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tv   Martin Bashir  MSNBC  December 2, 2011 12:00pm-1:00pm PST

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pig. >> the gingrich. >> do me a favor, let's not play detective. >> quick, someone hide the mistletoe. we begin with signs of hope for the economy as employers hired new workers at a steady clip bringing the unemployment rate to a two and a half year low. the jobless rate fell today to 8.6% with 120,000 jobs added. that's the lowest rate since march 2009, a clear trend in the right direction. while some might say it's christmas come early for the white house, the president himself offered cautious optimism at an event today beside former president bill clinton. >> despite some strong head winds this year, the american economy has now created in the private sector jobs for the past 21 months in a row.
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that's nearly 3 million new jobs in all. so we need to keep that growth going. >> so the president heralds good news while republican challenger mitt romney takes a decidedly darker tonight. "the obama administration may have come to accept such a high level of joblessness as a new normal. i will never accept it. we can't afford another year of president obama's failed economic policies, and we certainly can't afford five more years." but funny enough there's been a bit of radio silence from the candidates today, other than mr. cain's announcement on his political future. more on that later. could the sign of crickets signal a creeping fear that republicans one solid argument on the economy, it may be slipping away. let's bring in our panel with us from washington. msnbc policy analyst ezra klein of the "washington post" and msnbc political analyst and former dnc communications
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director karen finney. good afternoon to both of you. if i can start with karen. the president's policies have created more than 3 million private sector jobs in the last 21 months, brought the jobless rate down to its lowest level in three years but according to republicans he's a jobs killer. just explain that to me now. >> look, martin, the problem is they are very disingenuous. republicans have consistently been trying to make an argument that 99% of americans and economists and all people who have looked at this know not to be true. we're not going to get there just by spending cuts. i think the president has rightfully, as well as democrats in congress, tried to hold the line on this foolishness. we saw it again just last night. the other thing is and republicans are probably starting to notice it, although i think the white house is right to be slowly cautious on this, the president's policies are working. what did we see last night?
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republicans again blocking policies that would actually help 1.6 million americans. they voted against it. they are disingenuous. >> ezra, gop candidates may be a bit nervous with the job numbers today. i want, if i may, to play something from republican pollster from frank lunts. take a listen to this. >> i'm so scared of this anti-wall street effort. i'm frightened to death. okay. they should occupy a job and take a bath. i get that joke. but man, they are having an impact on what american people think about capitalism. i'm trying to get that word removed and get it replaced with economic freedom or free market. >> ezra, before we come to the exact reconsideration of words, what did you make of that disclosure by frank luntz. >> odd disclosure.
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i don't know how to separate it from capitalism. if i were a gop candidate i would not be worried about these jobs numbers. we had 120,000 jobs created last month. that is about the exact number you need to keep up with population growth. the reason unemployment fell people left the job market, discouraged because they weren't finding any. i don't see a lot of optimism in the jobs report. in the face of europe, may be anticipated. if they are not saying anything, they don't understand it's not a very good jobs report. >> karen, come in there. do you not think that's a significant reduction? >> well, look, i think the white house has rightfully said this is movement -- nobody is popping champagne. they are real i think saying this is movement in the right direction. obviously it's the trend we want in terms of job creation. we know there are a lot of factors impacting this, not the least of which it's the holiday season, temporary ads, retailers
