plus,angle over taxes. the payroll tax showdown with top obama aide from the white house. and american becomes the last of the big airlines to seek bankruptcy protection. we begin with breaking news out of tehran where they stormed the british embassy. today's incident began as a protest over sanctions and took place on the first anniversary of the assassination of an iranian nuclear scientist, a mysterious unsolved assassination. crowds quickly overwhelmed riot police, made it into the complex. hard line students lovewded offices, burned flags. with me now former under secretary of state, nicholas burns, professor at harvard. complex situation unfolding. thank you for joining us today. first of all, it's clear, these

are not just students. there's no such things as students in iran who do something like this violently and don't have some backing. it could not have happened, i would pause it, from your experience, without some kind of blessing from powers, some powers that be? >> andrea, i completely agree. it just -- the iranian government runs a very tight ship. they have a very active security force. nothing happens on the streets of tehran like this that the iranian government doesn't support. it cannot be possible that a police force couldn't contain several hundred demonstrators. i think the iranian government actively imbedded this and that's the bet of a lot of other people around the world. >> and what do we know about the iranian government? we've had so many mysterious things happen. we've had unexplained explosions, people on the street say sab toj, iranian government disagrees, rebutts that. one report yesterday. one a month or so ago. we've had that mysterious plot, plot the that justice department

claimed was against saudi diplomat here. what is going on in iran right now? >> well, andrea,i the iranian government is ruled by hard line conservative forces around the revolutionary forces, they have been ais send antsy for the last several years. you wonder why would they do this? i think have you to look at domestic politics. this is uncivilized behavior by the iranian government to allow an embassy to be stormed and also illegal. iran has a responsibility to protect foreign diplomats as well as diplomatic property. but it may be the power struggle under way, and lolgts of faxes vying for power, has allowed this to happen. it may be one group see it in its interest to have this kind of thing happen bu's reputation internationally. it already had a very poor reputation. it will further worsen their credibility.

>> of course, amin engihmadinej been a controversial face, but in this context he seems to be losing power to the supreme leader. >> ahmadinejad is in a power struggle and he is losing it. people around him have been either arrested or fallen from favor and grace in iranian politics, the supreme leader has taken a hard line. this is a very paranoid regime. many of the top people, including the supreme leader, rarely travel. they don't know much about the outside world, so this kind of behavior to them is right out of their playbook, probably makes sense. there has to be a firm international reaction against this. it was good in that regard to see the very tough statement from the russian government this morning supporting great britain against what the iranian government allowed to have happen in the streets of tehran this morning.

>> finally, nick, the fact that apparently order has been restored, that the government did respond. this is not the same thing that happened back to our compound in 1979, where we waited a year to get our diplomats and our embassy back. does that tell us anything? >> i don't know if it tells us much. obviously, it's -- it's good news that no one was taken hostage and no one was harmed. we hope british diplomats can be safe. what it tells success this a very unstable government, hard lined but filled with factional in-fighting. the people leader seems to be over ahmadinejad but it may be domestic politics is the real reason why these abhorrent events occurred this morning. >> nicholas burns from harvard, of course, our former top limit. thank you for being with us today. >> thank you. we're joined from tehran in the middle of it. you were out earlier today and have been covering all of this. what can you tell us the

situation is right now? >> reporter: well, the situation has calmed down a little bit right now. as you know, the british compounds were raided earlier today. there was the residence by british diplomats which was raided and the embassy in downtown tehran. now, the residence where the british employees work, order has been restored there. have i to tell you, six people at that embassy were taken hostage for several hours. but then they were released to the custody of the police and now they are in safety. but six british personnel were taken hostage for several hours at the residency in the north of tehran. but the main compound in downtown tehran where the -- the consular section is, there are still students in the embassy and the last report we have is that the chief of police from tehran has gone inside the embassy and is trying to reason with them to leave. now, these are very hard-line

students who wield a lot of influence in the country. it's not always very easy for the police to strong-arm them. in many cases, they have more influence than the police. so, right now the head of the police of tehran is trying to negotiate with them to leave the embassy. and that's the latest report we have right now, andrea. >> ali, briefly, tell us -- explain to us the important of the ba siege group and their relationship with the revolutionary guard, why they have so many clout? >> reporter: it's a branch of the revolutionary guard, a militia. when the huge protests happened here over the disputed elections in 2009 it was the basige that came down like a ton of brick on the protesters. they're very, very powerful entity in iran. very stle money, armed very well, wield a lot of influence and their only answerable to the very top of the strings of power in iran.

