good morning. i'm chris jansing and it is a big day in politics. first we had this newly fired up barack obama adopting the populist tone and the republican race, well, it's as uncertain as ever. the consensus is mitt romney's campaign is in reboot mode. romney is getting some more aggressive finally giving some one-on-one interviews and he still has the cash. "the washington post" reports, meantime, that gingrich's campaign is more than $1 million in debt and his one iowa campaign office just now, well, yesterday, got some phones. let's bring in our company.

charles blow, "new york times" columnist, and richard wolf, an msnbc political analyst. >> good morning. >> good morning, chris. >> these are very different candidates and just to illustrate it, let me play a little sound of them talking about each other. >> i think mitt romney is a very smart man. i think that any republican could be proud to have him as our nominee, and i think he'd be very formidable against obama. i happen to think i would be a better candidate than mitt, but that's -- i mean, we are, after all, competing here, but i'm not going to say anything negative about him. i think he's a terrific person. >> speaker gingrich is a friend, i respect him, but we have very different life experiences. if the american people believe what he need is one who spent the last 40 years or so in washington, d.c., working as an insider, why, he's the right guy. >> he's a friend, i like him, kumbaya. charles, can it last? >> is this -- are they running for president against each other? >> they say they are. >> are they running mates?

i don't understand. they are very different people though, right, so mitt is a bore and gingrich is a brute, so at some point those two personalities -- >> who wins in boring versus brutish? >> exactly. and i think right now what you see is a fight for the soul of the party. on a local level, and even in terms hf congreof congressional you can see how the tea party may have regional support and see on a local level how that breaks. nationally you have to run a very different campaign to win the presidency, which means that you do have to give a bit. you do have to include, be broad enough to include the middle. you cannot wince the presidency without the middle. >> but you made a very sweeping statement. you said this is a fight for the soul of the republican party. is he right about that, richard? >> yes, he is, but the problem is that the right has won that

fight already. you know, they're not confused about what the soul is, and that's why they're not looking for a moderate republican who is trying to pretend like he's a conservative. they are looking for a true conservative who they think is newt gingrich who may have moderated his positions over the years but is supremely well-known for getting in the face of a democratic president. that was a couple decades ago, but still he fulfills the core function that the republicans want, and that's why he's the right fit at this time. >> why not jon huntsman? if you listen to joe scarborough he argues consistently that jon huntsman is the true conservative in this campaign. >> yeah, but he's also a smart man, and he doesn't, you know, deny global warming is real or science -- >> and that's going to kill him. >> it makes him a witch. gee tried to hedge that yesterday by saying there wasn't enough science out there, but the problem with huntsman is that he worked for their version of the evil incarnate.

he worked for president obama. if there's one radicalizing collective force on the republican side, it's hatred of president obama. >> is that really what jon huntsman -- why he hasn't caught fire, because he was the u.s. ambassador to china which one would think speaking the language, having those relationships might be actually helpful. >> but this is not a campaign that's -- first of all, that's being run on foreign policy. >> there he is live at the republican jewish forum, but continue. >> that's so cute, he's still running. there's no way he will get the nop nation at all. i mean, as richard was pointing out, he is everything they don't want right now. this is not a campaign season about foreign policy at all. this is about president obama. this is about what the republican party stands for. they don't like mitt. i feel so sorry for mitt sometimes. he's like the guy -- >> is he sweating now because i think really up until this point

when the michele bachmanns came in fore, and rick perry came into fore, i think his campaign felt like, this, too, shall pass. do they feel that way about newt gingrich? >> you can't keep saying that when they never turn to you. whichever candidate goes down, they don't turn to you. he's like the guy at the prom against the wall when the lights come on. >> almost as if the final snub, look who ron paul is running commercials against in iowa. let me play this for you. >> everything that gingrich railed against when he was in the house, he went the other way when he got paid to go the other way. >> he's demonstrating himself to be the essence of the washington insiders. >> what is clear is his speaker has become key in this campaign, key in the fight against him.

