think hard about this. because their actions lately don't reflect who we are as a people. what does that say about our priorities when we would rather protect a few really well to do people than fight for the jobss of teachers and firefighters? what does it say -- what does it say about our values? when we would rather fight for corporate tax breaks than put construction workers back on the job rebuilding our roads and our bridges and our schools. what does it say about us if we're willing to cut taxes for the people who don't need them and raise them on the folks who do need a tax break. we are better than that. america is better than that. we celebrate individual achievement. we expect everybody to work hard

but we don't believe in every person for themselves. we believe that out of many, we come together as one. we're a people who reach for our own success but we also reach back for the people to bring somebody up. reach back to help others earn their own success as well. and we believe, we believe that if the folks at the bottom and the folks in the middle succeed, that america succeeds. and the folks at the top succeed as well. the decisions we make today are going to determine whether or not our kids grow up in a country where those values still thrive. and scranton, i don't know about you but i want malia and sasha and all your kids, i want them to come into a country that is built on those big generous values.

an america that reflects the values that we inherited from our parents and our grandparents. so if you agree with me, i need you to tell congress where your priorities lie. members of congress, they work for you. scranton, you've got a great senator in senator casey. i love senator casey. so i want you to know, i want you to know, he is already on the program. but to everybody who is here, everybody who is watching, send your senate a message. send your senators a message. tell them, don't be a grinch. don't be a grinch. don't vote to raise taxes on working americans during the holidays. make sure to renew unemployment insurance during the holidays.

stop saying no to steps that would make our economy stronger. put our country before party. put money back into the pockets of working americans. do your job! pass this bill! scranton, the american people are with us on this. it is time for folks to stop running around spending all their time talking about what's wrong with manager. spend some time, roll up your sleeves and help us rebuild america. that's what we need to do. there is nothing wrong, nothing wrong with this country that we can't fix. we're americans and our story has never been about things coming easy to us. that's not what scranton has been about. that's not what pennsylvania, that's not what america is about. it has been about rising to the moment and meeting the moment

when things are hard. it is about doing what's right. so let's do what's right. let's prove that the best days of america are still ahead of us. god bless you. and god bless the united states of america. good afternoon. it's wednesday, november 30th. we've just been listening to president obama delivering remarks in scranton, pennsylvania, referring to the determination of the people of scranton. he said, we are tougher than these times and we don't give up. we get up. he called on congress to extend and expand the pay roll tax cut for middle class american families and reminded the audience that far from being a tax and spend liberal, he, president obama, has actually lowered taxes for most americans. >> we're going to give them another chance to help working families like yours. >> this is what every

independent economist says. we can't let this lapse right now. this should not be controversial. a lot of republicans have agreed with this tax cut in the past. the republican leader in the senate said it would, quote, i'm quoting here, it would put money back, a lot of money, back in the hands of businesses and in the hands of individuals. that's what he said. another republican leader said it would help small business owners create jobs and help their employees spend more money creating a even more jobs. one republican even called it a, quote, conservative approach to help put our economy back on track. so what's the problem? >> the president actually carried pennsylvania in 2008 but the key stone state is back in play for 2012. thanks almost entirely to the economic downturn. nbc's mike viqueira is live at the white house. and i guess this is the week when the president engaged fully in campaign mode. he has released a new ad.

attack mitt romney and now gone to a crucial bellwether region. >> reporter: no question about it. the 16 time for that swing state, the commonwealth of pennsylvania since he became president. the eighth this year alone. i thought that speech was very interesting for a number of reasons. oxley specifically it is about this coming battle to extend the pay roll tax cut. but that isn't much of a battle. everyone agrees it will be extended. the president wants to cut it in half. not only for employees but employers as well. would it cost a lot of money and there in as they say lies the rub. it is how you pay for it. the senate will put a bill on the floor that would charge a surtax to people making more than a million a year. this speech was broadly political. as the calendar moves toward november of next year, the line between politics and policy gets ever more blurry. the president using aspirational imagery, talking about the values of hard work and fair

