new poll numbers on the mood of the country. what are the challenges president obama faces as he plots strategy for 2012? saturday night showdown. will the gloves come off as mitt romney and newt gingrich scare off in a debate tonight that could help determine who wins the gop nod. >> office politics. msnbc's lawrence o'donnell talks about who's really responsible for the economy. tis the season. an unusual find in a salvation army kettle. we love those stories. good morning, everyone. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." it's 9 a.m. in the east, 6 a.m. in the west. we'll get to what's happening

out there for you. new poll numbers this morning laying out some challenges ahead fort president. the cbs news poll shows 54% of americans think president obama should not be re-elected. 54% say the president does not share their priorities. and 75% say the country is headed in the wrong direction. joining me now, msnbc political analyst mark halperin. good morning. >> good morning. >> these poll numbers show a majority of mrnz think president obama just doesn't share their priorities, most saying they don't want to re-elect him. how does he contend with these numbers? >> well, if it ends up being an election based on on those facts, i don't think he can get re-elected. his advisers know that. these numbers given the state of the economy are not so bad. they position the president once he gets a republican opponent, which could be as early as a

month, to make a contrast and as he did this week in kansas in a big way, things aren't going perfectly but i have better ideas for the future. >> if you look at history, the four previous presidential poll numbers of current presidents at this point, i mean, he is a lot lower than those four. >> he is. there's a lot of history on the side of saying, he can't win but as his advisers say, jim messina's campaign manager, david axelrod, they say you can't base prediction on an election, on statistics alone. have you to go to human, flesh and mrood. the reality is, we are very reluctant in this country to fire our presidents. we want to give them a second chance, a chance to have another term, assuming they can make the case. in newt gingrich and mitt romney, one will almost certainly be the republican nominee, have you two people where the white house will have plenty to say in a contrast about what their vision of the

future is versus the republican. this is probably going to be a close election. but it doesn't mean these statistics, these polls don't mean by any means the president can't win. >> yeah, mark, you're there in iowa for yet another gop debate tonight. i think it's 12, is it? why might this one be more critical than some of the previous ones? >> well, because we're closer to the caucuses, number one. a lot of voters, even in iowa where they pay attention to politics haven't sat down and said, who am i really going to vote for? we have a debate tonight and a debate next week. in both those debates for the first time, newt gingrich is going to be front and center. he's a real possibility to win the caucuses. so, for a lot of iowa republicans it's going to be their first chance to really focus in, as we say, the others preliminary, now it's time to pick a president. >> i want you to listen to something that i think might come up in tonight's debate with newt gingrich having spoken to the jewish channel this week.

here is the comment that is stirring some controversy. let's play. >> i believe that the jewish people have the right to have a state, and i believe that the commitments that were made at a time -- remember, there were -- there was no palestine as a state. it's part of the ottoman empire. i think we've had an invented palestinian people, who, in fact, are arabs and historically part of the arab community. and they had a chance to go many places. >> how is this going to play out? >> well, it got huge ratings because it was on the jewish channel right after the wedding episode of bridget loves bernie so it was widely seen. you know, newt gingrich says big outrageous things all the time. that people in washington and political media circles say, oh, well, this is a huge controversy. i don't think most voters in this process care about what he said. i don't think they'll focus on it. i don't understand what he means on the face of it. i don't think most voters will

understand or care. it's -- it's good for insiders but in terms of can. mitt romney stop newt gingrich's momentum? i don't think it matters one wit. >> what about -- >> a pun on your name. >> i heard that. i wasn't going to go there but then i should say you should write for snl. anyway, supporters of mitt romney, his surrogates, they go after newt gingrich with personal attacks. so, take a listen to what -- of those surrogates osd a radio news show. >> he's a wonderful showman. he does a great job of throwing out those bumper sticker statements in a debate. i give him credit for that. he's got a great mouth. his mind isn't so hot. his discipline and commitment are terrible. >> romney says, look, i'm not responsible for what supporters say and do. do you think he can pull off that line? >> i don't think he could, nor do i think he should. one mitt romney's big problems is coming off as genuine. it's a typical political trick

