of the clink with my hollywood sock on house arrest. >> you got the lohan hollywood sock? i like that e-mail. keep that 500-yard radius aroun school yards. a tweet from logan who has an excellent book out. been up since 4:42. guess i'll start my day with willie geist. oh, here is that herman cain ad. ug. maybe i'll go back to bed. here it is one more time if you're on the fence about whether to vote for herman cain this will put you over the top. the campaign manager blowing smoke in your face. "morning joe" starts right now. the guy they think who actually shot moammar was wearing a yankees cap. seems about right doesn't it? had he been wearing a boston red sox cap he probably would have missed.

>> good morning. top of the hour. 6:00 on the east coast. welcome to "morning joe." it is tuesday, october 25th. halloween's coming. >> it is. >> with us onset msnbc contributor mike barnacle and national affairs editor john heilman. great. >> how you guys doing? >> john is already, like he is just excited. he's so excited. >> why are you excited? >> about herman cain's ad. >> you are. >> he just came in here and he can't, i have lots of other things to talk about but it looks like we're just going to go there. >> he's excited because he shorted netflix. did you see this story? that guy screwed up. "the times" tells a story. he's sitting in a hot tub. says i'm going to split my company. >> hi, willie. >> his friend goes don't do that. >> remember when the three of us were in the hot tub? >> last night? >> is there a less pleasant picture in the morning than that? >> yeah. i just threw up.

all right. >> think of that. >> a lot of love. >> so he should have listened to his friend in the hot tub. they've lost what, 800,000 members, subscribers? that's not good. >> while you're thinking about that -- >> not halloween yet. okay? >> "the wall street journal" fresh recession -- [ laughter ] >> maybe we do elos. can't get it out of my head. appropriate. "financial times." >> we're a family off the set not just on the set. >> we love. >> i was going to talk about rick perry's flat tax plan. >> he's got a flat tax basically that we'll see if it adds 20% -- >> you want to go there or right to the ad? >> let's go to the ad. i think that's why we're here right?

>> is it that important? is this that good? >> it's pretty good. >> don't let me down. you talk a lot. >> in the annals of american political advertising it's something different. >> really. >> yeah. >> so this is herman cain's latest ad. >> i like different. >> mark block here. since january i've had the privilege of being the chief of staff to herman cain and the chief operating officer of the friends of herman cain. tomorrow is one day closer to the white house. i really believe that herman cain will put united back in the united states of america and if i didn't believe that i wouldn't be here. we need you to get involved because together we can do this. we can take this country back. ♪ i am america one voice united we stand i am america one vote ♪

>> what was that? >> what are you doing? >> what was that? >> smoke if you got 'em, boys. >> if you're for herman cain light one up. >> light one up. >> what? >> i just don't know. >> that wasn't serious. that was "saturday night live." can i see those? >> sure. >> thank you. great. >> can we just see the last five seconds of that where the lights went up and then herman cain, you went noor smile? >> wait a minute. what are you doing? >> these are bad. >> smoke them if you got them. >> cost a lot. >> no. >> by the way, good for weight loss. >> keeps the weight off. >> let's see the last couple seconds of this ad again. okay. >> look at the smile. here it comes. here comes the smile. bring it on, herman. >> stop it, willie. >> wow. >> that's terrible. >> i just don't know what the message is there. >> why is he smoking in the ad? >> you're the guy.

what vote is he going for here? >> i don't know what the stats are. there must be still millions of smokers in america, right? you think willie and i are bringing it back? >> how often do we get to see the campaign manager/ceo as the validator? not an average american, not a prominent endorser. someone that no one really i would say most people in the political establishment have ever heard of let alone any actual voters blowing smoke into the camera. >> seriously. >> he's blowing it right there. there he goes. look. he is blowing smoke into the camera. >> i just don't get it. >> followed by herman cain's grin of approval at the blowing smoke. >> that grin takes about 20 seconds to come on. he starts very, very -- >> so did you guys see, not to change topics here -- >> i think we can. >> i think we're done with that. >> did you see the "new york times" thing on cash? can we get that news story up?

get this up. this is fascinating. that banks are actually so awash in cash that they're actually -- some are saying don't give us any more money. we can't use it. >> okay. i do want to get to rick perry and karl rove as well but the "new york times" is reporting this morning that many banks are actually flooded with more cash than they know what to do with. perhaps spooked by lurching markets consumers and businesses are increasingly taking money out of investment accounts and stowing it away in regular bank accounts. >> the banks have to be excited right? >> like putting it under the mattress. >> banks have to be very ex-sitded about that right? what are they doing? >> they're trying to discourage depositors as it is harder to turn a profit on money in regular savings accounts. some banks have threatened to impose a fee on clients moving huge piles of cash in and out of their accounts. other big banks are passing along part of the cost of the fdic to the customers.

even some community banks are pushing back against the regular cash accounts. >> here is this don strum, owner of american national bank and premier bank in colorado and he says we just don't need it anymore. >> right. >> if you had more money than you knew what to do with would you want more? i mean, this is more evidence of cash sitting on the sidelines, more evidence of why this economy is in so much trouble. mike, isn't that fascinating? >> what's fascinating is that they clearly have all this cash on hand and yet the requirements for lending have been ratcheted up so high in the wake of the 2008 collapse, they don't lend to enough people. >> but also the people that have the $2 trillion on the sidelines aren't going to invest. >> because they're afraid that they'll just lose their money. >> not only that but in addition to the quote that you just read from the story how about this

one? in august bank of new york mellon warned it would impose a 0.13 percentage point fee in the deposits of certain clients who are moving huge piles of cash in and out of their accounts. in other words, you're giving the bank money and they charge you to take the money. >> exactly. they're charging you to put your cash in their bank. >> good deal for the banks. >> and halfway across the world we're not only talking about a debt crisis we're talking about a double dip recession in europe. we're talking, john, about a systemic international breakdown that again i'll say has nothing to do with this president, nothing to do with this congress, nothing to even do with this decade. we in the west are oon 30-year train ride that's about to end with this going over the cliff. >> that's very depressing. i actually had a slightly

different reaction to the story. i'm sure there's -- i haven't read the piece but there is a kind of weirdness about the way the banks are conducting themselves as public entities in a way. this is the kind of story that, you know, you wonder why people are mad at banks. there is something about this story that sounds kind of like you're just off the headline. people are like really? you're going to charge me extra fees to have a simple cash account? what is that about? there are so many different ways in which the banks are imposing all of the extra fees for what used to be basic services. i just feel they need to hire a new pr director. there's a lot of antipathy toward the banks and this doesn't seem to be the kind of thing that would engender a lot of positive feeling among ordinary americans reading headlines like this or seeing them on cable tv. i don't know. >> you bring up the banks. mika and i had a discussion yesterday with a business leader who said, you know, everybody is trying to blame the banks. and this is a liberal democrat. i don't think he's ever voted

for republican but he said everybody is trying to blame the banks. everybody is trying to blame washington. everybody is trying to blame this president, the last president. he said the fact is, we're probably going to have 9%, 10% unemployment for the rest of our lives because we've become so productive. it's not china taking our jobs away. it's not india taking our jobs away. and he asked the question a lot of people ask. he said, ask me. when's the last time you saw a bank teller? guess what? gm used to require let's say a thousand people on the assembly line to make cars. now it's probably a hundred. soon it'll be 50. this is basic math. we can create more products than ever for consumers to consume. but we've become so productive that those consumers out there that we can make all these products for don't have the cash to do it. >> no more jobs. >> because we've downsized. >> we say where is the

innovation? where is manufacturing? there is none. where is it? >> no, no. we've got the innovation. >> innovation is already here. >> the innovation is here and it is unfortunately over a generation. >> exactly. >> it's making workers less and less relevant to the process. john henry has won. >> well i was talking to a huge brainiac about all of this over the weekend and his contention is similar to whoever you were talking to about the banks. is america prepared to live with a new normal? and the new normal is, high unemployment, 8%, 9%. it's an economy that bumps along. it doesn't soar with internet or housing bubbles. we'll just bump along for 10, 15 years. a new normal. >> was it john henry that had the race with the -- >> steel driving man. >> and that was a story that's

probably a hundred years old. we have finally gotten to a place in 2011 where it's becoming obvious that the machine has beaten the man. >> we're incredibly productive. >> we are more productive. we are more productive as an economy than ever before. >> i've had app, can work with a child for an hour. >> you look at siri now, i had some people say you can talk into your iphone now, willie. >> yeah. >> one person said my god. that's going to replace what i do at work. this is -- i bring it up not to depress people but just to say, barack obama can't go out and tell the truth, which is unemployment is at 9%. it may be 9% a decade from now because technology is only going to make us more efficient and is only going to require us to have

more people working. this is a systemic failure and we're going to have to, it is going to take a generation to get out of this. >> it's not just that there are fewer jobs. the jobs that do exist can have lower wages for obvious reasons. a lot of people looking for a small number of jobs. the wages go down. that has huge impacts on the middle class and ripples out from there. technology while it helps us and barnicle i've heard him say awful things to siri, totally inappropriate things. >> i don't want to talk about that. >> but it does have something we should take a good long look at. >> if you look at the economy that boomed in the '90s a lot of it was fueled by a high tech bubble. in the past decade it was fueled by a bubble in the housing market. without these bubbles, our economy would have been flat for the past 20 years. but we have these bubbles and, mika, the question always is and the president went out to vegas to talk about fixing the housing crisis, you can have the federal government try to give you a bump to try to fix housing for a

short while but unless you build the consumer class up and build the middle class back up housing is going to stay flat. >> a huge bubble. there was a front page story in "the washington post" on sunday about how it just hasn't been a fixable problem. obviously the president has a jobs proposal that has stalled in congress but he turned his attention yesterday to the housing market. the state of nevada has the country's worst home foreclosure rate and its highest unemployment rate at 13.4%. in a three-hour visit to vegas the president rolled out his new plan to help home owners. >> we can't wait for an increasingly dysfunctional congress to do its job. where they won't act, i will. i am pleased to announce that the agency that is in charge is going to be taking a series of steps to help responsible home owners refinance and take

advantage of low mortgage rates. >> the proposal which applies to loans only backed by freddie mac and fannie mae, he removes the loan limit for borrowers who owe more than 125% of their home value, eliminates certain fees and waives appraisal requirements. white house officials estimate the initiative could help up to 1 million home owners but the president acknowledged that fixing the economy will take more than a single plan and urged congress once again to pass his american jobs act. let's not run the bite. i want to talk to john. what did you think of the president attacking congress again for being dysfunctional and, again, it feels like the housing piece of this hasn't been a part of the discussion. am i wrong? >> well, first of all, look. this is extenuating -- an extension of the president, what has been i think the president's political strategy since basically after the debt ceiling negotiations collapsed. he has decided he is going to run against congress. what he has done has largely