play, bringing to mind that bootstrap narrative that is so popular with politicians in an election year. the president using it very effectively. i thought he was very fired up before that crowd oxley on his side in scranton, pennsylvania. >> what did you think when he said, he wants his kids and he named his own children. sasha and malia, to grow up in a country built on big generous values. >> reporter: i think that's consistent with what we're talking about here. this is a theme that is a campaign speech as well as simply a speech about the tax cut that is now winding through congress. look, that tax cut could get done tomorrow. what we'll see over the next three weeks leading right up to christmas as congress often does. a lot of people scoring points. a lot of people staking their claim. dare i say it, raising money over this fight. pushing the political button that's will get a reaction out of their base. and then they'll settle. martin, everyone agrees. there is no way politically and economically that this tax cut

won't get extended in one form or another. >> luke, we heard mitch mcconnell speaking about this proposed extension of the pay roll tax cut. and he was agreeing that it would in all likelihood move forward although he was still critical, wasn't he? of the president. >> reporter: absolutely. what we are hearing here on capitol hill is exactly what he said. a citizen civil of president obama for lack of leadership. some republicans who said this pay roll tax extension was nothing more than a sugar high. they've since muddled that and now transformed it saying how exactly do we pay for it. this will cost upwards of about $240 billion. the democratic solution to pay for it will be vote it on the senate floor, most likely tomorrow. a 3.25 surtax on millionaires. republicans see that as a tax on job creators. they don't want any part of that. this will likely get figured out

before congress recesses. when they come back in january, if they don't do anything amongst a lot of americans, they will see $1,000. how they used to be there back to the government. make no mistake about it. this battle, what we're seeing on the senate floor tomorrow will continue into the next few weeks. all about scoring decision 2012 political points. you can run an ad saying so and so senator did not vote for a tax cut to protect the wealthy people. or so and so senator wanted to hurt job creators. you're getting a lot of political infighting but it will sort itself out. >> in arguing the case for this surtax or charge for the wealthiest people in our population, the president said he is asking the wealthy to sacrifice just a little. and he appealed to the polls which suggest that over two-thirds of wealthy people themselves are prepared to agree. you point to republicans saying

small business owners will be harmed. who are they referring to that are opposed to this surcharge? >> reporter: from the beginning the idea of taxes was in the republican conference, raising them in any capacity is a nonstarter. you see how hard it was during the last debt limit argument. how much difficulty the super committee had. >> but luke, i understand this is a nonstarter. but the president appealing to the most recent polls is saying, that two-thirds of the population agree. two-thirds of millionaires agree with an increase. who are they appealing to? >> reporter: there is an appeal, two fears. >> is it grover norquist? >> reporter: the number one fear is that if you raise taxes, would ended up happening to bush 41 in the early 1990s, read my lips no, new tafls. he reversed himself and he lost. that haunts the members of the republican party like nothing else. the other reason is that there is an honest belief among many

in leadership that these types of taxes stifle job creation. you can argue until the cows come home about whether or not that data is legitimate. you will democrats saying it is completely baloney. the point being is that the polls without doubt show that americans would like wealthier people to pay more on taxes. that message from the polling has not resonated with house republicans or senate republicans on capitol hill. do not want to get into the perilous straight of being tax raisers. >> i could hear your discreet chuckling. was that because you had some thoughts that you wanted to deliver? >> reporter: a couple of thing. john boehner is not running for president. he is trying to maintain the majority and therefore his own speakership. he is running races in these districts, many of which lean republicans. so that's why you see this disconnect that luke is talking about. >> we're talking about the nation's economy here. you're saying, are you saying, sorry to ask you, that the speaker is more bothered about his own status?

