>> the whole point is to unify the 99%. unify the 99% and you have all of the power no matter how much money you have. >> president obama even mentioned the movement during the mlk education. >> the unemployment worker can rightly challenge the excesses of wall street without demonizing you'll who work there. >> while at times it seems demonstrators have yet to have a clear and cohesive message -- >> the debates in the presidential era involve slogans, simplistic assertiones. >> analysts say the sentiment is loud and clear. >> this isn't about envy. this is about the criminality of the financial sector. it got out of control. completely deregulated. this is serious stuff. >> we have team coverage today. nbc's michelle franzen is in london. john yang in chicago. michelle, let's start with you. if you didn't catch the

headlines over the weekend. you woke up today and realized this is happening in close to a hundred countries around the world now. >> yeah, that's exactly right, richard. protesters here at occupy london have certainly taken a page from occupy wall street. really resonating a lot with issues that protesters in the u.s. mentioned including taking their platform of, we are the 99%. here, near st. paul's cathedral, they are occupying this space here np why this space? because it is right in the center of the financial district and close to their intended target of where they wanted to march this past weekend, the london stock exchange. police barricaded that area. they are kept here and able to stay in this space. they've got the permission from the church, which takes care of the space. with the exception that they do not detour tourists from going into that cathedral. global protests over the weekend, biggest in rome, heating up this weekend where

demonstrators clash with police. here in london, mostly peaceful. police officers are certainly harnd but they have stepped back a little bit. that has helped with the tension. but richard, they are only in their third day of their occupy london protest. they are organizing but holding a lot of same meetings going on in the u.s. and grappling with a lot of the same complaints. one issue that is unique to this area is britain's unemployment, which is at the highest rate since 1994. >> a staggering number of countries reporting for today. michelle franzen, thank you so mu much. now live in new york city, are learning how well funded and stocked the protesters are in new york city. what are some of the details? >> since the beginning they have been getting support from all over the world and that seems to be snowballing. they get cash donations here. people can come by and drop off cash. organizers say they raised $300,000 in donations and then

there are the donated supplies. multiple times a day they wheel in shipments of donated supplies, boxes and boxes, up to 400 a day. that includes everything from sleeping bags to people who will call local restaurants and have pizza sent here. so they are definitely well stocked. they say they need it because they are in it for the long haul. today they mark the one-month anniversary here. they say they may get a cake. there is a bag piper playing happy birthday for them here. in terms of what is next after this month offen from zied activity, a lot of people are asking what are their goals. they haven't gotten to establishing further goals but they want to expand and keep the momentum going. they want to be sure the occupied movement is in as many states and across the country as possible. all of this is after a very big weekend in new york. thousands gather in time square. looked like new year's eve quite

frankly for what they dubbed an occupation party. that level of support surprised even organizers themselves. they thought the entire event would be over in an hour but an hour after it started crowds were streaming into times square carrying signs of chanting slogans about economic equality. so that is where the movement is now. it seems to be growing and they are trying to figure out where to go next. richard? >> yeah, one-month anniversary. an interesting fact about the $300,000, is we heard it was deposited in a bank. there is a lot of twist in the story as we go forward. great reporting as always. now chicago to nbc's john yang. you know the scene here looks calmer than over the weekend. >> well that's right, richard. here at occupy chicago, this is day 25 of occupy chicago. you can see a smaller operation of the wall street occupy wall street. over the weekend, there were 175 arrests in grant park when protesters wouldn't leave when

the park closed at 11:00. but even then, that was not very -- it was very organized, very calm. both sides, protesters with police was handled professionally, respectfully and nonviolent on both sides. police gave plenty of warning that if people stayed in the park after 11:00 would be arrested. they were able to divide themselves into groups if they didn't want to be arrested. all they had to do was step out of the park on to the sidewalk. about a thousand people were in the park, at 11:00 when the park closed. only 175 decided to stay in. they were arrested, held overnight then bailed out the next day. later today, here in chicago, there will be another march, a march around the loop. they will go back it grant park for a meeting but so far, they have not decided to try to stay overnight. richard? >> john yang in chicago, thank you so much, john. is the message getting lost in