been political. he has decided he can't deal with them so he'll attack them. the do nothing congress, the new harry truman strategy. this seems to be perfectly consistent with that. he's gone from pass this plan now to now that the plan can't pass we can't wait. we'll try to do things in a unilateral way. they have blown the housing thing from the very beginning. they've tried, this is not the first time he's tried to do something unilaterally to help the housing cries crieing cries. this is not going to be big enough to move the needle. we have to fix the foreclosure crisis. if we do and the political side of this, not just in attacking congress, but he is in nevada where mitt romney was a week ago saying we just got to let the foreclosure crisis play out. let the free market happen. the government shouldn't do anything. that is a political contrast the president likes. he wants to be out there saying no. we must actually try to help people get through this and not just because those people need help but because if the housing market does not recover, the

foreclosure crisis is not just bad for people in foreclosure. it's bad for all the surrounding properties around those people. everybody's home prices are weighed down by this unresolved crisis and so for the president to be able to say romney, like the republican congress wants to do nothing, let the free market play out with a lot of damage in its wake, versus me who wants to try to do something to unwind this problem. that's a political crisis that the president likes. or a political contrast the president likes. >> they just don't believe washington can help. they just don't believe another trillion dollars can help because just like i was saying a couple minutes ago, they realize our problems are deeper than this. >> yeah, they do. they certainly do. you'd have to be moron not to realize our problems are deeper than this. the housing crisis though is too complex for politics. it's too complex for these politicians to be weighing in on it. they should weigh in on it in concert with a bunch of other

people with the banks and fannie and freddie but at the end of the day it comes down to the moral hazard equation. you know? we're going to save your house but not my house? i've worked hard. my wife got a part-time job. we've kept up with the mortgage. through no fault of your own you didn't. how come my house isn't being saved? how come my mortgage isn't being readdressed and yours is? what's the deal here? that at the end of the day is the real dilemma. >> it's a terrible choice. unfortunately the bottom line though is if we don't actually do something about it this is going to be a huge anchor around the neck of an economy for years to come. >> it already is. >> it is going to keep getting worse though. >> do we spend another trillion dollar, do we spend another $2 trillion and then find out because we're 15 trillion in debt now, what, 16 trillion, 17 trillion in debt and we find out $2 trillion later that washington still can't do anything? >> to a large extent the cost of this will be borne by the banks and then we get into a discussion about whether the banks should bear part of the

cost because they are the ones peddling all the sub prime loans that fueled the problem in the first place. that's a longer discussion. this is not like a big check for the president. >> the banks were peddling these? >> fannie and freddie were a big part of the problem. we've talked about this before. >> not just that. americans were a big part of the problem. >> of course they were, joe. >> buying a second, third, fourth house. >> everyone is complicit. >> no disagreement. >> i don't think anyone at this table disagrees with that. >> except for you. >> no. >> could you disagree just for fun? >> by the way, as big a plan as this sounds it would help 1 million homeowners. there are 1 is million homeowners under water so that sounds big but the problem is ten times bigger. >> let's go to break. to the strains of "can't get it out of my head." back to the hot tub. >> time machine. >> i've blacked it out. >> who was in the hot tub again? >> coming up this morning former national security adviser dr.

brzenzski, eugene robinson. bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> we'll have the video next hour. big ratings spike. good morning everyone. hurricane rina. this yesterday really fired up in a hurry. when we get a hurricane in this portion of the world it's going to hit land and there is going to be devastation somewhere. right now the most likely target is the cancun area. that's not a place you want to be come wednesday or thursday. the forecast track takes it up near there as a category 3 or 2 hurricane as we go through thursday and then we weaken the storm toward cuba. right now south florida you still look safe but we'll keep a close eye on you. forecast in the northeast looks just fine today. going to be a nice day after a cool, crisp start. buffalo could deal with a few showers. also minneapolis. the big weather story is in denver. yesterday you were 80 and sunny. today you have rain changing over to snow and a couple inches will be on the ground by

tomorrow morning. welcome to winter. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ wind howling ] [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow.

[ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

congratulations. congratulations. today, the city of charlotte can use verizon technology to inspire businesses to conserve energy and monitor costs. making communities greener... congratulations. ... and buildings as valuable to the bottom line... whoa ! ... as the people inside them. congratulations. because when you add verizon to your company, you don't just add, you multiply. ♪ discover something new... verizon.

welcome back. let's take a look at the morning papers. "the washington post" says the obama administration has called on the u.s. ambassador to syria over concerns about his personal safety. the move prompted syria to pull its ambassador from washington signaling a dramatic fallout in relations between the two countries. >> "the new york daily news" says the elusive mcrib sandwich. >> all right! >> making a cameo comeback. >> yes! >> for a limited time only. the sandwich which of course contains no actual ribs will be on menus nationwide before it disappears mysteriously once again. >> look at that. >> this confirms the sandwich has been spotted nearly everywhere across the country. that is an actual sight by the

way. >> pulled the pork in to make it look like ribs but there are no ribs. it's in the shape of ribs. >> i love that. >> proof once again that there is a god. this is from our parade of papers. the "houston chronicle" says the number of people betting at the dog track is on a dramatic decline. willie, i don't understand. we do our part. aside from the economic challenges track organizers say young gamblers basically have no interest in the dogs. that's really serious. what's wrong with this generation? >> massachusetts has banned greyhound racing. >> if fathers and sons aren't going to bet on puppies anymore what is happening in this country? >> exactly. some of my best memories. you see "field of dreams?" wasn't that what that was about? the one constant through time. >> it is. that and the puppies. >> dogs. >> have a cool menthol out there at the track. >> goes down smooth. i tell you. >> let's go to politico. >> chief white house correspondent there is mr. mike

allen with a look at the playbook. hello, mike. >> good morning, sunshines. >> good morning, sunshine. let's talk a little rick perry. stumbled a bit out of the gate. had some tough debates let's say. looks like he is in the midst of what you're calling a campaign reboot. what is he up to? >> we're going to see rick perry 2.0 in the next couple days and it's going to be tougher, fearless, brought on a number of advisers who are experts in the base rage, the populist anger out there among republicans. they worked on the rick scott campaign for florida governor. you remember that was a very vicious campaign, one of the very toughest. and one that really tapped into that tea party anger. so we'll see rick perry out today with his economic plan. he has reserved statewide television time in iowa. as soon as this week. i think the first ads will be positive trying to interduece him a little bit but after that

he'll go tough after mitt romney. these advisers will go after washington, go after the establishment. >> is this a big change in tack for him? did he look at that 20% drop over the last month and a half in national polls and say we got to change the way we're doing business? >> yeah, willie. he's found out the friendly cowboy from texas is not going to do it for him. it looked good when people were just hearing about him but the idea of rick perry pulled a lot better than perry himself. so this is his way of coming back from those debates. the dilemma for him is he has to both introduce himself, rehabilitate himself, and attack mitt romney. and the romney people think there may not be the time and money to do both of those. that's the gamble that perry folks are having. >> perry does have a lot of money left. john harwood interviewed rick perry on cnbc. we'll play some of it later. asked about the birther issue which came up in that "parade"

magazine. he says he kept the issue alive because, quote, it's a good issue to keep alive. it's fun to poke at him, rick perry said of president obama. >> really. >> yeah. >> it's fun. >> fun to poke at him. >> an idiot. you know, you can get as many top republicans as he wants, you have to ask what republican advisers would go work for a guy who says he likes bringing up the birther issue because it's fun. >> i can tell you -- >> it's fun? rick? really? fun? really, rick. that's how you define fun? i'm sorry. go ahead, mike. it would be a shame to work for that guy. go ahead. >> you know, republicans who want to like rick perry might be inclined to like rick perry very, very surprised by that. and yesterday as that got around a lot of negative buzz for rick perry about that. people just don't understand it. the idea of doubling down, lighting up, again very surprised. >> we'll hear some of the john harwood interview later on

"morning joe." democrats focusing their attacks on mitt romney this time with an ad set to air in the state of arizona. >> don't try and stop the foreclosure process. let it run its course and hit the bottom. >> mitt romney's message to arizona? you're on your own. >> let it hit the bottom. >> that's a message we heard actually from the white house yesterday. jay carney talked about that. >> and from john heileman. >> what are you, john, now, barack obama's campaign worker? >> i believe i said this was why the president was making this argument in nevada. i said it in a purely analytical sense. it is a contrast the president likes. >> i don't think it was purely analytical. >> i think mitt romney is wrong on the substance here. that is also true. >> there you go. mike? >> we're going to see a lot of this. and that is that democrats taking little fragments of quotes by mitt romney and using them. i think when you see it in the

larger context, this was an editorial board interview he was giving in las vegas, when you see the larger clip you can see what he is trying to say but he's given a number of these clips. there were a couple in the debates as well that they'll be able to use%rxók to inflict son and that's what they're trying we're seeing here, the president thinks he is running against romney and#g is not waiting to it. >> all right. drawing contrast. thanks so much. we'll talk to you soon. >> thank you. >> coming up we'll talk to john harwood about that interview with rick perry and why he is doubling down on the birther stuff. plus, world series highlights when we come back on "morning joe." >> he says it's fun. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the peace of mind of owning a 2011 iihs top safety pick. the all-new volkswagen passat. a 2011 iihs top safety pick. when you're a sports photographer, things can get out of control pretty quickly. so i like control in the rest of my life...

especially my finances. that's why i have slate, with blueprint. i can create my own plan to pay down large purchases faster... or avoid interest on everyday items. that saves me money. with slate from chase, i'm always in control. financially, anyway. get slate with blueprint and save money. call 855-get-slate today. and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country...

... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us.

let's do some sports. how great is this world series? >> it is a great, great world series. >> even the game that wasn't close had an historic performance by pujols. last night another tight one. game five of the world series. second inning in texas. cardinals first on the board. molina singles to left. can't handle it. a shot threw out burton at the plate. 2-0.

texas strikes back though with the long ball. moreland crushes a fastball from carpenter into the upper deck. >> i guess he did crush it. >> three innings later watch this swing by beltre. hits a curveball into left field from the knee. >> i love it. >> off carpenter. >> why can't we get plays like that? >> ha ha ha. goes down and gets it. incredible. the strength to get that out of there. now to the seventh inning. tony la russa the cardinals' manager, one out, red hot pujols at the plate has trash steal second. takes the bat out of his hands here basically. thrown out by a country mile. rangers eventually get out of the inning after they intentionally walk pujols, his third of the game. bottom of the eight, cardinals in trouble. bases loaded. la russa tried to call his bull pen he said to get closer jason mott but the bull pen coach could not hear la russa over the roar of the crowd so they sent in the wrong guy.

the lefty stays in to fight mike napoli and he drills one into right center and double scores two runs. that gave the rangers the lead, 4-2. cardinals did have another chance to tie it up at the plate with the tying run on first but a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play, texas takes game five by a score of 4-2. the teams now head back to st. louis for game six tomorrow. the forecast? 50 degrees and rain in st. louis. >> you know it's bad when it's not the bloggers that are writing that la russa is screwing up the world series but the "new york times." >> yeah. >> i mean, is it, the managing that bad this world series? >> he set a postseason record for most pitchers used, most relievers used but one game they call it genius when he brings in a different pitcher every hitter. last night they say it's over managing. >> last night the blown hit-and-run with pujols at the plate in that situation. come on yes, oh, my god. >> he can over manage things which i think la russa has over

managed in several situations in this world series. >> they still got a shot. just got to win two games at home. >> did you see president bush threw out the first pitch the other night? came right out and threw a bullet. >> were you just talking about cheers? nice to hear that. >> one thing i miss from the bush years. maybe the only thing. the guy could throw a ball. he could throw a baseball. >> sure can. okay. monday night football ravens and jags. just i guess we'll show you this because it happened. just show the thing that happened last night. maurice jones of the jags fumbles on the 1 yard line. okay. the ravens recover. one of his three fumbles of the night. >> three? >> the ravens' offense was even worse. watch this play. third and 35. throws, catches. he's a slow, lumbering man so is tackles. can't do anything with that reception. ravens couldn't record a first down until late in the third quarter. >> come on. >> then late in the fourth scored a 9-0 jags. did post some points on the

board. both feet down. ravens pulled within two. a few minutes later the jacksonville kicker hits his fourth field goal of the game. three of them over 50 yards. that's big time nfl game record. something redeeming. jags upset the ravens 12-7 on four field goals. ravens fall 4-2 jags 2-5. >> did you watch any nfl games this weekend? >> i watched the end of the broncos and jets. i was flipping back and forth to see, wanted to see how tebow did. awful games. >> yeah. >> there were some awful games. but a great comeback by the jets. i fwot to sgot to say, seriousl? just me because i'm from the south, after watching college football on saturday and willie and i were talking about it just one incredible game after another. >> i agree. >> the nfl just was boring. >> yeah, yeah. >> just boring. >> predictable. >> slow and predictable. and just seems like a bunch of mercenaries moving around from one team to another. >> i agree.

geez. >> we'll be right back with cnbc's john harwood. >> every southerner believes that. >> to discuss his interview with rick perry, the one where he now doubled down john was telling us on the burger stuff about president obama. we'll ask john about that. plus jon huntsman drops a little mandarin last night on colbert. hoping that'll bump him above the 2% threshold. we'll be right back. sun life financialrating should be famous.d bad, we're working on it. so you're seriously proposing we change our name to sun life valley. do we still get to go skiing?

sooner or later, you'll know our name. sun life financial. [ chuckles ] you think that is some information i would have liked to know? i like tacos. you invited eric? i thought eric gave you the creeps. [ phone buzzes ] oh.

[ chuckles ] yeah. hey. [ male announcer ] don't be left behind. get it faster with 4g. at&t. ♪ at&t. so if i didn't know better i'd say you're having some sort of big tire sale. yes we are. yeah. how many tires does ford buy every year? over 3 million. you say you can beat any advertised price on tires? correct. anywhere? yes. like this price? yes. riously? yes what about this one? i'll beat it. this one? s we will. right, i only have one more question for you...this one? (laughing) yeah. get $100 rebate when you buy four tires.

100 bucks! only at your ford dealer. 3 million tires. 11 major brands, fiona's kind-of-nice. i don't know why you're not here. it sounds like you do have some doubt. >> look, i haven't seen his grades. my grades ended up on the front

page of the newspaper so let's, you know, if we're going to show stuff let's show stuff. but look. that's all a distraction. i get it. i'm really not worried about the president's birth certificate. it's fun to poke at him a little bit and say hey, how about let's see your grades and your birth certificate? >> wow. >> that's just stupid. >> wow. >> no, no. he is doubling down on the birther stuff. >> well that's ridiculous. why would -- why? why you gotta? >> you know what? he says because it's fun. >> okay. joining us now from south carolina, cnbc's chief washington correspondent john harwood. john, what do you make first of all of that? because i know we want to talk about his economic plan, the whole flat tax that he's unveiled. but how do you get around that? >> pretty interesting, mika. i think he was trying to play both sides. you know? he came out and said it's a good issue to keep alive. that was the first thing out of his mouth. he had a little bit of a grin on

his face and then he went on to say donald has to have something to talk about it and i gave him the chance to say, look. are you just joking about this? or are you serious? and he kept coming back to say, well, i don't have a clue. i don't know where. i don't know what's on the birth certificate. so i think what he's trying to do is sort of tell people who are animated by that issue, i'm with you. i'm not scared of it. but not try to go so far that people think he's nutty. >> but he is a birther. >> he may have gone that far anyway though. >> now talking about his economic plan? >> we're not going to talk about his economic plan right now. he crossed the line. >> yeah. >> if he is saying i haven't seen the birth certificate when we've all seen the birth certificate, it's just -- it is bizarre, john, and does it not suggest that he is playing to the lowest common denominator in his base? >> i think he is trying to jump-start his campaign. you know, i prefaced the question, joe, by saying, look.

mitt romney says this is a closed issue. what about you? i think again he is trying to draw a contrast there. same thing he did with his economic plan. he says, i'm bold. romney is nibbling around the edges. he's timid and weak on this. and so i think that's the way that he's trying to reflate his candidacy after having been very high up and then falling down after these debate performances. >> john, it's pathetic. even donald trump gave it up after hounding him day after day on the birth certificate. he showed the birth certificate and donald said i'm proud that i made it. and it's like rick perry is three months late to this conspiracy. it's bizarre. i wonder if the new people that are coming into his campaign, these old hired hands, some very respected republican operatives are going to take this guy aside and say stop making a fool of yourself. >> well, karl rove is saying out loud what he thinks of that strategy. take a listen.

>> okay. let's listen to karl and get john's response. >> you associate yourself with a nutty view like that and you damage yourself. i know he went and is trying to cultivate as all of them are donald trump in order to get his endorsement but this is not the way to go about doing it because it starts to marginalize you in the minds of some of the people whom you need in order to get the election and there is a simple answer. yes, he was born in the united states. yes, he is eligible to serve. and don't associate yourself with sort of this nutty fringe group. >> john? a guy -- again, a guy that worked with karl rove, who helped run the bush campaign in 2000, helped run fema, is coming onboard. do you think a guy like joe will take him to the side and say you got to stop talking this way? >> it's too late. >> i think, joe, they will do that today and here's the reason. by the way, i gave him repeated opportunities to say what karl rove said is all you have to do is put the issue to rest but i

think they -- this new team is going to tell him to be quiet about that because this issue threatens to overshadow the economic plan he's laying out today. this is his big play for economic conservatives. 20% flat tax, eliminate dividend, capital gains, estate taxes. potentially huge loss to the government in revenue although he says that through the dynamic effects on the economy the government will make it up, will balance the budget by 2020. but the birther issue draws so much attention that that economic message may be blotted out today. by the way, joe, i asked him about the attacks that are coming over giving millions of dollars to the rich. i don't know if you have that sound and want to play it but he said, look. i don't care about that. i care about giving them more money to invest so he can have more jobs. >> wow. john, i couldn't agree more with what john just said about the last part of this is really the key. this is still playing, a grade a, grade b player.

this is minor league baseball here. >> oh. >> forget about -- of course he's trying to play to the lowest common denominator and trying to be the consolidating figure for everyone on the right who hates mitt romney. that includes people who still believe the crazy stuff about barack obama not being born in this country. but in terms of candidate skills we have criticized him for his debate performances rightly over the course of the last couple months. a good candidate who is trying to do a real launch around a seminole issue like taxes does not allow this thing to step on every headline that he's trying to drive this week. >> he has no discipline. >> the message discipline is so bad on this. >> listen to what he said. willie geist, we were talking about it before yesterday where he's just so clumsy and awkward and i'm sorry. he just sounds stupid in the "parade" interview when they ask him, how do you -- why do you think he is not born in america? and his response was, well, he's

never seen my birth certificate. and today he -- in this john harwood interview he is babbling incoherently. i mean incoherently about barack obama's grades. they can publish my grades. that answer has nothing to do with anything. >> like herman cain. >> wake up. focus. this guy is a bush league amateur playing on a very big stage. >> it's also cowardice. if you believe that come out and say it. don't give these implicit endorsements. does barack obama love america? i don't know. you'd have to ask him. do you believe his birth certificate? i haven't seen it. if you want to draw a contrast to mitt romney you could by saying you believe in unicorns and the moon landing was staged in burbank. that's not a good contrast except for a small sliver of the electorate. >> it is terrible. john? >> i was just going to say, whether or not he is a major league player or minor league player he's got $15 million and we are about to see when he goes

up on the air in iowa whether or not he can effectively land a punch on mitt romney or whether mitt romney can take it. >> that reminds me of, having $15 million a texan with $15 million? phil grahame and john connelly. >> i knew you were going there. >> i have to say phil graham was an intelligent guy with an economic program. rick perry is making it up. i bet his texas $15 million gets burned through a lot faster than phil graham or john connelly's $15 million. >> he's going to try to drive an ice pick into his temples. >> frightening. >> unbelievable. >> john harwood, thank you. >> john, thank you very much. >> willie's news you can't use, next. we're america's natural gas and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy...

we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us. [ kid ] dad? who is honus...wagner? no idea. let me see that. that's a honus wagner autograph... the hall of famer? look at this ball! yeah, found that at a yard sale. i thought pickles would like it. [ dog barks ] that a new car jerry? yeah... sweet, man. [ male announcer ] the audi a8. named best large luxury sedan. ♪

and you want to pass along as much as possible to future generations. at northern trust, we know what works and what doesn't. as one of the nation's largest wealth managers,

we can help you manage the complexities of transferring wealth. seeking to minimize taxes while helping maximize what's passed along. because you just never know how big those future generations might be. ♪ expertise matters. find it at northern trust.

oh, yes. what time is it? >> time for the news you can't use. >> you sure? >> jon huntsman was on colbert last night trying to drum up a little support with colbert's audience. he did it by speaking mandarin. >> bring it on. >> you speak mandarin. do you not? >> i do. >> okay. say the most nonscary thing, if you don't mind, would you say the most nonscary nicest thing in mandarin please? [ speaking in foreign language ] >> terrifying.

what did you just say? >> i said i think you ought to consider being my running mate for vice president. >> well, sir, recent polls you are at 2%. are you ready for the colbert bump? >> i am so ready for the colbert bump. >> we're going to get you, governor, you may be at 2%. we're going to get you up to whole milk. >> there you go. >> he's good. >> now, we're playing this again because the demand has been so great. some people missed it at the top. they're just waking up. this new ad from herman cain. the gentleman you're seeing in the ad is mark block who is the chief of staff to herman cain's campaign and see what you make of it. >> mark block here. since january i've had the privilege of being the chief of staff to herman cain and the chief operating officer of the friends of herman cain. tomorrow it's one day closer to the white house.

i really believe that herman cain will put united back in the united states of america and if i didn't believe that i wouldn't be here. we need you to get involved because together we can do this. we can take this country back. ♪ i am america one voice united we stand i am america one voice united we stand ♪ >> woo hoo! >> look at that. >> oh, my lord. >> blowing the smoke at the camera. >> you get so wrapped up in the smoke and the cain smile you didn't hear the "i am america" song they were playing in the background. >> oh, my. >> one more note. >> yeah. >> mr. block told nbc news when asked about the ad it's just block being block. >> you know, i -- >> that as quote from our nbc news embed. just block being block. >> just the republican party being bizarre this year.