>> reporter: i think what people really believe as number one, all politics is local. and number two, good policy makes good politics. i don't think we have enough time to argue about all that. but another point i would like to make, however, is what it really boils down to on this end of pennsylvania avenue, a choice, not a referendum. the obama campaign will be saying that. to give a choice you have to draw distinctions. they're putting this bill on the floor, the senate floor this week. they know it won't pass but it has the virtue of giving people a choice but drying the sharp distinctions between what republicans want to do, how they want to pay for this tax cut, and how democrats want to pay for it. right or wrong, it is beside the point. isn't that cynical to say at this point? >> no, it's not. it is absolutely accurate as always. thank you for your insights. next, did mitch mcconnell and his friends just blink? everyone have their new blackberry from at&t?

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perhaps sense pigt would be political suicide to vote against extending the pay roll tax holiday in an election year, republicans today appeared to surrender in a speech worthy of the grinch after his heart grew three sizes. minority leader mitch mcconnell suddenly found attender spot for ordinary americans while placing all the blame on the president. >> republicans will put aside their misgivings and support this, not because we believe as the president does that another short term stimulus will turn

this economy around but because we know it will give some relief to workers who continue to need it nearly the three years into this presidency. >> moments ago the president responded with indignation to republican who's voted against his jobs act. >> republicans said they're the party of tax cuts. a lot of them have sworn an oath to never raise taxes on anybody as long as they live. that doesn't square with their vote against these tax cuts. >> joe sestak represented pennsylvania's seventh congressional district from 2007 until the beginning of this year. i'm delighted to say he joins us now. good afternoon, sir. >> good to see you. >> is this a sign that republicans finally realizing that unless something is done to help ordinary americans, this economy will never pick up? >> yes. if this bill for the pay roll tax cut is not passed, as well as unemployment insurance extension, we are going to lose

1% growth in our gross domestic product next year. it will almost bring to us a standstill in our economy. all the fiscal stimulus that was passed in 2009 ends this come month. so they understand that something that is so obvious as keeping money in the paycheck of american workers so they can funnel it into the economy in a very tough time is going to be something that they cannot go home after christmas and say we just didn't pass it. so i think that's why you see the republicans. those that say we're supposed to be cutting taxes are going to come up with some resolution with the president on this. >> indeed. we've been looking at the president speaking in scranton. the rnc has wasted no time in releasing an ad to coincide with the president's victim to pennsylvania. take a look at this. >> like the rest of the country, a lot of economic hardship and economic anxiety. people are at risk of losing

their homes or they've seen their home values drop. if i don't have this done in three years, then there is going to be a one-term proposition. >> i don't think they're better off than they were four years ago. >> the rnc says the president will have a tough time with voters in places like scranton. let's go through his challenges for a moment. newt gingrich and his well catalogued past. you know the area. how will newt gingrich play in scranton? >> he won't play at all. look, scranton. lackawanna county. it's been probably one of the hardest hit areas in pennsylvania. that county is over 9.5% unemployment. it is solid democrat. but those are blue collar on the whole, as well as some white collar. solid americans with an independent mind them see somebody who has benefited from his connections in congress to the tune of million of dollars. that won't sit well with them. >> remember, mr. gingrich

declines the accusation and says that he is not a lobbyist. and he has never done any lobbying. >> but he is what has dismayed americans so much over these past years, as they've had to bear the brunt of the recession. that it is the powerful and the connected as newt gingrich is, that has really done relatively well as compared to the rest of americans, and also noticed in the speech. the president made a turn. to begin to talk and paint washington as a part from him. and congress as a part from him. he recognizes that the disillusion many with washington as a whole, the dysfunctional nature of it is one that he has to make sure americans and not just in lackawanna county but across all of pennsylvania which is really a purple state. not a blue. not a red. has to see him as the warrior down there. and this jobs bill is absolutely critical if we are not, if we are to forestall going into

recession and to begin to regain the confidence in a system that might work. or at least a leader that is pushing for the right issues. >> so you've rejected newt gingrich. final question. what about mitt romney and, i'm quoting hill, corporations are people, too. >> maybe that line won't work but mitt romney is the toughest opponent this president could face in pennsylvania. he comes across as much more moderate. and pennsylvania's real battleground will be the suburbs of pennsylvania. of philadelphia. it is mainly moderate republicans, although there are a lot of democrats there. the president did extremely well with his independent, his ability to show leadership. but also with that republican flavor there that i think you're going to see the real battleground if mitt romney is the nominee. this will be a nail biter if mitt romney is his opponent. >> a nail biter indeed.