the movement? we are covering this for you, occupy wall street. let's bring in assistant professor of political science at columbia university. thanks for being with us today, dorian. we went from 1 to 82 in such a short time. we are talking about the number of countries. 1400 cities according to one website. how did this grow so quickly and so successfully, if you will? take a look at this. this is only half the number of countries, we couldn't fit them all on the screen. >> it's phenomenal how fast this has grown. i think this is now a global movement and we have to look at it in the same way that we looked at the arab spring and the protesters in wisconsin in february, that we look at protests in greece, spain, italy and over the last two years. i think what people have been feeling not only in this country but around the world, is that as economies were crashed by the financial sector, and most

countries, that every country bailed out their banks by not bailing out people that were experiencing those losses. the 99% as the slogan goes. >> dorian, help us understand this. there is no leadership. that's a central part in the way they are organized. they have v a general assembly. help us understand how they organize. >> so i think they are trying to organize the democracy tle would like to see. one of their grievance says that the countries are not democraticic. so they are extraordinarily democratic then they have consensus based decision making. everyone has it agree before they make a decision. it is that leaderless democratic process that attracted people to the movement, as opposed to one person making themselves the leader. that might have turned people off. but it is such a democratic

process, it appealed to people and it allowed a lot of people to plug in quickly and therefore it spread quickly around the country and around the world. >> dorian, let me ask you this. recent polls are showing that likely voters or voters are blaming perhaps the wrong group. they are not blaming at the moment wall street. they are looking at the government. is this group misfocused? i think recent time poll show 54% of americans agree with the occupy wall street protesters. only 27% agree with the tea partiers who did focus on the government, not on wall street. so i think the broad american public actually does grie with the occupiers that wall street is to blame as well as broken political system. i think we probably see that around the rest of the world. >> we've got to go. i want to sneak this in. what is the key milestone for this group? many can say, look out, they'll move forward with a lot of energy. >> i think they are planning more global days of action in november. so once the cold weather arrives

and lots of cities around the country and around the world, assuming they can keep the momentum up on the next global day of action is coordinated, they will keep raising the issues and they are not going away any time soon. >> yes. dorian, when it gets cold and wet, it'll be tough for demonstrators. >> i think they will stick it out. >> thank you, appreciate it. >> thanks, richard. >> president obama just wrapping up a big speech in north carolina. getting in a bunch of digs at republicans along the way. >> maybe they just couldn't understand the whole thing all at once. so we're going to break it up into bite-sized pieces. >> all right. nbc's christian walker is in asheville, north carolina with more. >> good afternoon. president obama just finished speaking at the asheville airport. if the jobs act were to pass this airport would be one of the several thousands projects across the country that would

get the renovations that they need. it would put constructions workers back to work. we heard from a very heated president obama today. he ratcheted up his rhetoric against republicans taking aim at congressional republicans almost every other sentence. what was really interesting about the president's remarks, we heard him talk about for the very first time, breaking up the american jobs act into pieces. as you know, it failed to pass through the senate last week. in order for it to pass through congress they have to do it piece mill. the president used that as a clans to lash out at republicans saying maybe they wouldn't understand it in one piece so we will break it up for them. by the way by heard from one republican aid on the hill who says this looks like a week of hyperbole given what we have heard so far. president obama talked about what he would like to see pass first, namely putting teachers back on the job and also first responders back to work. now make no mistake about it, this trip is also an indication of the importance of north

carolina and virginia to the 2012 race. president obama won these two states back in 2008. the first time a democratic had done that in deck it's but his support in the two states is dwindling because of the economy. republicans smell blood in these two states so they are going after them as well. this will definitely be one of the key battle ground regions in 2012. back to you. >> kristen welker, thank you for that from north carolina. 33-year-old dan wheldon died in a horrific wreck at sunday's indy 300. it happened on the 12th lap there. 15 cars crashing and then spinning at speeds of 200 miles per hour or even greater. fellow drivers remembered wheldon who won the indianapolis 500 twice. >> he will be missed. and i just feel for his family. >> we lost one of my best