>> it is isn't it? >> this is a strange group of cats. >> whose birthday is it today? >> louis bergdorf. >> where's bergdorf? where's louis? >> there he is. >> sing it. >> happy birthday, louis. >> do i have to give him a present? >> how old is he? >> 26. >> louis is 26? >> yeah. louis's job is his gift. >> he's a good man, louis. >> a great guy. >> sweet little boy. >> he is. >> i think we should raise him up to intern. >> mika's dad is going to be here, and also former washington, d.c. mayor adrian fenty and eugene robinson of "the washington post." we'll be right back. the postal service is critical to our economy--

delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service, and want to lay off over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains 5 billion a year from post-office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. congress created this problem, and congress can fix it. hey, it's sandra -- from accounting. peter. i can see that you're busy... but you were gonna help us crunch the numbers for accounts receivable today.

i mean i know that this is important. well, both are important. let's be clear. they are but this is important too. [ man ] the receivables. [ male announcer ] michelin knows it's better for xerox to help manage their finance processing. so they can focus on keeping the world moving. with xerox, you're ready for real business. [ jim ] i need to push out a software upgrade. build a new app for the sales team in beijing. and convince the c.e.o. his email will find him... wherever he is. i need to see my family while they're still awake. [ male announcer ] with global services from dell, jim can address his company's i.t. needs through custom built applications, cloud solutions and ongoing support in over 100 countries. so his company sees results. and jim sees his family.

dell. the power to do more.

rick perry seen here on the cover of "parade" magazine. suggestively offering the nation his nipple. hey, hey, america, you hungry? are you hungry? do you want to -- yeah. that's good teat right there. suck on it. get barbecue sauce. >> oh, gosh. seriously not the way to start the morning. top of the hour, welcome back to "morning joe." look at the city as the sun comes up over new york. >> gorgeous.

>> mike and john are still with us. joining us from washington we have pulitzer prize winning columnist and associate editor of "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst eugene robinson. also at the table here in new york the former mayor of washington, d.c., adrian fenty. >> good morning. >> good to have you back. >> great to have you guys here. gene, so today is the day rick perry is supposed to launch his tax plan. >> we haven't gotten to it yet. >> the "new york times" talked about the reboot of his campaign, bringing on tony febrezio, joe, a couple serious older washington hands that have guided past campaigns, dole in '96, bush in 2000. and rick perry just messes up his bed. >> stop. not the way to put it. >> messes up the bed being made for him. gets in the middle of it and messes it all up. by talking about the birtherism

and by smiling and saying that he's not so sure that barack obama was really born in america and the birth certificate may not be real and when asked about it, saying, well, he hasn't seen my grades. again, speaking incoherently as usual. then when asked by john harwood why he's bringing it up he said because it's fun. and he is just royally screwing up another day of his campaign. >> does he want to win? >> he can't afford to keep doing this. >> joe, just a succession of those locked suitcases mike murphy talks about. one after the other that rick perry keeps doubling across and trying to figure out how to open. he is -- the problem with the rick perry campaign, what's the problem? he's got all this money. he's from texas. you know, the three-term governor. yet the problem is rick perry.

>> rick perry is the problem. >> he is the problem. he is the issue that the campaign is going to have to solve if they're going to, look, it's all teed up for the rick perry comes roaring back story line. this is the phase of the campaign we're supposed to be in. but if the candidate goes off the rails, you know, that story line doesn't happen. >> his wife adrian fenty said that people didn't like rick perry because he loved jesus. that's why he was getting hammered. but it seems like it ain't jesus or people that don't like jesus that are hurting rick perry. it's rick perry. as gene said, these are self-inflicted wounds. you've been in politics. so, adrian, how many more self-inflicted wounds can this guy absorb? >> well, this birther one, i think, is going to go on for a couple days. you're right. it's going to i think completely overwhelm everything else he is trying to get out into the general public. his biggest problem i think is

he just doesn't look presidential. i mean, he comes across as somebody who is willing -- will say anything and usually it's the wrong thing. >> yeah. and again, babbling incoherently. a lot of times, john, in the "parade" magazine interview he -- he is asked for evidence that the president was not born in america and his response was, again, incoherent, well, he's never seen my birth certificate. and then today with john harwood, the response was incoherent. and he said, well, he's never seen -- i've never seen his grades. >> i want to see his grades. >> i want to see his grades. again, it's incoherent. it's embarrassing. >> but just like just draw the -- >> has nothing to do with ideology. >> i agree. >> nothing to do with his record in texas. nothing to do with his tax plan. it has to do with the fact that this man at this point does not seem to have what it takes to get elected. >> stepping on his own message. the mayor is right.

this week is going to be all about rick perry birtherism and draw the important contrast here. the contrast is to mitt romney who has been through this year a model of message discipline. all he has done for a year is say i'm not going to get distracted by anything. i can chase rabbits down those holes and talk about the president. i'm going to talk about the economy, talk about the economy, talk about the economy. and every time at every chance there has been a distraction mitt romney does not chase the shiny object. rick perry is chasing every shiny object. >> he is. >> and the ones that are otherwise befouled. it's just the contrast couldn't be more stark. >> it's amazing. >> in terms of candidates. >> it's been long running. mike, when hateful things have been said by certain fringe characters in the republican party like glenn beck i have said if mitt romney wants to be the leader of this party he has to come out and condemn it. i've probably done that five or six times over the past couple years but as john said, he doesn't follow the shiny objects. he keeps his head down.

he's extraordinarily disciplined. and the contrast, again, could not be greater with rick perry who has just royally we'll just say stepped on his bed. jumped up and down on the bed that was made for him. he should be talking about taxes. >> governor perry appears to be a classic case of a guy who when he's alone looks in the mirror and says, you know, i never should have done this. i never should have listened to the people who told me, this is going to be a slam dunk. because i have been so far over my head. you know, i'm drowning every day. i mean, can you imagine he tries to make a humorous gesture in responding to the birther stuff. makes it a big issue in a country where we have at least 10% unemployment. it makes no sense whatsoever. he makes no sense whatsoever. >> all right. another topic in the news which i think is fwragreat for mayor fenty, not so great for us because we disagree and i don't want to do it again but do you

remember biden's comments that are a tad bit controversial? >> pass our bill or get raped? those? yeah. i remember those. >> he did not say that. >> yes he did. >> mitch mcconnell made some comments. >> oh, no. >> regarding whether or not the federal government has a role in saving firefighters' jobs. >> what did he say? >> but i'm actually going to play president obama who is right now on the road in nevada working on the housing and also still trying to push pieces of this jobs bill through. he punched back at mitch mcconnell. take a listen. >> their leader, mitch mcconnell, said that, and i'm going to make sure i quote this properly. saving the jobs of teachers and cops and firefighters was just, i quote, a bailout. a bailout. these aren't bad actors who somehow screwed up the economy. they didn't act irresponsibly. these are the men and women who teach our children, who patrol our streets, who run into burning buildings and save

people. they deserve our support. >> that's a strong argument. >> yeah. >> what, you mad at me for agreeing with you? that's a strong argument. >> you know, whenever he says something about the president's comments it's never strong enough. it's never emotional enough. it's never visceral enough. it is never connecting enough. then the vice president does it in a very emotional, connecting kind of way and you guys tear him down. >> wait, hold on. i haven't said it yet but let me say it again. that was a strong argument. >> good. thank you. >> that is a strong argument. >> it is a strong argument. >> i think that is a strong argument. >> for the jobs bill. >> did you hear it that time? >> not only strong but he seems very passionate about it. >> yes. >> everybody is listening to him. it's kind of reminding me of 2008 when he had the ability to capture everybody's imagination and to me, as a supporter, i think that once this republican primary season is over, if it ever ends, you're going to see this type of obama come out where it's one-on-one, my idea, this is what i've done, you,

mitt romney, whoever wins the nomination, what is your plan? what can you do? i've got answers. what are you going to do for the nation's people and the economy? >> you know, he is here to testify to the fact that most people in this country, government to them, is a playground. it's a school teacher. it's a fire truck, the sound of a siren coming down the street. it's a police officer. talking care of public safety. that's what government is. it's not these people running for office, not rick perry, and president obama just touched that rail. he just put his finger on it. you run any big city or small town in this country, you find out instantly what government is all about. >> it's a teacher. let's add that, too. >> what he did there i think is the federal government is not very popular but state and local government is as mike said. that's real government to people and it's useful government.

you need your firefighters. you need your police officers. and the president by associating himself with that level of government, i think, does something smart politically in that he associates himself with the government that people -- that people get and that people know they need. >> and, gene, the interesting thing about senator mcconnell's comment that the president just gave us is that this is the same united states senate, senator mitch mcconnell of kentucky, who in january of '09 said his principal job was not to take care of your job if you're unemployed. his principal job was to defeat barack obama. that was job number one for mitch mcconnell. >> okay. well, he was very honest. because that's certainly what he has done since. you know, mitch mcconnell might take a do over i think if he had -- if he had to re-run those comments about the bailout

supposedly of policemen and firefighters. but, yes. that's what the republican strategy has been, say no, defeat barack obama, and let's face it. they've done very well with that strategy so far. we'll see how far it takes them now. >> mitch mcconnell's statements about the firefighters is interesting. having said that, joe, this argument that biden was making and that this president was making about the jobs bill and about the government workers, wouldn't you take that ball and run with it if you were this administration? >> sure. again, we can contrast what joe biden said. a guy who again we all love joe, right? we're not allowed to criticize joe even though i've been dancing on the head of a pin. >> don't mess with joe. >> you're in trouble. >> we love joe biden. that said, i think the president in this case, i think he was far more effective in expressing the point. this is not a -- you're talking about teachers, like saving a teacher's job, saving your

child's teacher's job is a bailout? saving the job of a firefighter that rushes in to save you or your family or your business or your friends or your church or whatever. >> yeah. >> these -- this is not a bailout of some bureaucracy. this is us helping you and your community lend a hand. it's -- i think that's very effective. what's fascinating to me, though, gene robinson, is first of all mitch mcconnell's comment. no doubt about it. fascinating stuff there. i don't think very effective. but also, what the president decided -- what he has decided to do and i'm curious whether you think we'll see this until election day next year, or whether you think it is just a passing phase. one he does call out mitch mcconnell by name. a bit unusual for a president to call out the minority leader of the other party and the senate. and, two, calling congress increasingly dysfunctional.

the president -- >> right. >> i'm not criticizing the president. i'm just asking tactic wise, are we going to see this for the next year where both sides are just shooting at each other? >> i think we will see the president campaigning against a do nothing congress as harry truman did and unless congress does something. you know, you will -- there will be times when the president goes to congress, perhaps after the super committee, you know, comes back with a -- perhaps on some new grand bargain that he wants to cook up. but if congress doesn't act and there's no indication that congress will act, that congress will do anything big, i think you'll hear this again and again. >> two things. i think, one, it was great to respond one-on-one. i think attacking congress just sounds like old washington. people get tired of the president and congress fighting against each other.