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and what have you. at the same time, i think if you take the combination -- there's a couple of things working in democrats favor. number one, the fact the president has been out there fighting the good fight making his case to american people. we see in the polls that's working. number two, frank luntz is right to be scared. the 99 percenters are onto something. not that they don't understand capitalism, they understand the system isn't working. those are as important as the jobs numbers going into next year. there are forces in our favor for once. >> we talked about the president and jobs numbers, let's go to candidates. the king of bling himself newt gingrich has never had self-esteem issues, as you know. he's now confident he'll be the nominee. take a listen to this. >> i don't have to point out inconsistencies of people that want to be the nominee. i'm going to be the nominee. it's very hard not to look at the recent polls and not think the odds are very high i'm going
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to be the nominee. >> if the economy improves, particularly for the middle class, history line begins to take a hit, doesn't it? >> absolutely. i think politically speaking, if the economy improves or frankly stays about where it is, i think that actually helps the president, because, again, i think the president has a strong case to make in terms of the things he's trying to do, the things congress has blocked. certainly when you're up against a guy that says that poor people don't understand commerce and don't have good values, that is not going to help your argument as to why you should be president of this country when a lot of people are working two jobs to make ends meet and falling farther and farther behind. >> ezra, you're better at math calculations than anyone i know. is it your hunch this unemployment trend will continue downwards for the next six to 12 months? >> no. >> you don't think so. >> i think we may see a slow drift. if the employment situation got better, we were really creating jobs you'd see unemployment go
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up because people would return looking to the labor force, looking for jobs, which is the only time they get counted in unemployment. i do think we might see it go down a little further, 8.2 by the end of 2012, some estima estimations. in europe, if it keeps looking shaky, it's going to be very bad for our economy. ezra, we've just learned donald trump has been announced as one of the moderators. >> a lighter topic. >> does this now confirm of -- >> a clown in charge of a circus. other reality show television hosts, i'm a top chef fan, see
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who can cook a quiche quickest, maybe i have to wait for 2016. >> karen, how about kate and eight. >> how about that? ezra, republicans don't eat quiche, that's for lucy liberals. >> martin, it is wonderful to be with you on what i expect will be the last day in herman cain's presidential race. >> i knew you'd get there, unprompted. >> it's been so much fun. >> it has. karen, you predicted this man was going to implode virtually every week over the last few months. do you think when he meets his wife this evening, that will be the sorry end. >> i sure hope so. can you imagine what that conversation is going to be like. >> i just hope it doesn't take place in the kitchen because she could reach out for a saucepan and all kinds of things. >> just today he launched women for cain that his wife is supposedly chairing. what do they do?
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attack the accusers because they are husbandless. unmarried women is the largest growing group of the voting population in this country. so you know what, if his wife doesn't get to him, the women of america will take him down. >> karen finney and ezra klein, thanks so much for joining us this afternoon. >> thanks. >> next wonder what charlie rankle thinks of this. stay with us. >> really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works. so they literally have no habit of showing up on monday. they have no habit of staying all day. they have no habit of i do this and you give me cash. unless it's illegal. the employee of the month isss...
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senate republicans were successful thursday night in defeating a democratic proposal to extend the payroll tax holiday which would put an extra $1500 into the pockets of millions of middle class americans. the debate moves to the house where speaker john boehner is promising to unveil his own alternative bill next week. anything like senate majority leader mitch mcconnell already ordered it will mean hiring hundreds of thousands of employees without raising a single penny, not a penny of new revenue from millionaires. charles rankle is a democrat from new york and joins us this afternoon. good afternoon, sir. >> hi, hmartin. >> do you expect a serious bill from speaker boehner and republicans in the house or more of the same? >> it's going to take a long time to lock into reverse.