friends, one of my greatest teammates, and i don't know what to say. i think i'm getting old. i've been through too many of these already. >> joined now by cnbc sports business reporter, daren revel. this is certainly a tough loss. who was dan wheldon? >> dan was a guy, who if you met him in the street, you would never know he was a race car driver. even in press environments, i remember in 2005 in a press luncheon, i sat down next to him. we were talking for 40 minutes. i didn't know him and he won the 2005 indy 500. that's when i got to know him. but just a really humble person. a guy who loved to race cars and even when the business got to him, which was at the end of the 2010 season, when he didn't have a ride, he started the 2011

season on a small budget and won the 2011 indy 500. so he was a good person. and i remember every time i interviewed him because he was one of those athletes that stood out. >> seemed like he add good sense of humor as well. as a result of this accident her here, darren, there is controversy about too many daca on the track. >> yeah, i don't know about that. the car industry has come a long way. that being said, they are driving 200 miles an hour. although we have a lot of deaths on the roads, it is not exactly going out on the street in the same type of -- so i think there will be speculation. but in general, you just got remember, this is very dangerous what they are doing. they are good at what they do. but at the end of the day, this is just one of the accidents where -- go ahead. >> talk about that.

when you saw the tape and have you seen many of the indy car races before, what stood out to you? >> nothing. i mean, it was a horrific wreck. but we've gotten to a point in the car racing world where i've seen some wrecks, i mean, on saturday, jimmy johnson in a nascar race went into a wall and you thought potentially that was it. they have done a lot with safety so they are not hitting concrete. they have done a tremendous amount. i have crashed in a car in one of those cars, and the hans device that they have now, you see yourself crashing. but you don't move. so we have come a long way since the death of dale earnhardt senior. so much so that when you see a crash, you think, you know, perhaps it's okay. unfortunately, it wasn't. >> that's a very good point. thank you so much for your insight and of course, to what was a horrific accident over the weekend. appreciate your time. it's the money race for president. who is in the lead and who is in

the back of the pack? plus, high priority, burning issue that is on the mind of a lot of americans and it is not jobs or the economy. first, a look at what is happening on wall street right now, down 173. a tough monday for retirement accounts. stay with us here on msnbc. [ male announcer ] humana and walmart have teamed up to bring you a low-priced medicare prescription drug plan. ♪ with the lowest national plan premium... ♪ ...and copays as low as one dollar... ♪ ...saving on medicare prescriptions is easy.

♪ so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. or go to walmart.com for details.

taste of what it is like to be the most talked about candidate in the gop primary field. that means defending his 9, 9, 9 field that it lowers taxes for the rich and increases them for the poor and mid old class. >> some people will pay more but most people will pay less is my argument. >> who will pay more? >> who will pay more? the people who spend more money on new goods. the sales tax only applies to people who buy new goods. not used goods. that's a big difference that doesn't come out.

>> all right. here to talk cain and other candidates, karen finney and susan del percio. karen, let's start with you. did you see the interview on "meet the press"? >> i did. >> how did he defense the 9-9-9 plan as well as foreign policy? >> it was terrible. you can really tell that herman cain is not ready for prime time. and also, you know, he kind of has this way about him that in a corporate world you can spin things a certain way. but you can't do that when you are running for president. to say that some people. pay more and the point after new economy is you want people to buy new goods. so if you are creating a disincentive for people to buy

goods, and his numbers are off across the spectrum. economists have said the lowest income people will be the hardest hit. he didn't explain himself very well. >> it was certainly a difficult set of questions to deal with. susan, we will stay on cain here. cain just bringing over $2 million wab far back from rick perry's 17 and mitt romney's 14, what is your thought here? it doesn't seem like he has front-runner cash at the moment. >> but he is front runener the polls right now and that will make a difference for him as far as raising money. but as karen spoke to, his performance on meet the press was less than stellar. if you look what happened to perry after a few bad debate performances, he started to fall off a cliff. this is prime time for mr. cain and he has to live up to it. it's hard. i know americans want to hear a sim solution and that perhaps why 9-9-9 resonate sewed well.