they're a force to be reckoned with here. >> ali arouzi explaining these are not, quote, students, this is an armed militia group. thank you. be safe. in our "daily fix" back here today, curtains for herman cain? cain confirms cain did tell senior staff on a conference call this morning he is, quote, reassessing whether he should stay in the race. cain is denying he had an affair with a georgia woman, ginger white, who says their physical relationship lasted 13 months and lasted only eight months ago when cain launched his launch for the white house. >> i acknowledge that i knew the woman. i acknowledge that i've known her for that period of time but the accusation that i had a 13-year affair with her, no. >> was this an affair? >> no, it was not. >> no sex? >> no. >> none? >> no. >> and if this woman says there

is, she's lying? >> let's see what the story's going to be. i don't want to get into being pinned down on things until we see what the story's going to be. >> this is moving very rapidly. chris, msnbc contributor and managing editor of postpolitics.com and joins us with "the daily fix." your assessment from what you've heard? we heard from national review, from others who have stran scripts of -- national review has put out a transcript of this conference call. he made it very clear, this is sort of touch and go for the cain campaign. >> yeah. you know, it feels a little bit like depends on what you think the meaning of reassess is, andrea, but reassessing a presidential campaign, herman cain on that call said he reassessed over the summer, reassessed after the iowa straw poll, after a florida straw poll he won in august and reassessing now, but this reassessment comes after multiple women have come forward in the last month with allegations of sexual harassment against mr. cain. as you mentioned, ginger white

yesterday. so this reassessment feels, i would say, fundamentally differently. i would say even in this, even in this, andrea, the message the cain campaign gets out is incredibly muddled. the spokesman, j.d. gordon saying full steam ahead, we're running and then if you read the transcript, herman cain says, we're in it right now. if that changes, i'll let you know in the next few days. that's not full steam ahead, by my estimation. >> hardly. in fact, this is one of the other quotes from that conference call, as taken down by the national review. we have to do an assessment as to whether or not this is going to create too much of a cloud in some people's minds as to whether or not they would be able to support us going forth. herman cain just earlier today. and newt gingrich in south carolina today has reacted. here's what gingrich had to say. >> i think it's a very difficult situation for he and his family. my heart goes out to them. i hope that he reaches whatever is the right decision for them. and beyond, that i'm not going

to have any comment. i think it's his decision to make. he has to do what he thinks is best. >> so, gingrich staying out of the way as the other candidates are. >> right. >> but clearly, this is a decision time for herman cain pp, candidacy which was already, we should point out, already in significant trouble. >> thank you. that was the point i was going to make, andrea, which is this is someone who has his 15 minutes which appeared to have run out a few weeks ago. the polling suggests he's dropping. he's not dropping like a rock, but gone from 25 to 15. interesting point. you don't see conservative talkers, rush limbaughs of the world rushing to defend him as you did when the original sexual harassment allegations came out. herman cain said, here we go again when responding to the latest allegation. i think a lot of people who like him and wanted to be for him are thinking the same thing and thinking, you know what, this is too much. where there's smoke there's fire, whether he gets out of the race or stays in the race over

the next few days, his influence as a top tier candidate has effectively ended, barring some revelation that suggests everything we talked about is, in fact, not accurate, which i think is unlikely. >> well, chris, it just seems to be a campaign whose time has come and gone. thank you so much. and up next, gene on the tax and budget showdowns. do you have a question you want noticeness? whether it's about 2012 politics, what's happening on the hill or the crisis in the middle east, join me wednesday for a live web chat between 2:15 and 2:45 eastern online at andrea.msnbc.com. o0 c1 2 o0 hey guys, what can i get for you? i'd like a decaf 360 calories please.

