romney and perry making it personal after last night's hostile debate in vegas. both sides accusing the other of losing their cool while under fire over immigration, health care and religion. a united front. the first lady joins the president today to rally for jobs for veterans. meanwhile within the hour, vice president joe biden holding another rally outside the capitol with teachers and firefighters pushing the senate to pass parts of the jobs bill. while inside, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and other republicans continue to resist. >> the president is out there doing his best howard dean impersonation. he's completely out of touch. for the first time since 2009, people on social security will see more money in their checks. the news comes as a new study shows some seniors have stopped taking their medication to save money. and breaking news in the search for baby lisa. a bomb and arson team now on the scene of the family's home.

hi, everyone. i'm tamron hall. mitt romney's camp is painting perry's camp as a desperate man. romney adviser points to moments in the debate when perry was even booed by the audience. >> mitt, you lose all your standing because you hired illegals in your home and you knew about it for a year. and the idea that you stand here before us and talk about that you're strong immigration is on its face the height of hypocrisy. >> and our first team points out the debate marked the first time one candidate actually touched another, referring, of course, to the moment that marked another heated exchange between perry and romney.

>> i'm speaking. i'm speaking. >> and the lingering question of how long can herman cain stay near or at the top remains. cain last night taking hits, of course, on his 9-9-9 plan. >> the state tax is an apple. we are replacing the current tax code with oranges. it is not correct to mix apples and oranges. >> are you saying that the state salesa. also go away? >>. no that's an apple. we are replacing a bunch of oranges. >> and take a look at a new nbc news poll. cain has the lead in south carolina. republican primary and he is neck in neck with mitt romney in florida. in south carolina, cain gets 30%. support among likely voters compared to mitt's. nbc's chuck todd joins me now. before we talk about the polls, let me give you a quick reaction to that debate. the intensity of it all and even

the aftermath today. >> we knew a debate like this was going to happen. the question was when. and you saw that it is the combination of a little bit of desperation on rick perry's part. you look at our polls. the one rereleased today in the states and nationally. and he's been dropping. he had to do something to change the trajectory of this race. then the rest candidates there, realizing, hey, mitt romney is the guy that you're going to have to stop. and if you don't start making the case against him, yourself at these debates, you're going to start running out of time. we're 76 days away from the iowa caucuses. and all that came together last night. and is what turned it into a pretty rough going, frankly, for the entire field. i don't think anybody came out of it better than they went into it. i guess except for perry in that he was, you know, he was going down so much. that this may have at least forced his way back into the center of the conversation. that's what the perry folks were

most concerned about. we weren't talking about romney versus perry. we were talking about romney v cain. >> and speaking of herman cain, people are asking how long can he hang in there. this poll shows he's doing well. last night we saw him in an uncomfortable situation, trying to explain his plan and also when it came to negotiating with terrorists. he kept trying to explain his way through that even after the debate. what are these numbers telling us if anything, other than a snap shot in time right now? >> what i think the numbers tell you, there is an active, very conservative, the tea party wing of the party is still searching for a candidate. these people were with rick perry a month ago, if you look at the polls. right now they're with cain. the thing that they have in common is they're not yet for romney. and maybe they'll eventually get there but they're not there yet which is another reason a rick perry had to do, tried to do what he attempted to do last night. with herman cain, he needed to

present the ability to broaden his issue terrain a little bit. he had been the tax man. the 9-9-9 plan. that had defined his candidacy. i don't think he demonstrated his ability to go in depth on other issues. i feel like he started fading into the background a little bit when the conversation turned to romney, perry and specifically health care. >> yeah. what was he going to do? jump in the middle and say what about me? these two were focused on each other. >> i'll say this, tamron. in multicandidate fields, when a attacks b and b attacks a back, candidate c is usually benefits in these deals. right now that could be herman cain. herman cain stayed on his message in those debates when none of us were paying attention to him. and guess what, the voters were paying attention. he may benefit more than we giving credit to.