but, two, great to not go back to washington speak, to talk about it, firefighters, police officers, people in their homes. if the president doesn't go back to just talking about policies and people fighting against each other in washington, but talks about real people's issues i think he'll do a lot better going forward. >> but you're talking about the president talking. it's rhetoric for the next year. what you have washington doing, regardless of who is right or who is wrong, then our viewers certainly have strong opinions on that. the stunning thing to me is that these guys in washington can get away with crap just talking. and fighting. that you as america never get away with. you would have to sit down with your city council whether you loved them or hated them, whether they were all jerks, communists, marxist, fascist, whatever, you would have to sit down with them. >> yeah. >> and fix streets. you would have to sit down with

them and take care of crime. you would have to sit down with them and make sure the schools weren't crumbling. it's like these washington guys are detached from reality. they can actually go a whole calendar year while america is collapsing economically and get nothing done. >> it'll be interesting to see how obama's every week rolling out part of the jobs bill or jobs solutions as he said he is going to do now will be seen and will be viewed. it can be viewed as not working with congress or it can be viewed as being very leadership oriented and getting things done like you're saying. >> i'll just point out that i think you're making the president's point. you know, when you say -- you've just described an increasingly dysfunctional washington. >> those are the words he used. that's what you're -- >> the president is the ceo of washington. >> well, if i were the ceo -- >> not really. not really. the congress is a coequal branch of government. there is no -- they are the ceos of capitol hill. >> the president has a bully pulpit. >> there is no way you can detach barack obama from washington, d.c. >> still can't make them do,

still can't make them do what he wants, a ceo who runs a company can say, my company is doing "x" and we will do that. he does not have that ability with this congress. he does not. >> he is the head of washington. >> he is not. >> he's the head of the executive branch. >> you're acting like it's 2008 and he can -- >> if you're president of the united states for three years, john, with all due respect, you can't run against washington. americans aren't that dumb. >> well, we'll see. >> there was a debt ceiling debate. >> right. >> where the house could stop what the president wants to get done. the house can stop it. >> you're taking your ball and going home. >> i'm not saying that. pretending like he is the ceo of washington is absurd. >> no it's not. >> there are three branches of government. he runs one of them. he doesn't run the other ones. >> and the ceo has a board sometimes that the ceo has to deal with. not a dictator. >> washington is full of people who are telling the president every day, you're not the boss of me. >> right. >> those people are on capitol hill. they're saying, you know, we don't want it.

but the other part of this strategy that the president seems to have embarked on is doing what he can through executive order, through his own powers, to demonstrate that if congress won't do something i'm going to do it and we saw, we've seen some of that in the last couple of days. i think we'll see more of that, too, because you can't just say, you know, they won't do anything. you've got to show, i believe, that you're going to do what you can for the american people to solve their problems. >> well i think that's a very smart strategy. and my only point to john is that you can't run against washington d.c. after being in washington, d.c. as president of the united states for three and a half years. now the president wants to but that's wishful thinking. >> well, look. >> americans won't buy that. >> i'm in no way saying the president isn't going to have to run on his own record. but i think he is going to run against washington.

we'll see whether it works or not. harry truman did it and was successful. others tried and it failed. we'll see what happens in this case. >> will it work, mike, for this president? >> no, it won't work. it won't work. i mean, because he's been president for nearly four years now. he can't all of a sudden wake up and tell us, you know, hey, i just figured out they're not going to go along with me so as gene indicated i'll sign an executive order and get it done despite congress. washington lives in a permanent air of unreality. unlike mayors and governors. they can talk about these things endlessly and they have. that's the problem that people are confronted with today. all they do is talk. >> my math is terribly off. that doesn't surprise me. i guess he's been there for two and a half years. two and a quarter, whatever. >> eugene robinson, thank you. >> just seems like three and a half years. >> stop it now. be nice. >> listen. i'm still, with no apologies to rush limbaugh, still rooting for this guy. i want him to succeed.

america -- americans don't realize how deep, deep the trouble is that we're in right now. >> it's huge. >> this has nothing to do with political parties. we are in such deep economic trouble that i am scared to death for especially middle class and working class americans. this is no time for all of our leaders -- >> he's our president. >> -- to run away from the challenges. the republicans have not been willing partners with this president and right now the president is not being a willing partner with the republicans. they need to get together. >> eugene, thanks. adrian fenty thank you so much. >> thank you, mr. mayor. >> when we come back former national security adviser dr. brzenzski joins the conversation. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. ♪ [ 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. sure. cake or pie? pie. apple or cherry? cherry. oil or cream? oil or cream? cream. reddi-wip uses real dairy cream. nothing's more real than reddi-wip. [ female announcer ] improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula improves skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] only from aveeno.

23 past the hour. live look at the white house. joining us now from washington, former national security adviser for president carter dr. brzenzski. hi, dad. thanks for being on the show again this morning.

>> good morning, mika. >> a lot has happened since we last spoke. with the death of gadhafi, among other things is president obama's foreign policy taking shape at all? >> i think he has had some successes and that's all to the good. the death of gadhafi vindicated his policy, which many criticized when he undertook it. i supported him. he did the right thing by backing the effort but not being in the forefront. he had great success in eliminating osama bin laden. but, you know, these successes are successes but they don't have a lasting political effect nor i think a lasting domestic political effect. i think the fact is we are engaged in three messy situations which we're not addressing well. they have contributed to bankrupting of the economy, a lot of debt, to greater international dislike of the united states, to our isolation, and, perhaps, to increasing

global turmoil. so we need to get on top of them, each one of the three issues is critical. >> there was an announcement about the iraq drawdown. there seems to be an attempt to try and put these into perspective. do we need to be doing more specifically in afghanistan? >> i think we ought to be doing something different in afghanistan. we ought to be doing something different regarding iran. we ought to be more engaged as a peace maker in the middle east. each one of these problems is draining our resources. each of them entails serious threat to our long-term interest. >> john? >> dr. brzenzski, i'd like to hear what you have to say about all three of those issues. what are the different things the obama administration should be doing on each one of those? >> i thought i might tempt you into asking that. well, on the afghan issue first of all, we're not going to win militarily. we're not going to achieve an outcome militarily that creates an enduringly stable,

increasingly democratic, and modern afghanistan. and if we're given a free ride to countries that have even a bigger stake than we in the outcome. and that's of course the neighbors of afghanistan. and that includes pakistan, iran, the so-called stans next door. and in the background russia and china. all of them are the beneficiaries of our stupid engagement. when we went into afghanistan, i was marginally involved in the discussions regarding the decision. and i remember advocating both in writing and verbally, go in. knock off al qaeda, and get out. well, it's ten years since then and we're still there. what we ought to be doing right now i think is not seeking some sort of a deal with the taliban. i'm not against it. i favored it. but that's a limited aspect. what we ought to be doing is setting in motion the regional conference on the future of afghanistan with all of its neighbors. all of the countries i have

mentioned. because ultimately they have a bigger stake in a stable afghanistan than we do and we ought to make it clear to them that we're going to be leaving. if we don't have this conference and we don't work out some international arrangement for a more stable afghanistan, it's your baby. it's your baby. it's your region. you will pay the consequences. so that's one thing we ought to be doing. there are still two more. >> dr. brzenzski, let me stick with afghanistan for a moment. and it involves iraq as well. a couple of days ago i was reading in the los angeles times that an army ranger 29 years of age was killed in afghanistan. he was on his 14th deployment overseas to iraq and afghanistan, his 14th deployment. what does it say and i realize this is kind of a cosmic question but you're up to answering it i believe. what does it say about the soul of this country that we can be

involved in two wars for a decade and there is hardly a mention of it on the campaign as people run for president. you can go for days on end in whatever city and town you live in without seeing or hearing people who are touched by it. what does it say about us? >> that's a very painful question. very painful. i think what it says is that we have become so self-preoccupied with greed, with success, with having to make a living, with surviving, with ourselves, that we abdicate the painful parts of what we're doing in the world to those who are willing to participate -- the volunteers. and the rest of the life here goes on untouched. we don't pay for it because under bush we didn't wage the war in iraq or in afghanistan at our own expense but we borrowed. and so we became indebted. i think there is a kind of

bifurcation between the way most of us live and what we seek and how we try to have a decent life and the realities or rather the consequences of what we have plunged into. i think we have plunged into a mess deliberately. it started with the war in iraq which was advocated under bush ii by the neo cons who said somehow or other it'll make the middle east safer. it's made it much more unstable and the world much more anti-american. then we plunged into afghanistan with the crazy program of building democracy in a modern state in afghanistan while waging a war. we've been there longer than in any war ever. and we have abandoned the peace process in the middle east. so we're in a mess. >> dr. brzenzski, it's willie. good morning. off your point about iraq. as someone who has witnessed vietnam and has a -- has the long lens of history there to aid him in his analysis, will we learn the lesson of iraq?

will we learn the lesson of afghanistan now that we're leaving iraq as of the end of this year? what will policy makers of the next generation take away hopefully and learn from that w unjustified and based on false presences, untrue2♪ú stories t to the country, is that you don't undertake this alone in the face of international criticism and even in some cases condemnation. i think the agenda right now for us is to transform the problem

of afghanistan into a regional problem and not just an american problem. i think the gender for us is to see if we can in some fashion$x engage iran. an individual who is very concerned about nuclear problems and has written about it has recently had a very interesting column saying there is an opening in iran on the nuclear issue. we should exploit it. well of course we're not. and lately the president in the face of some very ambiguous, alleged plot has now used words used previously by george bush. all options are on the table. that was meant to say, i'm willing to use force if necessary. are we really going to go in that direction now? and then of course there's the unresolved issues of the middle east. so these are the things that we have to address. unfortunately, we are now in the midst of an>2ñ irrational politl campaign domestically. you spent the last hour analyzing those comics who are running for president on the

republican side. and, you know, it's a dilemma. we are a democracy. >> is that what you call it? a dilemma? i don't know, i think it's more than a dilemma. let's talk about iran. you say there is an opening for iran and that the united states is not exploiting that opening. but you remember back in 2008 veryí'3 well this president getg chastis?i from the right and the left, from republicans and hillary e$yñclinton, for saying will talk to mahmoud ahmadinejad and the iranians without preconditions and, of course, after the president was sworn in things just got worse. we had the bloody crackdown in 2009, the iranians have seemingly worked( prove themselves to be bad actors on the international stage. so much so that he's lost, i think the iranians have%+ lost opening and the president that seemed willing to talk despite all the critici#x÷

what is this new opening you're talking about and how does the president convince americans and allies across the globe that the iranians are a risk worth taking? >> well, first of all the iranians have dropped the ball several times themselves. i'm not blaming us but there were openings even under george bush but we rebuffed that. more recently, there has been some indication that the iranians might be interested in a deal in which given the fact that they can enrich up to about 20% they might be able to stop there, we can stop there and there

that the moreómo hostile we are iran the easier it is for the ayatollas to rule because then they combine theocracy with nationalism, nationalism of the] people, even of those who are against him, against the :giç theocratic 'lregime. our position, our hostility, occasional threats to military force in fact unify the iranians against us and we need the iranians. one, to avoid new breakdowns in iraq after we're gone and we>mc need the iranians as part of this regional umbrella that we ought to be striving to create in afghanistan as we leave. and commonality of interests. instead of talking andlp seriouy discussing that, we are focusing our attention on some bizarre plot announced with great fanfare from washington, a plot which seems to be designed to create simultaneous animus and saudi and between iran and us. so kind of a strange plot.