a lot of us, even those of us who have been in the political game a long time, are being reminded of the reasons he became so unpopular so quickly as speaker of the house. >> but it's all out there. you're not going to surprise anyone by saying gingrich gets in peep's face or he has a patchy record. it doesn't matter because, a, it's already known. it's a known known as donald rumsfeld would put it, but it's also, you know, he is -- he fulfilled the role that they are now looking for, which is he can jam things up, he can be outrageous, and the more washington, the more that the party's establishment, and frankly you do not who did that ad, but the more people try to attack him, the stronger he will get with the anti-establishment base that is the tea party. >> but i disagree just a little bit, which is that it is a mistake to kind of underestimate just how much people forget. being reminded of who newt

gingrich actually was, the nasty newt of the '90s, will have resonance. i don't think that that stays with people the way that we in the political arena think it stays with people. >> but maybe when you say so many people who served with him in that freshman class aren't supporting him, he's had very few people come out to support him who worked closely with him during that period, that might resonate. >> thatresonate, but i think there's actual footage of nasty newt and i think when you start to play that in real ads with real money behind it i think it has some resonance in the same way that mitt had some problems that are captured on film that the democrats have been able to use very well against him so far, and, in fact, have helped gingrich by knocking mitt romney down a bit. >> let's rewind the videotapes and i'm sure we will, and i hope you guys will come back and talk us to. >> charles, richard, gentlemen, good to see you.

>> thanks, chris. president obama is hoping the 99% are on his side and he's appealing to the middle class. big speech about working class values and the american dream. >> but 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. >> florida congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz is also heading up the dnc. good to see you. >> thanks so much. >> the president wants to keep the working class american dream alive. is this the heart of the fight we're going to see in 2012? >> well, i think it really is. the president's speech was not a campaign speech yesterday. >> well, it sounded a little bit like a campaign speech. >> well, what it sounded to me was the president of the united states of america laying out his vision and his strong belief

that we need to make sure that america's foundation is supportive of the middle class having an opportunity to prosper, and that all of our policy should not exclusively focus on the well-being of the wealthiest, most fortunate americans. that's an incredibly important value that most people in america, the overwhelming majority of americans, can identify with, and it's something that it's important for the president of the united states to lay out there and show the contrast between the direction that, for example, all of the republican candidates like mitt romney want to take us, which is backwards to the days when our policy did focus exclusively on the benefit of the wealthiest americans. >> we should said mitt romney and newt gingrich do believe the payroll tax cut should be extended -- >> hold on a second. chris, mitt romney in particular -- >> i said now says. >> an egregious flip-flopper. this is a person who said that

the payroll tax cut was a little band-aid. i mean, i stood with -- in my district on monday morning with two single parents at an ice cream parlor in south florida. both of whom would really suffer in being able to support their kids and do what needs to be done for their family if they have another $1,000 come out of their paycheck because the payroll tax wouldn't get extended. that's no little band-aid for them and mitt romney called it that. now because it's obviously overwhelmingly popular and essential, now the other day he decides, oh, okay, i'm for it. we have to have a candidate for president, a president of the united states who has the conviction and the courage to stick by their principles and who has some principles. >> well, let me ask you a little more about mitt romney. we can take a live picture. we were showing the republican jewish coalition forum, jon huntsman is there now, but we're going to hear from mitt romney in a little while. we got an advanced copy of his remarks. let me tell you what he is expected to say. quote, president obama has chastised our friend and ally,

speaking obviously of israel. of course, he's repeatedly said that the president has thrown israel under the bus and why hasn't the president gone to israel. what would you say about that? i know this is a topic you're very passionate about. >> it is. i mean, i'm the first jewish woman to represent florida in congress and i bring my love of israel to work with me every single day, so it's the reason that i'm supporting barack obama for president of the united states. the problem that the republicans have and mitt romney it's especially problematic for, is that they are wrong on every issue that matters domestically to the jewish community. they're wrong on education, on health care, on civil rights and civil liberties, on the notion of repairing the world and making the world a better place for people. so what they have to do, the only thing they have left to try to appeal to jewish voters in america, is to lie and distort and mischaracterize the president's record. this is a president who has the strongest record on israel, particularly as it relates to

