i am a believer. i'm a believer! i'm a believer. find your closest foot mapping center at drscholls.com. we asked you at the top of the show what you're doing up at this hour. what you got? >> shannon writes my 6 month old wakes up promptly by 6:48 insisting on seeing uncle willie every a.m. >> i'm honored. if i beat elmo, that's saying something. elmo is king as i know all too well. my 2-year-old is up at 3:30 in the morning walking around the house. we pass each other in the

hallway. i've got a tweet, i'm up way too early because i got kicked out of bed for playing words with friends. what is it with this game? we've got people getting kicked off planes, getting kicked out of bed. i've go to look into this. "morning joe" starts right now. . >> what's up with these sorry politicians? you want big cuts, ron paul's been screaming it for years. smells like an airplane sea pilot, you bet. department of education, gone, interior, energy, hud, commerce, gone, gene hackman, gone. what did ron paul have for lunch? fish sticks, bathtub drain, ron paul, do it. >> i'm ron paul, and i approve this message. >> that's a fascinating approach. >> good morning, everyone. holiday lights. it's wednesday -- >> comcast, commerce tree is

shining this morning. >> december 7th, it's pearl harbor day. with us onset, we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle who now i know what elevator you take. i rode it with you. that makes sense. congressional correspondent major garrett, as well. >> hi, mika. >> we were in greenwich last night and everybody was asking about you. >> everyone was asking about you. >> they love you. good gracious, we have a lot to talk about. newt gingrich -- oh, this is us at the greenwich library last night. good crowd. they liked you. >> well. more than the people -- >> you followed orders well. so -- >> really? >> they were ugly. we had a rough time up in westport. >> i tried to warn you. >> but they loved us. no, last time we went up there they loved us, but we went up about a month ago. >> now, that's -- i love -- >> you need to stop doing events

in women's clothing stores. >> that was -- >> probably the warning right there. >> it's so funny we open the door and go in, and again, when we do book events, connecticut's like our home turf. connecticut is our home turf. it's amazing, but we go into westport and the door swings open wide and i swear to god mika does a quick glance and in half a second she turns around and says, you don't need to talk tonight and started shaking hands. and i go what? she goes, this is not your crowd. i said every crowd's my crowd. it got ugly. >> mommy was right again. >> i tried. there were a couple of times recently where i tried. we're going to get to president obama's speech. i loved it. i thought it was a little bit late, but better late than never. afghanistan is in the news, there's this incredible picture on the front page of every newspaper. >> "the times." >> it is incredibly hard to look at. >> horrible. >> a sign of how difficult it is

to turn things around there. >> yeah. >> also. >> newt gingrich -- >> ew -- >> gaining favor in the polls. in iowa and on the other side, the president's approval ratings continue to slide. that speech yesterday -- >> will make a difference. >> it came at a good time for the president. he has to do something. something to stem the collapse. >> we'll get to that. also alec baldwin. >> what happened to alec baldwin? >> we'll tell the full story, but willie, what's the tease? >> that's the tease, kicked off the plane. >> all right. and i could see you getting kicked off the plane. >> oh, sure, listen. i look at alec baldwin and i say ever by the grace of god. i'm a conservative, but he -- we both have some short fuses. >> shut your iphone off. >> just turn it off, joe. >> oh, did they tell him to do that? oh, no, it wasn't one of those things. >> there's more. there's more.

yeah, he comes back with more insults. >> i don't know. >> you know, i've got -- somebody sent me this -- i think it's one of my favorite sayings, it's my favorite saying of 2011. and it says the person who is not nice to a waiter is not a nice person. how many times have we been with people that we think they're great people, we love them, they're so nice, and then we turn and see them, mike, be rude to a waitress. >> it's a rule of thumb. >> and the second that happens, this is not a good person. >> you watch how people treat people who work for a living. people who wait on other people, nurses in emergency rooms, things like that. watch how they're treated by people that barack obama was talking about yesterday, you know, the 1%. he tells you a lot about people. >> i knew a guy -- a close friend of mine who in congress came into my office one time and said i need to talk to joe and

the receptionist said he's in a meeting and he said something rude to her and blew past and came in, and turned around. this was a close friend and goes give me a coke. and -- and he shut the door and i'd known this guy for two years, he sat down, and i just started laughing. i said what was that? because i thought maybe he was joking, playing like i'm big congressman, and it hit me that he was serious. and i said -- >> people lose sight of themselves. >> i said get up and go out and apologize -- i won't say the woman's name, but apologize to her. we're family here, we don't treat each other that way. and he thought i was joking. i said i'm not joking, get up and do it or get out of my office. but, major, how many times have you seen that? >> you see it plenty. >> in washington. >> the leveler for me, i started my first job for pay was dishwasher, then i moved up to busboy, so i have an appreciation for that part of the world.

>> yeah. >> and i've tried to always treat those who serve me the way i wanted to be treated when i was serving. >> you wouldn't be kicked off an airplane if flight attendant came by and told you to do what she was required to do -- >> -- what is essentially a meaningless convention. it has nothing to do with flight safety whatsoever other than just keeping passengers compliant. there's nothing about communicating from the tower to the plane that's interfered with by words with friends -- >> she was doing her job. >> it's their job, it's a regulation, i get that, but i chafe against it. >> he was playing a word game, words with friends? what if you're playing words with friends? >> angry birds -- >> i've never heard of it until this morning. >> it's a great game. >> he was playing words with friends? he got kicked off the airplane for playing scrabble on his iphone? >> yes. >> a variation of scrabble. scrabble would be angry if you called it scrabble. >> okay. i am now going to get to the president's speech.

>> since we've wandered, can i talk really quickly about michele bachmann? >> yeah. >> so michele bachmann was on yesterday. we've been very tough. i have said horrible things. i think many of them justified about her campaign earlier. but it was a fascinating conversation. of course while it was going on, left wingers said why aren't you cutting her up into little pieces? >> yeah, i got huge mean tweets. >> but throughout the day, i got a lot of e-mails from moderate democrats saying you know what? she's an intelligent woman. thank you. and it reminds me, mike, something tim said. tim russert came on the set, we had hillary. and i was doing an interview with hillary while tim was sitting by listening, and it was sort of like the michele bachmann -- i didn't ask her about the files, i didn't ask her about roe's law firm, i didn't ask her about impeachment. i got out of the way and let her talk. and she revealed a side of herself that we hadn't seen

before. and afterwards, i said, tim, this ain't exactly "meet the press." and he said i learned a lot more about hillary clinton that way than i would have if you yelled at her. so we decided to do the same thing with michele bachmann who we've been really harsh. and it was fascinating. >> i was not here yesterday. i watched the interview, and i felt badly about some of the things that i have said about michele bachmann on this program. because she came across as a very nice woman -- >> smart. >> smart woman. and it just, you know, goes to show you, you just got to -- you've got to know these people before you start really whacking them. i'm not going to say the same thing about newt gingrich. >> no, we know him. >> yeah. >> but rick perry. i'd like to get rick perry on and ask him. >> michele bachmann came across as an extremely nice, intelligent woman. >> yeah.

>> full interview available on our website. okay. president obama, now will you all be quiet and let me talk about the president's speech? which was so good, he finally spoke to -- >> i've been waiting for five minutes for you to do this. >> and finally i think cut through a lot of things that you've been waiting to hear from him. okay? he's providing a glimpse into what could be the central theme in his bid for reelection in a sweeping speech in a high school gym in kansas yesterday. the president struck a populist tone calling for new action to help middle class americans still struggling under the weight of a troubled, and he says, unfair economy. the president framed the debate in historic terms while taking direct, explicit aim at the economic policies at the core of the republican party. >> there's been a raging debate over the best way to restore growth and prosperity, restore balance, restore fairness. throughout the country, it sparked protests and political

movements from the tea party to the people who have been occupying the streets of new york and other cities. this is not just another political debate. this is the defining issue of our time. this is a make or break moment for the middle class and for all those who are fighting to get into the middle class. there are some who seem to be suffering from a kind of collective amnesia. after all that's happened, after the worst economic crisis, the worst financial crisis since the great depression, they want to return to the same practices that got us into this mess. their philosophy is simple, we are better off when everybody's left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules. i am here to say they are wrong. >> there you go. president obama also sharply criticized the concept of supply side economics saying the theory that jobs and prosperity would trickle down from the wealthy

has "never worked." obama who delivered the speech in the same town where teddy roosevelt unveiled his plans for the deal said his vision for more balanced financial system is not class warfare, but about returning to core american principles. >> i believe that this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot. when everyone does their fair share. when everyone plays by the same rules. these aren't democratic values or republican values, these aren't 1% values or 99% values, they're american values. and we have to reclaim them. >> let's take a look at the president's approval rating because that is the backdrop for this speech, which some claim the election team has taken over. now, with his messaging, he's at

41%. this is the gallup daily tracking poll. the "new york times" has an editorial on his speech saying it felt an awfully long time in coming among other things. what did you think of it, joe? >> i don't think -- i don't think you really want to hear what i -- i thought about it. >> no, i'd love to hear it. >> i think we'd rather hear other people talk about it. he brought up great points. >> i think he did too. >> the bottom line is, though, you know, the president has put so many question marks over small business, over big business, his health care plan, that has come into effect if you talk to small business owners, republicans and democrats alike, they're frozen in place. you talk to big businesses, they're frozen in place. there's a question mark over what comes in the future. so the president brought up good points, but to say that supply side economics has never worked while looking at the type of policies that he's pursued over the past two, three years -- >> or tried to pursue.