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there's no question in my mind the republicans have just run out of credibility in how it treats the poor and working class of this nation. yes, we're going to have it. they have to bring their party together of the whole idea of the most vulnerable people in our great country suffering and have to go through this is embarrassing to me as an american and even more embarrassing as a member of this congress. >> so sir are you really saying you're beginning to see a transition, a change in the position of house republicans? >> i'm seeing a change in position of america and speaking out more. that will change any democrat or republican, you bet your life. as we go into these holiday seasons and people start talking about the lesser among us and brothers and sisters and what the church and the synagogues expect, they did the same thing last year. they waited until the eve of
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christmas until they extended unemployment compensation. it's not only morally wrong, not only fiscally wrong but politically they just can't get away with it. >> speaking of politics, sir, if i may, i want to turn to the 2012 republican primary race and get your reaction to something newt gingrich said about the poor on thursday night. just take a listen. really poor children enreally poor neighborhoods have no habits of working. they have nobody around them who works. nobody around them who works. so they literally have no habit of showing up on monday. what if they became assistant janitors and their habit was to mop the floor and clean the bathroom and you paid them. >> as someone who represents a district in new york that
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includes extremely poor neighborhoods, what's your reaction to mr. gingrich? he's suggesting poor people have no civilized habits whatsoever. >> i don't know. >> you know this man. you've been in the congress with him. >> i don't know how he receives millions of dollars as a historian when basically our nation started with poor people, the only thing going for them was hard work and hope. this is happening throughout this country, indeed it's happening throughout the world. the lack of sensitivity this person has as a former neb of congress but even more inconceivable as a leader of america and the free world, no, he just doesn't get it. perhaps when you live that tiffany life or when you're getting $60,000 a speech or when you can make millions of dollars and not know the difference between a lobby and historians,
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maybe this distortion could be a permanent mental problem. but i'm saying that the more he tal talks, the more he will self-destruct and it's painful. i'll tell you this, martin. where are the churches, when people like this talk, where are people to say what our religious, the sick, aged, poor, especially our children, who is protecting them against the rhetoric of a guy like newt gingrich? >> i'm sorry to say this, mr. rangel, but mr. gingrich writes regularly about his love of the catholic church and a member of the catholic church. he's speaking this from his position as a member of the church. which is what he believes. >> the church has gone through
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dramatic change, but taking a look at the personal life of newt gingrich and marriages and the way he speaks about the poor of our great nation, i suspect he's once again deviated from the written word of the catholic church, but i'll leave that up to the catholic church. after all they speak to me about abortion. they are very concerned about same-sex marriage. let's see where my church is on the question of the leader of the united states of america. i'm certain this provocation will cause them to have some comment, at least i hope so. >> can i just play something to you of mr. gingrich talking in june about having the guts to go around neighborhoods. just listen to this. >> we have to have the courage to walk into that neighborhood, to talk to that preacher, to visit that small business, to talk to that mother. we have to have a convincing case that we actually know how
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to create jobs. >> there he is again, talking about speaking to that preacher, advising people in the neighborhoods. have you ever seen him strolling in your neighborhoods in your district? >> i think we ought to make a formal invitation and see how every mother, single or married, wants the best for her child, black or white, jew or gentile, how hard they work during this time in order to find a job when you find five or six people looking for just one vacancy. aid career job format last month. thousands of people lined up in the street in central harlem applying for jobs that were there. so i don't know in these primaries they have to say all kinds of mean things. poor jon huntsman can't get a decent word in edgewise. they have to fight each other. it's so un-american,
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unrepublican, this is not the republican party i've known since i've been involved in politics. this is a mean-spirited thing. the meaner you are, the more support you get from your party. >> congressman charlie rangel. >> thank you, martin. >> stay with us for much more, newt the nominee. the week's top lines are coming up. real changes comes when you start running for president as opposed to being an analyst on fox, i have to actually know what i'm talking about. you ready for your present? yeah.