security and standing by israel's security, of any president in history. $205 million for the iron dome missile defense system, which has already protected israel from rockets launched by hezbollah. making sure the most fortunate aid has been provided to israel. throwing the gauntlet down in front of the entire world at the united nations and ensuring the palestinians would not be able to unilaterally declare a political state and ensure the only path to peace is through direct bilateral negotiations, making sure that he vetoed anti-israel resolutions at the u.n., making shower the goldstone report was discredited and ensuring that we stood by israel when there was criticism from around the world about the flotilla incident which israel was only doing what she should do, standing in defense of her borders. so at the end of the day this is a president who has stood

strongly by israel, who has an incredible record of support for israel, and the only thing the republicans have left because they're wrong on every issue that matters to the jewish community is lying about the president's record, and we are not going to give them an inch. >> i want to ask you one more question. we've got to keep it tight because we've gone a little bit, but you are in the middle of trying to educate voters about a lot of new laws expected to take effect before the 2012 elections and they're very tough voter i.d. laws. >> yes. >> republicans say this is to prevent fraud. what do you say? >> there was a five-year -- i sat on the. >> you dish committee, and there was a five-year investigation done by the bush department of justice on voter fraud, and they came up with nothing. what this is is nothing more than a systematic attempt to limit voters who are more likely to go toed polls and vote for democrats' ability to get to the poll. id. lays that say a state issued university i.d. is not okay but a gun license is okay as the form of i.d. limiting the hours that you can

go and cast a vote early because 60% of african-americans that voted in florida voted during early voting. these are transparent attempts to limit people's right to vote. we should be empowering people to vote and giving them more opportunities. the dnc has an aggressive voter education outreach effort making sure we're going to help removal those obstacles and legally i hope the department of justice is able to knock down a lot of these laws that directly violate the voting rights act. >> congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, thank you. >> thank you, chris. >> we want to make a programming note. politics nation with reverend al sharpton is featuring a special series called "block the vote." it focuses on those voter i.d. issues. the reverend al is at 6:00 p.m. right here, don't miss it. alec baldwin kicked off an american airlines plane after an argument with a flight attendant. former illinois governor rod

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not everyone was thrilled about the president's big speech yesterday. as he channeled teddy roosevelt, mitt romney was asking why? >> he said that he is like teddy roosevelt, and i thought in what way is he like teddy roosevelt? and teddy roosevelt, of course, founded the bull moose party.

one of those words applies. when this president is talking about how he's helped the economy, one of those words applies. >> newt gingrich says he could be possible for romney's millions. >> you could make an argument that i helped mitt romney get to be rich because i helped pass the legislation. he should be thanking me because i did the macroeconomic things necessary to make his career possible. >> okay. and then they played something a limb more festive as john boehner lit up the 65-foot beauty on capitol hill. he said the capitol christmas free flourishes as a symbol of ever lasting light. when it comes to a long life, don't let the early gray hair fool you. our ex presidents live longer than their peers. the former presidents are actually living longer than average. in spite of the fact that, yes, they do get more gray as the years go on. meantime, the guys who want to be president, where are they? just four weeks to go into the

iowa caucuses and the major republican hopefuls are nowhere near iowa, and they won't be for days. we just mentioned there's this republican jewish coalition forum in washington, d.c. right now. most of them are there. mitt romney was in arizona yesterday collecting an endorsement, and, of course, there was monday's high-profile manhattan meeting between surging front-runner newt gingrich and donald trump. michele bachmann was here yesterday in new york. i'm joined now by major garrett, congressional correspondent for "the national journal." >> great to be with you. >> yesterday i was talking to robert gibbs, the former white house -- >> i know him well. >> he was saying i'm walking down the street, i see all these people around newt gingrich. i come in here, michele bachmann is in the green room. what's going on? aren't these people supposed to be in new hampshire and iowa? is this a whole new kind of campaign? >> there have been a lot of things about this campaign we have never seen before, and the lack of attention to iowa is certainly one of them. and now in new hampshire, for example, jon huntsman is rolling all the dice in new hampshire.