>> he's pursued them. he's been able to pass an awful lot because democrats have owned congress for the first two years. this president shares equal blame, i think, with republicans. and i think personally as a conservative, and this is why i said you didn't want to hear me talk, i think his economic policies have been disastrous because they have frozen investment in place and kept trillions on the sidelines. what did you think? >> i thought the underlying theme in the speech is going to be the underlying current in american politics next year. and it's the fear issue. people have a sense that something has gone off the trolly tracks over the last 10 or 12 years and maybe longer, and it's the fairness issue. i don't think your average person cares whether you're rich. they just don't want to be poor. and he touched on that, and i think that's the track they're going to take obviously in the campaign, and it could be a s s

successful track. >> remember my dad brought this up about protests in the streets and the disparity will become the principal core problem that plagues this country. he brought it up and people chuckled at him. it has come to pass. >> i don't think that's going to be the top issue in this campaign, i do think, though -- >> i think it will. >> i think it's an important issue. but major, regardless of what i think and that's why i didn't want to say it, seriously, i think if you analyze it politically, i think this is a really good political step forward for the president. >> the president needs to fight. and the president's believers need to believe he's going to fight on their behalf. that's essential. and i think the intro was a bit cautious. this was not a glimpse into the president's reelection message, this is the president's reelection message. you're unhappy, america is unfair, i'm trying to restore some degree of fairness. but let's be honest with ourselves. you said 10 to 12 years this

issue has been percolating in this country. that covers several administrations, we have several economic issues in this country. globalization is a real economic factor. and globalization not just about wall street. yes, wall streeters in some measure profit from globalization but also pressured by globalization. and the loss of manufacturing jobs in this country continues to be an onrunning structural story economically and it's bedevilled republican administration and bedevilled -- >> and by the way, this has been going on since the mid-70s. not just 10 or 12 years, mike, as you know, this has been going on since, you know, the average male wage down every year since 1973, globalization for china starts in '78. this is a generation -- >> manufacturing's shrinking, you have a need for a more educated populus. all of these things are creating

stri strictures, limitations. and as long as people stay in their partisan boxes, these problems to me are going to continue. >> tell you what else is interesting, occupy wall street derided by many people in the country as a movement where people need to take showers and get out of their tents, he made the occupy wall street. he used the term 99%. so clearly the seed of occupy wall street has made it into the white house now, and they're going to seize on that message. and i think there were a lot of progressives and some moderates, i would suggest, listening to that and saying finally, thank you for finally -- >> the best thing habit occupy wall street is that we are the 99% slogan because it is true. and it represents everything that they'ring ae inangry about. >> i don't know that's true. but the zip code is wrong. occupy wall street. the more you listen to the president speech, the more you listen to this campaign play out. it should be occupy k street. because they can propose all the tax regulations, reforms that

they want and corporations and the wealthy are going to have people on k street representing them to put in a semicolon and a clause in a bill -- >> let's be honest, look at health care, for example. the most important initiative of the president's first two years, the one he's trying to defend now. who are the two most important with the president and the administration as that was developed? pharma and the insurance companies. i'm not saying that's a bad thing, pharma's a huge player. it's an enormous player in health care writ large. they were taken care of, okay? big insurance is working with the administration because, what? they want the customers brought to them by what? the individual mandate. so, yes, you can strike a posture -- >> is that why gingrich is for the individual mandate? >> i agree with you, people will listen to the president. but presidents need -- when they're at 43%, the lowest

rating for any president since jimmy carter to say what they're going to do about it. how they're going to address the issue and solve the problem. >> mike, you talk about this in realtime as it was happening. and it seems to me that major just made your point. that the president on this -- and supposedly his most progressive, progressive piece of policy on health care refo reform -- the first thing he did was cut a deal with big pharma, cut a deal with big hospitals, behind the scenes, not telling anybody, and then the third thing he did was cut a deal with big insurance companies. and while they were claiming that they were taking down insurance companies, they were giving insurance companies exactly what they wanted. they were forcing people to buy their product with no cost containment. and so, yeah, why are they on wall street? why aren't they on k street? why aren't they outside the white house? why aren't they outside of

congress? because that's where wall street is given the rules to run? >> why? there are a lot of mystifying things that have happened behind the scenes. why on the mortgage crisis, which is the biggest obstacle to the economy, why haven't they done the same thing with the big banks that they did with big pharma? you know, bring them down, cut a deal. cut a deal. >> yeah. >> why have they allowed this litigation to explode? state after state after state which is going to result in the mortgage mess never being cleared up. >> all right. we have so much more to get to this morning. coming up, we're going to talk to donald trump. >> really? is he going to yell at us like he yelled at chuck? he was just rude to chuck. >> didn't seem to like chuck at all. >> how could you not like chuck? >> oh, okay, you just keep your mouth shut during that interview, okay? i don't need another problem --

>> carney baited me -- >> and that's what he comes on the show to do. >> boone pickens will be on the show. >> uh-oh. i'm going to leave the set for that. >> no, you're not. >> go pokes, is that what you said? go pokes? first, let's go to bill karins with a check on the weather. >> busy weather delay. airport delays very significant yesterday because of the rain and low clouds in new england. and that's is same case today. this is the last day of the rainy, warm weather by the way, we are watching it now widespread. philadelphia area south ward, baltimore, d.c., you're getting in the steady rains for the peak of your morning commute. we are going to watch some of that colder air filtering in, and these are winter weather advisories, not in the big cities, but if you live in the burbs or higher elevations, we could see snowfall late tonight early tomorrow morning. anyone traveling in the albany area, new hampshire, possibly up there, northern maine and also vermont, you'll have to deal with snow tomorrow morning. today just a rainy morning, the

rest of the country is very quiet and very cold in many areas and that cold air is heading east. rainy start time square, "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. [ male announcer ] humana and walmart have teamed up to bring you a low-priced medicare prescription drug plan. ♪ with the lowest national plan premium... ♪

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i've got to give it up for president obama because, you know, whatever your politics are, he is trying very hard, trying very hard to come up with

ways to tackle this recession. he's doing everything he can. and frankly, i hate to say it, but i think he is running out of ideas. >> take whatever you can from whomever you can. >> okay. 26 past the hour. time now to take a look -- >> boy, that one really inspired. >> it tag teams with the president's speech and intentions. the "new york times" says governor andrew cuomo and state leaders reached a deal to overhaul the state's income tax. the move means new yorkers making over $2 million will have a higher tax rate. middle class residents will have their rates reduced to what cuomo says is the lowest rate in nearly 60 years. the article points out that

cuomo repeatedly campaigned no new taxes for anyone during his campaign for governor. the illinois news gazette said rod blagojevich would get one more chance to ask for mercy before sentencing today. prosecutors are asking 15 to 20 years, and mike and willie, our question is, why is this guy in court? i think you're going to find 20 years from now just like we had the free mandela concerts in the '80s, this is what we're going to see. our kids are going to be going to -- >> all right. >> free blago. >> this is actually important. >> he compares himself to mandela. >> let's go to the sacramento bee. the 70th anniversary of the day that lives in infamy the attack on pearl harbor. >> mike, there's such a disconnect between this generation and even what

happened in '41, 1941. but it wasn't so long ago that kids in school would learn about what happened on december 7th, 1941. every year. >> i have been thinking about that all morning long, actually. how many sixth, seventh, eighth graders across this country today will know what pearl harbor was or will be -- will it be mentioned today in classes? and i bet not. >> well, related to that. >> i hope it is. i'm going to ask my girls. >> my 11-year-old had a class assignment to interview a grandparent about the great depression and she interviewed my father-in-law. and the question was, well, how did you celebrate your most memorable christmas during the depression and my father-in-law said well, my younger brother died and our family was quarantined and we didn't have presents and that was christmas. and all my daughters friends sat there like, what? that happened? that was real? >> exactly.

>> that was the way things could occur? and like that, pearl harbor was very close thereafter. that whole generation, the difficulties that were day-to-day, the routine that we dealt with, coped with, moved along through and survived through. part of the american story, but less well known than probably it ought to be. >> and also our generation can't sympathize with what happened in the days and years after that. we declare war the next day, germany and italy declare war on us. what happened in the country from december 7th 1941 through '45 and beyond, the sacrifices that were made here at home, we had our pearl harbor on september 11th, 2001, but we didn't have as a country and as a generation what came after pearl harbor for the rest of us. >> i love that assignment to have children interview their grandparents because they get such a personal perspective. >> yeah. there's not -- >> my daughter's thing on cheese, a "b" plus. he's not going to be happy.

>> oh, well. >> you're exactly right, willie, we had september 11th. you talked to my mom and my dad and people that were there. it was a threat. they had hitler coming in from the east and japan coming in from the west. my dad who was in miami in the early '40s, you know, said you could look out as you're walking on miami beach and see the damage that the u-boats were causing. sinking ships right off the florida coast and then out west, of course, the constant concern that the japanese were coming. it was -- >> all over the coast of california. i remember growing up in san diego seeing these abandoned places that were gun placements on the cliffs. >> and the day -- the regular americans, day-to-day sacrifices, giving up the bumper of your car so it could be made into munitions somewhere. we didn't have that, obviously.

>> the street that i grew up on, every house, every floor of every house someone had either been lost in world war ii or had served in world war ii. every single house on the street where i grew up. go find that today. >> yeah, especially since we're engaged in two wars. >> 70 years ago today. let's turn to politico. the chief white house correspondent of course is mike allen with a look at the playbook. good morning. >> good morning, willie. >> let's talk newt gingrich, the rise of another poll comes out yesterday showing him far ahead now by 15 points in iowa, confirming some polls that we saw a couple of days ago, and your lead story this morning on "politico," why newt's surge is real and why the white house is taking him seriously. >> yeah, willie, this is a playbook siren. telling us they underestimated newt gingrich, top officials of the republican party and democrats, including david axelrod, the president's chief

strategist now believes something that a week ago we thought was impossible. that is obama versus newt gingrich in november 2012. >> and should they be taking newt gingrich seriously? you look at the head to head polling right now. if he comes out of that primary, they have to like that match-up better than the match-up with mitt romney. >> willie, this is very interesting, as i talked to democrats, a lot of them said sure, the conventional wisdom has been that they will love the idea of the gingrich primary. that as barney frank said, it would be the best thing for democrats since barry goldwater, but as you talk to the top democrats, they're a little concerned about newt gingrich because he's erratic, unpredictable, it would be a tougher, nastier race. in politics, people don't like things they can't predict. and gingrich is the ultimate x factor in this race. in match-up with president obama, he also would probably do

slightly better with hispanics because of that more moderate position on immigration that we've talked about. >> well, you know, willie, the white house concern about newt being erratic, it's the same, apollo creed's people didn't want apollo to fight rocky. and guess what? they were right. because apollo had to drag rocky around for three movies. >> yeah. >> until the russian came along and the whole series went down. >> tragically. >> you have to go back to 1979 and even 1980, the carter white house celebrating, throwing a party when ronald reagan won the nomination. newt gingrich is no ronald reagan. i think he would be an absolute disaster for the republican party. but the collective wisdom in 1980 was the same about ronald reagan. you always have to be worried about that. that said, gingrich would be held to single digits in the electoral college.

you know? he might pick up georgia. >> he'd get there. mike allen, thanks so much. thanks. still ahead, we'll bring in the "wall street journal's" peggy noonan and donny deutch will be with us. plus, possibly the least cool way a celebrity's been thrown off a plane. why alec baldwin was booted off an american airlines flight yesterday. we're back in a moment. progresso. it fits! fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less.

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all right. time for some sports. and we're trying to figure out what's going on in south florida. the miami marlins are coming up with this money. whether or not 11-time all star albert pujols will become a marlin. >> they have offered the 31-year-old a 10-year contract worth more than $200 million. pujols plays his entire career in st. louis, cardinals hold out hope he will resign with them. the marlins have been on a spending spree, they signed heath bell and the bigger deal went to jose reyes from the mets, six years $106 million.

part of an effort to fill the seats of the team's new $634 million retractable roof stadium opening next spring. last season, the team had the lowest attendance in the national league. stadium not the only thing new to the marlins. a few weeks ago we showed you their new unis. harkening back to the days of miami vice. the graphics department put pujols in a uniform. >> awful. >> what are you doing? >> but, mike, you know baseball, you know the owners, you know the inner workings. what's going on down there? this is a team in the past has had $38 million, $40 million. they pay for reyes, pujols, and a new stadium. >> they haven't sold the naming rights yet. they could sign -- they've signed reyes, they could sign pujols, pay him $22 million a year, and i bet their average annual payroll still wouldn't hit $100 million, i think he's going to go to st. louis.