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today boosted by the best unemployment number in years, president obama blasted republicans for the vote. >> that effectively would raise tacks on nearly 160 million hardworking americans. because they didn't want to ask a few hundred thousands to pay their fair share and get the economy growing faster than everybody. i think that's unacceptable. >> chairman of the republican national committee, i'm delighted he joins us from washington. good afternoon, sir. >> hi, martin, how are you? >> good. let me see if i have this straight. republicans would prefer to go into the election year by not breaking their pledge to grover norquist rather than raising taxes on millionaires and billionaires that would extend the payroll tax holidays, is that right? >> the reality is. >> is that right, sir? >> no. the republicans are in favor of extending payroll tax credit. first of all that premise is
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incorrect. we're in favor of it. the problem is i don't think raising taxes on small businesses is the way to do it. republicans, what mitch mcconnell was out lining, i'm not going to speak to leadership, what he was outlining, a portion of the debt commission barack obama himself commissioned and said he was going to follow their recommendations. so what we put forward was an idea that, yeah, let's continue the payroll tax credit holiday but let's pay for it by using the recommendations of the debt commission, which means cutting the size of government, which means -- >> federal employees. >> in most cases, martin, through attrition paying for that and moving forward. the premise that you're putting forward is incorrect. we are in favor of extending the payroll tax credit. it's a matter of how you pay for it, whether or not these democrats are going to get serious and whether the president instead of giving speeches is going to get serious
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about actually putting two and two together to get a deal done. >> i want to turn if i may to the topic of voter fraud. your counterpart wasserman schwartz was a guest. she had this to say about republican efforts to pass laws in up to 40 states, 40, that she says are specifically designed to suppress voting and voters rights. >> what they are doing is trying to make sure, because they can't win an election on merits they are trying to rig elections by ensuring people who will go to polls and vote for democrats can't get there. to be perfectly fair, sir, is that not the case? >> well, i don't know what you mean by perfectly fair. >> respond to what she said. that's what i meant. >> i got you. no, i think it's ridiculous. i think it's an 80% issue in this country like renting a movie, getting on an airplane,
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going to a federal building, you ought to be able to say who you are where you live before you cast a ballot. 80% of the people in this country agree with that. this is just common sense. i come from a state martin, before scott walker got into office, you could literally walk into the polls and raise your right-hand on the day of the election and say, i'm paul jones and i live here in kenosha. i'll sign this provisional piece of paper and i can go grab a ballot and vote. that's ridiculous. >> i'm sure electoral offices in the area would challenge that? >> people have been charged, martin, voter fraud. >> republicans in the house voted to dismantle election assistance commission, the whole purpose to make sure states meet standards that prevent fraud. why would republicans do that if they are honestly concerned about voting fraud. >> let me get this straight. you've got a problem, mar tip, with someone walking into shores
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and having to show some form of identification to vote. that's ridiculous. >> i'm talking about seeking to dismantle election assistance commission. why would you do that? >> listen, i don't want to get into specifics here, martin, but let me tell you something. i come from a state in wisconsin that absolutely was riddled with voter fraud, okay. they had the smokes for votes exchange in milwaukee. this is something that has nothing to do with constitutional rights of the people who are committing the fraud. it has to do with constitutional rights of people under our constitution that one person gets one vote, not two or three or four or five by not having reasonable voting standards in this country to make sure fraud doesn't occur. >> rnc chairman, thank you for joining us. >> thank you, martin. >> more 2012 coverage ahead. stay with us.
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mitt versus mitt. >> newt not newt. >> liver and lima beans. >> everybody gets their 15 min. it just so happens now is newt's 15 minutes. >> they are attacking my character, my reputation and my name in order to try and bring me down. >> set them up, can you knock them down. >> as my grandmother told him, herman cain needs to sit himself down somewhere. >> people say, you know, i think we need newt gingrich. >> every single democrat in town wants newt gingrich to be the nominee. >> i'm so scared of this anti-wall street effort. i'm frightened to death. >> i was charging $60,000 a speech. >> clearly more conservative candidate by any rational standard. >> how can voters trust what they hear from you today is what you will believe if you win the white house? >> well, brett, your list is just not accurate. >> you cool it with the third degree and you be nice to mitt romney. he is a republican candidate. a year from now he might be your co-worker. >> one of the changes running
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for president as opposed to an analyst on fox, i have to actually know what i'm talking about. >> we wouldn't have an american embassy in iraq. i wouldn't allow that to be there. >> the odds are very high i'm going to be the nominee. >> let's get right to our panel now. msnbc contributor karen hunter and with us from washington dana milbank political columnist. good afternoon to both of you. karen, let's start with you, has this been the toughest week so far for mitt romney. >> no, it hasn't been. i think it's going to get tougher for him as we continue to watch this unravel. i think, you know, mitt has been consistently mitt. but unforth neal he's consistently not breaking any records in the polls. he's consistently not getting any trust from his party and consistently just kind of mediocre. >> up to this point he's never faced questioning, very controlling about media appearances. there he was just asked a few
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supplementary questions by a journalist and he starts crying. >> many democrats are hoping like all get out he wins the nomination. >> mitt had a tiff with fox news, suffering the rise of newt, according to yahoo! news he's fallen below 50% likelihood of getting the nomination for the first time. is he now entering that danger zone? >> no. i think he entered that danger zone something over a year ago. he's in this position where very few people in his party want him to be the nominee, maybe 20%, 25% of him do. his game all along has been to say the other guys will carve things up. they have taken turns doing that. now we're getting pretty close, less than a month from the vote. suddenly of all things it's newt gingrich. i've been thinking the only thing left is for rick santelli storm to suddenly become the front-runner here. you have to almost feel bad for mitt romney. they really, really don't want him to be the nominee.