he almost never leaves new hampshire. when he does, that's actually a news story. what's happening in this campaign is because of social media, because of the interconnectivity all of us have, you can be places and still be communicating with your voters in an early caucus state like iowa. >> but isn't it in a gamble in a place like new hampshire where people are used to seeing the candidates not once, not twice, but multiple times over the course of many months if not years? >> it's not a gamble this cycle and here is why. look at newt gingrich. he just got phones in his iowa offices yesterday. and he's at 31% with a double dinl jit lead over his closest follower, whether that's ron paul who is well-organized in iowa and mitt romney, who is trying to quietly organize in iowa. but the retail aspect of this campaign has struck me for its almost complete absence, the whole retail side of the iowa/new hampshire experience which is always supposed to be up close, intimate, constant, hour by hour -- >> and we have always said you

can't win without it. >> we're not seeing that this cycle because i think all the candidates -- first of all, it's a volatile field. some people are rising and falling rapidly. >> let me ask you about that volatility. obviously everyone is always looking for what the next thing is and they want to get ahead of the curve. let's say jon huntsman does better than expected in new hampshire where he is putting all his eggs in that basket, suddenly does he become a player? is there someone out there beside mitt romney or newt gingrich who even at this late stage could have an unexpected surge? >> look, jon huntsman's one path, if there is a path, and i think it's a very big if, to the nomination is if romney falls dramatically, does not win new hampshire, if he doesn't win new hampshire it's effectively over. he may stay in the campaign but he cannot credibly continue to run if he loses new hampshire. so gingrich wins iowa, comes in strong or wins new hampshire, wins south carolina, then maybe the republican party at the establishment level, possibly the grassroots level, they say gingrich is too eclectic to put

it mildly, to erratic, and we want to find somebody else? who might that person be? it might be, might be jon huntsman. there are some conservatives who are taking a second or third look at huntsman. many other things have to happen. romney has to collapse. he may not. >> he has the money to not collapse financially. >> romney can stay in this race for sure but he must win new hampshire, and solidly. not by ten, but at least five. so he goes to florida with momentum and not like rudy giuliani did four years ago, banking everything on florida with no reservoir of support. >> you wrote a column, your most recent column, i thought it was a great point, that we wouldn't even be talking about newt gingrich right now if some of the heavyweights had gotten into the race. >> think about it this way, look -- imagine a debate stage with haley barbour, chris christie, john thune, mitch daniels, governor of indiana.

throw in paul ryan, congressman from wisconsin. all of whom to one degree or another thought seriously -- paul ryan probably least of them all, but all the others thought seriously about running. if they were running gingrich would not have any purchase on republican primary caucus voters. he's yesterday news. for whatever reason they decided not to. newt gingrich saw that mitt romney is essentially misaligned with where his party is. he's northeastern, ideologically flexible, very familiar with wall street. the grassroots of the republican party isn't any of those things right now. gingrich sees that romney is misaligned and he's trying to thread a needle. >> people can go to "the national journal" and read that column which was fascinating. >> thank you for having me. the fda is deciding whether the morning after pill should be available to young teens without a prescription. right now anyone 17 or older can get it. now, the drugmaker says the pill can prevent pregnancy when taken

within 72 hours of unprotected sex. opponents say it should not be available to young teens without medical advice and without their parents knowing about it. should young teens be able to get emergency contraception? tweet us @jansingco. time for the your business entrepreneur of the week. rachel weeks, ceo of apparel company schoolhouse, was manufacturing her products in sri lanka. she wanted to bring those jobs stateside so she partnered with a durham, north carolina, factory. she is committed to creating problems made in the usa. for more, watch "your business" sunday morning at 7:30 on msnbc. [ coughs ] what is this shorty? uh, tissues sir, i'm sick. you don't cough, you don't show defeat. give me your war face! raaah! [ male announcer ] halls. a pep talk in every drop.

