >> robust and healthy, that he had his issues in his day. i think that sort of plays to the jury and they know that. when they see him, he doesn't look decimated or anything like that, and i think the picture was purportedly introduced to show he was erstwhile healthy, not that he was frail. >> the audio tape, police asking dr. murray about other drugs found in jackson's bedroom which included marijuana. take a listen to this though. >> how about valisone? >> oh, no, i don't know about

that. >> we found a small portion of marijuana in his room. did you know him to be a smoker? >> no. but he used excessive cologne. >> so, john, does this bolster the defense's case that michael jackson even under murray's care was still doctor shopping in some ways and even finding ways to get illegal drugs within his possessi possession? >> i don't think there's any question the doctor was not vigilant in his care with michael jackson, but there was testimony yesterday also that michael jackson had lorazepam in his system, he had lidocaine in his system, and, you know, he had depressants he had access to that came from other doctors. i think there are some doctors that wake up and say but for the grace of good, there go i. >> we'll see what happens as the trial resumes later today. john, great to see you. >> thanks. mitt romney made the biggest headline on tuesday and it had nothing to do with the gop debate. chris christie is the biggest get for romney's campaign yet. a national figure who isn't afraid to speak his mind.

nbc sat down with this new republican pair. >> he's the best person for the job. it's simply on the merits, and the fact is that we need to make sure that barack obama is a one-term president for america's future and there's no question in my mind that governor romney is the person who gives us the best chance of winning back the white house. >> did he promise you anything? >> absolutely nothing. >> vice president christie? >> no. >> no? >> no, he didn't promise me anything. >> governor romney, would he be on your short list? >> of course he'd be on anyone's short list. he may take himself off the list and say no way, he'd have no interest, but the truth is governor christie is one of the leading figures in the republican party. of course, anyone who becomes our nominee is going to look at people like governor christie and say that would be a terrific person to have on the ticket. >> governor romney, you are the front-runner. the bad news is there has been the feeling in this campaign that republicans were still looking for another candidate to get in the race.

why do you think gov governor romney has faced such a challenge in this way. >> the fact is governor romney is going to earn it. he wouldn't want it any other way. he will fight and battle and earn it. >> what do you give his chances against barack obama? >> he's going to win. >> no question about it. >> i wouldn't be with him if he wasn't going to win. he's going to win. >> i'm going to have to give it one more shot, vice president christie? >>. >> he's an extraordinary person and i'm delighted to have him on my team. >> politico's alex burns joins me to talk more and break down what this key endorsement means for the romney campaign. let's talk about the national picture. what does have clitihristie bac romney do for the campaign. it's really a shot in the arm, so to speak, when it comes to at least popularity and maybe a little personality. >> well, i think that's exactly right. this is yet another big boost of momentum for mitt romney, and where chris christie may help the most is mitt romney has sort

of been inching his way, fighting his way very slowly toward the republican nomination because people just aren't that excited about him. chris christie is someone they can get excited about and chris christie and mitt romney, maybe that's something they can get excited about. >> well, he is a popular figure when it comes to republican politics. does he really give the shot in the arm, i guess the personality shot that the romney team needs, and if he is the vice president or at least on the short list, could he then overshadow the front-runner of mitt romney? >> i think what you heard from chris christie yesterday which was particularly interesting was he forcefully defended mitt romney on the issue of health care and the issue of his mormon faith and those are who places that romney can sound a little bit uncomfortable, can sound a little defensive. christie didn't sound like either of those things. he's a big conservative validater for mitt romney. >> do you think though that the interviews of chris christie's past will come back to haunt him, especially about the vice president role, especially

because he said i don't want to be anybody's vice president. is that the type of, i guess -- is that the telltale signs we should be looking for when they say they don't want it they do. >> a couple years ago barack obama said he was dead set against running for president of the united states. that didn't hurt him. if chris christie changes his mind on the vice presidency, it will still just be a contest of who is -- who the american people trust more, romney/christie o obama/biden. >> thank you. >> as we told you this morning, president barack obama celebrating the ccs of latino americans by hosting the american latino heritage forum in washington. let's listen in. >> and we are so proud of him -- [ applause ] he is an inspiration to all of us, and he is the latest in a long line of latino heroes to wear america's uniform.