>> thanks very much. now let's bring in syndicated columnist tony blankley who served as secretary for night gingrich. and the washington bureau chief for comcast network, thanks for joining us again. tony, we spoke with you before the debate. here we are now after. and what a night between romney and perry. who won that one? >> well, i think perry lost that. romney held his own. i think what perry tried to do was to be the alpha male. he failed because romney kept in his face even as you pointed out, touching him. which is a very high unmale primate kind of thing. and perry ultimately had to back down because he wasn't prepared to brush romney's hand off his shoulder. there is nothing worse than being a failed alpha male. that's what happened. rox didn't look real pretty doing it but he stood his ground. and he had a few snarky but pretty clever lines in response. so i don't think romney was hurt

much. i think perry continues to go down. and santorum whom i like i think was overly aggressive and hurt himself. i like you're getting into the psychology of how men think. this is so enlightening to me as a woman and maybe to michele bachmann. let me bring you in on this. with that said, there are analyst who's say rick perry hit a high note here. he was able to knock mitt romney off his game. he had been the so-called, what the pundits like to call the adult in the room. we saw his anger during that exchange. especially on the allegations that he had hired an illegal immigrant to work on his lawn and his mansion. >> yeah. what's interesting is that we saw a different mitt romney last night. he seemed to be a little thin skinned. dhoivg hold his own. no question about it that rick perry to tony's point, he sucker punched him but mitt romney sucker punched right back. it seemed like at the end of the dpark you look at his apples for

apples -- >> please don't. >> mitt romney came out above in this. he seemed to be poised. he seemed to be very confident. even though he was a little on the defensive when it came to immigration and health care, mitt romney still in my opinion came across as substantive in the debate. >> you brought up the apples to apples thing. i think people are still trying to diswhaern herman cain was talking about. his continued attack against occupy wall street folks and the people who are unemployed. this is what cain had to say regarding the question of what's happening with wall street and the protesters. let's play it. >> you said two weeks ago, don't blame wall street. don't blame the big banks. if you don't have a job, blame yourself. do you still say that? >> yes, do i say that. here's why. they might be frustrated with wall street and the bankers know but they're directing their anger at the wrong place.

>> so tony, a lot of thing to talk about. first the crowd's reaction to it. saying yes, blame yourself if you're not rich. i don't know the people in that audience but i can tell there weren't a lot of billionaires. it was interesting that that hit a note. blame yourself if you're not rich. then you have a guy from a modest background. as ron paul said, it seemed to be blaming the victims here. people out of work. the 14 million people out there. >> it cain hit -- i understand why he hit a positive note. because most americans, certainly most conservatives and it a lot beyond that believe this is a country where you make yourself what you can and it is a country where you're not a victim. we don't like to think of ourselves as victims. so when you talk about, i'm getting ahead, pulling up by the boot straps. that's one of the most powerful american messages. it has been since the revolution. >> no one is disagreeing with that. you have to factor in the circumstance and to assume that you're not making it because you've done something wrong,

listen, we would all love to have had the success of steve jobs. that doesn't mean that we're lazy sitting on the couch watching soap operas. >> cain, of course, came up from very poor circumstances himself. i think the whole tone of it was not so much that it is your fault for being unemployed. by the way, there is a poll out, showing that 85% of the demonstrators are employed. so barely more employed than nationally. obviously the crowd liked it. and i think it is a positive message against these people talking about could nnfiscating wealth. >> i don't think they're saying they want to confiscate wealth. >> they want to get rid of old debt. anybody who owns anything loses, who has money in the bank. we'll have you back on to talk about that. thank you very much for your time. gentlemen, a great pleasure. see you soon. coming up on the half-hour, i'll talk with rick perry's

director about his performance last night. and the campaign labeling perry a desperate candidate who took a quote, cheap shot. and i'll ask about the economic plan which is reportedly going to include a proposal of a flat tax. we'll talk about that coming up. and we're following break news in the search for little baby lisa. a bomb and arson team have just arrived at that, at the parents' house in kansas city. crews in white suits have been going in and out of that home all day as police execute a search warrant. there is a no-fly zone over the family's home. and the baby's parents cannot go back inside until police are done with their work. peter alexander joins us live. a lot happening there. what's happening behind you as we see a number of people, a number of vehicles there? okay. we've lost our connection to peter alexander. hopefully we'll be able to get you the update. in the meantime right now, we've got a bomb and arson team.