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looks really good. call us at... or visit your local liberty mutual office, where an agent can help you find the policy that's right for you. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? day of reckoning for rod blagojevich. on the left you see tape from really just moments ago. he left his house heading to the courthouse, and there is his car. obviously, he's facing realistically 15 to 20 years in prison. obviously, his defense team will argue that he should get as little as probation because he has been a public servant for much of his life. we'll be following the sentencing today of rod blagojevich on those corruption charges. so do you think this is going to come up if alec baldwin actually decides to run for mayor of new york? the emmy-award winning star was kicked off a plane last night.

did he lose his temper, behave badly? nbc's jeff rossen is here now with the details. what exactly happened? >> i don't usually fly first class so how would i know even i was on that plane. oscar de la hoya, the boxing champ was also in first class. >> i love that. >> he says alec baldwin wasn't that angry, didn't really do anything wrong. here is the bottom line here, alec baldwin was on american flight 4 from l.a.x. to new york, they're parked at the gate. as alec baldwin tells us he's on his ifd pad playing this addictive game called words with friends. >> people say it's addictive. >> it's a lot like scrabble. you play with other people online. he's playing on the ipad, the plane is not moving, still at the gate about to leave. and he says the flight attendant walked over and over and over again and said please shut off your device. he said i will when the plane leaves. they got into a bit of an argument about it. alec baldwin claims the flight attendant was making a scene trying to embarrass him. there are some reports he kind

of kicked the bathroom door and the pilot came out it was so loud and that's when he was kicked off the plane. his pr people deny some of those accounts. they say he was trying to complain about the flight attendant. meanwhile, this entire time, just to show you the power of social media, alec baldwin is on the plane tweet being it. we have a few of those tweets to show you. >> these are great. >> flight attendant on american reamed me out for playing words with friends while we sat at the gate not moving. this is the best part. #no wonder america air is bankrupt. >> ouch. >> american airlines when he was removed from that flight rebooked him on another flight. less than an hour later. he tweets, now on the 3:00 american flight, the flight attendants already look smarter. my words with friends user name is now #there's always united. and while he was in the air, by the way, he tweeted a picture of his ipad and these are the words if you can make it out there. let alec play.

so, look, all is well that ends well. we're told the faa is not investigating. as you know, alec baldwin has temper issues -- >> did american write to him and say -- sgroo righ >> right. american airlines would not comment to msnbc. tweeted him back personally and said send us your contact information, we're looking into this for you. >> just note to american airlines, i think the privacy concerns have kind of been blown out of the water. >> by the way, the words with friends, the gamemaker -- >> they have to be thrilled. >> they have already contacted him apparently -- i smell an endorsement deal. >> we'll be seeing the commercials. a major rainstorm slamming much the east coast today and there could be snow headed this way. weather channel meteorologist carl parker is here with more. good morning. >> good morning to you. yeah, pretty serious storm moving into a lot of the east. it's going to be clearing the coast by tomorrow but we'll see quite a bit of rain before that happens. let's take a look at the radar and satellite picture. it's the storm that really jumps

out. most of the country is quiet. there's an upper low behind that. right now we're getting rain across parts of the south. there's a little snow in the southeast. that's going to be about 1 to 2 inches, not a big deal. then you see the rain that's coming up through the northeast corridor, and this is going to become more insistent through the day today. there's the model forecast, heavy rain potentially tonight, 1 to 2 inches easily, and then a quick burst of heavy, wet snow, late tonight, early tomorrow morning on the backside of that. perhaps several inches in the higher elevations. 52 today in new york. 70 in raleigh. very wet across 95. we'll see a changeover in the interior of the northeast. only 26 in pittsburgh tonight as that cold air begins to sweep in, and probably about 2 to 4 inches in altoona. it's going to be more than that around wilkes-barre and scranton. and the whole thing will be gone by tomorrow morning. it will quiet down going into the weekend. chris, back to you. >> it's gik beginning to look a like christmas.