>> why would you go, though? >> ten years. >> to miami or to live in miami's great, it's a great place to live, tampa's a great place to live, i love the state of florida. if i were a baseball player, i would never go there, you look at what an incredible job, willie, over the past three years the reyes have done in tampa. an extraordinary story as a red sox fan, it drives me batty. but they've done a great job and down the stretch, they'll have 4,000 people there. it looks like atlanta, fulton county stadium in the rocket era. >> and the marlins have won two world series. they win the world series and then they have the liquidation sale and give it away. >> it's ten-year contract, no state income tax. >> right. that's true. >> florida makes a huge difference. >> athletes live in florida. >> and why he's not coming to new york because he'd be paying more taxes. >> can't do that. >> let's talk about the red sox.

big poppi going to accept arbitration. >> good news. >> barnicle, we need to talk about bobby valentine. >> he's the greatest. >> you're going to love bobby valentine. >> i know bobby valentine. i've met him. i did an event with him. >> you did shots with him as i understand it. >> yeah, she did. >> at a public event. on a stage. >> yeah. big hands, bobby valentine. >> must-read opinion pages is next.

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but amc, of course, who do "madmen," a show that our family loved from episode one, it's a great show. but also "breaking bad's" in here. and i asked you, every critic says it's the best show on tv. and i just -- it's hard for me to get into a show, willie, about a guy who is dying of cancer and so he becomes a meth addict and dealer. >> i'm embarrassed to say i've never seen the show. >> i've heard it's remarkable. >> ryan cranson. >> he becomes a seller and producer because he's a chemistry teacher and he learns how to make this absolutely sensational -- >> he's an entrepreneur. >> and what it is, it's about his struggle, originally, to break out of this sort of humdrum world, create money for his family, but then he gets sucked into this world, this high-end world of drug dealing.

>> the meth version of "weeds?" >> and all the vast array of characters -- >> would you say it's -- would you say it's the best show on tv? >> i don't know. it's a show i enjoy very much. >> other than "morning joe," of course. every critic says it's an incredible show. i've got to see it. >> it's a great show. there are a lot of great shows on cable. "boss." have you seen that? >> i have not. >> "homeland" pretty good show, "madm "madmen" great show. >> "the league." you've got to see "the league" on fx. and i'm sorry, bored to death, ted danson. >> you guys have a lot of time. i have not seen one of these shows. seriously. >> i wonder, though, this brings up a goo point here. i don't understand how tv networks make money anymore because, for instance, hbo, i watch. i watch entourage, all the

series, i never watch them in realtime. i will watch "bored to death" on a saturday afternoon. i don't know how they monetize it anymore. >> i don't know. boardwalk empire, you go ondemand and get it on saturday afternoon. >> and i watch them one after another when i have an hour and a half two hours to catch up. >> if you look at boardwalk empire, they create an entire city scape -- >> the broader point, which may be reflected in this piece. it's a golden era for tv production, tv writing, tv creativity. you have no longer three boxes, you have 15, 16, 18 different channels that are pulling in a tremendous amount of content. and for writers and creators, it's approximating a golden era. >> mike, following up. back in the 1970s, there was movies. everywhere you went people would talk about "the godfather," or "the sting." >> or made for tv movies. the networks tried to have these made for tv movies, they were

huge money. >> and now tv is the new -- >> tv is reality. movies, if you look, most of the movies that come out, big, big budget movies, they're cartoons, extended on to the big screen. >> they are. >> tv is reality. tv is great drama, great writing as major just pointed out. >> all right. we only have time for one must read. this is from red state. getting to a brokered convention. >> erick erickson. >> i'd take demint or bush in a heartbeat, but this is wishful thinking. we go to war with the army we have and the ballot box with the field we have. as much as i wouldn't mind a brokered convention, i don't think it would happen, although miracles do still happen. i should note that a candidate getting in now might hit the rick perry problem. a candidate likewise getting in the convention would have to weather the media storm and inquiry in the way that the present candidates have not because that candidate would be

the nominee and will have bypassed everything now. don't hold your breath, but prayer does work. >> and i don't know many republicans who aren't praying for a brokered convention now. but the big news from erick erickson comes this morning with a new editorial and it's called "my confession." bottom line is erick erickson, this hard charging -- we've said here, i think the most important conservative blogger on the scene, his confession today, he can't vote for newt gingrich and right now he is moving toward -- are you ready for this? jon huntsman. a man he said a couple of months ago he would never, never vote for, but you know what, major, conservatives are starting to look at huntsman's record and as he said, it's the most conservative record in the race other than rick perry's. he's the most pro-life, pro-gun,

the most conservative. they are giving huntsman a new look. >> and rapidly become the alternative to gingrich when it becomes clear, if it becomes clear that romney is completely deflated. >> yeah. >> isn't that fascinating? >> huntsman could become the repository of the antigingrich phenomenon in the way that gingrich has being the repository of the antiromney. >> it appears to be happening right now. you watch. >> first he has to do really well in new hampshire. >> he's got to do well in new hampshire. and right now he's not moving the needle now. and he's going to have to come out as erick said, he's a hell of a lot more conservative than his own campaign wants to admit. he's got to start telling people the truth about his record. and the truth is, he's the most conservative guy in the race. >> or maybe people among the base and the heavy hitters actually just need to listen. i don't know what they're doing.

>> he needs to get his message out. like erickson said today, jon huntsman is the most conservative guy in this race. up next, willie's news you can't use. back with more "morning joe" in a minute. [ female announcer ] the humana walmart-preferred rx plan gives you the lowest plan premium in the country... so you can focus on what really matters. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. nyquil tylenol: we are?ylenol. you know we're kinda like twins. nyquil (stuffy): yeah, we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. tylenol: and i relieve nasal congestion. nyquil (stuffy): overachiever. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't.

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all right. it's time for news you can't use. headline in the new york tabloids. the big story of the day according to the "new york daily

news." alec baldwin tossed off plane. alec baldwin apparently really loves the scrabble-like words with friends. baldwin asked to leave a new york bound flight after refusing to turn off his ipad while the plane was parked at the gate. his spokesman said "he loves words with friends so much that he was willing to leave a plane for it." baldwin tweeted this, flight attendant on american reamed me out while we sat at the gate not moving. along with the hash tag, no wonder american is bankrupt. the airline, of course, filed for bankruptcy last week. baldwin's follow-up tweet later said #there'salwaysunited with a screen grab of his words with friends game. if you look closely, it says let alec play. he went on to tweet, mike barnicle with the hash tag there's always united, last

flight with american where retired catholic school gym teachers from the '50s find jobs as flight attendants. >> that's a little much. >> a little over the top. major garrett, what is it about the game? after we did the story on "way too early," we were bombarded with tweets saying this game governs their lives. >> it's the new angry birds. i don't know the whole fascination about that, but words with friends is something i play with my kids. i have four games going with my son right now and one with my daughter and it's great. and i would say in alec baldwin's defense, i'm so sick of the cliche of the celebrity drinking too much or smoking or swearing abusively at a flight attendant. they just want to play words with friends. they're playing words with friends on my ipad. i'm not making noise. >> in defense of the celebrity nerd. major garrett. he did catch a flight later, got on his way, but it was again an american flight. we don't know if he was able to play angry birds. truly news you can't use.

>> exactly. coming up, jay carney, donny deutch, peggy noonan and donald trump on "morning joe." ♪ it' s nice to be here ♪ ♪ it's nice to see you in my bed ♪ ♪ ♪ there are diamonds in her eyes ♪

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if you look back at roosevelt, fdr, he first tried to be a bipartisan leader and got so hurt by the ranker of the

republican right who called him a traitor to the class, that he went right after them and wins in a landslide. i don't think that will work for obama because he's not a warrior, a happy warrior in that way, but there is a model for him in teddy roosevelt, similar time to ours, squeezed middle class, up and down gap between the middle poor. >> and in 1910, teddy roosevelt came here and he laid out his vision for what he called a new nationalism. our country, he said, means nothing unless it means the triumph of a real democracy. of an economic system under which each man shall be guaranteed the opportunity to show the best that there is in him. >> it was a good speech. >> teddy roosevelt lost in 1912. anyway. >> welcome back to "morning joe." mike barnicle is still with us.

and joining the table we have columnist for the "wall street journal" peggy noonan. great to see you. >> good morning. >> we have donny deutsch. >> we have peggy noonan -- >> you're wearing the shoes, so you've got to be nice. >> peggy, talking about the comeback kid. >> we'll get to that. i'd like to read a little part of that on the air. let's get to the president's speech because i want to bring jay carney into the conversation. you'll behave. president obama is providing a glimpse of what could be the central theme in his bid for reelection. in a sweeping speech in a high school gym in kansas yesterday, the president struck a populist tone calling for new action to help middle class americans still struggling under the weight of a troubled and he says unfair economy. the president framed the debate in historic terms while taking direct, explicit aim at the economic policies at the core of the republican party.