we have peter. what's the latest? >> reporter: sorry, guys. i think you have me clearly. now we've been here the last five hours as investigators go into this home, try gather potential evidence. i'll get out of the way and we'll give you a live picture. you can see that it appears they have largely cleared out of this area. they have been throughout the front and back yards and inside the home of deborah bradley and jeremy irwin. they've been here multiple times in the past 16 days since their little 11-month-old baby daughter was first reported missing. today i was behind the home and i saw them using rakes and shovels and sort of prodding tools to try to look for anything that might be in the brush, in the grass, and even in a garage that is out back. within the last hour, interestingly, we heard some form of a boom. a banging sound. we heard some other work in the background. we don't know what that was but saw some blue smoke that came up from behind as well.

all of this as investigators try to find out any new information. it's become a stand-off now between this family and police. according to police, with whom i spoke late yesterday, the family has not answered vital questions. they have not had an unrestricted conversation with authorities in 11 days now. and police say there are a lot of questions that they want answers to. >> okay. thank you very much. and right now, we're following developing news out of washington. vice president joe bide general about to join firefighters, police officers and teachers at a rally to call on congress to pass parts of president obama's jobs bill. plus, three animals including a mountain lion are still on the loose after a man loosed dozens of wild animals before taking his own life. a bizarre story that even resulted in schools being closed in the area. and tonight is game one in the world series. and a group of senators wants baseball players to leave one thing at home. we'll tell you what may be

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welcome back to "news nation." we're following the developing news out of washington, d.c. these are live pictures from the capital where vice president joe biden is joining teachers, police officers and firefighters at a rally to pressure congress to pass portions of the president's jobs bill. part of a united front by the obama administration to push the bill. today in virginia, the president and the first lady took part in a veterans rally, urging lawmaker to pass the president's nearly $450 billion plan in pieces, the first piece, a $35 billion assistance package is set to be taken up by the senate. and recent polls show 61% of americans believe reducing

unemployment is the top priority. so why aren't those numbers translating into support for the president's plan? joining me now, the national syndicated talk show host, also an msnbc contribute ompl let talk about this united front. you've got the first lady with the president. now joe biden. you have a sea of firefighters, teachers, police officers, behind him. that is a powerful visual there. here we still are with mitch mcconnell and the republicans saying that the president is in some kind of fantasy world. he does not get reality here. what are we seeing? >> i think the white house has really struggled in terms of getting its message across. the president was so gifted in terms of being a communicator all throughout the campaign. frankly, during the course of this administration, i think they've really struggled to convey to the american people exactly what they represented at any given time. what's interesting and your numbers reflect this. the american people seem to be on the same page as the white house. whether it's the jobs bill or

tamron, whether it is the grand bargain. when you ask the american people, do you think we need to solve our debt problem by spending cuts and tax increases, folks say it will probably be both. that's where the president has been. and yet they haven't been able to close the deal. one explanation might be that the level of disgust is such that people are tuning out everyone. they're so upset with washington generally that they're just not paying close enough attention for the details. >> which is why these visuals are so important with the, and obviously they're talking about veterans. we know far too many of our vets are coming in, coming back from war. like so many other americans, not able to land a job. the visual of having these firefighters and teachers and police officers, that's a $35 billion portion of the bill. the president says it could shore up jobs for these people. how do you argue with putting money toward helping those folks who save our lives or teach our children? >> and i look at that camera shot and it is reminiscent to me