but it may be a 150-page resolution it take our country forward. >> the q3 numbers, if you look at those, do you think they are strong enough for some and not others? in other words, who will not make it past q4, from what you've seen? >> for the most part, they all have the opportunity to stay on simply because you know, grinni beginning rich didn't raise a lot but didn't spend spend a lot. you notice with romney, he put a lot into infrastructure. with the primaries coming up, he knew that was the time to make investments into the ground game. rick perry, interestingly enough, raised money but mostly from texas. just like a lot of his ideas seem to be all about texas, his money is from texas. if he can't broaden his fund-raising base, i think that in and of itself will prevent it

from going on much further and there is another poor performance at the debate. it is not just what they raise but also what they spent it on and whattes this spending levels look like. >> what what they could use going for forward. the chris christie endorsement for romney is very important and that came in after the quarter ended. so we will probably see some big numbers for romney going forward and again showing that consistency of being able to deliver in the debates and being able to deliver on finances. >> susan, what do you think about bachmann though, talking about spend rates or burn rates? she is spending more than she is taking in? >> that's not uncommon for candidates on both sides of the aisle, unfortunately. i mean, at the end of the day, they are going to try and use their debate performances to raise money off of that, to keep this going for as long as they can. >> very good. susan, karen, thank you very much. have a great monday and week ahead. >> thanks, richard. details to save a sick american living in the south

poll. mrs. sns plus, michele bachmann teams up with donald trump. you name it. i've tried it. but nothing's helped me beat my back pain. then i tried this. it's salonpas. this is the relief i've been looking for. salonpas has 2 powerful pain fighting ingredients that work for up to 12 hours. and my pharmacist told me it's the only otc pain patch approved for sale using the same rigorous clinical testing that's required for prescription pain medications. proven. powerful. safe. salonpas. and these come together, one thing you can depend on is that these will come together. delicious and wholesome. some combinations were just meant to be. tomato soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

i refer to her as "that woman with the great gums." as jill's dentist, i know that her gums are a foundation of a healthy smile. jill knows that, too -- so she uses crest pro-health clinical gum protection toothpaste. it helps eliminate plaque at the gum line, helping prevent gingivitis. it's even clinically proven to help reverse it in just 4 weeks. and it protects these other areas dentists check most. crest pro-health clinical gum protection. because healthy smiles are built on healthy gums. life opens up when you do. [ female announcer ] starbucks via® is planted the same... ♪ ...harvested the same... ♪ ...and roasted the same as our other premium coffees. ♪ it only makes sense it would taste the same. so, try it for yourself. buy a pack of 100% natural starbucks via® ready brew. we promise you'll love it or we'll send you a bag of starbucks coffee.

it's the starbucks via® taste promise. look for it at starbucks stores and where you buy groceries. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you up to thousands of dollars. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, i can keep my own doctor and choose my own hospital. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist. as with all medicare supplement plans,

and help pay for what medicare doesn't. call this toll-free number now... a u.s. resear muchers stranded at the south poll after suffering an apparent stroke has now been rescued. she is in new zealand after a cargo flight. she will see if it is safe to fly in a pressurized plane and fly to the u.s. a dead baby found aboard a carnival cruise ship, in st. martin reporting the 20-year-old mother did not show noe she was pregnant and was surprised when the baby was born. the ship was docked in st. martin when the baby was found. carnival saying an employee found that baby wednesday in the guest cabin. three people are facing a slew of charges in philadelphia after officials found four mentally disabled adults chained up in a basement. police say the suspects may have

been holding the victims captive to steal their disability checks. they were held in a 15 by 15 foot run room that was too small to stand up in. steel door was chained up and one victim was chained it a boiler. squatters found the victims on saturday. the mother of missing baby lisa making a big admission about the night her daughter went missing. plus alts been described as a total mess an insanity, i'm talking about the republican calendar. why it keeps changing and what it means for each candidate. [ female announcer ] secret scent expressions

