over the past couple of decades. >> do you believe that's what the president thinks is wrong with america? that's pathetic. >> we have some of the hardest working people on the planet in the united states of america. what do you mean lazy? >> we lost our ambition, imagination. >> before that he was saying other disparnlging things about america. >> this is a great, great country that had gotten a little soft. >> the people of america are just as imaginative and ambitious and hard working as ever. >> that lazy comment sure has legs. joining me today, chris hayes and columnist for the daily news and maggie haverman, a senior writer with politico. thanks for joining me. before we get to the lazy

discussion, we're getting reports that protesters are clashing with police, some cops have been hurt. guys, what needs to happen here today? does ows need to come out in force? what are the ramifications today? >> i think this week is sort of an em pir strikes back, there was a honeymoon both in the popular and it was inevitable would become a polarizing force. every social movement is a polarizing force to some level. the question is what is next after the base of the encampment is taken away? today is an opportunity to gal vannize. >> it's a brain storm across the brooklyn bridge? >> something like that, exactly. >> part of the problem with occupy wall street, i think in

terms of defining this as a social movement, that's been complicated. people have not agreed because there hasn't been a group unifying precept that everyone agrees on. i think this is a difficult movement. you did see mayor bloomberg come out and do what people have been urging him to do, get rid of the encampment. i'm not sure the second act will be as effective. >> the thing that makes it polarizing, the disruption of everyday life which, convenient and real pain if you're trying to get on a pain. >> and culturing divide is offputting to some folks not in major cities. >> i think that's true although i also think i've been struck how multiracial the coalition is and the people in the streets. i think the disruption is necessary for what they are trying to achieve. the fundamental core precept is that normalcy is not okay. >> an arky, sexual assault --

>> come on. >> to get -- >> what are the incidents of sexual assault? >> are you kidding? go down to zuccotti park. >> you can't anymore, they were kicked out. there's thousands of people across the country. thousands of people across the country. >> percentagewise it's okay, it's acceptable? i mean, that's crazy, a group suffered one public relations nightmare after another. i recently wrote a column comparing tea party to occupy. they share a lot of commonalties. >> here's the thing. but this is a moment where this group has to be taken seriously. >> all right. >> you're talking about pr, you're talking whether it's a movement or not. i think occupy wall street has been successful in the fact it is not about pr, it is not about professionalized politics. we in the media, we in politics have gotten so accustomed to everything being a bumper sticker sound bite press

release. >> i'm sorry violence and sexual assault is not good -- >> i'm not going to go down that road as you know everyone in the panel is against sexual assault as with any park, you have to have police and no one is saying otherwise. but, what they have done is organize people around gathering and having a discussion about the power of wall street. >> i think one challenge too is a practical, which is the seasons. the physicality of this movement has been a large part of its power an the winter is coming and they are getting kicked out of parks. there's a huge question mark continuing through spring. we'll talk more about occupy wall street no doubt but i would be remiss if i did not get into the lazy comment making its way around the interwebs. president obama mentioned earlier while he was in hawaii expressing skepticism about u.s. businesses reaching out to foreign countries and has gotten a lot of criticism from the gop

on that. that is now becoming a gop talking point for a couple of folks, include senate hopefuls wilson and george allen in virginia. is this another example of the right and conservatives trying to put obama in that outsider bucket, he is fundamentally anti-american and doesn't understand business interests -- >> yes. >> we all agree. >> no, it's a gift to gop candidates and rick perry was i think the first gop candidate to jump on this and rightly so. i won't go so far as to make the argument this means he's un-american. but we know how badly jimmy carter's malaise speech went over. when you indict the american public for the societal ills and bad economy, they don't take kindly. >> was it really an indictment? >> sure. >> he talks about how they don't have ambition, they are lazy.