of the 2008 campaign. maybe what they've decided is to tap some of the skill set that was successful in getting him elected, to now sell his proposals and his plans to the american people. a second explanation is a lot of the stuff is very complicated and can't be explained in the sort of the 20-second sound bite world in which we live. >> you're absolutely right. let's talk about the blend here of trying to push along parts of the jobs plan or campaigning. you hear mitch mcconnell and others say the president is all about campaigning right now. what do you make of this? this is just a nonsensical line of conversation? we know he's looking at re-election. one would assume they are all, both democrats and republicans are thinking about how to get people back to work. >> damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. if he got on that bus and instead went out and strictly campaigned, you know what mitch mcconnell would be saying. he would be saying, look at the president flag he is out there campaigning when he should be out there in washington. every four years regardless of

who is in the wourhite house, h the charge that gets made. i think we want him doing his job even when he's out there on the campaign trail. >> to quote mitch mcconnell directly, he said this bus tour is more about re-election than about creating jobs. we'll see what the next step is and we'll keep an eye on that event. >> to see you. >> thank you. developing now, secretary of state hillary clinton has just landed in afghanistan on a surprise visit. she landed in kabul only moments ago. the visit is aimed at encouraging the country's leadership to keep up reconciliation wefrts the taliban ahead of u.s. troop withdrawal plans. 10,000 u.s. troops are scheduled to be sent, or brought home by the end of this year. secretary clinton is expected to meet with afghan president hamid karzai tomorrow. coming up, wild wicked weather. strong winds are whipping up waves in chicago. waves as high as 25 feet. and this is what happened in florida today. a tornado touches down. we'll have the very latest on

the weather. plus for the first time since 2009, social security checks are getting bigger, but is that really good news? i'm not a number.

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welcome back to "news nation." take a look at the damage after a tornado slammed through two cities in south florida. 20 home were destroyed or damaged in sunrise and plantation, both in broward koichblt there is a two-mile long path of destruction from the ef-2 tornado. look at that video. no serious injuries reported. as you see, plenty. damage to go around. meantime, chicago is being battered right now by powerful winds, exceptionally strong winds. and producing giant waves along the waterfront. the weather channel meteorologist mike seidel joins us now. we heard it would be a rough day and it is holding up to that.

incredible. >> reporter: a giant wind machine here. not only here but into the northeast. it will be very windy in boston and new york city. look at lake michigan being churned up. given another six or eight hours, these winds continue continue to crease. they're gusting up to 45 miles an hour. flight off lake michigan and creating these five, six-foot waves. later the way, may have 20-footers out off the coast. look at the skyline. there's the shedd aquarium. those north of here, it is just too dangerous. you get a sense of how strong it is. look at the winds whistling through the trees by the planetarium. this will be a continuing story overnight into tomorrow. all the way back east. and with the wind, a lot of airport delays and all the major hubs from o'hare and new york and boston. once again tom, long airport delays and also, keep in mind the higher elevated structures. the sky scrapers will have even

stronger winds. it will be a long and probably sleepless night for many of those who live in a little higher altitude on the lake front in chicago. back to you. >> and with all those big trees, you have to wonder if some come down, you have to deal with possible power outages as well. >> reporter: yeah, there's enough wind here, we may have some trees, some winds coming down knocking out power. with when you get inland, it is not quite as bad. at midway, winds are only at 30 miles an hour. >> thank you very much for the live report. >> reporter: sure. up next, rick perry's communications director will join me live. plus his thoughts on the touch heard around the world, politics. and a change of policy involving uniform regulations for marines. why the marines are now making an exception to allow a certain type of jewelry.