combines great odor protection with a lavender scent. amazing microcapsules absorb and neutralize odor releasing scent anytime you need it. all day long. secret scent expressions deodorant/antiperspirant. also in body splashes. ♪ [ female announcer ] mini™ meets berries. kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats cereal with a touch of fruit in the middle. helloooooo fruit in the middle. welcome back to msnbc. police arrested a man who claimed he started a six alarm fire in boston this morning. at least 15 people were rescued from an apartment building there, including a baby dropped from a third floor window. a ground zero mosque has a

pay $7 million in back rent to a utility company or their lease will be terminated thp there is a dispute over the rent there. cell phone users will get a warning before going over their talk/text data limits. this is because of bill shock. doomsday prediction from on friday. the laprediction was back in february. baby lisa's parents will hold an interview today. peter alexander joins us live in kansas city and has been following this live. you had a great interview. what is their state of mind right now? how are they holding snup. >> richard, i will give you details on our situation of the parents of lisa irwin but want to update you on what is happening right now. we are outside the home where

the family says their daughter disappeared. that's almost two weeks ago exactly. police have shut off this road. there are three simultaneous searches taking place. there is search going on with the fbi outside the home with lisa's parent have been staying for the last two weeks. another search going on in a wooded area where the national guard first searched yesterday and finally according to the kansas city police department that i hung up with while on the commercial break, there is a search on a nearby creek while they are diverting the creek and trying to look for any significant evidence. important to note, they say all are not based on tips. but when you have nothing to go on, there is nothing you're not willing to try right now. >> now peter, as we all look at the other issues, which is discussion with them, what did you learn from that discussion with them? >> well, i think one of the most important things we learned from deborah bradley, the mother of lisa irwin, is that she fears she will be arrested by police for her daughter's disappearance. i asked her why.

take a listen. >> well, i was the last one with her. and from judging on how the questioning went, that's kind of a fear that i have. and the main fear with that is, if they arrest me, people are going to stop looking for her. and then i will never see her again. and i will never know what happened. >> obviously an emotional time for deborah bradley and her partner, jeremy irwin, who is the father of lisa irwin. we know where he was that night. there is surveillance tape, we are told at starbucks where he was working overnight. his first overnight shift there as an electrician. it is her about wr abouts that people are questioning. but family members and everybody agree everybody should be looked at. >> in your discussion, you discussed drinking and her response might surprise some. >> yes, she acknowledge he she

was drinking that night. we saw surveillance video of her a few hours before her daughter disappeared. here is a little part of that conversation. >> were you drinking that night? >> yes. >> how much? >> enough to be drunk. >> so you were drunk? >> mm-hmm. >> a lot of people are going to say, deborah, you were drunk that night. is there any chance that you hurt your daughter that you are just not telling us? >> no, no, no. and if i thought there was a clans, i would say it. no, no. i don't think that alcohol changes a person enough to do something like that. >> and that surveillance tape i mentioned show deborah bradley picking up a box of wine as well as baby wipes and other baby supplies with her brother in those hours just before she says her daughter disappeared. this is significant. this thought she acknowledges she was drinking. it may explain why the lights were on and why the front door was unlocked as jeremy irwin says was the case. it may also explain to some people that something may have taken place behind the closed

doors that is not fully explained. she says it may have led to the fact that she didn't hear an intruder, abductor come into the home. >> a lot happening in kansas city just before you got on air with us. what do you expect at 3:30? do you have any indication here? >> yeah, contacts close to the family tell us that the announcement made today will be that the irwin family is signing up an attorney to represent tlem. that should happen at 2:30 our time, 3:30 eastern time. >> peter, thank you so much. primary caucus schedule is the political. it is turning into a civil war fought with calendar. joining us right now, nbc news, deputy political reporter. another gop debate for us to watch but five are saying they will boycott the january 14 caucus in that state. that's rick santorum, newt