so i was mentioning to him that i went to walter reed this week to visit some of our wounded warriors, and a number of them remarked on how they had had a chance to meet the sergeant. he had gone by to talk to some of those guys, and seeing him in uniform, proud, doing what he does inspired them and made them certain that they were going to pull through. and so that's the kind of effect he's having on people each and every day, and we're really proud of him. so thank you very much. thank you. [ applause ] i also want to recognize the members of congress who are here. i want to thank my dear friend and outstanding secretary of the interior, ken salazar, for organizing this forum. [ applause ]

you know, whenever ken is asked how long his ancestors have been in this country, he says about 400 years. so his roots go way back. just like i know many of yours do. and that's what today is all about. diversity has always been america's strength. we are richer because of the men and women and children who have come to our shores and joined our union. and we are better off because of the ideas that they have brought and the difference that they've made and the impact they've had on our lives. and nowhere is that more true than with the latino community. right now there are 54 million americans of latino descent. one-sixth of our population. our neighbors, our co-workers, our family, our friends. you've helped us build our cities, grow our economy, defend our country, and today for the

first time in history there is a latina in my cabinet and a latina on the bench of the highest court in the land. [ applause ] hilda solis is doing an outstanding job. this forum is about celebrating that heritage because too often the achievements of latinos go unrecognized, and there are achievements that have been hard won. we know life hasn't always been easy for latinos in this country and still isn't. the land of opportunity hasn't always been the land of acceptance. but the fact that latinos have done so much and come so far is a testament to a vision that has sustained you. it's a vision sa says maybe i never got a chance to get a good education, but i want my daughter to go to college, maybe get a second degree.

maybe i started out working in the fields, but some day i'll own my own business. maybe i wasn't born in this country, but i'll sign up to fight for it. maybe i have to make sacrifices but those sacrifices are worth it if it means a better life for my family. that's the story of parents, grandparents, great grandparents, great great grandparents, that determine nag, thna, that perseverance, that's kept the american dream alive and well in the latino community. more than any one person or any one story, those are the values that we have to remember today. and we need to remember those values because times are especially tough right now, and they have been tough for a while. for the better part of a decade we've seen the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, the middle class get squeezed. that was before the crisis that began in wall street and made

its way to main streets all across america. making it harder for people to find jobs, harder for families to keep their heads above water. and the latino community knows this better than most. the unemployment rate among latinos is one of the highest in the country. and right now too many families are struggling just to get by. that's not right. and i ran for president for the same reason many people came to this country in the first place, because i believe america should be a place where you can always make it if you try, a place where every child no matter what they look like, where they come from, should have a chance to succeed. i still believe in that america. i believe we can be that america again. the truth is the problems we face today were a long time coming, and solving them will take time. in a global economy, it will require us to have the best

educated workforce, the strongest commitment to research and innovation, the most reliable communication and transportation networks, but with so many people hurting today there are thing we can do right now to make a difference. there are things we should do right now to put more people back to work and to restore a sense of security and fairness that's been missing for too long. so that's why i put forward the american jobs act. that's why i sent congress a jobs bill made up of the kinds of proposals that traditionally democrats and republicans have supported. independent economists who do this for a living have said the american jobs act would lead to more growth and nearly 2 million jobs next year. no other jobs plan has that kind of support from actual economists. no plan from congress, no plan from anybody. but apparently none of this matters to republicans in the senate because last night even though a majority of senators

voted in favor of the american jobs act, a republican minority got together as a group and blocked this jobs bill from passing the senate. they said no to more jobs for teachers, no to more jobs for cops and firefighters, no to more jobs for construction workers and veterans, no to tax cuts for small business owners and middle class americans. now, a lot of folks in washington and the media will look at last night's vote and say, well, that's it. let's move on to the next fight. but i've got news for them, not this time. not with so many americans out of work, not with so many folks in your communities hurting. we will not take no for an answer. [ applause ] we will keep organizing and we will keep pressuring and we will keep voting until this congress finally meets its responsibilities and actually

does something to put people back to work and improve the economy. we'll give members of congress a chance to vote on whether they think we should keep teachers out of work or put them back in the classroom where they belong, teaching our kids. they'll get a chance to vote on whether they think that construction workers should stay idle while our roads and bridges are falling apart or whether we should put these men and women back to work rebuilding america. republicans say that one of the most important things we can do is cut taxes. well, they get a chance to vote on whether we should cut taxes for middle class families or let them go up. this job would cut taxes for virtually every worker and small business in america. 25 million latinos would benefit. if you're a small business owner who hires a new worker or raises rages, you'd get another tax cut. if you hire a veteran you'd get another tax cut.