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we want to take you to north chesterfield, virginia. the president is speaking at fire station number 9, talking about his jobs bill. >> it works for everybody and not just some. here's the good news. there are things we can do right now that will make a difference. there are things that we can do right now that will put people back to work. there are thing we can do right now that will make sure that we are competitive in this global economy. some of the challenges we face, we're going to have to work on for a while. impoofg our schools. making sure we have the best infrastructure in the world, making sure that we're bringing down our deficit. making sure that we're continuing to invest in science and technology. but there are things we can do right now that will make a difference. that's why i sent to congress, the american jobs act. it's a jobs bill -- you can go ahead and clap.

nothing wrong with it. this is a jobs bill that contains the kind of proposals in the past at least have been supported by democrats and republicans alike. it's paid for. it will not add to our deficit. it is paid for by asking the wealthiest of us, people like me, to be able to put in a little bit more so that we can make sure folks who are struggling get the help they need and the economy overall is improving. independent economists have said it will create nearly 2 million jobs. that's not my opinion. that's not the opinion. people who work for me and tell me what i want to hear. this is the opinion of independent economists. they say it will help the economy grow. people who study the economy for a living say this would give the economy the jolt that it needs. now, a number of people have been asking during the course of this road trip, why have you been visiting the most

republican parts of north carolina and virginia? and what i've had to remind them is that i'm not the democratic president. i'm not the republican president. i'm the president of the united states of america. and i don't care what party you belong to. we're all americans and we're all in this together. and that's why we didn't call this the democratic jobs plan or the republican jobs plan. we called it the american jobs act. we need to put people to work right now. i think most americans understand that. recent polls show that 63% of the american people support what's in the american jobs act. unfortunately, we've had 100% of senate republicans vote against it. a majority think it's a good idea to keep firefighters on the job.

as tough as the economy may be, people may not be aware for the last 19 months, we've had private sector job growth. we've seen more than 2 million jobs created in the private sector. the job is that state and local governments have been very hard pressed, and so they are cutting back on firefighters, police officers, teachers. and that's one of the biggest challenges we have. not only because these folks sacrifice for us and provide extraordinary service to us, but also, you know, they go to restaurants and they go to the hardware store and they pay a mortgage. and so if folks, if we've got firefighters or police officers or teach here's are being laid off, that hurts the small business person down the street. that means somebody may have their home foreclosed on and that brings property values down

for everybody. so the provision that's we've got in the bill are ones that most people support. keeping firefighters on the job. keeping cops on the job. putting teachers back in the classroom. giving tax cuts to families. giving tax cuts to small businesses. giving tax cuts to businesses who hire our veterans. i came from hampton and we were down there talking to folk who have served our country. this 9/11 generation. and are coming back after making all those sacrifices and finding themselves fighting for work. we've got to do something about that. the question is, why congress isn't willing to move? and i just want to be fair. i sent congress the american jobs act. and my republican friends put out a plan of their own. and they started out calling it the real american jobs act. they don't get points for originality.

but i did say, well, let's see what you've got. what are your ideas? the primary ideas in their jobs plan was to roll back regulation that's keep our air and water clean, to go back to the system we had on wall street that caused this crisis in the first place, to end the health care reform that we pass that had will provide 30 million people health insurance and make sure that insurance companies can't take advantage of you. now, that is a plan but it's not a jobs plan. we can have an argument about health care or we can have an argument about environmental regulations. but we can't pretend that will actually put people back to work. and that's the number one priority that the american people have right now. their plan says that somehow if we eliminate regulations that

keep our air and water clean for our kids, that will help job growth. my plan says let's hire construction workers and put them back to work rebuilding roads and bridges and schools and fire stations all across the country. their plan says that if we roll back health care reform, somehow jobs will be created. my pan says let's give a tax cut to small businesses to hire the long term unemployed and our veterans and make sure that they got a little more money to keep their doors open, expand their pay roll xrk panned their inventory, get this economy moving. their plan says let's go back to a system on wall street where there were the kinds of rule that allowed people to take reckless bets that ended up affecting all of main street. my attitude is, to strengthen

this economy, we have to make sure those rules are actually enforced, not watered down. and in the meantime, let's work to make sure that we're keeping taxes low for middle class families who are still struggling to get by. i just want to repeat. dirty your air and water, fewer people on health care. less accountability on wall street. that is not a jobs plan. i understand that some of my republican friends feel very strongly about these ideas. i'm happy to have a debate. in the meantime, let's focus on what will actually put people back to work. keeping first responders on the job. that's a jobs plan. putting more teachers in the classrooms. that's a jobs plan. so what we decided to do, since 100% of republicans in the senate voted against this plan the first time, we'll give them