>> that's not what he was doing. he was saying the u.s. has gotten sort of soft about selling itself overseas as a place to do business here. the problem is, with that argument and democrats have been saying that for the last 24 hours, that's not what he was saying, wasn't calling americans lazy. it doesn't matter because the sound bite getting played over and over again, we've gotten a little bit lazy. it's very easy to see republicans and not just rick perry, mitt romney did it too, gop presidential candidates -- >> and you mentioned rick perry. let's play the rick perry ad that just came out this week. we will get to that rick perry ad. >> do you want me to do my rick perry? >> i would love it. >> take it away. >> you have the -- then he says, that's pathetic. >> he simply says it's pathetic. >> it is uncanny. can i say about the lazy thing,

i agree with maggie. if you get the chance to even suggest you're opponent somehow implied americans are lazy, that's political gold. no, it doesn't matter in politics. it does matter for substance and i do think there are some people as they watch the silly season who get -- to quote the period, who do get turned off. so it is lazy to take a tom freedmanesque statement and turn it into a personal insult to the public. >> it's also one of these intentionally disingenuous readings, when i heard it, i thought this isn't bad to clinging to guns and religion, that was a really damning quote and he survived. >> the michele bachmann quote -- >> that's part of the narrative but they fall by the wayside. they'll make hey out of this and cut a few ads but i don't see

anything nor devastating than that. >> i think as little different time, i think the political climate is different in terms of voters, people are scared about the economy. to hear lazy as some kind -- even if that's not what he was saying, for that to be represented as a condemnation of american people, that will have a different reverb than quotes past. >> not just people but american business. >> really at war with president obama to put it mildly. >> we'll have the latest on the solyndra showdown next on "now." ♪ sen♪ co-signed her credit card - "buy books, not beer!" ♪ ♪ut the second at she shut the door ♪ ♪ girl started blowing up their credit score ♪ ♪ she bought a pizza party for the 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. ♪

v.o.: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. they won't be beat. oh, actually... then i'd be like, you rule! and my kids would be like, you rule! i'd be like, yes, i do rule! ohh! that rules! oh, load up the sleigh; this is going to be a great christmas. yeah. ring dinga-ding, ring dinga-ding, ring, ring, ring me up. [ male announcer ] no need to wait with our christmas price guarantee. we're so confident in our prices if you do find a lower one between now and christmas, we'll give you the difference on a walmart gift card. save money. live better. walmart. ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm

[ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. pnc virtual wallet gathers your spending and saving in one place. credit and debit purchases, checks, bills, and other financial information. it lets you see the details as well as the big financial picture. so you can do more with your money. see what a complete view of your money can do for you at pncvirtualwallet.com. ♪ pnc bank. for the achiever in you.

who is to apologize for the half billion dollars that has been out the door?

>> well, it is -- >> d.o.e.? >> it is extremely unfortunate what has happened but if you look at the time decisions being made, was there incompetence? was there undue -- any influence of a political partnature and i would have to say no. >> that was energy secretary steven chu who appeared before a house subcommittee defending the half billion dollar federal loan given to the now bankrupt maker of solar panels solyndra. in september of 2009 the $535 million loan was approved under president obama's stimulus program. in december of 2010 the company missed a payment and violated its loan. by the following september the doors were shut. this was the poster child for obama's green initiative and nouz it's swirling around amidst charges of cronyism -- >> i don't think it's that bad for a number of reasons.

if i were a producer at fox news, that would be my favorite story ever because all of my sort of idealogical providers are confirmed by that -- >> idealogical priors, a big thing at fox news. >> it ties together all of the things i hate, green energy, hippies with the climate stuff and stimulus and government messing with the market and all of this nicely ties together. i understand why if you're a producer of fox news you would talk about it all the time. that loan fund, they projected a 13% default rate. when you have a loan fund, you're taking risky loans it's essentially like venture capital, predicted a 13% failure rate. they have 3.6%. which means they have been too risk adverse, they have come in 10% under what they were projecting. >> setting aside the market realities here and i got to get