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people at the white house and a number of democrats here in the senate would still rather spend their time designing legislation to fail in the hopes of trying to frame up next year's election. we should do what we were sent here to do, that means more bill signings and few chores. >> senate republican leader mitch mcconnell saying democrats' current plan to extend the payroll tax is dead on arrival. is there room for negotiation? gene spurling, top economic adviser at white house and joins us now. thanks for being with us. are we headed to a complete deadlock and showdown again on this payroll tax cut? >> i hope not. i don't think why that should be the case. there's no question we should be extending and expanding the payroll tax cut with the economy still projected to not be growing in 2012. private sector experts predict

that. difference could be 600,000 to a million new jobs. he can can't have afford to have that setback. an dpree yeah, this has been a very bipartisan bill. this is the type of thing that's been widely supported in the past. it's very simple. it puts money in the pockets of our country. it cuts payroll taxes across in half for all small businesses. could be up to $150,000 tax cut for entrepreneurs and small businesses to help hire or to help meet inventory. why we can't -- couldn't pass this right now, why republicans would oppose it when they've supported in the past is beyond me. i hope we can pass this for the good of american workers, the good of american families, small businesses and entrepreneurs across the country.

>> gene clyburn was on with chuck todd and he indicated there might be some give on the democratic side for a change with sequester rule if republicans were open to that. let's watch this. >> we ought to all sit down and find out a way to make sure we're going to raise taxes on middle income people, that working people can continue to be a part of this governmental process. and if it calls for redoing the sequester, that is something we might ought to look at. >> so, is that something the president would look at, redoing the sequester and somehow negotiating a deal on the payroll tax? there's no reason not to pass this cut, cut payroll taxes in half for workers and small businesses. >> but, if it's dead on arrival, why -- there's not that much time left. you also got the government, you know, the continuing resolution.

the government could shut down before christmas which would have an even worse impact on the economy. >> there's no reason we can't move quickly and expa dishesly. this is something widely supported, called for by leaders of the republican side in '09, in 2010. there's no reason not to get this done. the important thing is to have a sequester that puts pressure on both sides to come to the table and forge a grand compromise, a bargain, the type of compromise we need on entitlements and high revenues to put our deficit in the right direction. we should be able to do this positive thing for jobs, for american workers and for small businesses. and we stand ready to work to get this done. we have a bill on the floor right now that deserves

bipartisan support -- >> gene, let me quickly -- >> i don't know why republicans would pick this moment with the economy not as strong as it should be, with jobs, the major issue in our country, to be for letting or even considering letting this payroll tax cut expire knowing it would mean taxes would go up a full $1,000 on the typical family next year. it's a temporary tax cut. but 2012 is not the time to let taxes go up on every weeker. >> john friedman says the president should go back and revisit the simpson/bowles plan and say, we missed the opportunity last year. let's go back to the drawing board. i've rethought it. why not just embrace simpson/bowles. is that something the president would consider? >> if you look at what the president's proposed in his april framework, what he offered to -- >> i'm just asking -- >> -- over the summer -- i'm

answering your question. >> i'm asking about simpson/bowles. >> no, i'm answering your question. we put forward the framework very consistent with where simpson/bowles was. it had significant medicare and medicaid savings. it called for a a third in revenues. it called for discretionary cuts, which we've already passed. so, we've been very much operating in that framework. that's the framework that we put up to the super committee. so, the president has been working with that kind of balance. and the reason we don't have a grand compromise is because the republicans, too many of them, have refused to do what was an essential component of the bowles/simpson bill to have respectable amount of revenue, overall compromise. every independent group, every expert, everyone knows that's the way forward. and the president's shown willingness to compromise over and over again with the type of framework that was put forward

by bowles/simpson in which the president has put on the line, including two different times with the speaker of the house this summer. gene spurling from the white house. i don't think it will get done. who will be the top dog on banking without barney? the fight is on. politico briefing up next. for her sophomore year ♪ ♪ 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 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 aflac... and major medical? major medical, boyyyy! [ beatboxing ]