another chance to listen to you. we're going to let them vote on each of these ideas separately. and we'll see if they fight just as hard for your jobs as they fight for their own jobs. so the first vote we're going to ask congress to take this week would put hundreds of thousands of firefighters back on the job, police officers back in the street, teachers back in the classroom. now chesterfield has been lucky. it isn't facing layoffs right now. but a lot of these guys have seen their pay frozen. you've got cities and states like michigan and new jersey that have had to lay off big chunks of their forces. that means firefighters can't always get to fires before they become major fires. and that makes their job more dangerous. it means police officers can't respond to every crime. when giving our children the best education possible, we know

is the ingredient for success in this new information and technology rich economy, how can we be laying off teachers? when other countries are hiring teachers in droves? it's unfair to our kids and it undermines our future. this week congress will get to vote on whether or not hundreds of thousands of police officers and teachers and firefighters get back on the job. and grong these members of congress, maybe they haven't met the firefighters. i don't think they want to tell them their jobs aren't worth saving. some of these guys are pretty big. captain kemp is an exmarine which means he is still a marine. these guys are risking their lives every day on our behalf. these jobs are worth fighting for. folks in congress will get a chance to decide later in the month whether our construction workers should sit around doing nothing while china builds the

best rail roads, the best schools, the best airports in the world. we used to have the best stuff. think about the world used to say, let's travel to america. let's see the golden gate bridge. let's see the hoover dam. let's see these amazing thing america built. are we going to be the generation where we stop building? where we've got run-down roads and bridges are deemed obsolete? that's not who america is. so congress will have a chance to see if they want to put americans back to work doing the work that america needs done. they say that they value our veterans. when i went before the joint congress to prevent this american jobs act, i said let's give tax breaks to companies that are hiring our veterans. we just got 25,000, a pledge of 25,000 jobs from companies all across the country aiming for a goal of 100,000 veterans being

hired by the end of 2013. so when i talked about this part of the plan before the joint session of congress, everybody rose up. democrats and republicans alike. so the question now is, if you all stood and applauded, how are you going to vote? it's not enough to applaud and go to a veterans day parade. people need help. and you've got a chance to help them now. these are the choices that congress will be presented with in the next few weeks. and if they vote against these proposals, if they say no to steps that we know will put people back to work right now, they're not going to have to answer to me. they're going to have to answer to you. they're going to have to come down here and tell folks in virginia and all across the country why people will have to cope with fewer first

responders. why your kids can't have teachers back in the classroom. they'll have to let construction workers in the eye and tell them why they're sitting idle instead of rebuilding the infrastructure we know needs to be rebuilt. and they'll have to explain why we couldn't afford to do it when we know that we can pay for all of this plus keep taxes on middle class families low, prevent them from going up, and all we have to do in order to pay for it is make sure that people like me are paying our fair share of taxes. and the companies no longer are getting special tax loopholes. that's it. so when you hear, the reason we're not supporting it. we like the ideas but we don't want to see higher taxes. if we don't pass this bill, tax for the average family will go up. because the pay roll tax that we passed in december will lapse. if we do pass this bill for 97%,

98% of americans, your taxes will stay low. my taxes will go up a little bit. but i can afford it. a fair shot for everybody. a fair share from everybody. that is a principle built america. that's how we created middle class. now, they can do the right thing in congress and put people back to work right now and reopen fire houses but i'll need your help. i need you, that's the reason i'm here. it is wonderful to have a chance to see everybody and shake hands and take pictures. the main reason i'm here, i want you to send a message to congress that this is important. let them know. get on the phone, write a letter, fax, tweet, whatever it is that people do these days. and remind members of congress what's at stake here. it takes a special kind of bravery to be a firefighter.