in here, there's also, you know, the fast tracking and the fact it doesn't look like there was due diligence, involvement of obama boosters in the venture capital fund backing solyndra. to be fair there were republicans also involved. the allegations that, you know, well not allegations but the fact that the loan was restructured to let private investment take its money before the government. a series of bad decisions about that. >> secretary choose defiance and chris's defensiveness is kind of astonishing but emblem attic of green energy movement, not to sound like a fox news procedure apparently. you have irrefutable proof now that these initiatives could not survive the free market. now you have proof they couldn't survive even with half a billion dollars in taxpayer money. and yet, they are still being voiced on the public and we have to pay for the failed

initiatives because people like president obama and secretary chu are wiling them to be successful when they are not. >> the reason solyndra went over because of the fluctuation in the price in commodity. the other prices solar prices have come down, china has put $35 billion to sub siddize their own market. >> who cares. >> there is a contention in the green energy area that there's something called the valley of death. capital isn't enough to support getting these products to mass market. the enltty that has to often step in is the government. i turn the table to you guys. how much is the solyndra situation a problem for the obama administration. >> can i yield my time to -- just kidding, i'm not going to do that. i love the spirited debate. you guys are having a debate about how to fund the green energy sector. that is a good debate to have.

what many of the republicans are doing, not what i heard from you, what many republicans are doing is turning this into some sort of political scandal and saying one individual loan or series of actions related to that loan were affected by political considerations. that is the charge in congress. there are some elements and evidence that alex mentioned earlier in the green room that there was an e-mail at a talks about the timing for politics. that's bad and everyone would say that's bad. >> that is bad. >> the point i would second to what chris hayes is saying, look, this system broadly works and the funding of green energy is something that people in both parties have talked about as a way to get out from under our oil addiction. >> this did not work. >> you have to admit this did not work. >> but this case, this company is obviously in bankruptcy, that's a fact. but the question about the program to your point and broader statistics actually should make anyone who cares about getting off oil interested in how this works. >> maggie, i've got to ask you this question. at a certain point, the administration defends its own

to the degree you have james carville saying someone's head needs to roll. here's steven chu saying i made every decision, i should bear the full brunt of blame. is it time for someone's head to roll? >> that's the head i think you'll see roll. i can't predict that's going to happen but likely when you see anybody going out there and saying the buck stops with me, that may end up being exactly what happens. i think what you're seeing with this program, everything you're saying, i agree with, a different debate than what is going on on capitol hill which is about the specific of this case as opposed to the green energy program. the problem this white house said repeatedly, you saw the president talk about this at various points is selling its own message, selling what it's doing. without suggesting that everything is all smoke and mirrors and pr, but to some extent it is about presenting what they were doing. if they were presenting it the way chris did, it might have a very different focus and less of a political ricochet there was a

very narrow focus and -- >> there's more than a whif of cronyism. >> it is distinct. whether we can find some sort of moments of actually documented bad faith, which like they were necessarily manipulating the processor whether they made a bad bet, those are two distinct. >> ari mentioned the e-mail, don't mention you're going bankrupt until november 3rd, hold off on the layoffs announcement because it won't be good for democrats in midterm elections, that's bad. >> for supporters of the administration is what we can fairly call an ick moment. >> if there was an emperor has no clothes moment for this administration, this is it. ideologually on both sides people are committed to making

this green energy movement happen on the right to make s it not happen. we need to look at the free market economics of this. >> the only things we're a net surplus is in solar energy. >> thanks for the fact. well taken. >> chris should be selling. >> it is a special day for speaker of the house john boehner. we will talk about that and what moved him to tears yesterday next on "now." is this a chevy volt? [ stu ] yeah. it's electric. i don't think so. it's got a gas tank right here. electric tank, right over here. an electric tank? really, stu? is that what you pour the electricity in? it's actually both, guys. i can plug in and go 35 miles gas free, or i can fill up and go a whole lot farther. is that my burger? oh. i just got bun. i didn't even bite any burger.