the details of it are truly mystifying. it looks at best like a sting operation of some sort. >> well -- >> that's what we're focusing on instead of dk=#qng with the more basic geo political issue. >> despite iran's missteps and bad behavior of course we talked about them taking part in a reasonable solution to the afghanistan problem. a lot of americans probably don't remember or never heard that thekm bush administration 2001 after 911 actually got some actionable intel from the iranians who helped us as we prepared to go into afghanistan behind the scenes. what do you -- what do you say to neo cons that have come out and been very critical of the president's announcement we believe wise announcement to get out of iraq as quickly as possible after eight long years there, who say that all this does is strengthen and embolden iran? >> well, first of all, the

footnote to your very good point about iran, not only in 2001 but after we went in and cleaned up al qaeda the iranians actually participated in a regionall conference in 2002 designed to establish stability in post taliban afghanistan. and they were the ones who insisted. that was the conference in bonn, they insisted there be anb. explicit provision that the next government in afghanistan be a democratic government. so there was a moment of opportunity then and i think that ought to be our objective is to revive that on iraq, you are extremely well informed, geo politically mi$ébmx historically informed colleague said the other day on your program and reminded everyone that the decision to leave iraq entirely by the date now set was made by george w. bush. so the republicans are complaining about that, they ought to beuy+tá)q" why didn't  when george w.

bush"re proposed it? the fact of the matter is, look. we can't stay there. if we're going to stay there we bet>éñ stay there in force. if we stay there in force, we'll of course have a guerrilla warfare against us. if we just leave 3,000 troops behind what are they supposed to accomplish? whom can they stop? they're going to be in danger. so frankly, i think we have to take;q& our chance that the ir on their own may stabilize especially if we move at the same time on the other issues that i mentioned. because that would contribute to 5ñ of the +zì(lc% tensions and a reduction of the conflicts in the whole region involving afghanistan, iran, the persian gulf, and the middle east. >> dr. brzenzski, thanks, dad, appreciate it. that's great to have you on again. >> thank you, dr. brzenzski. >> always good to be with4> i love listening to him talk. >> he's great. >> it would be awesome if he trashed joe a little bit. >> he said i am -- >> no, no.

what are you doing? >> i love that. >> i want to see. >> he's complimenting him. >> i want toe)1ñ see if he thin this is a good imitation of him. you know, you are stunningly superficial. is that pretty good? mika, what do you think? >> does that sound like you, dad? >> i meant to say stunningly, stunningly persuasive. >> there'u=ñ you go. it does be the have the same bite, same kick. >> we'll just leave it there. >> thank you so w72much. >> i can't wait until his book comes out "strategic vision" -- >> doesn't it come out in january? fr >> something like that. we're going on book tour. just ahead we'll talk to the son of ariel sharon who is here to offer a unique look at.'] his father's impact on the middle east. but first karl rove breaks

so if i didn't know better i'd say you're having some sort of big tire sale. yes we are. yeah. how many tires does ford buy every year? over 3 million. you say you can beat any advertised price on tires? correct. anywhere? yes. like this price? yes. riously? yes what about this one? i'll beat it. this one? s we will. right, i only have one more question for you...this one? (laughing) yeah. get $100 rebate when you buy four tires. 100 bucks! only at your ford dealer. 3 million tires. 11 major brands, fiona's kind-of-nice. i don't know why you're not here. ♪ ♪ hey! it says just take one! i can't read.

♪ [ male announcer ] walmart has low prices, every day for halloween. from bags of candy to bigger bags of candy. backed by our ad match guarantee. save money. live better. walmart.

and you want to pass along as much as possible to future generations. at northern trust, we know what works and what doesn't. as one of the nation's largest wealth managers, we can help you manage the complexities of transferring wealth. seeking to minimize taxes while helping maximize what's passed along. because you just never know how big those future generations might be. ♪ expertise matters. find it at northern trust.

cain had a number of

misstatements. we had abortion. earlier this year he didn't understand what the palestinian right of return demand was. he recently said he didn't understand what neoconservatives were when it came to foreign policy. he had a rather odd answer on afghan policy. basically i'll figure it out once i get into office. the whole effect of this is to not create an image of him as being flip flopper but as notñ,  task. >> that was karl rove yesterday on fox news. herman cain responded to rove's criticism in a6)]. interview wi the washington examiner saying in part, quote, i believe it was, it is a deliberate attempt to damage me because i am not, quote, unquote, the establishment choice. it makes no sense unless it is a deliberate attempt on his part to try to push me down so that the candidate he wants rises to the top. i believe he wants romneyrg$ tot it.9s÷ >> one of comics as your father said. >> right. it is a little disturbing.

a dilemma. a dilemma. >> yeah. karl is on fire. >> yeah. >> rove. he's been on, we've had him twice this morning on clips. he has been on fire with these guys. >> not holding back for sure. the son of former israeli prime minister ariel sharon next on "morning joe."

look at all this stuff for coffee. oh there's tons. french presses, espresso tampers, filters. it can get really complicated. not nearly as complicated as shipping it, though. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that is easy. best news i've heard all day! i'm soooo amped! i mean not amped. excited. well, sort of amped. really kind of in between. have you ever thought about decaf? do you think that would help? yeah. priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.95, only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. today i own 165 wendy's restaurants. and i get my financing from ge capital. but i also get stuff that goes way beyond banking. we not only lend people money, we help them save it. [ junior ] ge engineers found ways to cut my energy use. [ cheryl ] more efficient lighting helps junior stay open later... [ junior ] and serve more customers. so you're not just getting financial capital... [ cheryl ] you're also getting human capital. not just money. knowledge.

[ junior ] ge capital. they're not just bankers... we're builders. [ junior ] ...and they've helped build my business. but is she eating sugar this week? maybe she wants the all natural, zero calorie stuff. but if you're wrong, you're insinuating she's fat. save yourself. it's only natural. welcome back to "morning joe." a live look at the georgew60 washington bridge. joining us now the son of the former israeli prime minister ariel sharon and author of a new book "sharon,hg5 portrait of a leader." thank you very much for coming on the show this morning. >> thank you. i'm excited to be here. >> how long did it take you to put this together? it is an incredible compilation. >> it took me four and a half years of]újn hard work but i'm proud. >> in the book you define your father's relationships with a number of world leaders as he

moved forward. you speak specifically about his relationship with benjamin of israel. and not the kindest words about him. subversive, a coward. how did their relationship begin to spiralptñ downward? >> well, netanyahu was appointed minister in my father's government and i'm sure he is doing his [ç"mq9ñ but let me tell you how my father conducted his relations with other world leaders. he had the closest relations with the u.s. president, president bush, he] visited him 12 times. he even visited theçgçpresident ranch in crawford, texas. let me tell you what president bush told me about my father on july, 2008, in the oval office. he told me, i admired your dad. >> what about netanyahu? >> well, i'm sure he's doing his best. nly was subversive but he was also a coward. how was he subversive?

>> i don't know that word. my bad english. >> it said he was also a coward. your father didn't have great relationships with netanyahu in the end. >> well, i describe what i know, the facts israel's foreiy policy? how did you find israel and shape israel to the country itj is ch÷today? >> let me put it that way. when i met with prime minister blair when i was doing my research for]iñ the book he tol /m% inán( blaire's words the road peace. you cannot count on yourvl counr

side's words.l4 you can only trust the actions. you see what they do. >> right. >> john? >> you know, i'm i'm curious. to stick on politics, now it's almost 10 years ago when your father did this thing as a parallel to what peoples9> i3w disagree with you. i think it was a necessary step. there was a consensus that we should not be in gaza. if we would have a peace treaty, there was a consensus that we would not be there. shall we wait for an agreement that might never come or should we do unilaterally what was good for öus..wr most decided that was what they

wanted. that was proven. thereo that my father was willing to go a long distance for peace. he went out from gaza and the president in december of 2004,[ he said to my father, sharon is the only chance for [9 k9ñ it says it all. >> i'm not trying to criticize the decision, all i mean is in the wake of that ahdecision, it made people feel insecure. whether he thought it was the right decision to think at the ejujipp> we have gaza before this engagement.>'ó in 6$

rockets. we live four miles from gaza. we get rockets from time to time. the only thing isla6 that we co not find terror in gaza be> we had the responsibility for the area. now that we are not there, we can fight it. /rq) did the rightg you aresoi the little ones!)é t. what did you learn%n÷ about you father in researching this book that you didn't no> iri'úicmçúw side, the personal side. on the same day of the&kc elec inister, me day of the&kc elec

it was the day early in the morning my wife and myself, we > the book is sharon, the life of a let#ì(lc% thank you very much for being the show. more "morning joe" in just a moment.go)a we are building a website by ourselves. [ woman announcing ] there's an easier way.

create your own small-business site... with intuit websites. choose a style, customize, publish and get found... from just $7.99 a month. get a 30-day free trial... at intuit.com. i love the vermeer collection. vermeer? dutch painter? only painted, like, 34 paintings? oh what an odd name. you've got like five of them in your hallway. those were actually in the attic when we moved in. we just both really love the color yellow. uh... [ host ] you guys are a lot of fun. yeah. [ male announcer ] the audi a8. named best large luxury sedan. new car? pretty cool. ♪

insurance new car? companies you're just a policy. at aviva, we're bringing humanity back to insurance and putting people before policies. aviva life insurance and annuities. we are building insurance around you. ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] ♪ [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, every innovation, every solution, comes together for a single purpose -- to make the world a safer place. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. gives you a 50% annual bonus!

so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? woah! [ giggles ]

and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country...

... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us. [ doug ] i got to figure this out. i want to focus on innovation. but my data is doubling. my servers are maxed out. i need to think about something else when i run. [ male announcer ] with efficient i.t. solutions from dell, doug can shift up to 50% of his company's technology spend from operating costs to innovation. so his company runs better, and so does doug. dell. the power to do more. your core competency is...competency.

and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm getting an upgrade. [ male announcer ] as you wish, business pro. as you wish. go national. go like a pro. now through january earn a free day with every two rentals. find out more at nationalcar.com. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the peace of mind of owning a 2011 iihs top safety pick. the all-new volkswagen passat.

good morning. it's 8:00 on the east coast as you take a live look at new york city. let's go to the ad. q >> is this that good? don't let me5a down. >> in political advertising, different. >> really? this is herman cain's latest. >> i like it. >> since january, i had the privilege of being chief of

staff to herman cain and the chief operating officer of the friends of herman cain. tomorrow is one day closer to the white house. ibm4 really believe that herma cain will put united back in th i didn't believe 49cf, i wouldn't be here. we need you to get involved because together we can do this. 4ñ ♪e$ >> what is going on? >> what was that? what was that? >> if you are for herman cain, light one up. >> what?9 >> i got parliament. >> that was "saturday night live." can i see those? >> sure. >> great.