>> raging debate over the best way to restore growth and prosperity, restore balance, restore fairness. throughout the country, it sparked protests and political movements from the tea party to the people who have been occupying the streets of new york and other cities. this is not just another political debate. this is the defining issue of our time. this is a make or break moment for the middle class and for all those who are fighting to get into the middle class. now, just as there was in teddy roosevelt's time, there's a certain crowd in washington who for the last few decades have said let's respond to this economic challenge with the same old tune. sure, they say, there'll be winners and losers, but if the winners do really well, then jobs and prosperity will

eventually trickle down to everybody else. here's the problem, it doesn't work. it has never worked. but here's the problem. it doesn't work. it has never worked. >> that speech in kansas. joining us now from the white house press secretary jay carney. good to have you on the show. >> mika, great to be here, thanks. >> many would say the president connected with issues that really are important to people in this country in that speech. can he argue he deserves four more years in office and his policies actually back up that connection? >> well, i think he can, mika. i would say that this speech wasn't an election speech, it was a speech that framed the debates we've been having and the debates we will likely have next year that go right to some of the policies the president is pushing congress to act on right

now, including the extension and expansion of a payroll tax cut for middle class americans. but what the president's point was was that we are at a make or break moment for the middle class, that the path we are on where the middle class is being squeezed and squeezed and squeeze squeezed. the path for three decades is unsustainable and not really american. the great explosion of the middle class is what made america great, what made it powerful, what made it the source of hope and inspiration around the world, and as we've seen from all this independent data and analyses, the middle class has been under pressure now for three decades. and its share of the national wealth has been pinched while the concentration of that wealth in the hands of pockets of just, you know, the tiniest fraction of the wealthiest americans has grown. >> nobody would argue with that, but what strategy, what policy, what is it that this president can do in this current situation in washington that can actually

get done that he hasn't already attempted or passed on? >> well, i think i would certainly argue that what we've seen in the last three years is this president act substantially to reverse the economic collapse that he inherited to put this country back on track to grow and also to lift up the middle class and those aspiring to get into it. the policies he's pushing right now, mika, which he is confident he will get some of, including the payroll tax extension go right to the issues he was talking about yesterday. helping the middle class, helping it right itself and put itself back on an opportunity path to growth and expansion. so, you know, it is tough fighting with congress is tough. but as we've seen just in recent days, republicans in congress are beginning to change their tune about whether or not we need to take action to give the middle class a tax cut. >> so jay, what is the

president's counter argument to the fact that the president inherited a bad situation? he owned washington for two years, but in effect, he made things worse. he said if you pass my trillion dollar stimulus program, unemployment won't go above 8%. we see here today .6% now. there is more and more americans are giving up, looking for jobs. the president -- again, for two years, the president had his way. he passed a historic piece of health care legislation that we read now is keeping a lot of small businesses frozen from hiring new employees. what's the president's counterargument to that? >> well, two things, joe. i want to go to your recitation of the stats about what the stimulus would do and what the recovery act would do. there was not a single mainstream wall street academic economist who knew at the time in january of 2009 just how deep the economic hole was that we were in.

we at -- at that point we felt we had shrunk by 3% in the last quarter of 2008. as you know now and i know now it was 9%. so we were in an economic freefall. and we know now that the hole dug by the recession was much deeper than we understood at the time. but this president's policies have resulted in month after month after month of economic growth as opposed to contraction. not fast enough, but month after month after month, 21 months of private sector job creation. almost 3 million private sector jobs now. and what we also know is that, unfortunately, what we've heard so far from people with different ideas is that their ideas are different from the president's, but they're the same as the ideas and the policies that got us into this mess. and that's what the president's offering. he's offering policies that are lifting us out of the problem and putting us on a path forward. >> mike barnicle, the white

house is in a tough position. because if they make the argument that jay just made, which is, hey, we've had job growth, things are getting better, there are a lot of people out there saying i'm not feeling it. but if they sit back and say what a terrible position this country's in economically, that's also a no-win approach. >> well, it would seem to me just reading the president's speech that he gave yesterday that he's on to the fairness issue, which i think as we've talked about here is the real issue out in the country, the fairness issue. people know that what's going on and has been going on for years now is just at some level isn't fair. and as we've said repeatedly, we don't care whether you're rich, just i don't want to be poor. that's the deal in this country. that's the deal. so, jay, in that context, when do you figure the timetable is for the president to stop swinging at air? this is what he did in a sense yesterday, and name his

opponents, mcconnell, boehner, cantor, republicans by name. what's the time frame for that? >> well, look, i think we've been pretty explicit, the president has, i have, and others about what the obstacle is in congress. and we've named names and parties and we can keep pressing on with that. and we're not mincing words. the president's speech yesterday was pretty darn clear, i think, about what the obstacles are to the kind of progress we need to make. and mike, your point is so well said about what the president was discussing here in terms of fairness. his speech yesterday was profoundly american. in the tradition of teddy roosevelt that sees this country as a place that could be opportunity for all and not just a few. and if we're not growing the middle class, if the middle class feels that the country has lost its way, what are we really? this is not network anymore. we need to continue the greatness we experienced as a country in the 20th century and build on it into the 21st.

>> peggy noonan, it seems the president ran on in the first election that brought him into the presidency, yes, we can. now as jay carney says he was framing the obstacles that face progress at this point especially pertaining to the middle class, it's why we couldn't. how will we get to and how will this president get to how we will next time around? he's lost a lot of people. >> it seems to me and i wonder how jay would respond to this. it seems to me the president in a way is trying to get around a few of the issues we're talking about here by associating himself with a mood. what is the mood? it is a burly and vigorous turn of the last century. teddy roosevelt progressivism, we are all in this together, i'm for the little guy against the predatory rich. i'm wondering, jay, how did the white house have the president come to seize upon teddy

roosevelt very recently? what are his thoughts about roosevelt? why is he associating himself with that particular line of thought in american political history? >> well, the speech, peggy, has been in the works here for more than a month. the connection to roosevelt's new nationalism speech has been made, you know, for the whole time for the five weeks since this has been under discussion and the decision was made why not give it in the very location that president roosevelt delivered his famous address? and the association is not a novel idea that the speech that teddy roosevelt gave back in 1910 really framed the century that came forward after it. that defined what it was to be american, what american greatness could be. and this president, i think like many of his predecessors really associates with that and believes in the spirit that teddy roosevelt spoke of and was

animated by and believes that it's really profoundly american to talk about lifting up the middle class, lifting up those who aspire to the middle class. and it's not an attack on a segment of society. it's a call to come together. that we are greater together if we push forward to help all america move ahead. >> i find it interesting that that speech happened yesterday. it's donny deutsch, mr. carney. the other news of the day of gingrich popping in the polls. i say to myself, if i'm the president, i do exactly what he did. i own an indisputable place, fairness, no facts associated with it because i know my competitors, a, don't have the answers, and b, as people are not appealing and likable and despite the low approval ratings of his policy, him as a person still has high approval ratings. if i fast forward to november '12, we're kind of in this

rubik's cube. the other side, not only doesn't have the policy answers, they don't have the people answers either. and mr. carney, are you guys salivating at the thought of newt gingrich at 30% and 35% of the polls across the country? >> you know, i think as this president knows well, primary processes are complex and their outcomes are never quite clear until it's a done deal. so we're not focused particularly on that race. i would say that there are teeth very much associated with the ideas the president put forward, the policies he's put forth since he came into office and they're very much driven by the higher altitude theorys he discussed yesterday in his speech. and those are the kinds of things he's going to push forward. he believes -- and there is still work to be done. that despite our differences, despite the partisanship in washington that the pressure from the american people, the voices of the american people will hopefully in the end push

congress to move and do some of these absolutely essential things that we need to do, like making sure we don't have 160 million americans experience a tax hike on january 1st. that's not fair. he believes in the end that congress will and must act to make sure it doesn't happen. >> jay carney, great to have you on the show. thank you for keeping joe in line. say hi to claire. >> i will, i will. all the best to you guys. >> jay didn't bake me this time. >> he's running as if he's running for the incumbent. not dealing with some of the issues. it's almost he's distanced himself from his current presidency as the outsider without the answers, but selling hope. >> i'm not going to talk about this. i'll let you two traditionally democratic people talk about this. and talk about the democrats -- mika, you had a fascinating

story, a democrat, lifetime democrat in georgetown came up to you and said what? >> voting republican. >> no matter who the republican is? >> yes. and i pressed her on it because i'd heard it before but she sort of volunteered this. which is not something you volunteer on the streets of georgetown. but it was on the tip of her tongue. >> and mike, the thing is. i bring this up because they're not going to be able to run away from the fact that they're the incumbents. and you heard it during the scott brown race and still hearing it from democrats saying the guy doesn't know how to run the economy. >> you hear it a lot. people who voted for barack obama, who like barack obama very much personally say, you know, we made a mistake. he's in over his head puchlt that is before the introduction of newt gingrich. >> that changes everything. peggy noonan, you wrote a column. >> yeah, let me read from the "comeback kid" from 2012.

>> that changes everything for the obama team. >> all right. what happened is a better story than -- that the establishment didn't know what the base was thinking was that the base didn't know what the base was thinking. he's incredibly lucky said a friend of gingrich. bachmann, cain, perry went away, but newt didn't go away. a friend says part of the reason for his rise is he's been there forever. he's spoken at every gop dinner. people say i liked him back in '83, it's all accrued. he compared to mr. gingrich to ibm, we had mo gave him credit for. >> huh. >> well, just because he's been there, i mean -- >> like the creamed corn in the back of the cupboard. >> well, let me note -- first of all, mika, you said democrats are starting to walk up to you and say no matter who i'm voting for republican. i live in new york, hillary clinton land. i've been hearing that for two years. but much more in the past three,

four months. and by the way, mike, they don't necessarily -- >> almost across the board to your point, though, gingrich is -- >> there's a lot of distance between them. second thing, as to the president's speech, i've got to tell you, at this point, three years in with the economy where it is, with the impression he's made, health care, et cetera, stimulus, the whole deal, words and attempts to associate himself with previous american heroes are not going to cut it. >> if it's against gingrich, that's all you have to do, that's the point. >> that's not going to make a difference. two things will happen that will make a difference for the president. one is the gop implodes, the other is the economy comes back. nobody expects the economy to come back any time soon. a gop implosion, however, would be a different story. >> he's got three things, donny, though, that he has hung around his neck. one of them he shares with george w. bush. a bailout, a stimulus, and health care reform.

those are three hanging on his back. the left may love all three of them. there are three he will not be able to -- >> i don't care what they are. why the republicans going back, he's been there for years. there's something that happens in marketing when people don't know what to do. let's say you're burger king, for instance, and you're all over the place and you go, we've got to go back to who we are, burgers, burgers, burgers, that's who we are. when you don't know where to go, you go back to your core, whether it's what the consumers want or not. and i think that's what this gingrich thing is. >> to a degree i think you're quite right. is he the answer? look, i think this whole field is influx. we're all looking at polls. in which people are called and asked, look, who are you for? and they almost burp out the name that they saw yesterday on

the news. that want to have an answer, so they're thinking -- >> cain. >> cain, perry, bachmann. it's early the two most interesting polls in the past few weeks the one that came out from the "new york times" that said that 2/3 of the voters in iowa don't know how they're going to vote. and it's very soon. another was, i believe university of iowa saying only 25% or so know who they're going to vote for. this thing is in play. it is moving. you can focus on newt at this moment, but i'm not sure we'll be focusing on newt in three weeks. >> there's a story yet to be written. >> i don't think we'll be focusing on newt. donny, i want to ask you quickly. the "wall street journal" i think as a conservative i think they have a remarkable editorial. the two coasts, andrew cuomo saying we're not going to be able to track businesses to

united states if we keep taxing them. you're going to be one of the highest tax states in the nation and have a reputation for anti-business and have a rosy economic future. and yet, cuomo for people making over $2 million, those are the people, though, who decide what states they're going to live in. >> he was able to cut that deal too. >> yeah. we're not talking -- we're talking about attracting business to new york state. raising taxes on ceos and do you think that's a good idea? >> i think there's no choice. i think you have no choice. we always go back to the argument we can't do this, we can't do that. is it ideal? no but what else are you going to do? something's got to give somewhere. i think cuomo's doing a fantastic job. >> raise taxes, don't cut spending. >> raise taxes on the 1%. stop the loopholes, cut the loopholes. >> donny, they will leave and you'll wind up deeper in the hole. they will leave, they will take

their businesses with them. >> there's a lot of businesses i know that cannot and will no leave new york. >> i love the "wall street journal" editorials. they make you think, no matter where you stand they make you think. >> sure. >> raises taxes on ceos does very little in terms of attracting business. lowering taxes on the people the ceos hire. that's the deal. >> that's not a bad thing. >> no, it's worked well in connecticut over the past -- oh, wait a second. connecticut's actually been stagnant since they implemented an income tax there. >> coming up -- >> remember all the other taxes, the property tax, the state tax, the city tax. i know you know it, but at a certain point, people start to think i got to flee this place, which keeps taking -- >> you're never going to flee your job. >> yeah. coming up next, we've got donald trump, his new role as moderator in the upcoming republican presidential debate. plus, boone pickens is going to