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you'd still have to think yahoo! notwithstanding the smart money is still on romney. >> it is. karen, we now have gingrich claiming in an interview yesterday that he's literally going to walk away from the nomination. romney took a hit at newt's self-esteem. >> self-aggrandizing statements about polls are not going to win elections. this is not a matter america needs better lobbyists, dealmakers, insiders. i think america needs a leader. >> those were three hits, one they? lobbyist, inside, self-aggrandizing statements. >> he's been really good at doing that, especially in the database. the unfortunate things, he also has a record of flip flopping and not being consistent. it's going to be too easy. newt to his credit said i don't have to go there. i don't have to hit below, hit down. he's going to stay his course. i disagree with dana who said
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newt can't win the nomination. he wrote an article said newt can't win the nomination because he's too moderate. i disagree with that. >> dana, defend your column. >> i'm not saying he couldn't win. he's basically defying gravity here. given enough time people are saying, wait a second. this is just not possible. we're not going to have this guy making nice with nancy pelosi, with john kerry on global warming, the individual mandate with health care. there hasn't been the scrutiny on it. he's been lucky. there hasn't been a debate since he's risen to the front of the pack. more scrutiny on him. look, he could win just because of where he is in the polls. he doesn't have organization. have you to think republicans will come to their senses and say we're not going to be so good to the democrats as to give them newt gingrich as the nominee. >> unlike mitt romney, they don't trust him, nobody trusts him to be the conservative he says he is. newt has a history of actually
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having conservative principles. while a punishment insiders he's rolled up sleeves and gotten really dirty with the democrats. i disagree with you. i think he has a very strong chance and can really prove himself to be a leader in debates against obama. >> karen, talking about debate, we've just learned the great donald trump -- what do you mean, disappointed? that's a gift for christmas, isn't it? >> for us, not for the american people. are we serious about picking a person that's going to lead us in the future of the country? is this a serious movement or a side show. >> runs a successful business and appears on a reality show, donald trump. all of these candidates, don't forget, come and kiss his ring, every single one of them. >> why is your tongue in your cheek right now. >> it's not. honestly, it's in my mouth. dana, what do you think of donald trump, "the apprentice" moderating a debate. >> he runs an excellent hotel. why not? we're in the entertainment
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business here, if you're watching politics these days. so you know, why not. it's been a circus every step of the way. i think it's only fitting he should at least do that. perhaps he can still have an independent run for the presidency later on. he's done that before. >> also, of course, qualified because he runs miss universe. dana and karen, thank you very much. do stay with us because we'd like to have you back in a moment. next, the godfather sleeps if fishes? >> herman, isn't there something, though, that would be easily confirmed? she's saying you flew her around the country. she's saying you were meeting in hotels. can't we get plane tickets, confirm aig, hotels? don't a lot of these hotels have videotapes? some of them i assume hang onto those tapes forever. >> john, do me a favor. let's not play detective. i'd race down that hill without a helmet.