for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace." so my parents went to bank of america. they met with the branch manager and they said, "look, we've got this little hot dog cart, and it's on a really good corner. let's see if we can buy the property." and the branch manager said, "all right, i will take a chance with the two of you." and we've been loyal to bank of america for the last 71 years. ♪ imagine me and you, i do ♪ i think about you day and night ♪ ♪ it's only right ♪ to think about the girl you love ♪ ♪ and hold her tight ♪ so happy together [ male announcer ] when life changes, so can your insurances needs. use travelers free guide to better coverage to stay prepared. is your auto and home insurance keeping up with you? contact your local travelers agent, or call 800-my-coverage.

what are these guys doing? [ horn honks ] could you please not honk while this guy's telling me about his chevy volt? is that that new... is that the electric car? yeah. but it takes gas too. ask him how much he spends on gas. how much does he spend on gas? how much do you spend on gas? how much do i spend on gas? if i charge regularly, i fill up like once a month. he only has to fill up about once a month. [ woman ] wow. that's amazing. democrats are punching back at the idea taxes hurt job creators. any super committee plan needs to include higher taxes. ladies and gentlemen, how much do these millionaires coming out of the wood work to demand higher taxes, houfrp does that

impact -- >> not at all, they are free to make donations as they wish. no one is going to stop them. >> do you want to donate directly to the u.s. military -- >> i'm not a millionaire and not suggesting that anyone else spend all of their money patriotically. >> but you will be. >> for your lips to some's ears. >> we'll move on. with a little bit of sound from yesterday when john boehner got a little teary eyed. no sound but maybe a little bit of visuals. i believe this is a ceremony honoring several of the country's most famous astronauts. he was handing neil armstrong his congressional gold medal when the water works began. now, i would be remiss if i did not wish the speaker a happy birthday, he's having a thanksgiving lunch right now, which is sort of a tradition for his birthday. and of course, this is from boehner's office, he's also trying to figure out how to reduce the deficit by at least

$1.2 trillion. >> i hear rather than blowing out candles, he cries them out. >> when boehner cries so does alex wagner. >> it's effective. >> one of reasons i think he is an effective leader his humanity is on parade display. >> will he be as upset if the supt committee fails? >> possibly more in private than in public. i don't think you'll see open tears for that. it tends to be for very specific emotional moments. the super committee failing is a problem for him and problem for harry reid. there's a problem you're having accelerated meetings behind the scenes to try to speed this up with the deadline fast approaching, we'll see. >> the countdown clock has begun. let's move to our last minute item, the tea party debt commission presents its ideas to help the sub committee log jam, eliminating having four cabinet agencies and precious metal

coins to compete with the dollar. also, personal retirement accounts replace social security and medicaid would be turned into block grants. precious metal coins is my favorite part of that prescription. is the tea party on planet earth? does this hold any water as the republicans come up with a strategy? >> those ideas run the gam et from the nutty to the central plan for the republican party, personal accounts what was george w. bush campaigned around the country, turning medicare into block grants is a mainstream -- there's not that much distance actually idealogic idealogically, it's -- >> also, what we're seeing is an opening up of the policy making process. i think that's part of what's happening. the tea party whatever you think about it, has an influence on republican party politics and has not been to my mind completely absorbed. rather than going to say a

republican national committee policy meeting, they have them every four years in conjunction with the presidential campaign and survey views of elected local delegates, that's a whole real process. but it happens over here, very cloisterred. now we have aided by the internet and networks of communication is people saying, i want precious metals in my quarter. >> instead of a quarter, i want precious metals. >> in the old days there were traces of silver in u.s. quarters but people started melting them down. >> our resident metal urgist. >> i collected coins when i was a kid. i've said too much but these ideas are out there in policyland and activist land, when they get closer together whether in zuccotti park or tea party making. >> good point. we have to wrap it there. thank you all for joining me.