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barney frank's retirement will leave a gaping hole on banking policy. next in line, the democratic side, maxine water lobbying for the top spot but she has her own problems. jake sherman, congressional correspondent for politico and joins us for "the politico briefing" today. she's strong, controversial and also has legal issues. >> that's right. she has ethics issues on capitol

hill. a couple years ago she called hank paulsen, the treasury secretary to set up a meeting with one united, her husband was on the board of directors, wanted federal money. during the banking crisis a couple years ago. when that came out, the ethics committee decided to investigate. even more so, now there's a special council so this doesn't going away for democratic leaders. they have a while to decide, though. barney's around for a little while longer. isn't leaving any time soon at the end of 2012. and caroline maloney from new york city is right behind maxine waters on the panel. no shortage of options or time, to be honest. >> this this could be a bitter, internal dispute. carolyn maloney was passed over one or time. the downside is that he represents that silk stocking district in new york city and a lot of financial interests there. and given occupy and all the rest, it may not be the best

time the democrats might think to have somebody from new york city heading the democratic side of the banking committee. but that said, she would be next up in line behind maxine waters. this could be a rather ugly dispute with maxine waters having a lot of support from congressional black caucus. >> the fights are always nasty and the congressional black caucus aggressively lobbies leadership to make sure their members are represented at high committees. the congressional black caucus represents a large number of democrats in the house. so, that's also an issue. and to be fair, she is next, maxine waters, and she hasn't been convicted of any ethics violations yes. this process isn't done. that's an argument she'll make. >> jake sherman from politico, thanks so much, jake. newt gingrich doubles down on immigration in south carolina today. will his gamble pay off in a state that's about to enact one of the nation's toughest

anti-immigration laws? plus howard dean on candidate cain. and be sure to follow the show online. on facebook and twitter. i'd race down that hill without a helmet. i took some steep risks in my teens. i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. it's backed by over 19 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. [ man ] still love that wind in my face! talk to your doctor. don't kid yourself about the risk of heart attack and stroke. if lipitor's been working for you, stay with it.

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what's in your wallet? sorry i'll clean this up. shouldn't have made it rain. break news. vice president joe biden is in baghdad. this unannounced visit makes his eighth trip to iraq since taking office as vice president. >> it's good to be back for this purpose. it's good to be back. >> thank you. >> during his trip, the vice president will be thanking the troops and meeting with iraq's leaders. the visit comes as u.s. forces, of course, prepare for complete withdrawal by the end of next month. nbc's ann curry is traveling with vice president biden and joins us by phone from iraq. this is an important time. a real inflexion point in our policy in iraq. >> reporter: good afternoon. the c-17 carrying vice president joe biden landed in darkness in bad baghdad.

pilots were wearing infrared goggles amid security at 10:32 eastern time where as you point out, with security concerns are especially heightened here. the vice president team seems especially mindful of the recent rise in violence in iraq as u.s. troops are withdrawing. numerous bombings in recent weeks, including recent days here in baghdad which military leaders attribute to terrorist groups giving false impression that americans are fleeing under fire. at the moment from the 170,000 troops in iraq at the height of the war, there are now less than 15,000 that remain. the final withdrawal is to end before december 31st. it's being described as the largest movement of military equipment since world war ii. the vice president, as you intimated, plans to meet with troops and leaders in iraq's government. trying to address how the u.s. will now help iraq rebuild. the real question is how warmly will america receive these men and women in uniform who have

proven resilience, leadership skills to be our next greatest generation? i think it should be asked, beyond our gratitude for these young men and women who answer the call of duty, is the united states really doing enough to give them access to higher education, to jobs and to encourage even preferential mortgages as our nation did after world war ii, which then and could now again help lift our nation's economy. we're going to ask the vice president that question. and also questions on other topics, a wide range in our interview on the ground here in the coming days. by the way, andrea, our arrival is pretty dramatic. there were several blackhawk helicopters waiting, blades turning on the tarmac, timed to move the vice president, his staff and reporters quickly to the relative safety of the green zone. boy, that blackhawk ride was in darkness. it was surreal with baghdad bright down below. a lot to report on the coming days, andrea. >> and, indeed, especially in the campaign -- ann, as you