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britain's inquiry into the behavior of its media continues as a former editor of the news of the world newspaper is defending that paper in the hacking scandal. nbc's michelle cost insky has more from london. >> it is what the public wants to read. if they had any distaste for it, they would stop buying it. >> reporter: the story by any means is the story former news of the world deputy editor is telling. he said top editors not only knew about things like phone hacking, they condoned it. according to mcmullen, you name it. phone of celebrities, even of

murdered children. yes, he says, all worth it. >> phone hacking is a perfectly acceptable tool given the sacrifices that we make if all we're trying to do is to get to the truthful. >> reporter: he says reporters would trade phone numbers. he said news of the world would pay. police, credit card companies, medical workers, tens of thousands of dollars for scoops. even princess diana's bodyguard, he says, sold information on where she was. >> can i have 30,000 pounds, please? i need to pay my mortgage. no problem. >> reporter: what about ethics? privacy? >> privacy is evil. it brings out the worst qualities in people. >> reporter: he gave no evidence that the murdochs knew these practices were going on but he defended them all saying sometimes even breaking the law was the only way to expose corruption and crime. although the question was, how then do you apply that to celebrities and regular people

when what you're exposing are their love lives or medical problems? back to you. >> michelle, thank you. stay with us. newt gingrich is just one celebrity in today's top lines. >> i'm going to be really direct, okay? i was charging $60,000 a speech. the number of speeches was going up, not down. normally celebrities leave and they sell fewer speeches every year. we were selling more. ♪ you're a mean one mr. grinch ♪ you really are a heel ♪ you're as cuddly as a cactus ♪ hold back. ♪ new revolutionary scope with dualblast technology obliterates strong food odors and kills bad breath germs leaving your breath minty fresh. hey. sorry i'm late, baby. i bet you're starving. [ male announcer ] so there's no trace of evidence... hey, i thought i did the dishes. [ male announcer ] blast away strong food odors

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>> do you have any idea of whether or not you'll be continuing on? >> 9-9-9! >> did he ask for anything in return for that money? >> this was not sex for cash. >> that's what we could at our house. i sit in an easy chair and she prepares dinner. >> one particular trip was the mike tyson-holyfield trip in las vegas. i can't make this stuff up. >> because if these allegations prove true, that means you are only one extra-marital affair behind newt gingrich. >> climate change, abortion, immigration, gay rights. how can voters trust what they hear from you today is what you will believe if you win the white house? >> well, bret, your list is not

accurate. so one, we're going to have to be better informed about my views on issues. >> i find it really hard to lose weight. god wanted me to be a bear, not a gazelle. >> those of you who will be 21 by november 12th, i ask for your support and your vote. those who won't be, just work hard. >> one of the real changes when you run for president as opposed to being an analyst for fofl, i have to actually know what i'm talking about. >> thank you. >> let's get right to our triple panel now. with us from washington, msnbc political analyst and form he dnc communications director, karen finney. chief investigative report he for politico, and msnbc political analyst, professor michael erik dyson of georgetown university. newt has repeatedly asserted that he is not a lobbyist but mr. gingrich's center for health transformation had power point