the u.s. embassy in kabul is confirming that an american citizen is among those killed in yesterday's devastating bombing at a muslim shrine. a suicide bomber killed at least 63 people at the crowded shiite muslim shrine in the capital. coordinated strikes targeted two other cities in afghanistan as well. virginia tech is fighting a $55,000 fine stemming from the 2007 shooting rampage that killed 32 people. education officials say the school violated the law by waiting more than two hours to send out a warning by e-mail after the gunman shot the first two students. a shark attack in an uncommon spot, oregon. the shark went after a female surfer in seaside but she managed to make it to shore with the help of other surfers. they saw the dorsal fin, heard a splash, and realized the woman was hurt. she is, however, expected to be okay. the government is suing a seattle area couple claiming they collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in food stamps, disability payments, and

housing subsidies and did it while living in a lakefront million dollar mansion, owning a jaguar, and traveling the world. police say the couple lied about where they lived and who they lived with. at this point no criminal charges have been filed. so which celebrity would you want to have over for dinner and which chef would you like to have cook the meal? the most popular answers when we go down to the wire in less than 20. [ morgan ] the super bowl. the most epic day in america. and the end of a journey that began here... ...when the swipe of a visa card... ...gave one man the chance to bring happiness to ten friends, including the knuckleheads at the car wash. those are super bowl tickets? yes dude! you're going to the super bowl! [ morgan ] use your visa card for a chance to win. to see more of the story, visit our facebook page.

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grocery gift cards, and all of that way ahead of the office holiday party, even with an open bar, chris. the message is very clear, until the economy is noticeably better, financial perks are what employees want first and foremost and it may also be to the benefit of employers because obviously it would also boost morale. >> or maybe it's just i see enough of those people during the day i don't need to see them at a party. some big harry potter news from universal. >> they're going to spend eferl several hundred million dollars to put a harry potter attraction. it's going to create more than 100,000 jobs at universal. you might know there is already the orlando, florida, version, the wizarding world of harry potter. that's going to get an expansion. since it opened, attendance has jumped by about 50%. so it looks like it's going to be a wizarding moneymaker. >> cnbc's mandy drury. thank you. >> you're welcome.

can president obama motivate the minority voters who delivered the white house to him to turn out again? there's a new survey of 800 black and latino voters in 11 battleground states and here is what it finds. 84% approve of the way the president is handling his job and an overwhelming number plan to head to the polls to vote in next year's presidential election. nicole is here with us. >> thank you for having me. >> one of the things we keep hearing are blacks and latinos are so disillusioned they might stay home. >> this is what's going to bring them to the polls in 2012. they feel there's some unfinished business in this administration and the economy is bad and immigration hasn't happened, immigration reform hasn't happened and they want to see it happen in 2012. and so they are going to turn out and voter enthusiasm is high among these voters. >> when asked which two issues were the greatest hurdles to advancement, the issue of jobs edged out failing schools, but both were pretty significant as

keys to the economy, and is that going to be the key to the battle for blacks and latino votes? >> exactly. education and the jobs, jobs and the economy top the list for these voters, and so anybody wishing to be our next president, whether it's obama, mitt, or newt, they're going to have to pay attention to jobs and making sure that black and latinos given their high unemployment rates, feel that they've done enough. >> this was also really interesting. head-to-head match-up between the president and mitt romney, the president leads by more than 70%. look at those numbers. and i guess the answer is -- and you didn't do a head-to-head with newt gingrich, but when they look at the alternative, even if they're unhappy that immigration hasn't gotten done, that black unemployment in particular hasn't recovered as quickly as they twant to, the alternative isn't working. >> blacks and latinos don't blame president obama for what's happening, they blame republicans.