know, the vice president and mrs. biden, i've traveled with them to baghdad, have a very special relationship with the troops, their son, beau, attorney general in delaware state having served and done a tour of duty there in iraq. ann? >> reporter: exactly right. this is not just a work issue for joe biden. it's pretty clear he gets pretty choked up. it's an emotional one as well. and i expect -- we'll see what happens on the ground. there are times being set aside for the vice president to mingle with troops. but as we've seen and as you've seen him on the ground here, andrea, he gets very involved. usually that time set aside extends because he gets so involved. and as i spoke to him actually on the c-17 about what happens from here with these troops, he is very passionate about taking up this cause, this idea that we as a country need to step up. not just as government but also as businesses and as individuals

to welcome home these troops from all branches of service. not just with gratitude but, rather, with a step up. that's actually not only good for them but also good for our country. there's a correlation that could be made between world war ii and he agreed with this on our c-17 ride. these young men and women who perhaps arguably could be described as some of the most battle-trained,th most aware, most able to take directions, a leader with great leadership skills generation we've seen in quite some time, andrea. >> ann curry exclusively with joe biden in iraq. thank you for calling in. we look forward to ann's interview with joe biden. in a few short weeks, south carolina will join alabama and arizona in implementing crackdowns on illegal immigrants. many say are unconstitutional. the new south carolina law requires police to call federal immigration officials if they

even suspect someone they stopped on another matter is an illegal immigrant. employers will have to check immigration status of their new employees. the justice department is attempting to block the law from being implemented, contending it infringes on federal immigration laws. congressman gutierrez from illinois. you'll be in charleston tomorrow to protest the xlau you're serving as advocate for a south carolina resident facing deportation. what are the issues here as you see them? what's wrong with the south carolina law and others around the country that are trying to be implemented? >> the state of south carolina can pass laws and arrest people but they can't deport anybody. that is the role of and the provenance of the federal government. tomorrow, andrea, i'm going to a hearing, immigration enforcement

hearing with mr. gambino sanchez. he arrived here as a teenager, 13 years ago. he's a wonderful father to 8-month-old american citizen child. he has a 6-year-old american citizen child. he has two wonderful -- he's never been involved. i have the memorandum here that was issued by enforcement and control, by mr. john morton. and in this memorandum, as you recall, they said, we're going to prioritize criminals and not people like mr. sanchez. so, i'm going to go up to his hearing with him, accompany him, and i'm going to ask they cancel the proceedings against him. i think that's the best way to tell south carolina that you cannot enforce immigration policy. that's the federal government. and stop profiling people because that's all that's happening. he was driving without a license. he was latino. he doesn't have any documentation. so, he was held for five days before he was handed over to i.c.e. i think they should stop any proceedings against him and i'm

going to accompany him tomorrow because otherwise this piece of paper and this document of the obama administration really doesn't have any weight or meaning. >> do you see any daylight on the republican side and the fact that newt gingrich at least talked about not a pathway to citizenship, he says, not amnesty, but some sanction, some ability for long-time residence to stay, to find a way to, quote, legality, whatever that means. >> yeah. you know, look, i think mr. newt gingrich's statements are a step in the right direction. they're very different than the kind of chorus we've heard from republican presidential candidates. at least he begins to reflect on the reality that we have 12 million undocumented, many with long histories, with children and families, and really deep roots in the communities in which they live. >> let me point out to you, congressman -- >> and we should look for another resource. >> let me point out to i've just learned just now on the campaign road, newt gingrich has said in

south carolina that it is a disgrace that the federal government having failed to do its job securing the border, his words, is now filing lawsuits against states that are simply trying to do what the federal government's own -- what is the federal government's own failure. so, gingrich is now criticizing the government for going up and challenging the south carolina law that you'll be protesting against tomorrow. >> i didn't think there would be a lot of consistency to the statement. he's been banged about pretty ruthlessly by the other presidential candidates so i wouldn't be too surprised if he changed his position. look, the -- i was in alabama last week. i'm going to be in south carolina again tomorrow. i'm going to go to a hearing. this administration has said we should deport criminals. those should be our priorities. you know what, i agree with the administration. then they also said, we should

cancel any cases against those that have no criminal record but have deep roots, that have children that have came here at a young age. i'm going to be there and stand with mr. sanchez tomorrow and hopefully he'll have his case canceled tomorrow. >> what we follow up. thank you very much. safe travels, congressman. >> thank you. can herman cain's candidacy survive? according to cain himself who spoke to staff others a conference call just this morning, we'll know in the next several days. howard dean former chairman of the democratic party and joins me now. >> he's never going to get out from under this. the lady from atlanta says she it as texts and phone records and all this other business.