when that bell rings, it takes a special courage to answer the call and rush at great risk to yourself to help your fellow citizens. and do you know what? that's the same kind of spirit that i believe embodies america. looking out for one another, helping each other, being willing to make sacrifices for the greater good. when our friends and neighbors are hurting, we don't cross our arms and do nothing. we roll up our sleeves and we say we're going to help. we'll figure out how to solve this problem. we are not people who sit idly by and ignore our challenges. we step up and we meet those challenges. that's the opportunity we have right now. so i hope everybody is with us. we hope that you are willing to contact your members of congress. tell them to get busy. tell them to get to work. tell them to put people back to work and let's show the world

once again why the united states of america is the greatest country on earth. thank you. god bless you. >> the president wrapping up his second big speech of the day. focusing on jobs. he was talking about job for vets earlier. now he is hitting it hard with teachers, firefighters, police officers, the president calling on congress to make a move with the jobs bill. let's bring you in. you've been traveling with the president. you've got the first lady out with the president. joe biden out right now with a group of firefighters, police officers, and teachers as well. it seems like they were hitting it hard from all angles. >> reporter: they certainly. are vice president biden on the hill making his push to get this component of the jobs act passed. president obama wrapping up his three-day bus tour making the point his $35 billion component of the jobs act would put teachers and first responders back to work. this whole trip has really been

designed to highlight the ways in which the american jobs act would actually benefit real people. so that's what he was doing here at this fire station today. you mentioned earlier, of course he was joined by the first lady a little earlier today at a military base in hampton, virginia. that event was significant because this was the first time we've really seen the first lady come out on one of the president's job tour stops. so certainly a significant event. she announced the fact that the private sector would be aiming to hire about 25,000 veterans and their spouses. so really interesting there. the president heading home in just a short while. he's made a lot of stops along the way to shake a number of hands in these key battleground snats virginia and north carolina. >> live for us traveling with the president and some key states. certainly that will play big a role in the upcoming election as well. thank you very much. now to the republican presidential race and last night's heated debate, to say

the least rick perry's communication director. >> we know even his wife admitted he is not the best deabilitier. >> we are thrilled by the evening. the governor emerged stronger from the debate than when he walked in. he was able to score some points talking about his plan to create 1.2 million jobs in the energy sector by opening up new lands and waters to energy exploration. and reducing reliance on foreign, hostile foreign sources of energy. he also land blows in calling mitt romney's bluff, if you will. calling him on the fact that he continues to gloss over his record. to change with the winds on policy. last night it was holding him accountable for hiring illegal immigrants to clean his lawn and his tennis court in massachusetts which is well documented by the "boston globe"

in 200 sxoo6 and 2007. it was a good night for governor perry and a good night for those interested in a conservative candidate to face president obama next year. >> romney's advisers is quoted as saying, your candidate was taking cheap shots. that he is desperate. he knows as romney said in the debate last night, that he's had a couple of bad debates under his belt and he needed to come out and take this aggressive if not unfair stance on a number offish urks including this gofrgs whether romney hired someone illegal to work on his lawn. it had been reported before. but this is the first time we've seen rick perry bringing up in. >> he has mischaracterized it for years. in 2007, the "boston globe" reported, lawn work at romney's house still done by illegal ill grants. the day before those guatemalan

immigrants came out to clean his lawn and his tennis court, he was debating when he was running for president in 2007. and he was attacking another candidate on illegal immigration. the next day he had those folks working his property. he was called on that last night. you saw him rock back. you saw him get plus theter red. he does not like to be called on his ever evolving record. and he doesn't like to be called on hiring illegal immigrants. >> but governor perry did not enjoy being called out on his record with immigration. we know that his poll numbers started to tick down after the conversation regarding allowing children of illegal immigrants to attend college in texas. and some of his stands regarding immigration reform in the states. it has gone both ways on this issue of immigration. >> here's the difference. governor perry has not glossed oevg not tried to change