in congress the approval rating is 20% among these voters. there needs to be messaging around about republicans are going to do to attract these voters. >> you're going to stick with us but this is what a lot of people in the president's base have been waiting for. yesterday he made that populist pitch for another four years. it was a fiery speech in kansas. the president said this is a make or break moment for the middle class, calling it the defining moment of our time. >> 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. >> i'm joined now by msnbc

contributor and pulitzer prize winning journalist karen hunter and by republican strategist boris epstein. always good to see the two of you. >> good morning. >> populist strategy, karen, will it work? >> yes, and it worked in 2004. this is the barack obama we remember. this is the barack obama that many of us voted for, the one who was talking about bringing america together, the one that was talking about a unified theme for all of us to get behind, and we saw it yesterday and we need to see more of that. >> and the problem for the republicans answering it is in a pew poll and they say voter impressions of the gop field is worsening as they learn more about them. 31% say their impression is getting worse. >> well, that's because -- >> is that because of this infighting we see? >> it is largely because of the infighting because we're at a moment right now that the primary is going on and you see newt going after mitt, mitt going after newt, ron paul going after everybody -- >> well, i don't know, newt and mitt have not exactly been going after each other. >> but newt has been jabbing at mitt. mitt is going to be stepping up his campaign and a lot of his backers are calling on him to be more aggressive against newt,

almost to show he can be more aggressive against obama if he were the nominee. >> wouldn't that speak to even their views going down even more if they get more aggressive? >> as the primaries go on and as the voting starts, which is the next important thing to happen is iowa happens, as new hampshire happens, you're going to see the field whittle down, there will be less candidates, less people to go after one another, and then you will see the population look at what this president has done. now, it's good to talk about populism, it's good to talk about hope and change, but you haven't done it in three years and also the same person on there is attacking wall street is taking $4 million from wall street, $2.1 million just three days ago when he was in new york. >> here is the problem. >> hypocrisy is the problem on the part of barack obama. >> on the part of republicans who keep saying the president hasn't done anything but there's a clear record people can google. >> give an example on the jobs and the economy. >> he did the auto saving in detroit, he put a jobs plan together -- >> he came in and the jobs were under 8% unemployment, it's over

8% now. >> we have 20% of blacks and latinos who don't like what's going on in congress. that number nationally is 13% who don't like -- >> who controls the senate? who controls the senate? >> and the perception is the republicans are obstructionist. >> karen, democrats control the senate. democrats control the white house. the administration -- and then for a time for a long time they controlled the house, too. they controlled all three branches. >> and a lot got done in 18 months. >> karen, the record is clear, came in with under 8% unemployment. it's been over 8% for two years now. >> you can talk loud and keep saying it, it doesn't make it true. the americans are going to blame the republicans for this mess. >> the man in charge has an economy with 16% real unemployment. he cannot win on that. his approval at 43%, nobody has been elected with less than 48%. >> there was never a black president sl thuntil this man.

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inactive placebo, and with higher doses, bad cholesterol stayed lower for a longer period of time. hi, everybody. i'm thomas roberts. coming up, we're on blago verdict watch coming up in the next hour here. plus, mitt romney looking for a rebound after newt gingrich catapults to the top of the polls with less than a month before iowa. is newt locking thup race? herman cain is gone but not forgotten. b.e.t. unveils an exclusive documentary, what the candidate was doing behind the scenes. and alec baldwin and american airlines in a twitter war over the game words with friends after the actor gets booted off a flight. >> i don't think either side is saying i'm sorry yet. >> not yet. but they know how to spell it. >> thank you so much, thomas. the nation is remembering those who lost their lives during the bombing of pearl harbor 70 years ago today. a memorial service will be held today and for many of the survivors, it will likely be the final time they gather together at the sight of that deadly