presentations during i believe 2004 and 2005 where they offered, and i'm quoting, contracts at the -- contacts at the highest levels of federal, state government, and access to top transformational leadership across industry and government. what is that? >> well, that sounds a lot like lobbying. and certainly this is not an uncommon theme in washington where former officials have been able to parlay their clout, their influence and their connections within the government and their former colleagues within the government into lucrative contracts that they sometimes term consulting, sometimes term advice. but from a lay perspective, certainly look a lot like lobbying. this will be a challenge for newt gingrich going forward. he wants to present himself as someone who was going to transform washington with new ideas, but he perhaps personifies the ability to make a political brand into a business brand. and he did it very effectively during his 12 years out of government. >> karen, he did it so

effectively that he announced to people in front of camera that he was earning $60,000 a speech. and while some celebrities were going down and he jess particular-relathe was it was going up. wasn't that vulgar? >> of course it was. things part of why he is about as slippery as mitt romney is. maybe you don't call i lobbying technically but this is a man who because of his experience in washington, because of his insider status, was in a position to structure each of these organizations in such a way that technically may not have met the definition of lobbying but still, amounted to influence peddling and money for access. he knew exactly what he was doing. on the campaign trail, he doesn't want to admit that. he gets his back up and chest puffed up trying to say it's not lobbying. i think people would appreciate if he would be more honest. the more honest answer to say i'm using my contacts to help connect people. say that.

why pretend like that's not what you were doing? >> professor dyson, he called the president a socialist and accused him of not reading history. didn't william f. buckleyer are to him as an organizational genius? and isn't mr. gingrich displaying perhaps a little too much arrogance here, suggesting he is the only politician in america with a brain? >> in short yes to both those questions. the reality is that to dismiss president obama and refusing to acknowledge his intelligence, his ability, his transform i have the leadership. even if he disagrees with him is not only the sign of hubris and arrogance but it asserts that he is an intellectual in a way that obama hasn't. and yet that newt gingrich has been a history professor at a cool. he was a law professor at the university of chicago. what is that about my days are

better than yours? it is ludicrous. and newt gingrich is being disengenerous to refuse to acknowledge that influence peddling, to engage in what we know is lobbying is what he's doing. so a rose by any other name is still a rose and newt gingrich is engaging in lobbying. that's just straightforward. >> we saw some of it in our top lines just now. let's see a bit more of romney's fox interview. he got a bit testy. i would like to us focus on mitt romney for a moment. listen to this. >> this whole stream of thought that you began with which is, you would say anything to get elected. if that were the case, would i still be defending massachusetts health care? >> did you say at times it would be a mold for the nation? you're wrong. the tape out there, continue to read the tape. >> yeah. what do you think? continue to read the tape? >> certainly he struggled with

this. this is what we'll hear from his republican rivals and we're already hearing from the dnc and president obama's allies, that he has shaped his positions depending on which office he was running for and which way the political winds were blowing. this idea that we hear developing in the last several days that he has a hot temper. i have trouble believing that. this tame here, it shows a guy who is pushing back hard on a theme that is going to hurt him and he is going to continue to grapple with but this idea that he is going to fly off the handle. for one, i think it is not entirely unhelpful for the campaign, given this downer valg narrative that he is this totally scripted robot. and for the other thing, it doesn't ring true to me. i've watched clips that his adversaries have billed as him flying off the handle. and if that were flying off the handle for me, i would be doing a lot better with my anger

manage many. >> it is true what ken says. mitt romney evil disshelf his hair by suggesting that newt gingrich was a lifetime politician. but as i understand it, karen, hasn't mitt romney been the governor of massachusetts? has he not been running for the presidency for about six years? >> yeah. for a guy who likes to bash government, he sure has been campaigning for it and trying to get back into it for a good portion of his professional career. that's for sure. here's the thing. a couple things about that clip. number one, i think you've seen this on mitt romney's face when he is standing on the stage during the debates. there is a part of him that looks disgusted that he is really having to endure all of this rather than just being the nominee. he really believes that he deserves it. the republican party traditionally, the nomination has gone to the person who is kind of next in line. next waiting.

and i have to believe that it makes him crazy that hear comes newt gingrich out of nowhere, potentially stealing his thunder for a piece of time. but it can be a very good thing for mitt romney. it would be good for him to have to campaign a little harder and not just assume that this is his for the taking. he needs to be challenged a little bit. >> they're certainly all challenged. thanks so much. and stay with us. coming up next, herman cain refuses to throw in the towel. herman, don't you leave this election lovers pizza half baked. i'm saying this not just as a supporter but as a broadcaster. i need you in the race. don't leave me with him! he brings board games!