anybody who fights for our country, should not have to fight for a job when they come home. [ applause ] now, i know some folks in congress bought this jobs bill because of how it's paid for. well, we already agreed to cut nearly $1 trillion in government spending. we've offered to cut even more in order to bring down the deficit. but we can't just cut without asking those of us who have been most fortunate in our society to pay our fair share. and that's not about punishing success. it's about making choices. if we want to create jobs and close the deficit and invest in our future, the money has got to come from somewhere. and so we've got to ask ourselves a question. would we rather keep the tax code with the loopholes exactly

as they are for millionaires and billionaires, or do you want construction workers to have a job rebuilding roads and bridges and schools? because you know a lot of our kids in the community are learning in trailers right now. why wouldn't we want to put people back to work rebuilding those schools? would you rather fight for special interest tax breaks or do you want to fight for tax cuts for small businesses and middle class families in your neighborhood? >> the president speaking this morning at the american latino heritage forum taking this opportunity to speak directly to this audience about the fact that the american jobs act did not pass the sfat laenate last . however, the president saying not this time, they are not going to be taking no for an answer when it comes to getting america back to work. speaking directly to the latino community woz unemployment rate at the national level stands at 11%, which is two points higher

than the national average itself. we'll bring you more facts and figures coming from the president's speech there this morning again at the american latino heritage forum. coming up, gop candidate buddy roamer wasn't with his colleagues last night at the debate, but he was making news elsewhere. the former louisiana governor went to downtown new york city to join the occupy wall street protests. buddy roamer joins me next right here in studio to talk about why greed is hurting the middle class. that and much more right after this. the whole family up for unlimited mobile to mobile minutes. you're kidding. no. where's that money coming from, steve? did it even cross your mind to ask your wife before signing us up for something so expensive? my mother was right; i should have married john clarke. they were free. i got them when i signed us up for unlimited messaging. [ male announcer ] get more value from at&t. buy an unlimited messaging plan, and call any u.s. mobile phone free. at&t. it's this...

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welcome back, everybody. we've been showing you pictures from occupy wall street in san francisco. the movement is picking up steam. and buddy roemer is throwing his support behind the occupy wall street movement. he urged lawmakers to listen to the message in a youtube ads. >> all the young americans currently taking part in the occupy wall street movement,

please know that i stand by you. this is an american as a civil rights mark. that this is american as a revolution. the young people are speaking. we ought to listen. >> buddy roemer live on set with us. why does this movement resonate with you so much? >> i'm 68. i lived through the civil rights movement in the deep south. i went to college and lived through the vietnam protest. i know the power of the young people. and when people get involved you ought to listen. that's all i'm asking my republic republican colleagues to do. all of them are concerned about an america that they worry about their future in. listen, republicans. >> are you frustrated by the fact you have not been able to

get on that stage? >> i'm so frustrated. i have built a billion dollar bank no bailout money, we didn't foreclose on a single homeowner. it can be done right and this message ought to be given in a republican debate. i'm the only person running who has been a congressman and a governorer. >> when you were listening to the president's speech talking to the american latino heritage forum. you agreed with him and you're proud of the fact he is day saying he's not taking no for an answer. >> he's our president. he's our leader. if he won't fight for jobs who will? and we can't wait for the next election. it's a year and a half off until we get a new president or a revised president. look, we're in trouble as a nation. i'm proud to be a republican but i'm prouder to be an american.

it's time to come together help small business grow, be energy independent and stop unfair trade with china. >> that was a big issue last night. >> first time. >> you feel we are in a trade war with china but we are letting them win and get away with it. what were other people that stood out last night in watching your opponents? >> that's a tough question for me. i call it tweedle dee and tweedle dumb. but these are politicians and corporate executives. i think the answer is with the people. listen to occupy wall street. you know what they're saying? no one went to jail on wall street after billions were fleeced, trillions were taken from the taxpayers. documents of mortgages were proven to be illegal. the rating agencies were paid off by the wall street banks. they got bailed out. they eliminated glass stiegel,

other than that everything is copasetic. >> you are the only one down to occupy wall street so far. republican presidential candidate, buddy roemer thanks for your time. i will see you back here at 11:00 a.m. eastern time tomorrow. as always you can follow me at twitter. craig melvin picks it up after this break. [ male announcer ] dove and suave beauty products,

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good wednesday i'm craig melvin. the accused underwear bomber pled guilty on all charges in a federal courthouse in detroit after attempting to light a bomb hidden in his pants on christmas day. umar farouk abdulmutallab faces life in prison after pleading guilty to all charges including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy to commit terrorism. we turn now to our terrorism