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♪ he's leaving on the midnight train to georgia leaving on the midnight train ♪ >> the wonderful gladys knight. herman cain has already had a big week, fending off allegations of a 13-year affair. tomorrow the godfather of pizza says he's got a big announcement coming. >> tomorrow in atlanta, i will be making an announcement. but nobody is going to get me to make that prematurely. that's all there is to that. tomorrow we're going to be opening our headquarters in northwest georgia where we will also clarify -- there's that word again, clarify exactly what
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the next steps are. >> before cain's major announcement tomorrow it's date night, perhaps the most uncomfortable date night in political history. herman cain taking the midnight train back to georgia to finally face his wife after ginger white came forward with allegations of a 13-year extramarital affair. the campaign also announced the creation of women for cain. a group the website says is headed by gloria cain. let's get right back to our panel msnbc contributor karen and dana from the political post. >> how does a presidential candidate face a date like this, a private affair? is he safe doing it in public? what does he do? >> wow, herman cain should probably -- oh, my god, there's not enough flowers or chocolate in the world to make up for this. he definitely has to do it privately.
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i suspect not much lovey-dovey. >> might be something like this tiger woods, late night getaway, golf club. i think some of that is going to happen. >> cain says he's going to take the weekend as he says to figure things out a bit more. as recently as this week the candidate described his sunday nights like this. take a listen. >> i was sitting in my favorite chair in front of the tv next to the kitchen. she was in the kitchen preparing dinner. what? that's what we do at our house on sunday. i sat in the easy chair and she prepares dinner. >> dana, all joking aside, this man has been married for 43 years and delivers a joke like that during a scandal like this. i mean, come on. >> i think the best thing for herman cain to do right now would be to dig a big hole and
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bury himself in it. assuming he's not going to do that because nothing in his past indicates that, we can't be saying here is what he should do with his life. we don't know what the truth is here. we don't know what he's told her in the past. it's an awkward thing when these things come into politics. we do know as a political matter he destroyed any chance he had at the nomination, which wasn't a very large chance in the first place. it's almost like an afterthought. who cares what he says tomorrow. he's done whether he knows he's done or not. it's over for herman cain. >> yeah, but i'm curious about the matching funds he's waiting for until january. so he's a socialist now. he wants the government hand out. he's also a socialist, because he has a helping hand for every woman who needs a helping hand, he's ready to give out money but the rest of us are to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and get on with it. there's another problem, do i have to pay for matching funds?
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i'm serious. if he waits until january, we should call for that. >> dana, the latest poll released this weekend has herman cain at 8%. of course they had him at 23% at the end of october, just october. then the sexual harassment allegations, the & alleged affair, nothing of his inadequate qualifications for president. he's expected to make the announcement. you're convinced i'm out, i'm finished with this game. i'm going to sell my books and make pizza. >> i'm not convinced of that at all. nobody is getting rich betting on what herman cain is going to do. he has a counsel of one. >> you're referring to. >> the guy smoking cigarettes. >> he's smoking some extraordinary tobacco right now. whether or not he drops out, he's out for all practical purposes. you've mentioned the polls in iowa. they are extremely volatile and people have been up and down and
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newt gingrich is the best example of that. you have to always have that as a caveat. we're talking about a small number of voters in iowa making decisions, not the entire country. even so you have to think through all herman cain has been through, not just the sexual harassment, the affair, but i think the inability to stipulate a libya policy, those things have been equally damaging, making him into a cartoonish character. >> dana milbank and karen. >> we're both taurus. >> thank you for joining us. to the upbeat stocks numbers. jane wells join us with cnbc market wrap. good afternoon, jane. >> hi, martin. they were. here is a look how stocks are doing, straddling a flat line. they were much higher. the dow down, a little more than a quarter point. standard & poor's down, basically flat. nasdaq still clinging, clinging to positive territory.