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here's a live look at herman cain speaking now at ohio state. the candidate is insistent that his campaign will continue. this as ginger white spilled more details of their alleged affair on "good morning america" this morning. we're back with our panel in washington. karen finney, ken vogel and professor michael eric dyson. and he said they're attacking my character, my reputation, and my name. isn't that a bit rich coming from a man who repeatedly refers to his accusers as troubled women? or women in tough financial straits? >> absolutely true. i mean, this is a bit of a hypocrisy blowing back in his face. the disregard for women, the disrespect for women has evoked this response from a woman who voluntarily came forth to subject herself to ridicule and

dismissal as the other woman. and who put all of her wares so to speak on the table. the phone records, the late night calls and so on and so forth to say don't disrespect other women and treat them as if they're somehow engaging in hyperbolebly or exaggeration because you want to win the presidency and the ultimate sweepstakes to occupy the oval office. but herman cain has been so obviously damaging to these other women that this woman stemmed forward. so i think that to suggest that we're attacking his character is as you say a bit rich. the reality is if character is the read that cat for your service in the white house, it is not just what you do in your personal life. that's critical. but it is how it reflects on your personal decisions and the choices you have to make. >> one of the things herman cain keeps referring to, they provided information about the financial problems that some of these women have had. but i have to ask you, isn't

that exactly the kind of vulnerable individual that a powerful man would seek to exploit? >> well, of course. because anyone who knows anything about sexual harassment or any of these matters, it is about power and control. i mean, you have a person who is in a important powerful position taking advantage of someone in a less powerful position. it is a classic attempt to undermine the character of these women. so for him to then as the professor was saying, his character is being attacked is really quite shameful. here's the thing. herman cain, this naivety about what it takes to run for the presidency, it is shocking to me that with all this stuff in his background know he didn't come up with a way to talk about it or be prepared. at least newt gingrich has a spiel about his baggage. we've seen mr. romney, mr. flip-flopper coming up with some kind of explanation for his baggage. they have really between, it seals like a vanity project between him and trump and perry's ridiculousness. they've really turned this race for the presidency into a

reality television show. and it is just despicable. >> but herman cain does have a response. he said everyone of these women by inference, is lying. >> he said his wife wasn't going to get involved in the campaign. what did he do when he got in trouble? he brought his wife in. and he said race i, there is no racism in america and we're not going to inject race into this campaign and other people will do that. what does he do? sends a mailer in iowa saying i'm the descendant of slaves so i can beat barack obama. this guy is not to be believed. >> your politico colleague jonathan martin calls cain's campaign team the key stone cops. i mean, seriously, is cain running the most hapless bundle of all time? do you think he is setting a new standard for chaos? >> the difference is there had been many candidates who had been able to skirt by with really what traditionally would

be a lack of infrastructure. mike huckabee won the iowa caulk with us a skeleton staff. in cain's case, he appeared to be on track to be able to do well despite not having a real organization around him until crisis hit. and once crisis hit, like karen said, his response has been so bungled and so incoherent that it has perpetuated these stories further. i'm not saying they would have gone away. that by any stretch. however, if he were able to come one a koeg ept responcogent res to it, then he would have been able to more effectively turn the page. now he has no choice. if he drops out, it looks like he was forced to drop out because of the stories. if he pushes through for 3040 days, he is really damaging his post election chances. >> michele bachmann is selling a book. herman cain is selling a book. newt gingrich is selling loads of books and dvds.