i really appreciated all of the commentary and back and forth and excitement and insisive commentary. when we come back, jon huntsman's biggest campaigners, his daughters join us next on "now." what's better than gold ? free gold ! we call that hertz gold plus rewards. you earn free days, free weeks and more fast. that's a plus. upgrade your ride. that's a plus. rewards with no blackout dates so you can redeem anytime. and it's easy to redeem your points online. already a gold member ? just select gold plus rewards in your profile and start rewarding yourself now. just go to hertzgoldplusrewards.com to join. hertz gold plus rewards. journey on.

there's a different cream. i challenge that with olay. i've found one cream with everything i'm looking for... olay total effects. with 7 age defying effects in just one, easy to use cream. i've swapped to all-in-one total effects. why don't you swap too? >> whoo! >> there it is! >> they may be most famous daughters on the gop campaign trail, daughters of former governor jon huntsman. they scored a viral video and now they are trying to help their father stage a come from behind victory, the likes we

have not seen on american stage since seabiscuit. ladies, welcome to the show. it is great to have you with us here in new york city. >> excited to be here. >> there are so many questions i have. i really many so excited for this interview. the first thing i have to ask, we talk about staying power, there have been people that came in and dropped out and folks that have been at the bottom and risen, your father has proven to have some kind of metal in his veins that kept him in the race and real fundamental belief he can get this thing. how often do you see him first of all? >> we actually see him pretty often. we're on the road a lot with them. and we usually are back at home in d.c. at least once a week together. >> really? >> we see him pretty often, more than i have in the last four years. they were in china and i was in school. it's kind of nice. i feel like this is the most family time we've had in a long time. >> that is a good question. i think the theatrics of this is

constantly changing. i think there's been a lot of show business in sound bites that have played a big role. as you get closer to making your vote on the ball ot you're looking for substance and someone who believes they can lead this country to a better future. i think our dad embodies all of those things, that keeps you going, knowing you can add something to make it better. >> when you do convene as a family unit together, is there a strategy, around the table sort of cheering, we're climbing in the polls, it may be tough now but we got this? >> all i can say he's working tirelessly in new hampshire and new hampshire is so important. i think -- that's pretty much the strategy for us at the moment. he's doing well. just secelebrated his 100th tow hall. >> do you need the concert shirts, huntsman town halls.

>> that's a good idea, all of cities on the back of the shirt. >> we noticed that you are great surrogates for your dad. my mom has an op-ed on the huffington post. >> it's their anniversary tomorrow. >> it seems they are very much still in love. i wonder how much was this a decision to sort of bring you guys out to flesh out the picture of who jon huntsman is and how much was you guys thinking we can speak about our dad in a way that's authentic and we want to be out there. >> we left previous jobs to come do this and wanted to do this as a family because we believe in our father so much. you know, it's one of those things where we want to be there and -- >> we started doing different things, i help out with media and she's helping with funds raising and youth outreach. then we started tweeting and kind of speaking out a little bit and realizing, we know our bad better than anybody and have

an ability to introduce him to the country. the more we did it, the more we realized we could help. >> people are loving the twitter so we figure -- >> such a great outlet to let people get to know about our dad through different ways behind the scenes or showing 140 characters about what's going on in that moment. we thought it was a great way to introduce him. >> i think there have been some misperceptions, people will still going to know our dad, i think they confuse moderate temperament with conservative record. >> but wouldn't you say, this field in particular has shown almost a humorlessness about a lot of things your father has shown a great honesty about, science, climate change. he staked out maybe a sensible position. what do you make of the rest of the field?