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all right. welcome back at 26 past the hour. peggy noonan still with us. willie back at the table. and look who we have here joining us now, boone pickens. good to have you back. >> and boone pickens has a question this morning that has nothing to do with oklahoma state or alabama. your question is for the president. >> don't start there. >> what's your question for the president? >> the president's confusing me. every time he's on tv, he says that the rich should pay their fair share. >> what's wrong with that? >> well, i don't know what fair share is. that's what's bothering me. i always want to be fair. and historically i've been a very fair guy.

i'm 83, i still go to work in the morning at 8:00, i have 150 people that work for me, and some place in here i feel like i'm letting the country down. >> oh. >> i need to know what they want. >> well, we can start with taxes. >> let's talk about taxes -- >> like warren buffett. >> what percentage -- >> warren buffett pays 17% of what he makes in taxes. is that fair? or should he pay 35%? >> is it? after i was 70 years old, hi paid $665 million in taxes. is that fair? >> well -- >> well, you made a lot of money. >> i don't know how much you made, mr. pickens. why don't you give me the full numbers? >> the full numbers. tell me exactly what full number means. >> well, if you paid that much in taxes -- >> how much did i make? >> yes. >> well, let's say -- >> you don't have to answer that question. come on, no, it's none of your business. you going to tell everybody how much you make?

>> i'm not making an argument about how much i make in taxes and making it sound like such a big number and not then disclosing -- >> you feel like i'm not paying my fair share after $665 million and i'm over 70 years old? >> sir, with all due respect. >> that's pretty good. >> it depends on what you make. >> i for one am glad you're paying $665 million in the united states treasury. but the question is, do you think that -- do you understand the tax fairness issue? where, for instance, general electric paid 0% in taxes and yet secretaries for general electric pay 25% in taxes? >> well, zero -- the system is set up -- i'll testify before the subcommittee back 20 years ago, and he asked me, are you paying significant or insignificant taxes? and i said i'm paying i'd say insignificant. and he said you're on the front of business week as one of the highest paid executives in america in 1985. and i said okay. and he said you're paying

insignificant taxes. and i said, look, i'm not under investigation by the irs, my return is accepted as accurate. and he said, well, don't you think you should pay more? and i said, look, i've deferred income due to your rules. you set the rules, i follow the rules. >> and that's one of the things we've been saying. >> two years later, i paid $27 million in taxes and i sent him a copy of the check and i said, you see, the system does work. and he said i always wondered. >> and now you know. speaking of systems, willie, working or not working. how about the bcs? why don't we go there? >> you want to go there. >> let me ask one more question, though, about capital gains. you think we could raise the capital gains rate? would that be fair? >> would it be fair? >> not fair, do you think it would be an appropriate or productive way to raise money for this? >> well, that's the reason why i'm sure that warren's taxes are less than his secretary -- see i have no salary. >> exactly. >> i have no salary.

>> you make money in capital gains, right. >> if i make money. you didn't ask me last year what i made. i made nothing. zero, i didn't pay any taxes because i didn't make any money. so, you know, entrepreneurs have years like that. decades sometimes. >> luckily you had some socked away for a rainy day. >> oh, sure, no question, i'm a wealthy man. but i didn't make any money last year. the whole question was -- >> to raise the capital gains rate? >> i'm not keen about that. i don't think you're going to help yourself that much to do it. if you did it, i wouldn't spend any time, you know, trying to stop it if they wanted it. >> so if you're talking to president obama, then, you're a businessman, you've been there, you've hired people, you've created jobs. what do you tell him? what's the one thing he ought to be doing if he's not doing now? >> well, of course, create jobs. >> but how? >> okay. the jobs are in the energy business. >> yeah, how about the pipeline?

>> sure. >> why did he kill the pipeline? >> why did he? >> yeah, why is he not fighting for it? >> well, they didn't want to take the pipeline across through the sand hills. sand hills are precious to nebraska and they are. you can put a pipeline. there's 51 pipelines across nebraska. okay, go around the sand hills if you want to. but silly -- i mean across my ranch. i have 70,000-acre ranch in the panhandle of texas. and i've got six pipelines across my ranch. is that any big deal? no, they may pay me damages when they do it, but the pipeline goes across my property. so it's a great to do about nothing on the pipeline. but the jobs are in the energy business. you look at north dakota, they are looking for 31,000 people there to work for them. >> they have jobs there. >> yeah. and you look at oklahoma,

oklahoma's 4% unemployed. and you go around over the country and see where the jobs are, it's in the energy deal because today you have an unbelievable opportunity to make this country energy independent. i mean, it could happen. only one missing link now. leadership. that's the only missing link. because the leadership in washington doesn't even understand the resources that you have available in america. >> can i ask -- new oil areas being found. this is just based on reading the newspapers in the past month. new oil, new means mechanically of getting oil. natural gas, fraccing, pipelines, nuclear energy. all these things could come together right now. i just sort of have the feeling that america is actually on something amazing that we didn't expect in the past 50 years. and that is actual energy independence. we could actually become an

energy exporter. am i correct? is that possible? >> well, you're going a little bit far. but you've got it, though. but you want north america to stick together. so you want to work with the canadians. and the oil that you're talking about coming down through nebraska, if that pipeline doesn't work, that pipeline's going to go out of ft. mcmurray to china. that's going to china. so you lose the oil out of north america if that happens. >> so china's getting it instead of us? >> they will -- >> if we don't build that pipeline. >> we're going to build a pipeline. you watch, they'll build a pipeline. >> the president has to wait -- >> even talking about it is so insane because the canadians, america kind of looks at canada sort of like a subsidiary or a state to the north. and they're not. they're a sovereign country and they have great resources, and we should work closely with them. we have no policy with them to work with them. >> yeah. >> and they give us more oil than any place else in the world except our own.

we produce 7 million barrels of oil a day. we're not just peanuts on production. but our industry has done an unbelievable job. and every time the president says the oil industry and then he follows it very quickly and said they've made enough, that goes right into the sentence, they've made enough, and then he proceeds to pan the industry. the industry's done exactly what the president wanted. what did he want? hep wants american industry to develop jobs, technologies, and advance, and that's exactly what the industry does. >> all right. >> now boone's wearing the orange tie. >> i see that. >> he's making a statement. not just a fashion statement. but a statement about the state of college -- >> go pokes. >> your sooners, oklahoma state loses one game -- >> don't say sooners. >> what did i say? >> excuse me, lost one game in double overtime on the road and yet they're shut out of the game. joe's happy because alabama's there. you say what?

>> well, i mean -- alabama didn't even win their conference. they didn't win their division. when you look at it -- i hate to say this, joe, but alabama's a loser. >> oh, lord. stop it, what are you trying to do? i've got to work with him for the next hour and a half. >> did you see the odds in the national championship game? >> what is it? >> even. i'll remember that as i'm watching trent richardson winning the heisman. >> you know who i'm rooting for? you have no national champion because they both won the game. are they going to flip a coin? i want osu to beat stanford, and that's not going to be easy. but if we win, alabama wins, is it alabama against osu? no. we'll play lsu on friday afternoon and the following saturday we'll play alabama. >> we love that. let's set that up. >> we look forward to -- we're doing an event with you on

monday. >> my coach mike gundy, i'll get a call from him shortly. don't say we're going to play friday and saturday. >> are you dumping me out? >> no, you can -- >> you can stay if you'd like, we're going to be interviewing donald trump next. >> donald will be here? >> yes. ♪ i'm burning out this useless telephone ♪ ♪ my hair is gone ♪ cheap cologne ♪ motor home ♪ i'm the rocket man! [ both ] ♪ rocket man ♪ burning out his fuse up here alone ♪ burning out his fuse up here alone? ahh. [ male announcer ] crystal clear fender premium audio. one of many premium features available on the all-new volkswagen passat. the 2012 motor trend car of the year. ♪ and i think it's gonna be a long, long time ♪ oh, there's a prize, all right. [ male announcer ] inside every box of cheerios are those great-tasting little o's

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hey, with us now on the phone is donald trump. he is the author of "time to get tough." >> the donald. >> making america number one. i'll tell you what, you're causing -- you're making some waves here, man. you've got the trump debate. what's the latest on the donald trump debate? >> well, i'm doing a favor for news max, which is a great organization. they asked me to do it. and it's certainly getting a lot of press. >> i've never seen anything like it. >> you're embarrassed by all that press too, aren't you? >> you don't want that. that's something you shy away from. >> who's going to show up? >> so far, rick santorum said yes. and as you know, newt gingrich said yes immediately, and i have to give him a lot of credit. he's a big front runner, has done amazingly and immediately said yes. he's not afraid of anything. i'm surprised that mitt romney said no. he was very nice, he called me

yesterday and he said he's very busy, he's so busy. and i was a little bit surprised at that. >> do you like mitt romney? is mitt a good guy? >> i think he's a very nice guy, actually. i've known him for a while and i've gotten to know him pretty well lately and frankly i was surprised because he wants my endorsement. he wants it very badly, and that doesn't necessarily affect it one way or the other, but he really wants my endorsement. he came up to trump tower, as you know, you covered it very well. and i'm a little bit surprised he turned down the debate. i would say that if you're down in the polls, which respectfully he is down in the polls fairly substantially in a lot of ways, i would think you'd want to be in a debate like this because it would be very well covered. >> it would get a lot of attention. >> i want to ask you about the debate, a lot of people wond wondering how is it going to work? will you be the lone moderator? how does it work? >> i think they're in terms of a lone moderator. how are you, willie? >> i'm great.