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the dow up about 7% for the week, its biggest gain in two years though it lost some earlier exuberance over the drop ununemployment, 8.6%, lowest level in two years. tough talk from angela merkel about fiscal discipline in europe pleased u.s. investors but right now still a good week. that's it from cnbc first in business worldwide. i'll have a triple iced 410 calories please. you know what... i'll have this instead. [ female announcer ] swap one thing a day for a yoplait light at around 100 calories. it will add up to amazing. nyqui tylenol: me, too. and cougnasal congestion.ers? nyquil:what? tissue box (whispering): he said nasal congestion... nyquil: i heard him.
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back to positive news for the white house. stronger than expected numbers see the unemployment rate dip below 9%. the rate now standing at 8.6, still high, of course, but its lowest number since march 2009. which was just little more than two months into the obama presidency. indeed, at this rate, the republicans lined up to replace president obama may be losing their greatest playing card. for now, i'm joined by nbc's mike viqueira at the white house. and mike, the white house must be pleased with these job numbers today. we heard the president
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cautiously expressing some consideration, but they must be delighted. >> well, i think that they are, but no one, martin, is declaring it a christmas miracle just yet. that little white behind you, notwithstanding. the white house has always been very careful, ever since the first year, the first spring that we went through here, when people started talking about green shoots in the economy. obviously, that didn't happen. what has ensued is an ever-rising unemployment rate, getting up near 10%, at one point, it has steadily dropped. but each month, the news is just incremental. it ticks up a tenth of a point, goes down a tenth of a point. a drop of 4/10 today, certainly a big deal here at the white house. still very cautious, saying the economy is healing, but there's a long way to go for 13.3 million people still out of work. the president appeared earlier today. he was with president clinton, as it happens, talking about one of his green initiatives under the we can't wait rubric. but the president used the opportunity at the top of those
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remarks to sort of riff off of the jobs numbers and push for that bill extending the payroll tax cut. by the white house estimations, if it is extended for at year, it would mean another million jobs. and of course, two versions of that extension and expansion were defeated last night in the senate. and one thing that was very surprising was senator republicans voted against their own proposal, at least a majority of them did. >> nbc's mike viqueira at the white house. accidentally mentioning his own salary of $13.3 million. thanks so much. and we'll be right back to clear the air. b
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blp.
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it's time now to clear the air. and many political commentators are already suggesting that herman cain's date night tonight with his wife of 43 years may well mark the end of his campaign to run for president.
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it's certainly going to be a difficult meeting, as he tries to explain how he kept a 13-year relationship hidden from his wife and never once had sex, even though miss white, has told an entirely different story. >> it wasn't a love affair, it was a sexual affair, as hard as that is for me to say and as hard as it is for people to hear it. >> there is no doubt that that will be hard for mrs. cain to hear. she had no idea that her husband even knew ginger white, let alone gave her money and allegedly slept with her. but then this campaign has been full of surprises for mrs. cain, who, by the way, has acted with complete dignity throughout these tawdry proceedings. but if mr. cain is to drop out of the republican race, isn't it time he also considered resigning his position as an associate minister at antioch baptist church in atlanta? we contacted the church just an
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hour ago, but they refused to deny or confirm mr. cain's role. in fact, they wouldn't say a single role about the republican candidate. but if herman cain proves to be lying and drops out of the race, doesn't that also disqualify him from holding a position in the local church? mr. cain's church is part of the national baptist convention of the u.s., founded in 1880, the second largest in the entire baptist union, with almost 8 million members nationwide. in their statement of faith, they say this. "nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth, but his own determined depravity and voluntary rejection of the gospel." if mr. cain withdraws from politics, then he must surely resign his position in the church. because one thing is for certain. hypocrites can lie in the pew, but they should never lead from the pulpit. thanks so much for watching. matt miller is here on behalf of dylan and is going to take us forward. matt, what you got? >> hey,