is the republican race better understood as a book tour? >> i'd better think about this. may be should i run for president for my next book. >> i'm telling you, you'll get some sales. i don't want to be absurd claiming their only reason that these noble servants would get into the race is to promote themselves. but at the same time, it takes a great degree of hubris and self-assertion and confidence to run for the president anyhow. so to say that you're going to run for the president or promote your own book is six of one, half dozen of the other. what is interesting is that all of these noble claims to service are really subordinated to their ego send trick narcissist tick preoccupations on the one hand and their way of easily dismissing human beings on the other. especially for herman cain. i think all three of these candidates have to take another look at what public service is about. it is not about self-promotion. it is about the promotion of the public good. not about signing your name to a check that has been given to you or a signatory on a note about

service to the people. >> very quickly. >> if the lack of seriousness from some of these candidates that is really so offensive. michele bachmann, i don't agree with a lot of what she says. you get sense she is at least studying the material. taking it seriously. trying to have a coherent answer. you don't hear that, the others are making joke about the fact they can't remember the answers. >> and remember it was uzbekistan. when we come back, christmas comes early to the stock market.

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to wall street now where we're just a few moments awag from the close bell, and today's markets saw a massive boost after international banks announced a program of coordinated action designed to support the global financial system. the u.s. federal reserve, the

european central bank, the bank of england and the central banks of canada, japan and switzerland are all involved, but will it work? for more on this, i'm joined now by cnbc's simon hobbs, an expert in all matters fiscal. >> well, i don't know about that. >> amongst other things. >> good afternoon. >> simon, there's been this incredible rise in the market today. i don't know where we are at the moment, i think we're well over 400 on the dow, but is this just a temporary blip? is this a fix that's going to be undone as the days proceed? >> no, it's totally temporary. if you can imagine the global financial system like a giant engine, what the central banks have noticed is that in parts of the engine the oil is running very dry, so they are artificially injecting oil into that specific part of the engine so that it keeps -- keeps moving and doesn't go into a halt or worse blow up. >> specifically you're talking about enabling banks to lend money to other banks. >> specifically i'm talking about giving european banks dollars because everybody else is less and less willing to lend dollars to european banks,

namely american banks, because they fear they might go bust. >> okay. so what implications does that have for the consumer? >> oh, wow. well, if you believe -- what we're trying to avoid is a worst case scenario where you have another lehman explosion in the middle of europe and it drags down potentially banking systems around the world so it's really that bad. don't want any explosions and don't want anybody to fail and that's what this game is about. >> but reality is people are still having problems raising funds from banks. ordinary individuals are still having problems borrowing, aren't they? >> that's because everybody is so scared of the future. the basic problem you have in europe is a confidence problem. the people no longer believe that the -- the money that the governments have borrowed is necessarily safe because greece is effectively defaulting, so the value of those instruments is falling. people are selling and selling and selling like this. that's basically what the banks have on their balance sheet so the value and the assets that

they have keep falling and falling and falling and at some point you have to question whether they are going bust and that's what the markets are going through. >> and presumably the anxiety is the assets so-called may end up being worthless at some point. >> so what we need is to restore confidence, and the only way at the moment that we believe that can happen is for the european central bank to come through and massively buy the debt of those governments to support the price so they support the price on the banks' balance sheets. in other words, it's like the fed buying all the government paper that is generated at the federal level. >> but isn't the reality, particularly in europe, that if governments and indeed the people of those nations don't accept measures that are going to vastly change the costs to that nation, then this is just going to carry on into the future. >> we have ten days to save the euro. in ten days time france, italy and germany hope to have new rules that will lessen the amount each state can borrow and then they will say look, we're giving you fiscal discipline.

now buy the bonds. >> cnbc's simon hobbs, thanks very much for coming over here. there will be much more with my colleague dylan ratigan in a moment, but that's it for us for now. thanks for joining us, and i'll be back on the other side. ♪ 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. ♪

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