>> my great judge at miss universe. you did a great job. mika's favorite subject. >> i will tell you -- >> no, i would think i would be the lone judge. and that's the way it seems, just a good old fashioned debate. we wouldn't do 15 minutes of rules at the beginning, and i watched a couple debates where i won't say who but a certain moderator stands up and goes for about 12 minutes on what the rules are. i think the rules can be set before the debate and get right into the subject matter. >> that sounds like a good tactic, and i'll tell you this much for whatever it's worth. i prefer you doing this than the pageants, definitely. >> i love the pageants -- >> well, a lot of men wouldn't prefer that, but that's okay. >> donald, it's donny. >> hi, donny. >> i'm going to challenge you for a second because at your core you're a marketer and i am too. i would advise these candidates, turn donald down. and here's what i would say -- >> what?

>> i would say it's unpresidential and you look stronger saying no and donald obviously is a very important guy, but if you're running for president, you are not called to the mountain by anybody but a journalist and you demean yourself by doing this as much as i like you, as long as we go back as friends, i would advise them it's a dumb thing to do to do for them. >> donald, what do you think -- donny says he's your friend. i'm on your side -- >> donny is a great marketer, and he understands. and there is that point of view, but there's also the other point of view that a lot of people would be watching, a tremendous amount of ratings. as donny knows, i get good ratings. if i didn't get good ratings, i wouldn't be doing what i do among other things. a lot of people would be watching. and certainly if you're down in the polls and fairly substantially and it's amazing what's happened with -- in all fairness what was happening with newt. it's incredible. probably unprecedented what's happened. and how well he's doing.

and if i were mitt, i would think i would want to be on. and a lot of people would watch, and you know, it's a chance to make a statement. >> so we're looking at your -- >> yeah, it's tough. >> and the thing is, willie pointed out you've got quite a family portrait. not exactly the type of family portrait that willie and i can pull off, but you do it very well with a lion and a beautiful wife, and what city is that behind your gold -- >> that's a beautiful city known as new york city. >> new york city. that is some -- that is quite a shot. >> that is quite a picture. >> willie, is your christmas card going to look like this? >> my favorite part is barron's toy limousine by the foot of the lion. >> tell us about this book, time to get tough. >> actually that picture was in "vogue." and a little bit. i thought it was a nice picture.

we have tremendous problems, but we have the biggest problem in my opinion in terms of creating wealth for this country is what's happening outside of the country. every country, every single country we do business with is just taking us to the cleaners. you could look at colombia, you could look at south korea, you could look at -- the biggy is china. $350 billion profit this year. they're going to take out $350 billion, plus they make our products, steal our technology, plus so many other things. and on top of it, they manipulate their currency making it almost impossible for our companies to compete. if we don't straighten that out, this country will -- you know you're talking about every morning i watch joe and i hear you talking about medicare and social security and all of that. and you know that those problems -- i'm not saying adjustments can't be made, but those problems are largely cured

if we become a wealthy country again. but we're not a wealthy country, we're a poor country. if you look at what opec is doing to us, how they're draining us, it's just inconceivable. inconceivable. we allow it to happen. >> what do you think about the president's idea -- we had boone pickens on before talking about how america could be energy independent. what do you think about the president's opposition to a pipeline that would help this country get, i think a lot closer to energy independence over the next generation? >> well, his opposition is inconceivable. he's doing it because of the environmentalists. he wants to keep them on board. i'm sure if he wins, which is a real possibility, and if he wins the election, he'll approve it immediately i would think. but it's inconceivable this could take place, but he's doing it to a certain group of environmentalists who don't want to see this happen. >> donald trump. it's very good to have you on the show. come into the studio some time. >> well, i would have loved to have done this, but i thought i was, but i wasn't.

i like phone calls, they're very easy. but the next time we'll come in and do it personally. >> that would be nice. thank you, donald. >> thank you very much. coming up, the long road to compromise on capitol hill. we're going to talk about a new bipartisan push for a large-scale transportation bill. congressman aaron schock and john carney join us on "morning joe." all energy development comes with some risk,

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♪ >> look at that. beautiful live picture, ro rockefeller center christmas tree. >> look at the papers. >> what is it? must be something really sleazy. >> where are we going with this? >> smart alec. >> kicked off a plane because he enjoys a game.

it's called words with friends. it's like scrabble. >> you and i do that. >> asked to leave a new york bound flight after refusing to turn off his ipad while the plane was parked at the gate. he said he loves words with friends so much that he was willing to leave a plane for it. baldwin tweeted flight attendant on american airlines reamed me out while we sat at the gate and not moving. he put no wonder america air is bankrupt. he sent out another tweet later. he said words with friends with a screen grab. he says let alec play. he went a little too far in one man's opinion. he tweeted this. hash tag, there's always united. last flight with american where retired catholic school gym teachers from the 50s find jobs

as flight attendants. the story goes apparently he was asked to turn it off. he wouldn't turn it off. he asked for the flight attendant's name so he could file a complaint. >> i wish i had as much time. >> this is why you fly private. >> you got the wrong guy. you're the rich guy with jets. >> would be nice. >> i knew that was coming. >> you knew that was coming. >> i will be the first to say i hope one day -- i would love to have a private plane, but that is not -- >> i know it's off topic. one more picture. >> look at this sweet little boy. i don't know what year it is. that's a young donald trump. >> oh, my lord. >> i love that. >> he's an angel. >> he's angelic. we shall return on "morning joe."

those first young men. the pioneers. the aviators. building superhighways in an unknown sky. their safety systems built of brain and heart, transforming strange names from tall tales into pictures on postcards home. and the ones who followed them, who skimmed the edge of space, the edge of heaven, the edge of dreams.

and we follow them up there to live by an unbreakable promise, stitched into every uniform of every captain who takes their command: to fly. to serve.

♪ >> quick look at what we've got lined up for tomorrow. jack abramoff is out with a new book. interesting to talk to him. you're watching "morning joe"

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♪ >> good morning. it's 8:00 on the east coast as you take a live look at new york city. welcome back to "morning joe." back with us on set. we have mike barnicle and major garrett. we're going to get to president obama's speech. i loved it. i thought it was late, but better late than never. afghanistan is in the news. incredible picture on the front page of every newspaper. it's incredibly hard to look at but a sign of how difficult it is to turn things around there. >> newt gingrich, gaining favor in the polls. >> yep. we're going to have big news on him. >> in iowa and on the other side. the president's approval ratings continue to slide. that speech yesterday -- >> will make a difference. >> it came at a good time for the president.

he has to do something, something to stem the collapse. >> i agree. we'll get to that. also alec baldwin. >> what happened to alec baldwin? >> we'll tell the full story. >> said he had a bad day. >> he got kicked off a plane. >> did he really? >> yes. i can see you getting kicked off a plane for the same reason. >> i look at alec baldwin, i think by the grace of god. i'm a conservative but we both have some short fuses. >> shot your iphone off. >> turn it off, joe. >> did they tell him to do that? oh, no. >> but there's more. there's more. >> yeah. >> he comes back with more insults. >> was he rude? somebody sent me this seg. i think it's one of my favorite saying of 2011. it says a person who is not nice to the waiter is not a nice

person. how many times have we been with people, we think they're great people, they're so nice. we turn them and see them be rude to a waitress. >> it's a rule of thumb. >> the second that happens, this is not a good person. >> you watch how people treat people who work for a living, people who wait on other people, nurses in emergency rooms, watch how they're treated by people that barack obama was talking about yesterday, the 1%, it tells you a lot about people. >> i knew a guy, a close friend of mine, in congress, who came to my office one time, and said i need to talk to joe. the receptionist said he's in a meeting. he said something rude to her, blew past and came in. he turned around. this was a close friend, he goes get me a coke. he shut the door. i've known this guy for two years. he sat down. i just started laughing. i said what was that? because i thought maybe he was

joking, playing like i'm big congressman. it hit me that he was serious. >> people lose sight of themselves. >> i said get up, go out and apologize. i won't say the woman's name. apologize to her. we're family here. we don't treat each other that way. he thought i was joking. i said i'm not joking. get up and do it or get out of my office. major, how many times have you seen that? >> plenty. i started my first job for pay was as a dishwasher. i moved up to busboy. i have an appreciation slightly for that part of the world. i've tried always to treat those who serve me the way i want to be treated when i was serving. >> you wouldn't be kicked off an airplane, flight attendant. when being told what she was required to do. >> what is essentially a meaningless convention. it has nothing to do with flight safety whatsoever.

>> you were playing a game. >> other than passenger's compliant. >> there's nothing with the flight tower interfered with. >> she's doing her job. >> it's a regulation, i get that. i chafe against that. >> he was playing a word game, words with friends. >> are you serious? >> i never heard of that game. >> it's a great game. >> words with friends. he got kicked off the airplane for playing scrabble on his iphone. >> yes. >> a variation of scrabble. scrabble would be angry if you called it scrabble. >> i'm going to get to the president's speech, which was so good. >> since we wandered could i talk quickly about michele bachmann? >> yeah. >> michele bachmann was on yesterday. we've been very tough, i've said horrible things, i think many of them justified about her campaign earlier, but it was a fascinating conversation. of course while it was going on, left wingers said why aren't you

cutting her up into little pieces. >> i got huge, mean tweets. >> throughout the day, i got a lot of e-mails from moderate democrats saying, you know what? she's an intelligent woman, thank you. it reminds me of something tim said. tim russert came on the set. we had hillary. i was doing an interview with hillary while tim was sitting by listening. it was sort of like michele bachmann. i didn't ask her about the files. i didn't ask her about rose law firm. i didn't ask her about impeachment. i get out of the way and let her talk. she revealed a side of herself that we hadn't seen before. afterwards i said tim, this ain't exactly meet the press. he said i learned a lot more about hillary clinton that way than i would have if you yelled at her. we decided to do the same thing with michele bachmann who we've been harsh with. it was fascinating. >> i was not here yesterday.

i watched the interview, and i felt badly about some of the things that i have said about michele bachmann on this program, because she came across as a very nice woman, smart. >> smart woman, and it just goes to show you. you just got to know these people before you start really whacking them. i'm not going to say the same thing about newt gingrich. >> we know him. but rick perry. i like rick perry. we're kind of rough on him too. >> michele bachmann came across as an extremely nice, intelligent woman. >> full interview available on our website. president obama, now will you be quiet and let me talk about the president's speech which was so good. >> i've been waiting for five minutes for you to do that. >> finally cut through a lot of things you've been waiting to hear from him. he's providing a glimpse into what could be the central theme in his bid for re-election in a

sweeping speech in a high school gym in kansas yesterday, the president struck a populace tone calling for new action to help middle class americans still struggling under the weight of a troubled and he says unfair economy. the president framed the debate in historic terms while taking aim at the economic policies at the core of the republican party. >> there's been a raging debate over the best way to restore growth and prosperity, restore balance and restore fairness. throughout the country, it's sparked protests and political movements, from the tea party to the people who have been occupying the streets of new york and other cities. this is not just another political debate. this is the defining issue of our time. this is a make or break moment for the middle class and for all those who are fighting to get into the middle class.