why are there not more people like jon huntsman running for office? >> i think it's rare to find someone honest and true to their values and true to what they believe in. that's why my dad -- people are saying we dont want the sound bit bites, we want someone with substance and go with what their heart tells them to do and won't pander we'll see my dad have more traction. and new hampshire is a great way to see that because they deal with the retail politics and see how -- they don't go through the media or sound bites, they want to go and shake the hands of the candidates and get to know them based off of a q and a or town hall. >> one thing about my dad is his humility. he may no go after other candidates but he's a humble person. we're out there trying to say things he may not be able to

say. >> what has surprised you the most as you've gotten further and further into the race? >> in terms of -- >> just anything, i mean, has it been the reception you've gotten from the twitter stream, has it been how difficult it's been and receptive? you tell me. >> the many different front-runners that keep coming and going. >> the surge. >> it's been very interesting and surprising. >> a lot of experts have been thrown off their chair, we don't know what to think of it because we've never seen a race like this. everyone is kind of staying back to see what will play out. you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. in previous elections you've seen the front-runner since day one and they tracked along. i think it is a very sinting cycle. what we've seen so far, the most interesting thing. >> it ain't over yet. >> it ain't over yet. >> that's a good point because i think the general election is what everyone should be looking at, not just the primary, who can go geagainst obama.

we believe our dad would give him a run for his money more so than anybody else on the stage. you have to look at the electability factor. >> if the country wants and awesome debate and conversation, my dad and obama would hands down -- >> who do you think the american public should pick? okay. let's segue to fun and games segment, a word association game because you guys have proven such facility of the short 148 character approach. i would love -- i'm going to throw a word out and i would love to know the first thought out of your heads. >> i've gotten in trouble with this game before. >> i apologize before hand to the campaign. >> and dad don't ground me. >> republican. >> dad. >> elephant. >> we'll keep it moving. >> conservative? >> dad. >> tea party. >> dad. >> dad is going to be the answer to all of these.

>> romney. >> panda express. anything else. you're going to get us in trouble. >> i don't want to get anybody in trouble. >> integrity, can't say dad. >> father. >> jon, you've trained them well. >> big mac. >> huntsman mcdonald's. >> nothing else. okay. >> we'll keep it move. >> gingrich, newt. >> freddie mac. >> big mac, sorry. >> it's all good, new hampshire. >> harleys harley-davidson. they harley-davidson and so do my dad. >> largest per capita motorcycles in the country. >> book of mormon.

>> joseph smith. >> broadway. broadway. mitt romney. and china. >> panda express. >> our dad. >> that's more than one word but i'll give it to you. >> fruition. >> xal onpancakes. >> libya. >> herman cain. >> arugala. >> salad. >> green. >> herman cain? >> 9-9-9. >> cowboy hats. >> anything? >> singing. >> libya. >> michele bachmann. >> repeal obama care. >> that's more than one word. fast response. that's it? >> minnesota. >> but an accent, minnesota. >> huntsman girls, thanks for joining us. good luck with your show. thank you very much. i will need it. we will be back after the break

with lawrence o'donnell in our bull pen next on "now." ♪ ♪ let's go ♪ ♪ ♪ come with me, let's go ♪ ♪ come with me, let's go ♪ ♪ cruise like a norwegian ♪

that stays even after i treat... [ male announcer ] truth is, most sinus formulas don't treat a cough. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus sinus liquid gels fights sinus symptoms plus cough. you're good. [ male announcer ] thanks. that's the cold truth! ♪ and just let me be [ male announcer ] this is your moment. ♪ your ticket home ♪ [ male announcer ] this is zales, the diamond store.

i go to e-trade and tap into the power of revolutionary mobile apps to trade wherever. whenever. life isn't fully experienced sitting idly by. neither is investing. [ birds chirping ] t tl u oua ane investing. emrdmeofthbong a ily yen e nnd suhe othnsnocab. yoothrs

three out of five republicans say they could change which candidate they are supporting and 10% are instided according to the latest cnn orc poll. whichever one gets the nomination, could republicans be longing for the one who got away? joining me now in the bull pen is lawrence o'donnell host of "the last word". >> it's great to be here, early morning tv, isn't it in my time zone? >> in your pacific time zone, indeed it is. >> let's talk about this.