to let your surrogates say and then mitt romney say, i don't write their scripts. that doesn't work for mitt romney. he had a chance to echo what sununu said and he passed on it. i'm baffled by that. i think if he doesn't do it in the debate tonight f he backs off and doesn't make a strong critique, it will be a big mistake. he needs to fight for this nomination himself. the voters want on to see it, the press certainly wants to see it and it doesn't make sense to say this guy has endorsed me o a conference call sponsored by my campaign but have i no view as to whether or not what he's saying makes sense. >> another oops moment we should mention for rick perry friday while he was talking to the des moines register editorial board. he said there were eight supreme court justices instead of nine and stumbled on the name

justice. >> he was rounding down to the nearest eight. i think right now rick perry -- or newt gingrich and mitt romney far and away the two most likely to be the nominee. i'll have twitter light up and attack me but i think rick perry and jon huntsman still have a chance in this, particularly if newt gingrich looks strong coming out of iowa. if he wins this big, which he could, i think, the establishment -- the people in the party may look for another alternative to try to stop newt gingrich if they don't think mitt romney is up to that. i think that could be rick perry. chances aren't great but he'll spend three weeks on a bus tour in iowa coming up to the caucuses, on television with paid media. i try not to close the door to anybody and i think rick perry still has a chance. not a great one but a chance. >> a sharp and witty mark hathi morning. we invite you to watch as i'll have a live interview with gary johnson coming up at 11:00 eastern right here on "weekends with alex witt."

this morning new sex abuse allegations in the wake of the penn state scandal. the former head of the amateur athletic association is being accused of molesting two young basketball players. nbc's jay gray is in state college, pennsylvania, with the latest on this. i tell you, it just never ends it seems of late. all these revelations. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, alex. it's disturbing, it's frustrating and you're right, you wonder where is it going to end. a lot of people saying this is the tip of the iceberg. as you discussed in the wake of what happened here at penn state and at syracuse university, now the focus shifting to the former head of the athletic -- amateur athletic union. this morning there are are shocking new accusations that the long-time president and ceo of the amateur athletic union, robert bobby dodd sexually abused young basketball players while he was their coach during the 1980s. >> that was his m.o., was coming in in the middle of the night

when you were asleep and trying to assault you. >> reporter: one of dodd's accusers spoke with espn. >> must have been 3:00 in the morning, i was dead asleep and i don't remember anything but waking up and he has his -- he's trying to put his hands in miz boxer shorts. and i justed up, straight out of the bed. and he's not there but he's laying on the floor next to me, down by the bed. and i -- you know, of course i was freaked out. >> reporter: nbc news has been unable to reach dodd for comment on the accusations. in written statements released overnight, both the aau and memphis police confirmed they are investigating the allegations. while at penn state, federal agents, local police, the university and big ten conference all continue separate investigations as jerry sandusky and his attorney prepare for their first court hearing early next week. >> this is going to be a one-sided proceeding. this going to be a proceeding where the commonwealth is going to call witnesses who are going to say all these horrific things

happened. >> reporter: sandusky has repeatedly denied abusing any child. the former nittany lion defensive coordinator faces 50 counts in this ongoing sexual assault case. sandusky's first hearing is set for tuesday. that will be the first opportunity for him to see some of his accusers face to face since these allegations were made public. let's get back to the aau for just a second, though, alex. i talked with the coach of a once prominent basketball team. they backed away from the aau in the last couple of years because of what the coach tells me was a lack of oversight, supervision and an absence of integrity. so, a lot of questions surrounding what has been a very important amateur athletic organization over the years. >> yeah, it is remarkable what's all coming out. we'll see where it leads. thanks much, jay gray. authorities in virginia released the identity of the man they say shot and killed a police officer before killing himself on the campus of virginia tech. officials say 22-year-old ross ashley had no ties to the

university and did not know the officer he fatally shot thursday during a routine traffic stop. officer crouse was 39, husband and father of five. virginia tech community gathered last night for a candlelight vigil. for many it stirred up memories of the massacre. the state of texas could see the primary date pushed back. the supreme court on friday blocked the use of new legislative maps drawn by federal judges. the new boundaries would have ensured minorities make up the majority and three additional congressional districts. the supreme court says it will hear arguments now on january 9th. tens of thousands are expected to hit the streets here in new york city today for a march and rally against new laws critics say attack voting rights and scores of civil rights, labor and community leaders are taking part in today's stand for freedom event. todd johnson is joining me live from that rally. good morning. let's get to the main message behind today's rally and march.