there are some who seem to be suffering from a kind of collective amnesia. after all that's happened, after the worst economic crisis, the worst financial crisis since the great depression, they want to return to the same practices that got us into this mess. their philosophy is simple. we are better off when everybody is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules. i am here to say they are wrong. >> there you go. president obama also sharply criticized the concept of supply side economics, saying the theory that jobs and prosperity would trickle down from the wealthy has quote never worked. obama who delivered the speech in the same town where teddy roosevelt unveiled his plans for the square deal said his vision for more balanced financial system is not class warfare, but about returning to core american principles. >> i believe that this country succeeds when everyone gets a

fair shot. when everyone does their fair share, when everyone plays by the same rules. these aren't democratic values or republican values. these aren't 1% values or 99% values. they're american values, and we have to reclaim them. >> all right. let's take a look at the president's approval rating because that is the backdrop for this speech which some claim the election team has taken over now with his messaging. he's at 41%. this is the gallup daily tracking poll. "the new york times" has an editorial on his speech saying it felt an awfully long time in coming, among other things. what did you think of it, joe? >> i don't think you really want to hear what i thought about it. >> i would love to hear about it. >> i think you would rather hear

other people talk about it. he brought up some great points. >> i think he did too. >> the bottom line is though, you know, the president has put so many question marks over small business, over big business, his health care plan that's coming into effect, if you talk to small business owners, republicans and democrats alike. they're frozen in place. big businesses are frozen in place. there's a question mark over what comes in the future. the president brought up some good points, but to say that supply side economics has never worked while looking at the type of policies that he's pursued over the past two, three years. >> or tried to pursue. >> he's pursued them. he's been able to pass an awful lot because democrats have owned congress for the first two years. this president shares equal blame, i think, with republicans. i think personally as a conservative, this is why i said you didn't want to hear me talk, his economic policies have been disastrous because they have

frozen investment in place and kept trillions of dollars on the sidelines. mike, what did you think? >> i think the underlying theme of the speech is the underlying current of economics next year. it's a fairness issue. people have a sense that something has gone off the trolley tracks over the last ten or 12 years. it's the fairness issue. things aren't fair. i don't think your average person cares whether you're rich. they just don't want to be poor. he touched on that. i think that's the track that they're going to take obviously in the campaign. i think it could be a successful track. >> what's interesting, on this show, like two years ago, remember my dad brought this up about protests in the streets and the disparity will become the principal core problem that plagues this country. he brought it up and people chuckled at him. it has come to pass. >> i don't think that's going to be the top issue in this campaign. i do think though --

>> i think it will. >> i think that it is an important issue, but major, regardless of what i think, that's why i didn't want to say it. seriously, i think if you analyze it politically, i think this is a really good political step forward for the president. >> the president needs to fight. the president's believers need he's going to fight on their behalf. that's essential. i think the intro was cautious. this is not a glimpse into the president's re-election message. this is the president's re-election message. you're unhappy, america is unfair. i'm trying to restore some degree of fairness. let's be honest with ourselves. you said ten to 12 years this has been percolating. that covers several of the administrations. we have structural economic issues. globalization is a real economic factor. that's not just about wall street. wall streeters in some measure profit from globalization but they're pressured by globalization. the loss of manufacturing jobs in this country continues to be

an onrunning structural story economically. it's bedevilled republican administrations and democrat administrations. >> this has been going on since the mid 70s. mike, as you know, this has been going on since, you know, the average male wage down every year since 1973. globalization for china starts in '78. >> manufacturing is shrinking. you have a need for a more educated populace. education falling behind, you have debt loads growing. all these things are creating limitations on inventive policy. as long as people sort of stay in their same partisan boxes, these structural problems are going to continue. >> i'll tell you what else is interesting, occupy wall street derided by a fringe movement that people need to take showers and out of the at the points. he made the occupy wall street argument.

he used the term 99%. clearly, the seed of occupy wall street has made it into the white house. they're going to seize on that message. i think there are a lot of progressives and moderates listening to that saying thank you for finally recognizing us. >> the best thing about occupy wall street, we are the 99% slogan because it is true. >> i don't know that that's true. the zip code is wrong. occupy wall street, the more you listen to the president speak, the more you listen to this campaign play out, it should be occupy k street. they can propose all the tax regulation reforms they want, and corporations and the wealthy are going to have people on k street representing them to put in a semicolon and clause and bill to take care of them. >> i don't disagree with that. >> look at health care for example, the most important initiative of the president's first two years, who are the two

most important interlock ters of the president? pharma and the insurance companies. pharma is a huge player and health care at large. they were taken care of. big insurance is working with the administration because they want the customers that will be brought to them by what? the individual mandate. okay. so yes, you can strike a -- >> is that why newt gingrich is for the individual mandate. >> strike a populace tone and people will listen to the president. when they're at 43%, the lowest rating since jimmy carter to say what they're going to do about it and how are they going to address the issue and solve the problem. >> up next, we're going to bring in congressman aaron schock of illinois and john carney of delaware. they're working on a transportation bill that might do the seemingly impossible. that would be to get both sides

of the aisle to agree. do you think that's possible? >> no. >> he played the president's wing man. dule hill. >> for the second day in a row, philadelphia is one of the worst airports for delays. low clouds and rain. adds up to a two hour delay. laguardia is at 30 minutes. build as we go throughout the day. steady rains pour through the busy airports, from d.c., to new york, hartford and boston. at least it's not snow. later on tonight, colder air will move in, we'll watch, albany, vermont and maine turning into snow. we're not talking about a big blockbuster snow event, but as far as other areas go, what a surprise this morning, areas of mississippi getting snow. that's heading for tupelo. it's been snowing in memphis and

nashville. middle of the country is very chilly, no big storms heading through the country after the next few days after we get rid of this mess. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. capital one's new cash rewards card gives you a 50 percent annual bonus. so you earn 50 percent more cash. if you're not satisfied with 50% more cash, send it back! i'll be right here, waiting for it. who wouldn't want more cash? [ insects chirping ] i'll take it. i'll make it rain up in here. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? sorry i'll clean this up. shouldn't have made it rain.

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♪ >> i got to give it up for president obama, because whatever your politics are, he's trying very hard, trying very hard to come up with ways to tackle this recession. he's doing everything he can. frankly, i hate to say it, i

think he's running out of ideas. >> take whatever you can from whomever you can. >> 22 past the hour. a rainy look at capitol hill in washington, d.c. this morning. welcome back to "morning joe." joining us from capitol hill is republican representative from illinois, congressman aaron schock and democratic representative congressman john carney. they sent a letter signed by more than 110 house members from both sides of the aisle to president obama urging him to back a six year transportation bill. so we've got some agreement on that. i want to hear more about that bill, but first, if you can do that, let's start with congressman schock, why not a

cut on the payroll tax cut debate? >> i think that debate continues. i know the house is going to take up hopefully some compromise legislation, but i think your point is, if we're going to try to pay for a payroll tax extension, which ironically is about $120 billion for a one year payroll tax extension, then why are people suggesting that for a four or five year infrastructure bill -- five or six year infrastructure bill which would cost about 400 billion, people say we don't have the money for it. the reality is, if it's a priority, we'll find the money for it. specifically we pay into the motor fuel tax with the motor fuel tax, you pay at the pump. the large part of the money we need to pass this bill is there. this letter shows there's overwhelming bipartisan support to make it happen. >> is the payroll tax cut extension important? is it a priority? >> well, obviously, it is on the

agenda for us to talk about, just like unemployment insurance is as well. i think what begs the question and why you even see lackluster support to move it quickly in the senate where the democrats control the senate is simply because the payroll tax extension has been in place for two years. the unemployment benefits for 99 weeks have been in place for two years. it's why those two components which were a large part of the president's jobs bill did not move real quickly is because people are saying what are we going to do new? what are we going to do different? what are we going to do that we haven't tried that perhaps could jump start the economy and an infrastructure bill is one of them that not only puts people to work but more importantly will have lasting improvements for our country which will make america more competitive in the long run. >> peggy has a question. >> we're three years into the administration, we've been talking about infrastructure in a big way for three years.

85 come forward with an infrastructure bill, very expensive. a, is it going to go anywhere, b, what difference is it going to make? c, can you tell me, i'm a new yorker, why the amtrak line in the northeast seems to be a little bit unaffected by what you're doing there? >> well, from my perspective, i'm an amtrak rider myself. in fact i took the 506 train to be here this morning for this interview. infrastructure is really important. that's why congressman schock and i have been able to get people to support a six year transportation reauthorization bill, fully funded. we can work together. that's the challenge. what are the pay fors going to be. in a normal situation, these are the things that you borrow money for. in our current fiscal situation, it would be important to pay for it. let's get all the pay fors on the table. get democrats and republicans and the house and senate and

administration sitting down and come up with an agreement on how to pay for this transportation bill. put people back to work. we'll give certainty to states and to contractors and to all the folks that do this kind of work, there's certainty for a program for six years into the future. >> if i can respond to peggy, i think you raise an excellent point, i know a lot of conservatives, republicans will ask, wait a minute, haven't we spent a lot of money on infrastructure? the fact of the matter is no, we have not. despite the president's rhetoric about the need to invest in infrastructure, you'll remember that trillion dollar stimulus bill spent less than % on infrastructure. more importantly, the president has gone around to highlight the dilapidated bridges and highways that need improvements. you can't make those infrastructure investments with a one year shot in the arm stimulus. you need five to six year infrastructure investment so that the states and the construction industry can plan,

do the necessary engineering and investment to be able to repair these aging bridges so we don't have another collapse and so on. that's why this is unique and different. it's paid for as opposed to the stimulus which was not. >> mike barnicle has been scratching his head a little bit. >> you know, it's terrific seeing you two guys together. i'm sure you're best friends. you mentioned you're getting along together, republican and democrat. this bill is going to be paid for. my question to both of you, to a larger sense, the congress itself. what takes you so long? >> help us understand. >> did you just go home this weekend and see the bridges deteriorating, the roads with potholes. it's been years. what takes you so long? >> from my perspective, i come from delaware. today is december 7th, which is delaware day, the day delaware became the first state to ratify the constitution in 1787. we have a tradition of democrats and republicans working

together. when i ran for office, the people of my state said we want you to go to washington and get things done to address the challenges, the very serious problems we face as a country. job number one is to put people back to work. an infrastructure bill is something that shouldn't be controversial between democrats and republicans. it has always had a lot of bipartisan support. we have a lot of transportation needs, whether they're amtraks or roads or bridges or other transportation systems in every state, in every district. it should be something we could come together around to pass a bill and pay for it. >> go ahead, aaron. >> i was going to say i agree with you. it's taken too long. i served my first two years on the highway transportation infrastructure committee and then you'll remember jim overstar introduced a five year highway bill. the highways committee voted unanimously. every republican and democrat