it's a highly unsettled field in the gop. >> is it? >> sir. >> i'm just waiting for rick santorum. >> his day is coming, as soon as this freddie mac clears away which should be any minute now it goes to santorum. where else does it go? >> it has to. >> another t-shirt slogan perhaps. >> i want to talk about tim pawlenty. >> don't. i have this very painful history. >> you had to throw away all of the pictures -- >> i of course thought i would go bold and go early. so i predicted tim pawlenty would be the republican nominee. every once in a while i couched it as tim pawlenty has the best chance to be the republican nominee, simply by a process of elimination. there was something wrong with everybody else, romney, health care, gingrich -- they had something serious wrily wrong w them and romney is the last man

standing. i thought pawlenty would be the last man standing and i said it on the show, up until about a minute before he dropped out. >> the man was actually only running for president for less than three months. could he in this current race? >> he would be the guy. does he hear us, tim pawlenty. >> he was on my show last week and he refused to feel sorry for himself publicly but you know he's home crying about this, how stupid was this, i should have hung in there. >> i think for pawlenty it all kind of unraveled at the debate where he was given the opportunity to come out against mitt romney saying the health care plan was effectively obama care. let's play the sound from that. >> president obama setd he designed obama care after romney care and basically made is o bombny care. >> if it was on fox news sunday why is it not standing with the governor right there?

>> president obama is the person i quoted saying he looked to massachusetts for designing his program. he said it's a blue print and emerged the two programs. >> let me tell you something, i alone among the pundits thought he handled that correctly. it was early in the debate series when republican audiences don't want to hear you specifically attack others too harshly. we have seen more of that develop since then. what happened is he got the term o bamney care, said in the debate a few times including by the moderator. in courtrooms lawyers do that all the time, ask inadmissible questions knowing the judge will rule it out and the jury heard the magic words. so i actually think he handled that correctly and all pundits who said he lost it there because he didn't fight romney, he wasn't going to win there by fighting romney on that. and so i just think his huge

mistake was spending all of his money on the stupid little iowa straw poll, losing it then thinking it's all over. he should have saved airfare to get to the next debate after that. >> i guess another interpretation is that he retained a sort of conciliatory approach with romney, in the event romney becomes the nomny and tim pawlenty gets a vp nod. >> who else. >> constitutionally don't you think mitt romney needs more of a fire brand? >> yes, but who is that? ideally what you want is a tough talking conservative say texas governor. he's not conservative enough. new jersey governor will never be conservative enough. you want a right wing conserve tich texas governor. the problem is you don't have one who can get through a debaty joe biden. the vice presidential campaign is one hour, a debate with joe

biden. there's only one guy out there who can do that who doesn't have big giant crazy things on his record that eliminates him. he's got some bad stuff that you can use to campaign against him but it's nothing like the stuff the other people have. >> he is the cleanest. we mentioned the specter of chris christ christie. and then we go to the people who didn't run and mitch daniels and chris christie. why didn't they run? >> there's only one explanation, for every single person who considers running for president who doesn't, there's only one, except for the utter frauds like donald trump. >> could you put sarah palin? >> yes, it was a money making scheme that worked for both of them. the only reason they don't is because they think they won't win. there's not a single person in our history who thought he or she would win and then did not run for president, not one.

>> you don't think the actual cal can y cal cue house was a deter rent, if i take the office in 2013, there's not much i can do -- >> if you're am the middle of a nuclear war -- >> there's no version of air force one they don't want to fly on and no version of living in the white house that they don't want. they'll take anything. >> what part of president of the united states do you not like. >> certainly the last presidential campaign shows you that. they knew they were running into a disaster of two wars and economy on the way to the bottom. they knew. there's nothing about conditions out there that would make someone not run. it's an exercise in ego mania, even the ones we like. whoever you have loved as a presidential candidate who is also, by the way, let's