attack. nbc's stephanie staten is in hon lieu you a-- honolulu and joins me new. >> reporter: many of the survivors is in their late 80s. age is the biggest factor here. the pearl harbor survivors association will be disbanding. they say they simply believe they don't have enough members to sustain it. now, this ceremony gets under way in a few hours from now at 7:55 local time. there will be a moment of silence to mark the exact moment the attacks began. some 3,000 guests are expected to attend this ceremony, and as you might imagine, it is expected to be a very moving ceremony indeed. in fact, there are events all day long to commemorate pearl harbor. there will be military band music, a traditional hawaiian blessing, wreath presentations. also there will be the names of each of the ships will be read, so when they do that, they will ring the bell of the "uss

arizona" one time for each ship, so that bell will be rung 15 times. again, it should be a very moving ceremony, indeed. the hawaiian air national guard also expected to do a flyover in the missing man formation. about 120 survivors have made the trek here to pearl harbor to commemorate this event that forever changed our nation's history. and, you know, i had the opportunity to speak to some of those survivors. they say that the memories still haunt them. they say they remember pearl harbor like it was yesterday. we are reporting here in pearl harbor, i'm stephanie stanton, back to you. >> stephanie, thank you. well, pearl harbor is trending on twitter today, so today's tweet of the day comes from you. jeff breedwell writes, to those lost on december 7th, 1941, without your sacrifice, the world would not be what it is today. thank you. you are remembered. mjd64 tweeted, a day to remember the ultimate sacrifice made by so many. all gave some, but some gave

all. and, a date which will live in infamy. thank you so all members of our armed services in conflicts both past and present. [ coughing continues ] [ female announcer ] more pollution from power plants means more childhood asthma attacks. [ labored breathing ] there's technology that makes the air cleaner, but too many plants don't use it. we can't wait. epa must update power plant standards to protect our kids. [ baby coughing ] long-lasting, too. yeah, i could really use this silverado. i'm a big hunter. oh, what do you hunt? deer. fish. fantastic. ♪ this holiday, chevy's giving more. now qualified buyers can get 0% apr for 72 months on a 2011 chevy silverado. or 0% apr financing for 60 months

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good morning and welcome to morning joe. it's 6:00 a.m. on the east coast. back to the "jersey shore." dinner with the celebrity and a cannonball. let's go down to the wire. in case you have been missing your fix of the "jersey shore," here is the new trailer. >> we're back in our habitat and i'm ready to tear the speakers off this joint. >> stay away from vinny. >> honestly, this is the best time of my life. >> and which celebrity do you most want to have over for dinner? none of them. a survey done by home goods finds number one is the friendly jennifer aniston. if she's not available, our favorite royal is kate middleton. and far as cooking the meal, paula dean topped the list. the discovery channel showed mid busters fired a cannonball that ended up in someone's home

in almeida county. thankfully no one was hurt. and here is more proof that my hometown of cleveland rocks. this year's inductees are guns n' roses, the red hot chili peppers and the beastie boys known for being a pioneering influence for rap. if you have never been to the rock and roll hall of fame it really does [ bleep ]. i'm chris jansing. thomas roberts is up next. i'll see you back here tomorrow. ♪ and he said no way try bayer advanced aspirin. it's not the bayer aspirin you know. it's different. first, it's been re-engineered with micro-particles. second, it enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. the best part? it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin. test how fast it works for you. love it, or get your money back.

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good morning. breaking news. a new york prosecutor will not bring sexual abuse charges against former syracuse coach bernie fine. we're going to bring you the details on this case straight ahead. is the surge for newt real? newt gingrich is stunning republicans and democrats who thought he was just the flavor of the month. new polls may show he has the power to stick around. enthusiasm gap? what enthusiasm gap? there's a new poll showing