gingrich, michele bachmann and herman cain. is this all posturing? what are they trying to say? >> richard, there is a lot of posturing. all five candidates are likely to be the front-runner. mitt romney in 2008 and rick perry securing an endorsement from governor brian sand vol which can make him a player there. given that the candidates may not end up winning they are trying to occur favor in new hampshire, which is the first in the nation state and proclaim that they love new hampshire so much they are willing to boycott this nevada contest. it is all in an effort to increase their standing in the granite state. >> talk about posturing here, mark. santorum said that romney is probably to blame for the early nevada date moving to january 1437 how could romney make such a decision. >> bob list was saying that some folks wanted the romney camp to

be able to move once florida moved to january 31, you saw south carolina move to january 21st. the former governor of nevada was quoted as saying that and that got all of the other campaigns in a tizzy saying, look, romney's folks are trying to manipulate the calendar here. it was expected that nevada was going to move up its contest when everyone else did. the controversial part is that nevada decided to pick january 14 instead of 17th. why is the 14th important? because that would push into early january or december. that has all of the folks in new hampshire fired up. >> holiday voting, there you go. a lot of people thinking about that. when we see them jockeying and we are looking at the calendar a second ago, you look at the rnc, look at its leader and the penalties that are there that he can levy, are they not strong enough for him to get these state organizations in line?

>> richard, on paper they are pretty strong. they take away essentially half of that state's delegation to the convention. but where a lot of these states have decided to move up and they basically said they don't care about that penalty, they saw what happened four years ago when you had michigan and more importantly florida jump up, and when president -- then candidate barack obama went to the democratic nominating convention in denver, he basically reinstituted all of the florida delegates back. so the assumption is if it is mitt romney who the ultimate republican nominee, perry, in a sign of goodwill, they will restores this deal giates for te states that decided to cut in line. >> why not start during halloween, mark? you and i have a couple extra months ahead of us. >> let's get started right now, how about that. >> you would love it i'm sure. mark murray, thank you so much. >> thanks, richards.

>> michele bachmann's campaign is trying to fight rumors it doesn't have resources to make it to the nominating contest. what better way to grab had lines that to hold a town hall with the man known for real estate and reality tv, donald trump. here to explain, jamie novogrrod. >> she will do a town hall at 8 and call in from her hotel room in phoenix. and donald trump will call from his office in new york. they get on the landline, there is a company that arranges it and the campaign tells me it is a key way to identify supporters and also to identify what the key issues are. >> now, trump hasn't endorsed anybody right, here jamie? >> correct. i just got off the phone with his spokesperson who reiterated that. what is interesting is that she

was the one who had the idea for the meeting, for the teletown hall, who requested it and that as breakfast was finishing last week, they, leaving hi parpt and she said, this would be a great thing for us to do, would you consider it. >> we have a lot of good sound bites we have coming out of that that we will play for folks. third quarter numbers over the weekend, originally saying, past the deadline, right, jamie? she didn't seem to be too phased. she raised what some people thought was $4 million. but she spent a lot more as well. what's the mood from the staff there? >> well, the campaign remains optimistic that has been there posture from the very beginning. it wasn't broken. they think that they are going to do very well in iowa. they are staking their campaign on iowa. and in some parts on new hampshire. and south carolina.

they're not letting it phase them. >> not at all. finally before i let you go here, bachmann, her next stop is perry, iowa? >> right. she was at perry on sunday -- >> oh, that's right. >> for a rally. that's all right. for a rally called a bachmann takes it to perry rally. she signed a pledge that binds her to build a fence along the southern border by the end of 2013. but she only mentioned governor perry by name 55 minutes into the speech. >> 55 minutes in. thank you very much, jamie. the very latest with the bachmann campaign. thank you. mortgage rates are at the lowest and could potentially go lower. but that is not helping those that really need it. how the white house is getting involved in mare waun y5. we asked total strangers to watch it for us.

thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense.

clorox disinfecting wipes and...a digital recorder. i'm finally feeling better.