give me a pinpoint message here. >> good morning, alex. well, today's -- today's rally and march which will take place in a few hours, the naacp is focusing on empowering and franchising minority communities who they say are suppressed with some of the new voter restrictions that are being passed in states and have been passed this year. particularly in south carolina, places like wisconsin, places like texas and florida, they're asking -- states are now asking for people to present a government-issued i.d. at the polls which may on the surface may not seem like that much of an ask to vote, to have i.d., but when you start to take a look at some of the communities and some of the demographics who don't have government-issued i.d.s, african-americans, latino, native americans, the elderly, the young, so these are the types of communities that will be affected and suppressed come next year when things obviously would get very political. they're also harkening back to

the days of poll tactics and some that prevented african-americans prosecute voting in the 'fichts or '60s or when women weren't allowed to vote. all of these procedures and restriction will make voting more secure is not the case at all. the bush justice department from 2002 to 2007 investigated more than 300 million votes cast looking for cases of fraud and they were only able to find 86 cases. the naacp says this notion there is rampant voter fraud is not true. i know ben gilles was on "up with chris hayes" this morning, speaking about voter fraud in states like wisconsin. >> in wisconsin where blacks and brown are poor, three-quarters of black men don't have a valid i.d. one, they're two poor to own a

car. two, they're so poor they tend to move every six months or so. go they get an i. dmplgts, by the time they vote they're at a different address. >> reporter: on the grio.com we talked with ben and he discussed these types of laws and the impact they have, especially on african-americans. that's something we'll be following and will be fleshed out much in greater detail later today, alex. >> okay, todd johnson, we'll check in with you this morning as that rally gets under way. thanks for that. we all invite -- we invite all of you to watch the bottom of the hour. we have a live interview coming up with a rally organizer and host of msnbc's "politics nation," i see him getting miked up, reverend al sharpton. the woman accused of pepper spraying shoppers on black friday explains her actions. fight night in iowa. what to expect from the republican showdown. later, president gingrich? you'll hear what lawrence o'donnell said when i asked him

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the two gop front runners launching new criticism of each other with just weeks to go before the all-important iowa caucus. that tops our political headlines right now. mitt romney's campaign released a new internet ad which calls out comments newt gingrich made about the budget plan. >> i don't think right wing social engineering is any more

desirable than left wing social engineering. >> what paul ryan is suggesting -- >> i think that's too big a jump. >> about as harsh criticism one could level at a fellow republican. >> not embrace ryan, but repudiate. >> he doesn't have the splin you want in a president. >> he is out and basically out the left wing of the republican party. >> meanwhile, gingrich is painting romney has a liberal during a podcast interview touting contract with america in the '90s as most conservative and successful legislation platform in modern times and then targeted mitt romney who unsuccessfully ran against ted kennedy for massachusetts senate seat in 1994. >> he was running to the left of teddy kennedy in massachusetts in 1994. and he said flatly, he wasn't for the reagan/bush policies. he was an independent. he couldn't have policy been for the contract because how do you run in massachusetts to the left of teddy kennedy favoring a gingrich contract?

>> michele bachmann is taking on both newt gingrich and mitt romney on health care. here's what she told a crowd in des moines, iowa, friday. >> newt gingrich also said that he believed that all americans should be forced to have to purchase health insurance policies. we need to look very clearly at what this means for all of us. we've seen the model play out already. we've seen it played out in massachusetts where mitt romney was the governor. they put this system in place. what did this mean? the system in massachusetts meant that health insurance policies went up dramatically. >> now, donald trump says he might have to scrub the upcoming december 27th debate he's planning to moderate. so far only newt gingrich and rick santorum have agreed to attend. tonight all gop candidates except jon huntsman will participate in a debate in des moines, iowa. before the debate newt gingrich will open a new office iowa.