so, it's going to be really tough. and i -- you know, he has to decide for himself f he's going to exit and how he's going to exit, but i don't think he can win the republican nomination. >> at this stage, what is your assess many of the republican field against barack obama, because the president, most people had thought, would face mitt romney but romney can't seem to bust out of the 24%, 25% ceiling and now newt gingrich on the rise. he's likely to inherit a lot of herman cain supporters. >> yeah, will he. i mean, that's the big problem the conservatives have in this race is that mitt romney gets no more than 30% of his own party. usually it's around 25% or less. but they are so divided, the conservatives are so divide, they can't settle on a candidate. i'm just waiting for jon huntsman to have his turn. everybody else has had theirs. i'm not an expert in republican politics. i would rather be where newt is than all the people that have come before him because he's the

hot thing and in 45 days will be the first vote. >> ginger white said she had that relationship with 13 years with herman cain. she responded to his denials today. >> are you sticking by your story it was a sexual relationship? >> absolutely. i can't imagine him confirming. it's the name of the game, i guess. i couldn't imagine anyone coming out and lying about this. you know, who would want this? it's really not been fun. >> with high unemployment and a divided democratic base, is barack obama and the democratic party the luckiest politicians around right now? >> yeah, look, we got a long way to go. this is a tough race. the race is about barack obama versus somebody in the republican side. and it is likely to be mitt

romney. the biggest problem mitt romney has, he's well organized, he's a real executive, he knows how to think and he's moderate, which is what, of course s hurting him right now. but the biggest problem he has is 69% of americans believe he cares about the rich more than anybody else. for obama that number is 30%. as you know, andrea, when you do a poll, one of the things you care about the most is the answer to the question, does the candidate care about people like me? by more than 2 to 1, people think mitt romney doesn't care about people like them. that's going to be, i think, the fatal flaw in the romney campaign, if romney does become the nominee. >> thank you so much, howard dean. thanks for being us with today. >> thank you. and the latest on the mob violence against the british embassy in tehran up next. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth!

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hi, everyone, i'm tamron hall. coming up at 2 p.m. eastern time, the latest redalement of

the herman cain train and we'll talk to a reporter from salon.com who says, quote, the most famous philanderer in the gop race is now poised for an adultery boost. wonder who he's talking about. big developments out of wisconsin where the effort to get rid of republican governor scott walker reached a major milestone. one of wisconsin's leading democrats will join us to talk about where things stand 12 days after they started collecting signature to force walker into a recall election. all that coming up. tensions are still high in tehran where hard line students remain inside the british embassy hours after breaching the compound. michael singh, managing director of the washington institute and getting e-mails from people inside the embassy as well. these are not students. these are, as ali, colleague was reporting earlier, members of the besige force. >> that's right. they are huge and been conducting exercises and parades in recent days.

this looks -- all the hallmarks much an action coordinated by iranian government. media is there covering it. the iranian regime controls the media inside the country. you know, the statement released by the protesters went to such pains to say they weren't affiliated with the government that basically leads you to believe the opposite. so, this looks like it's retaliation of some sort against the british for, perhaps, strat bank sanctions passed recently by the british and by the eu. >> now, the u.s. has said it is considering those -- taking the same steps, central bank actions, that is, sort of the next and perhaps last economic pressure that could be applied. timing may not be right right now. but it's something that's certainly very much on the table and sounds, from what they're saying over at treasury, they're leaning forward on that. >> well, i think that's right. certainly, the recent action the united states took designating iran as an area of concern under section 311 of the patriot act was a first step to doing that.