good honey, you turn into such a little whiner when you're sick. no i don't. [ bawk! ] honey, i'm sick. i can't reach the remote. that sounds nothing like me. [ beep ] honey, i'm sick. i can't reach the remote. that kind of does. [ male announcer ] get low prices every day on everything to prepare for cold and flu season. we're so confident in our low prices, we back 'em with our ad match guarantee. save money. live better. walmart. we back 'em with our ad match guarantee. fresher less processed foods introducing freshpet recipes so fresh the only preservative we use is the fridge freshpet fresh food for fido just having some tender chicken and some tasty noodles. let's see...south western vegetables...60 calories. ya' know those jeans look nice. they do? yup. so you were checking me out? yup. [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less.

a new study from the national cancer institute projects that cancer survivors over 65 will increase by half over the next decade. breast and prostate have the best survival rate while lung is the worst. there is a need for doctorses specializes in jer at tricks. >> it stands it reason there ought to be a rush to refinance or buy at bargain prices with low mortgage rates. but that is not happening, at least the way it should. let's bring this melissa francis. when we think of the lower rates, its folks that need to have the lower payments and they might take advantage of it but

that's not the case. >> absolutely. the goal is to try and help the housing market along to clean inventory off the books there. but what is really happening is that people in homes that they can afford who are current on their payments are basically refinancing to a better rate. right now you can get a 30-year fixed for something around 4%. can you usually get it for no points if you have really good credit and if your house isn't under water. so it is helping people planning on staying anyway, get a cheaper rate but that is not what the fed was after. they are targeting long into the curve as we call it, targeting those long interest rates. and it is just not having the desired effect. >> so operate twist was focused on the 30-year loans. it is not helping right now is what you are saying. is there anything else that the fed or government can do to help the group you are describing? >> it is tough. they have tried almost everything to tinker with the housing market. what we have found is that people at high end can make their payments an refinance. people at the low end are able to stop making payments and sell short or get foreclosed upon and

move out. it is that vast majority in the middle struggling, maybe with unemployment or who are just having a hard time making their house payment and are unhappy they are making a payment on something that isn't worth the loan they took out in the first place that are really stuck at this point and there is not a great answer in sight for them, unfortunately. >> there could be concern here, a political blow back. the wealthy and those are poor taking advantage of these banks. and some say they are taking up more of the spread and making more money. but this is going to cause a lot of outrage perhaps, don't you think melissa? >> absolutely. it only adds to the bank's troubles. it is a lot like gas prices. when the price of oil falls, you notice the price at your gas stanks for gallon of gas falls more slowly. they say it shoots up like a rocket and falls like a feather. it is like mortgage rates, there is less incentive to bring it down quickly because they are making money on the business in the meantime. they are profiting and once again it is the guy in the

middle having a tough time. >> thank you for shedding light on that for us. sidebar now. who knew that the gop debates turned into ratings gold? new york times saying the audiences for this year's debates are almost double what they were four years earlier. no one has a firm theory on why here but increased economic hardship and political turmoil are two of the most cited reason so far. and saturday night live takes a swipe at one of the most popular gop candidates and his tax plan. >> many are taking a closer look at your 9-9-9 plan. most economists believe it is aun unworkable solution to a complicated financial situation. >> let me explain. i never thought that i would be taken seriously. so i never thought that anyone would look at it. the original goal of the 9-9-9 plan was to get me a show on fox news. at 9. but if america is looking for catchy unworkable solutions to

cut problems, herman cain will keep them coming. ♪ like so many great pioneers before me, guided only by a dream. i'm embarking on a journey of epic proportion. i will travel, from sea to shining sea, through amber waves of grain, and i won't stop until i've helped every driver in america save hundreds on car insurance. well i'm out of the parking lot. that's a good start. geico, fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent, or more on car insurance.