history. we've got a strong record in texas of $400 million in state money to fight border crime. sending the texas rangers. vetoing bill that would allow immigrants to have driver's licenses. we have a policy in the state that was supported by all but four members of the legislature. if you were a child who has lived in the state of texas for three years. graduates from high school. you pay instate tuition. all the kids in our state are treated the same. when it come to border security, governor perry has talked the talk, walked the walk with state resources and has a plan to get national guard troops, thousands more border patrol troops, strategic fencing, and predator drones and aerial assets and surveillance to get that border secure. he has experience doing that. and as president, that will be a top priority. getting that board secure and closing. >> we hear that governor perry

will propose that he would come one some kind of flat tax. maybe around 17%. we know that herman cain's 9-9-9 is being slammed across the board. you have the tax policy center saying it would increase taxes for middle class americans while decreasing for the wealthiest. some say a flat tax of 17% would do the same. increase tax from some americans while the wealthiest would get a break. >> your numbers aren't right. >> what are the right numbers? tell never right numbers. >> i'm not going to tell you today. the governor next week will come out with the next big pillar of our jobs strategy. he started that last week in pittsburgh. >> will he propose a flat tax? >> he will propose a tax that is lower, flatter and fairer for everyone in the country. and there will not be a new source of revenue for the federal government as we've seen in the 9-9-9 plan that was such a big issue. adding the sales tax on top of the 6%, 7%, 8% taxes that exist

in the states. >> too baud would not tell me the numbers now. maybe we can break you down. thank you very much. right now, armed police officers in ohio are searching for the last two wild animals set free from a so-called private zoo. officers with assault rifles have killed dozens of officers. a wolf and a monkey are still missing. meanwhile, officers are awaiting autopsy results. he opened the cages before taking his own life. let's bring in ron miguel, communications director. we've got a short amount of time here. a lot of people said these animals had to be taken down. police said they were wild animals and they didn't want to lose lives, obviously. the question is how can people have private zoos, preserves. this guy and his wife with

dozens of animals basically at their home. >> a big problem across the country. particularly in ohio. the laws are very l.a. hopefully this brings attention to the legislators and makes -- ridiculous that people keep these animals. >> what is the law now? >> there isn't much of a law. they don't require any type of experience. here's a guy who just got released from prison on arms and guns charges. he is allowed to keep animals that are as dangerous as the guns. >> do we see these same kind of lax laws in other states? >> do i believe they occur in other states. i think texas is another state they occur in. several states within the country. the bottom line is there needs to be a uniform wildlife law across the country. it needs to be enforced. these animals are dangerous no matter what state they're in. it is something that has to be addressed on a federal level. >> i've smaerd reports call this an animal preserve.

another called it a private zoo. is there a difference? i don't know how someone can have a private zoo. >> a lot of times they use the name private zoo or conservation station as a cover for people to have their own private animals. a conversation point. a novel idea. just people thinking these animals make good pets and it is ridiculous. >> it is. and in this situation, they had to close down schools for fear some of these animals, including we saw there, that lion there had to be taken down as a result. so sad. thank you so much. >> i must say that the police did the absolute right thing. as much as people think these animals can be tranquillized, that was not a choice to be made here. >> they have little time to waste and they did the best they could. that does it for this edition of "news nation." a lot of breaking news today. thanks for joining us. we'll be back here tomorrow. my colleague martin bashir is up next. ts on her grapefruit.

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good afternoon. it's wednesday, october 19th. here's what's happening. sin city blood sport. >> i'm speaking. i'm speaking. >> the gop datsun leashed. >> you're saying -- you're shaking your head. >> each alpha dog on the attack. >> you get to ask the questions. i get to answer them like i want to. >> that is not true. you did not get that from me. >> plenty of bite. >> almost half the jobs created in texas why wr created for illegal aliens. >> absolute falsehood. >> as they return to their cages, each one licking a wound. >> and it really was something of a spectacle last night. a seven-person brawl. and i haven't seen anything that ugly since mike tyson