remember, an ee ego maniac. >> maybe a correct sense of self-. by the way, there are people in the building who are known to have huge egos. on this set at this moment. and so it's not like some weird phenomenon. there's big egos in the world and among the very biggest are the people who choose to run for president. >> do we get a third party candidate? >> the only third party candidate that will work is the ross perot model which is a billionaire, not one of these fake trump billionaires who couldn't afford republican primaries, you have to be able to spend a messive amount of money and not notice it like ross perot, a perot who's not crazy and that's a serious threat. bloomberg is the biggest threat out there. >> lawrence o'donnell, thank you for joining us in the now bullpen as always, lawrence will have the last word at 10:00 p.m. here on msnbc. thanks a lot. lawrence. ♪

it's true. you never forget your first subaru. this season's hottest games and...sweatbands.

♪ boom, boom, boom, gotta get-get ♪ ♪ boom, boom, boom, gotta get-get ♪ ♪ boom, boom, boom, gotta get-get ♪ ♪ boom, boom, boom it's like looking into the sun. ♪ boom, boom, boom we're rocking the beat, kids! wow. [ male announcer ] get low prices on this season's hottest games. like the black eyed peas experience for kinect for xbox 360. rated t for teen. backed by our christmas price guarantee. save money. live better. walmart. backed by our christmas price guarantee. edhechit ♪ backed by our christmas price guarantee.

now it's time for my post script. if alabama if you'd like to get a flu shot or register your dog or have your trash collected, you may be required to show proof of citizenship. this is not because there's been a recent outbreak of canadians flying south to recycle or because brazilians are flooding the country to register cocker spaniel anchor dogs. it's because alabama has passed one of the strikest immigration laws, one intended to prevent illegal immigrants from taking part in any taxpayer funded services. the law which went into effect on september 29th has stoked fear among the immigrant communities and complicated the distribution of basic utilities,

including running water and inconvenienced veterans, poultry plan operator and one can safely assume veterinarians. given this alabama lawmakers conceded it may be time for tweaks to the legislation. by tweaks, one can only hope they mean throwing the whole thing out and returning to planet earth. that does it for me today, i'll see you back here tomorrow at noon eastern. until then, you can follow us on twitter at now with alex. andrea mitchell reports is next. thanks so much. coming up next, occupy wall street's day of action results in arrests across the country. deal or no deal, hope is fading fast for the debt super committee. >> and new rebel attacks in syria as russia warns of civil war. those stories and a lot more next here on "andrea mitchell reports." so i took my heartburn pill and some antacids. we're having mexican tonight, so another pill then?

unless we eat later, then pill later? if i get a snack now, pill now? skip the snack, pill later... late dinner, pill now? aghh i've got heartburn in my head. [ male announcer ] stop the madness of treating frequent heartburn. it's simple with prilosec otc. one pill a day. twenty-four hours. zero heartburn. no heartburn in the first place. great.

♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. new v8 v-fusion smoothie. you want to save money on car insurance? no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem. you want to save money on motorcycle insurance? no problem. you want to find a place to park all these things? fuggedaboud it. this is new york. hey little guy, wake up! aw, come off it mate! geico. saving people money on more than just car insurance. we are now printing on the back sides of used paper and we switched to fedex cause a lot of their packaging contains recycled materials.

tell them what else fedex does. well we're now using more electric trucks and lower emission planes. we even offer a reusable envelope. now, can't we at least print on the back sides of used paper? what's the executive compensation list...? [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter. [ female announcer ] we never forget the nearly 12 million cancer survivors in america today... and the countless lives lost. we owe it to them to protect funding for cancer research, prevention and access to care. congress, make cancer a priority and give millions of americans what they need most.

right now on "andrea mitchell reports quts. six days to go and the blame game has started. >> you can lead a horse to water but cannot make him drink. the problem is getting to yes. remember the democrats, whether it's the white house or where we are today, we had never gotten to a point where there was yes. they never really put paper on the table. it's very frustrating. >> half a world away, president obama sticks a finger in china's eye. on the campaign trail, newt gingrich plays defense while rick perry goes on offense and herman cain is a no show. one