jobs and the economy are supposedly the top concerns of voters. but on-line it seems what more americans are concerned with, well, getting high. last month the white house launched a we the people website, topping a list of open petitions, one demanding the legallization of marijuana. more than 56,000 signatures so far. almost double the number two issue on that site. you know, even watching this story for us with the most of any petition on the white house site right now, does this leave the president in a difficult position given there aresome people that would like it see this happen? >> well, not really. because while there have been 50,000 signatures, i'm not convinced this is an issue that generally americans are rworrie

a lot about. jobs and the economy seems to still top the list. but it seems like every time the president goes on-line to find out what issues matter to americans, marijuana pops up. he says he opposes legallization. so it poses the question, why is this movement with a lot of on-line grass roots support not able to translate that into legislative wins. i think the answer is relevant to the occupy wall streeters. it is something that tea partiers recognize early on. they don't have the muscle, the money, backing inside washington they need to get a legislative win. >> umbreen, you mention grass roots, pun intenned here. when you look what it means legally as oppose to the state level, what are the situations that doctors are facing today? >> well, i think that question, you know, at the federal level, it's that there is a lot of

opposition in terms of concern about what it would mean for law enforcement. there is organizations such as mothers against drunk driving who have been concerned about alcohol are now concerned about drunk driving. so legal legalizing marijuana is not something they expect to happen at any time soon but at the state level they are making grounds. >> in california it is legal for a doctor to preskriepgs marijuana and illegal on the federal level. where does it put the doctor, though? >> that's true. actually there is a canibas industry pushing for ins and other agencies to elaborate on the rules because there are issues for the businesses and doctors. they are basically engauging in something that federal government doesn't recognize as legal. and there is a lot of gray area there that is yet to be ironed out. >> now those who support legallization say they need to study the drug and its effects on users and it needs more information to do that by

legalizing it. >> yeah. and i guess that's one argument for it. but like i said, there's a lot of people who are concerned about the public safety issues. and there is going to be a lot of opposition. >> yeah, opposition is claiming here umbreem that the rate of death from drivers that are under the influence of marijuana increased in states why they decriminalized it. >> well and that's because probably there are more users now who are feeling comfortable taking it, you know, in states like california, where there are people licensed to take marijuana for medical reasons. obviously there's month use and therefore, more of a concern about drunk driving. but if you ask actual, you know, pro marijuana legallization advocates, they say it that is not a concern. they say it is not the same as alcohol and does not cause the same affects. it is less dangerous. >> we will see how it all pans

out. thank you. thanks for watching on m monday. see you back here at noon eastern. 9 a.m. in the west. up next, andrea mitchell reports. stick around. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! every time a local business opens its doors or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business. it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses richard louis. richard to small businesses across the country so far this year. because the more we help them, the more we help make opportunity possible.

[ dr. ling ] i need to get the results from the m.r.i. see if the blood work is ready. review ms. cooper's history. and i want to see katie before she goes home. [ male announcer ] with integrated healthcare solutions from dell, every patient file is where dr. ling needs it. now she can spend more time with patients and less time on paperwork. ♪ dell. the power to do more. ♪ -woohoo! -yes! ♪ it was the best day ♪ it was the best day yeah! ♪ it was the best day ♪ because of you [echoing] we make a great pair. huh? progressive and the great outdoors. we make a great pair.

right, totally. uh... that's what i was thinking. covering the things that make the outdoors great. call or click today. you know what else is early? medicare open enrollment. now through december 7th. can i stick with my old medicare plan? sure! or find a new plan with better coverage, less cost, or both. medicare plans give you free cancer screenings and wellness visits and 50% off on brand-name prescriptions when you're in the doughnut hole.

it's part of the healthcare law. so it's time to look, compare... and choose the right plan for you. learn more at 1-800-medicare or medicare.gov. mitchell reports, the president rides the bus in north carolina and rides for republican opponents of his jobs bill. >> many of us couldn't understand the whole thing all at once. so, we're going to break it up into indict byte-sized pieces. >> one month in, occupy wall street goes global. and herman cain has to come up with numbers beyond 9-9-9. how did he score on the "meet the press" primary. >> that doesn't make sense to me. if i'm paying state taxes and i have a new cain administration sales tax, i have more taxes. >> no, you don't. >> then there's late n