>> can we see the last five second where is he lights&r onp and waits for the smile? >> wait a minute. >> whatmy are you doing? >> keeps the weight >> let's see the last couple seconds of this ad again.w look at the smile. here comes the smile. >> yeah, baby. ñ dc6it, willie. >> wow. >> :ñkt's terrible. >> i don't know what the message is. >> why is he smoking in theé >> there must be millions of smokers in america. >> yeah. >> obviously. >> now you are brigging it back. át campaign manager's ceo as the validator and notyd" an ave ubzex a prominent

endorser, but someone no one may have ever heard of and not actual voters. blowing smoke into the camera. look at him right there. he is blowing smoke into the camera. >> i don't get pi#ey >> followed by herman cain's grin of approval. >> the grin takes about 20 seconds to come on. >> did you guys see, not to & here -- >> i >> the times thing on cash.9 can we getqbzw the news story u this8f@x fascinating that-í ba are actually so washed in cash, some arewçyz saying don't give any more money. we can't use it. >> the "new york times" ispq,ñ reporting this morning that many banks are than they know what to do tb'wi.

spooked by lurching markets, consumers and businesses are taking money outtú accounts andnkt stowing it6mh regular bank accounts. >> the banks have to be excited about that, right? what are they doing? depositors from socking away as it's harder to turn a profit on money in regular savings accounts. somed on

economy is in so much trouble. isn't >> the people that have the íe= trillion on the sidelines are not going to invest. they are afraid that they will crerñ in addition to the st about this one? in august they imposedi/k a 13 percentage point fee in the deposits of certain

train ride that is about to end with6y#ñ going-over the cliff.6r >> that's depressing. i had story. i am sure and i haven't read the piece, but there is a weirdness about the way thñf+ banks are+t conducting themselv. yout wonder why people are mad t banks. you are chargingo the extra fee

 a simple cash acc? so manyó=oz ways in which the b are impoeing all of the extra fees for what used to be basicx services. they need to hire director. there is a lot towards the banks and among just ordinary @óujjdknow. >> you bring up the banks and we had the discussion yesterday%'9 bu. everybody is trying to blame the banks and this is a liberal democrat and i don't think he has ever been a republican. 5ñ trying to blame ffm banks and washington and everybody is9h this president and the lastjdñ president. the fact is that we will probablyshx have 9%, 10% unemployment become so productive and it's become so productive and it's not china or india taking jobsd

away. he asked the question a lot of people asked. when is the last time youu saw bank teller? gm used toi] require 1,000 peo on the assembly line to make  now it%oe probably 100 and soon it will be 50. it's basic math. we can create more products than ever for consumers to consume, but we haveglxñl>mrj over an[> i was talking to a huge brain yack about all of this over the

weekend. his contention was similar about the banks.@uwç is america prepared to live with a new áz(tnormal? a new normal is high unemployment of economy that bumps along and housing bubbles. we bump along for 10 or 154g years. a new normal.y, >> was% it john henrycahj that the race with the steel mention? >> that was probably 100 yearsdn 2011avthat the machine has"ceç4n the man.ú >> we arekr incredibly product.

>> i had an ap for an hour. >> you look at suri now where i had some people saying you can n?btjuájó said my god, that wi replace what i#wz do at work.  now not to ha pass people,dñ but barack obama can't go out and dz9%. it may bebjñjñ azfd decade from because technology is only going to require us to have more people a this is ae1á systemic failure a 0ç will take a generation to getcp out of. >> not just that they are fewer jobs, but lowerl@ wages. for obvious reasons. smaller numbers of jobs. itssy ripples out,c from there. technologyaa while it helps us

heard them say awful things. >> i don't want to talk about that. >> for does have consequences thatzió we ought tovsx take a look at. >> if you look at the boom in the 90,ís. >> if you look at the past decade it was fuelled by the housing market. without these bubbles, our economy would have been flat. we have these bubblz1÷ and the president went out to vegas to talk about fixing the housing prices, you can have the federal government tryé@ to give you a bump and tryzwv to fix housing atmñ short vdhu$ile, but unless build the consumer class up and build the middle class back up, housing will stay flat.-bz$ >>00gre was a front page story in the "washington post" on sunday about how it just hasn't been eç fixable problem. obviously the president hgñ a jobs proposal that stalled1d:w congress.

dj&ousing market and the state home-0z foreclosure rate and highestaá 13.4%.&f3 ine1 aó2qzaex )vvéthree-hour v the president rolled out a plan to help '5;homeowners. jwk increasingly dysfunctionalt>.

president acknowledges it will take more than a single plan and they urgs congress to pass his uzact.ñ'i 50e/q o73v all, what did you tf tju beingt@ñdysfunctional?g cons it feels like the housing piece yywpthe discussion. a part of am i wrong?z@w÷  extension:o of the presidentc and the fwpresident's political strategy after the debtbd%ñ cei. straun against the debtbd%ñ cei. wh hc political andö hez attack them. it's a do nothing congress and the newm?i harry trumanfkq str and this is consistent with that. he hasv[ gone from3úe÷ pass the now and now we can't wait, we

romney was a week ago saying you tob;ht let the cri play6op out and let the free mat happen. the govern" ñ(÷ shouldn't do anyp+q&g. ñ&) president xdñó[likes.brí wñ we must helplikes.brí people get through this and not because the people need help, but because if

>> haven't they got tone a point where they just don'tçmk believ that washington can sp(help? they don'tokñ believe another trillion dollars can help because like i wasa/; saying a ahjt&e of minutes ago, they realize our problems are deeper >>on they do. theyxgj certainly do. dxe is the housing crisis is too complex for írñ politics. it's too complex for the it's tooo be winning.ñ=.v7k>y7x with fannie and÷ú freddie, thed of the day it comi m25 equation. youyhc9 will save your 9 vhouse not my house? ,2 worked?; hard and my wife g part-time job and we kept up with$ñ the=k3 mortgage andfo8 t& fault of your own, how come my

famous boston accent?t5[lpuvá >> please go wait in the car for me. >> bar4o]+i%5ey >> first here's a check on the forecast. bill? >> goodav everyone. in t:vdutáuq)nmv ca(ibbean a hurricane churning headed for. cancun. they arejgcbiññ getting ready < their @-acations. any time on wednesday or-, thursday andé

the other stories inzl we are front range. all expecting snow late tonight into tomorrow and in denver, three to five inchesáa8ñ is possible. the forecast is nice considering in the east and no problemscssp boston and d.c. it cleveland and t$ showers heading your way and cooler]/> temperatures. 73 today and tomorrow we really cool you off. degrees.wxc&h(lc% ju)jp'd the sno(orm in0l denver. winter #ksxmv snowstorm of the year in denver. what=p÷ a beautiful shot of the arch. orning joe" brewed by starbucks.

you from dudley field. this is your 27th book.

>> you haven't sold yuf. this is your 27th book. >> yeah. >> this is a very realistic topic. >> there is no serious issue here. it's more entertaining. it's set in chicago. it's about two angles chasers and a couple of sleazy guys who hustle injury cases and try to make a living and stumble across a big case that may be worth a lot of money and a story building up to a trial that proves to be disastrous. pretty funny. it's supposed to be funny. >> disastrous for them? >> supposed to be funny. they can't try a shoplifting court in city court and they are going against the big guys. >> this is on the verdict where the guy who is down on his luck gets the big k and does the right thing and wins.

>> not like that. >> these are the keystone cops that get a big case. >> yeah. >> bring out the settler water. >> don't give away the plot. >> i can't believe they all die in the end on the last page. >> the plot line unfortunately for the american legal system is probably 30 or 40% of what happens every day in courts. >> let me ask you -- >> unprepared lawyers. >> let's talk about mississippi. you are from mississippi, a state that had without a doubt some of the most liberal tort laws. you would have forum shopping across the nation and people want to get into mississippi. they showed us there were excesses. there still excesses on both sides and also on the defense. this is a lot of times talking about advertising.

i'm turned off by this. lawyers begging for cases and billboards and the sleazy side of solicitation. i never had my own billboard when i was a lawyer. i couldn't afford one. you practice law and you have your own billboard? that tests the defense side. the bad products and the book tries to strike a happy medium between the good and the bad. >> a lot of times and you practice law and i practice law and you see how certainly in certain fields of law, the cards are stacked against consumers and small attorneys trying to fight pharmaceutical companies and trying to on wall street firms ripping off clients. yet it's the plaintiff's attorneys who seem to be the ones getting pounded because of those excesses that seem obvious

to the guys sitting at home watching the tv commercials. >> that's what you see. what you don't see are the millions spent for defense costs. you don't see the defective products and what you don't see is the medical malpractice to kill the name. a lot of stuff you don't see. the big lawyers get most of the attention. they are the ones advertising. i was on their side of the street. i don't have a lot of sympathy for those who want to reform our tort laws and close more and more courthouse laws and keep people away from the juries. >> i was reading the mojo note and he has been writing a novel a year. >> this falls out of bed. >> it takes about six months from january to july. >> what would be the inspiration for this one? >> it starts with a story.

there always a bunch of stories floating around about trials and lawyers and law firms and litigation. i read the newspapers and look at the headlines and try to find an jd that might turn into a courtroom drama. you watch lawyers and material in this, you talk about the cardinals too. >> i was going to ask you how much of what you do is that. i know time to kill was based a little bit on a case you listened to with a 12-year-old girl talk about what happened to her. how much flows from what you see around you? >> an awful lot. that's where the ideas come from. almost every book i have written can go back to something that happened. maybe one spark of inspiration and i take that. writers are thieves.

we steal ideas and names and stories and we take them and digest them and amplify them and write about them. there is not a lot of stuff in my world that is original when you watch lawyers and lawsuits. the material is given to you. >> what are is it about courtroom dramas that grab people whether it's a book or a movie or tv show. judge judy, good lord. she makes more money than moses. it's amazing. moses made a lot of cash. >> i don't know about that. i don't watch judge judy, but we an appetite for courtroom drama because it's ingrained in our culture. look at the tv shows and books that are popular for 20 years, thank goodness. >> the lawyers advertising and you mentioned that earlier, something that bothers me is the tv commercials for the law firms that touched what's best in

their life and you have the disclaimer at the bottom and none of these people went to law school. there is something chemically wrong with that. >> i think it's sleazy. a lot of the ads if you read more fine print, they will package a bundle of cases and sell them to a law firm in houston or another big city as a specialty firm. it's almost like a business. not practicing law. you have tens of thousands of patient who is took vioxx. fen fen was the big one. lawyers made billions off of that. that's not all bad. it was a bad drug. something sleazy about the tv solicitation. some are well done and some are funny.