remains to be seen if u.s. will go the full mile and sanction the central bank or try to sanction smaller banks around the world doing business with iran. but certainly it's still on the table but i think there is some push back in europe and some concerns from our diplomatic partners as to what the consequences would be, say, for the oil market at as time of great uncertainty in the global market. >> but a card held out there. what about the debate, a vigorous debate going on right now in israel as to whether to even take preemptive military action against iran given what the international atomic energy agency reported about their nuclear program. >> there's no doubt that report and all the information it contains makes this debate much more urgent because iran looks like it's getting closer to any red lines that may still exist out there for united states and israel. you've seen an uptake in mysterious explosions inside iran -- >> what's going on with that? >> of course, it's -- no one will say this is part of a western campaign but that's the suspicion. this is part of a campaign

directed at iranian nuclear program. the most prominent person that decide was a high rinking irc official -- >> revolutionary guard official. >> involved in the missile program. it's provoked a firestorm of reaction inside iran. it's seen -- whether or not -- seen as western campaign against iran. >> if you say western campaign it's either u.s., israeli or perhaps british. some combination. >> right. those are the three sort of villains of the iranian eyes. always the u.s., british and israels in iran press and that may is have something to do with the action against british embassy. it may be seen as retaliation for campaign in addition to the sanctions. >> we should point out, this is the first anniversary of an assassination of a prominent iranian nuclear scientist a year ago. >> that's right. that's right. you know, so these -- again, in the iranian mind, whether or not it's true, all of these actions are related. they'll tie things together,

which we may see as totally separate, but they'll -- the regime will certainly paint as coordinated actions against them. and they'll use to justify the most outrageous most outrageous actions like the storms of the embassy. it will further escalate the tensions and the pressures and make it more likely. >> to better understand what's going on and when political story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours here is what's next on "andrea mitchell reports." and it holds all day. ♪ take the fixodent 12 hour hold challenge. guaranteed, or your money back. ♪ [ man #1 ] i was fascinated by balsa wood airplanes

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. which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours. contributor and managing editor joins us again. chris, president obama in pennsylvania. why would he go to pennsylvania, scranton, jobs? it's joe biden's hometown, but joe bides en in baghdad. battle ground pennsylvania. >> look, this president's schedule throughout the first three years of his presidency is

carefully calibrated. he almost never goes to a non-swing state. this will be his 56th event in swing states since coming into the presidency. frankly it's to raise money. scranton, this is a place in north eastern pennsylvania where president obama needs to be able to win or at least come close. this is white and working class voters where he struggled back to the primary against hillary clinton. ohio and pennsylvania. he struggled to win over the voters. this is the reagan democrats. he got plenty of them in 2008 and he is going to need a eeeee. trips like this are meant to build up the credibility and show he is fighting on the economy and fighting for the middle and the working class while republicans are not.

expect to hear plenty of that from him tomorrow. scranton pa that hillary won the state. thank you very much. we will watch that tomorrow. that does it for us for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." tamron hall has a look at what's next. >> we are following two developing stories. herman cain told his staff he will make a decision on the future of his campaign. they said cain's troubles could give newt gingrich an adultery boost. cain's alleged affair is our "news nation" gut check. should this matter to voters? michael jackson's doctor was sentenced to the maximum sentence.

the defense, prosecution and members of jackson's family. we are back for you in three. ♪ with the lowest national plan premium... ♪ ...and copays as low as one dollar... ♪ ...saving on medicare prescriptions is easy. ♪ so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. or go to walmart.com for details.

>> right now on "news nation," two big breaking stories this hour. the cain train derailed. he told staff he will stay in the race, but is reassessing his campaign after members of the team opted to personally attack the woman who said she was cain's mistress for more than's deak ead calling her a stalking defaming liabler. what is he fighting for? is it the gop nomination, book sales or saving his brand? a judge sentences conrad murray to the maximum time behind bars for the death of michael jackson. we are awaiting reaction from the family and prosecutors. joining the club, american airlines filing for bankruptcy protection and that means all the major u.s. airlines have restructured under chapter 11. what this means for airline woer