voted to move that bill forward to the floor. it wasn't until the president decided he wanted to move the health care bill first that jim overstar was told put a hold on your highway bill. you know the rest of the story. so now the speaker has said now he wants the highway bill as well. what we're saying is look, whether it's the speaker or president, we're tired of waiting. the rank and file are starting an insurgency. >> you realize how annoying it is that the roads in kandahar are better than the roads in kansas city. >> that suggests a good way to pay for this legislation. we have the overseas contingency fund which is fully funded and expected to increases over the next ten years. there's certainly resources there that we could put to building roads and bridges in the u.s. as opposed to iraq and afghanistan. >> peggy? >> aaron, what in the past three years has been the biggest

impediment to infrastructure work, help, spending effort? just give me the biggest impediment. >> the biggest impediment, the first two years it wasn't a priority of the president. he decided to move a health care bill, cap and trade. all these other pieces of legislation. i'm not trying to be partisan, that's what the agenda was. if you interviewed jim overstar back then, he was animated that now is the time to do a transportation bill. the president said no, now is not the time. the other impediment quite frankly is how do we pay for it. the motor fuel tax funds which is what we traditionally have used have continued to drop simply because people are driving fewer miles because the economy is down and people are buying more fuel efficient cars. we have to fill a gap between about $250 billion in motor fuel tax money we have and about $400 billion of infrastructure dollars we need for a five or six year bill. john boehner suggested we can do

that through new offshore leasing for oil, new natural gas exploration and the like, but as i said earlier, we're trying to find a way to pay for a payroll tax extension. we've paid for all kinds of things this year. where there's a will, there's a way. >> so gentlemen, we applaud what you're trying to do. donny deutsch, i have a marketing question for you, because congressman schock and carney are not the first to come on in a bipartisan way and have a conversation about something they can work together on, which is great. i think it's what people want to hear. is this a winning strategy. alex, confirm for me, this is like the fourth or fifth request we've had. >> it's a winning strategy, but it's got to work. both congressmen, it's like let's blame the president, you haven't looked at each other. if you're going to do the

kumbaya, do the kumbaya. >> you're not asking them to hug. >> no, i got to feel the love. i'm feeling the strategy, i got to feel the love. >> feel the love here. let me say something. i'm not trying to -- peggy asked me why haven't we done a highway bill yet, for the first two years, i think it wasn't a priority of the president. it's not a priority of the republican house for the next ten months. >> much better. >> and guess what? it's why we're not going to wait any longer. we're not going to wait for the speaker or president. we have 111 congressmen, republicans and democrats in support. we need 218 to force it. >> very important, congressman carney, i got nothing to do tonight, delaware day, tell me the big yucks going on there tonight. what are we doing for delaware day? >> you don't have to get on the amtrak to appreciate delaware day. over here in the senate today,

senator chris kuhns is having a delaware day celebration where he's bringing all the delaware treats from caprioti subs to iron hoop brewery brews, grato's pizza right here in the russell building in washington, d.c. >> i'm not going to studio 54. sign me up for delaware day. >> thank you very much congressmen. we appreciate it. standing by in the green room, we're going to talk to dule hill about his new role on broadway. he's taking our picture right here on "morning joe." ♪ i'm burning out this useless telephone ♪

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♪ >> you made a decision about your future? >> georgetown law. >> you got the early acceptance. >> i think the letter from you may have helped a little, sir. >> i don't need this anymore. i thought maybe you could get some use out of it. i was trying to remember if my father had given it to me when i was in the 10th grade or 11th.

consider getting you a tie with the scales of justice on it. figured you would use this more. >> thank you, mr. president. >> thank you, charlie. >> that was the very last scene. >> that was the last scene we filmed. >> that was dule hill playing charlie young, the right hand man in the president in the hit show "west wing." now he's taking his talents to broadway, "stick fly." dule joins us and he's tweeting. >> you're tweeting me. did you spell it right. >> yes, i did. >> did you tweet the one in the green room. >> i did that already. >> this whole twitter internet thing is crazy. >> what is it? >> i think it's going to stick. >> it's going to stick. >> i think so. you made me sound like lebron james.

he's taking his talents to broadway. >> don't do a press conference. >> miss the "west wing? >> it was a great time of my life. i liked working with the cast. martin especially, aaron sorkin, it was a great group. being a young actor, i learned so much. i miss that dynamic, but i'm thankful where my career has gone and where my life has taken me. >> tell us about "stick fly." >> it's about a family that goes to martha's vineyard for the weekend. before the bags are unpacked, all the dark secrets come out. it's about self-identity and daddy issues. >> you see what i'm saying? >> what are you saying, donny? >> it's called the mika story. that's what we called it. >> what part was my story?

>> it's not daddy issues. you have an amazing dad. you love him so much. >> i do. >> everybody has daddy issues. it's whether your dad was there or wasn't there, you love your dad or hate your dad. >> take me to the story line. >> i think i have the greatest dad on the plan zblet take me through the story line. what happens? who are you? >> i play spoon, the youngest son and i bring home my fiancee to meet the family. >> how did that go? >> you have to see the play. he's trying to find his way. he's a guy who's trying to fit into, i guess, live up to what his father's expectations are. >> what are his father's expectations for you as a character? >> as a character, it's more about getting a job, quote-unquote and falling in line with what he -- his expectations for our life. >> is your dad the 1% and you're the 99%. >> i think you would be right about that, yes, yes. >> that's a very good analogy right there.

there you go. >> barnicle. actually you added value today. that's good. it's always wonderful. i'm always pleasantly surprised when that happens. >> general theater question. i wondered this as i'm sitting in the theater. you're going. you're doing it for the 747th time. how do you get up each time. you're doing the same thing every day which is counterintuitive to what an artist does. >> you're not doing the same thing. you're saying the same words. >> explain that. >> as long as i'm here taking you in, our energy is going to be different. i may be a little more tired, i may have more going on emotionally and that's going to affect you. as soon as you change one dynamic in the equation, the whole thing changes. you go in a similar journey, but the journey is different every day. >> because of the audience? >> because of the audience. >> there's no net. you have to do it. it's like right now. >> also because you never step

in the same river twice. right? >> there you go. >> y'all are just full of these great analogies. >> i'm stunned. >> i'm going to steal that. i'm going to turn around a year from now, i'm going to say you never step in the same river twice, that's what acting on stage is. >> tell us about your usa television show, psych. >> he's supposed to be a psychic, but he's not. we're trying to beat the police at their own game. we're like two kids in a candy store. it's a lot of fun, if you watch the show, you will laugh out loud. >> usa, what a powerful, huge money making machine, hit machine. it's kind of quietly become this monster within nbc.

it's an amazing job they've done there. >> the whole team is great, bonnie hammer, jeff wattle has done a great job in developing shows. >> it's probably the most valuable asset nbc has. it's amazing. >> other than this. >> other than "morning joe." >> you say you learned so much on "west wing" but the difference between television and stage, what do you like better? >> i like theater better, because there's something about doing it right now, there's no editing. the audience is right there, as you said before, there's no net. i enjoy television a lot. with that situation, i like how the character evolves over time. if you have a long running tv show, the character, for example "west wing" who they were in season one is not completely different, but it's greatly different from who they are in season six or season seven. >> i look forward to saying "stick fly." i'm going.

>> it opens tomorrow. did you tweet yet or did i throw you off? >> no, i tweeted. multi task. i got the thing in my ear, got my phone out. >> he said something very prolific. >> that's your way of engaging peggy. >> you never step in the same river twice means everything changes. the river is always moving. you step in once, you step in again, it's a different river from the first one. >> he wants to hear you talk. >> the wisdom of noonan and deutsch. >> oh, god, no damage, please. good lord. she's a trusted, respected member of our family. you're here by marriage or something. all right. "psych" premiers tonight -- >> airs tonight on usa network. that sounds good too. i have no time for tv, but i'll

try. what tim geithner thinks about europe's chances of digging out of its debt crisis. for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace." so my parents went to bank of america. they met with the branch manager and they said, "look, we've got this little hot dog cart, and it's on a really good corner. let's see if we can buy the property." and the branch manager said, "all right, i will take a chance with the two of you." and we've been loyal to bank of america for the last 71 years.

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♪ >> we have a very strong, productive relationship, a lot of confidence in what the president of france and what the minister is doing working with germany, trying to work with europe. we're encouraged by the progress they're making. >> that was treasury secretary tim geithner sounding upbeat about the debt crisis. cnbc michelle caruso-cabrera joins us with more on that and

the markets. >> the fact that tim geithner is in paris is significant because he's there trying to encourage them to come up with some kind of solid solution before this big summit that gets underway tomorrow in brussels and continues friday. this is where we believe, if possible, there might be some kind of package put together that might at least resolve some of the big issues that europe faces. this is going to go to the core of what the european union's dna is. they've been a monetary union but not a fiscal union. in the united states we're monetary and fiscal. we have one currency and one federal budget. all the states have their own budget but europe, there's a currency but not one single federal budget. can they come closer together to a fiscal union. that's what the summit is about. the markets have built extremely high expectations that they're going to solve something here. if there's disappointment, it could get ugly within the

markets. >> at this really pivotal important time in terms of global economies, michelle you're going to be traveling the world on the front lines of all of this. >> i leave for brussels tonight. timothy geithner is there because this event is just as important to the u.s. economy as it is to the european economy. we're getting data that shows the u.s. economy is getting better, not great but better. if europe falls apart, we have a risk. >> before you go, i was at kr n cnbc for years. are you still getting a thousand letters for demanding the big return. >> i was just thinking that when i watched you. >> we're so sorry you have to endure this. >> come back please. >> the best of late night next. [ indistinct conversations ] nice, huh? yeah. you know what else is nice is all the savings you can get on cruze and traverse over there.

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>> donald trump will moderate a republican debate. >> i love this guy. trump can never, ever, ever let [ bleep ] slide. he can't let anything go. this is him yesterday doing a phone interview with chuck todd. he wants to get one thing straight. >> this is a correct statement that i did not call you, you called me. >> we called you. >> you did not say that. i wish you would just be

straight, chuck, because honestly you would do better if you were straight. >> let me ask you about your debate. >> he can't let go of the question of who called who first. he's going to moderate the debate. you think he's going to have follow-up questions. no, no, no, i want to hear what you were going to say when i cut you off. i know how to [ bleep ] moderate a debate. let me tell you something. i handle meat loaf with gary busey. you're nothing to me. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation,

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he'll be fine. [ male announcer ] more people are leaving bmw, mercedes, and lexus for audi than ever before. take advantage of exceptional values during the season of audi event. ♪ >> welcome back to "morning joe." it's time to talk about what we learned today. mike barnicle, look who showed up on set, the amazing joe januajan. >> go, go, go. what did you learn, donny? >> pack up of the kids in the winnebago. it's delaware day. >> what did you learn today? >> joe scarborough reads and admires the "wall street journal" editorial pag