>> you do have a fever system. people bring it in and feed it to the big firms and the big firms take on the big companies. i will you a small lawyer out of oxford, mississippi is not going to take on pfizer. they will grind that lawyer to dust unless he has millions of dollars to see it through. >> he has to associate with a big claims firm to go to toe. >> thank goodness there the firms that can do it and take the corporation on. >> you pray to god when you get your chance and confronted the jury with your life on the line, your lawyer doesn't screw up. it's all for naught. who say lawyer? >> i think the phones are tapped. he is sitting right there. the trial lawyer. the phones were tapped.

mr. i hate advertising, how is he doing it with his book? >> he's really understated. >> with mr. griffin's book. we do it every year. >> when is enough enough? if i don't write a book, what am i going to do? >> you are a thief. >> come on. >> once a thief, always a thief. >> you necessary virginia now? >> yes. charleston. >> great. >> beautiful town. >> howie long's own town. >> howie is a buddy. >> thank you. >> thank y'all. >> thank you very much for coming on the show. the book is the litigators. >> turn it around. >> i'm sorry. my goodness.

he is bossing me around. you can get an excerpt at msnbc.com. coming up, a new class in boston is promising to help locals lose their identifiable characteristic, their accent. ♪ ♪ ♪ when your chain of supply ♪ goes from here to shanghai, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ chips from here, boards from there ♪ ♪ track it all through the air, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ clearing customs like that ♪ hurry up no time flat that's logistics. ♪ ♪ all new technology ups brings to me, ♪

♪ that's logistics. ♪

riding the dog like it's a small horse is frowned upon in this establishment! luckily though, ya know, i conceal this bad boy underneath my blanket just so i can get on e-trade. check my investment portfolio, research stocks... wait, why are you taking... oh, i see...solitary. just a man and his thoughts. and a smartphone... with an e-trade app. ♪ nobody knows... [ male announcer ] e-trade. investing unleashed.

hey, how you doing? great game last night, huh? >> yeah. total domination. >> unbelievable. >> forget about it. >> hey, fellahs. this is tom. his first day. >> i'm wicked psyched to be here. you guys ready to rent some cars? >> that's good. >> you making fun of boston? >> making fun of boston. >> boston people have a funny accent. don't they have a funny accent. boston people do. >> heilman lost control. >> he has none.

>> he lost control. >> there is. >> i think there is. >> there is this class you can take in boston to lose the boston accent. why would you want to lose it. it says i'm from boston. >> some people want to lose it to move on in their lives and do something different other than say come here. stuff like that. they are trying to be actors and it's endearing. there certain people to take the class to lose the accents and they impose it and try to figure it out. it's imposed upon me to investigate this and i did. this was on the "today" show. check it out. . >> it's been revered. >> the torch has been passed -- >> i'm still catching you. parks. >> oh, my god, it was an encounter. >> you are not from here anymore.

down in new york people are like let's get divorced. >> when you hear one, there is no mistaking. >> the boston accent makes you stand out. >> enter the boston accent modification class. >> i'm pronouncing my alma mater. >> they are taught to define their inner r. >> superior customer service. >> they are mostly actors like school teachers. >> initially it's tough having a boston accent. >> you don't like the way i talk, maybe there is something you would like to do about it. >> wait. doesn't hollywood love our accent. >> the upper middle class and you are dropping your rs. >> angela perry finds local talent for big movies like the fighter. >> they want the bartenders and the cops and the plumber and the drug dealer. we have to start another reality show? >> perry said if her actors are

not auditioning, they are out of luck. >> i would like to speak to the manager. >> the teacher said the first step is getting students to hear when they are slipping. >> the on target phrase. >> they are eating ba nanners and talking. it's an adjustment they have to do. >> the big part is every time someone drops an r, you get the click, click. >> it's not that hard. >> like that. >> in massachusetts on march 12th. >> this is my hardest word. >> i then went on to clark university. >> i will consider this course a success. >> three things i'm hoping to learn from the course and you know what you can do with your clickers. >> cheryl is the only one here who doesn't want to be an actor. >> i am trying to train people,

but i had such a strong boston accent i wasn't coming across as the expert. >> ever have clam chowder? >> the real goal is to turn it off when they want to and not lose it completely. >> i love being from boston. people know it right away. >> i don't top the lose it. it's me. >> i need the clicker. did you get me one? >> i'll get you one. >> keep the accent. >> keep it. why do you want to lose your accent. >> most people confusion it with the kennedys. jack loved that. >> diamond jack women bee, the mayor of springfield. >> that too. >> keep your accent. >> the banks are flooded with more cash than they know what to do with.

business before the bell. melissa francis. she is loaded with more cash than she knows what to do with and she will tell us what it's like. next. [ female announcer ] from an earache... to the flu. an accident... to asthma. a new heartbeat... to a heart condition. when you see your doctor, you don't face any medical issue alone.

you do it together. at the american medical association, we're committed to preserving that essential partnership between patients and their doctors. because when it comes to your health, you need someone you trust. the ama. protecting the relationship between patients and physicians. and started earning loads of points. you got a weather balloon with points? yes, i did. [ man ] points i could use for just about anything.

♪ keep on going in this direction. take this bridge over here. there it is. [ man ] so i used mine to get a whole new perspective. ♪ [ male announcer ] write your story with the citi thankyou premier card, with no point caps, and points that don't expire. get started at thankyoucard.citi.com. hey, it's sandra -- from accounting. peter. i can see that you're busy... but you were gonna help us crunch the numbers

for accounts receivable today. i mean i know that this is important. well, both are important. let's be clear. they are but this is important too. [ man ] the receivables. [ male announcer ] michelin knows it's better for xerox to help manage their finance processing. so they can focus on keeping the world moving. with xerox, you're ready for real business. welcome back to "morning joe." it is time for a check on business before the bell with cnbc's melissa francis live. rolling in money. don't bite, melissa. how are you doing? >> i heard you guys talking about the "new york times" article all morning and we all read it over here. the problem is there is a lot of

theory and anecdote and i want to throw you facts at you that may disrupt the theory a little bit. >> whoa, whoa, whoa. wait a second here. >> i can't help myself. >> have we ever suggested that we want to have the narrative of this show thrown off the rails by facts? >> seriously. >> that would disturb the notion of what we do. facts? >> give her a chance. >> watch for three hours and never bound by the truth. >> facts, facts. >> give her some facts. so boring. >> look at chase which is the number one small business lender out. there up 70% year over year and 100% over 2009 and they lent 12.6 billion to small businesses this year. they would say they are washing cash, but they are lending it. they lent and raised 1.3 trillion for clients across the brand.

they would say yes, they are washing cash, but they are lending it. i don't know if that fitting in with the story or not. >> i hear stories about people having a hard time lending. >> you have to be qualified to get a loan. we are in an era of reckless lending and look what happened as a result. it's harder to get a loan. not to say they don't want to lend it when they can make the return. money is cheap. it's hard to make money on lending and hard to make money on carrying balances and holding deposits. >> that's the bigger story here. not that loans are not being given and i think the "new york times" headline here is there trillions of dollars on the sidelines and people would rather put it in a bank. speaking of uncertain economies,

the front page of the "wall street journal." europe is possibly facing a double dip recession with the debt concerns. this situation in europe is going from bad to terrible. >> that is a huge concern. a lot of people expected them to make more progress over the weekend and rolled their eyes and shrugged when that wasn't the case. they will keep working on this tomorrow, but in the meantime the real fear that people say behind the scenes is by the time they sort out the problems that europe will dip back into a recession and spill over to the rest of the world and create a contagion effect. in the meantime, have you seen what's going on with the market? the dow is on the verge of the second only monthly gain of 1,000 points. it happened in april of 1999. you wouldn't notice that for how bad sentiment is. there is two other points where it lost. does it feel like the stock market is rocketing?

it doesn't. >> no, they have the headlines to support it. >> thank you. >> see you guys tomorrow. >> up next, the best of late night. ♪ [ mrs. davis ] i want to find a way to break through. to make science as exciting as a video game. i need to reach peter, who's falling behind. and push janet who's 6 chapters ahead. ♪ [ male announcer ] with interactive learning solutions from dell, mrs. davis can make education a little more personal. so every student feels like her only student. dell. the power to do more.

that is better than today. since 1894, ameriprise financial has been working hard for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout. helping generations achieve dreams. buy homes. put their kids through college. retire how they want to. ameriprise. the strength of america's largest financial planning company. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you, one-to-one. together, for your future. ♪ and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy...

we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us.

>> eric kantor was supposed to speak today. >> his office canceled the appearance after he learned 300 seats would be open in public. >> the public? heavens to betsy! >> it was our job to start it badly. we did that. we were [ bleep ] idiots. >> i recent this president helping to depose gadhafi without the complications and cost of a never ending

occupation. it's unamerican and i won't stand for it. >> you speak mandarin. do you not? >> i do. >> say the most non-scary thing if you don't mind. would you say the most non-scary nicest thing in mandarin. [speaking foreign language] >> terrifying. what did you just say? >> i just said i think that you ought to consider being my running mate for vice president. >> sir, recent polls, you were at 2%. are you ready for the colbert bump? >> i am so ready for the colbert bump. >> governor, you may be at 2%, we will get you up to whole milk.

around the country it's a quiet day and a big storm is brewing in the northern plains and the rockies. that's where travel can be. very much later on, our shower or storm in chicago. the real issues in denver. rain changing to snow tonight. a couple of inches. you can spot an amateur from a mile away... while going shoeless and metal-free in seconds. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. now this...will work. [ male announcer ] just like you, business pro. just like you.

go national. go like a pro. exclusive to the military. and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

no, i wouldn't use that single miles credit card. hey, aren't you... shhh. i'm researching a role. today's special... the capital one venture card. you earn double miles on every purchase. impressive. chalk is a lost medium. if you're not earning double miles... you're settling for half. was that really necessary? [ male announcer ] get the venture card at capitalone.com and earn double miles on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? cover for me. i have an audition.

what's in your wallet? ♪ ♪ co-signed her credit card -- "buy books, not beer!" ♪ but the second that she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for her whole dorm floor ♪ ♪ hundred pounds of makeup at the makeup store ♪ ♪ and a ticket down to spring break in mexico ♪ ♪ but her folks didn't know 'cause her folks didn't go ♪ ♪ to free-credit-score-dot-com hard times for daddy and mom. ♪ offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. since january, i had the privilege of being the chief of staff to herman cain and the chief operating officer of the friends of herman cain. tomorrow is one day closer to the white house. i really believe that herman cain will put the united back in

the united states of america and if i didn't believe that, i wouldn't be here. we need you to get involved because together we can do this. we can take this country back. ♪ >> that's wrong. >> light up for herman. one of the most bizarre ads i have ever seen in my life. what's with that. >> i learned herman is standing up for anti-smoking in this country. that's the platform now. >> i am thinking purely from the super pack for herman cain. >> i learned that he's not the first person to blow smoke at the american public.