let's get more on what to look for in tonight's debate with mike. >> reporter: good morning. >> six candidates debating tonight. let's get to the stakes. lay them out for us. >> reporter: you're absolutely right. with little more than three weeks to go before the caucus, all eyes are on iowa and that debate scheduled for tonight. you're right, alex, although there are going to be six candidates on that stage, all eyes will be on two of them. mitt romney and newt gingrich. now trailing in the polls, mitt romney campaigned in iowa friday, stressing gop unity ahead of tonight's debate. >> i think there are seven or eight of us that have debated several times. we do a better job as president than the current president. yes, they're all qualified, including speaker gingrich. >> reporter: even as romney praised him, his allies were on the attack against front-runner newt gingrich, a super pact backing romney launched an ad campaign in iowa trying to stop the gingrich surge. >> gingrich has a ton of baggage, like the fact he was

fined $300,000 for ethics violation. he even teamed up with nancy pelosi and al gore on global warming. >> reporter: and gingrich's rise has surprised some, including dan quayle. >> poor ethics has no place in the white house. i've been there. pp if you have a person of questionable integrity it's very difficult to be a good leader. >> reporter: peggy noonan says many republicans are wary writing, he is a human hand grenade who walks around with his hand on the pin saying, watch this. and others who served under gingrich in the house were also sounding a warning. >> issues of temperament have been documented for many, many years. it just gets so visserally personal and that's concerning us all. >> reporter: gingrich has taken the high road, declining to engage. >> i'm going to stay positive. i'm going to talk about how we solve the country's problems. i have one opponent, barack obama. >> reporter: other conservative rivals are expected to continue their own attacks against gingrich at tonight's debate but gingrich has surprised many and some view his rise as a

rejection of gop leaders in washington. >> what's happening here, ladies and gentlemen, i think is that republican primary voters are finally saying to the establishment, we're not doing it your way this time. >> reporter: and the focus undoubtedly is going to be on romney and gingrich but there is a third candidate there who is going to be a major factor in iowa, ron paul is tied with romney in some polls in iowa. these debates have taken on even bigger importance, this year, 13 all in all before the first votes are even cast but only two more left now if donald trump drops his plans for a debate, that means only two more chances for some of peez people in the back of the pack to make a splash at a debate. >> good point. we'll see you again from the white house. which of the two current gop front-runners do you think may pose a bigger challenge to president obama? you can talk to me on twitter.

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they won't be beat. oh, actually... then i'd be like, you rule! and my kids would be like, you rule! i'd be like, yes, i do rule! ohh! that rules! oh, load up the sleigh; this is going to be a great christmas. yeah. ring dinga-ding, ring dinga-ding, ring, ring, ring me up. [ male announcer ] no need to wait with our christmas price guarantee. we're so confident in our prices if you do find a lower one between now and christmas, we'll give you the difference on a walmart gift card. save money. live better. walmart. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." the crowds are building right now. they're getting set for a march to u.n. headquarters here in new york a bit later this morning. civil rights leaders are heading up a demonstration what is called an attack on americans' voting rights. a recent report from the naacp claims minorities are being targeted by new republican-backed voter i.d. laws that could keep millions away from the ballot box. i'm joined by none other than

reverend al sharpton host of "politics nation" leading that march a bit later today. thank you for stopping by. >> good morning. >> we have 38 states who introduced new voter i.d. laws this year aimed at stopping voter fraud. is there any real evidence of voter fraud out there that warranteds these kind of more stringent laws? >> no. that's what the march is about. we've been raising this issue on national action network, and urban league, naacp for the past several months that you can't fix a problem that doesn't exist. now, the national republican governors came out since we started this campaign and they went back all the way to '97 and they said they have 311 cases they came up with. do you know how many million of people have voted? 311 is all they can come up with over a decade? clearly the results of these new laws impact african-american voters, latino voters, young voters and seniors. and the data shows that.

so, it is our feeling, and this is why there's the march today with labor and civil rights groups, that this is really to suppress the vote in our communities because of the next year election. >> how big a problem do you think potentially this is, if these voter i.d. laws are passed and enforced? how many people do you think may be affected? >> one study said it could be up to 5 million people. because you're looking, as you said, 34 states, you got to look at this. karl rove wrote earlier this year in "the wall street journal" that if 1% of the black vote, just the black vote, 1% of the black vote in north carolina had not voted for president obama, he would not have won north carolina in '08. well, if just 3% of north caroli carolinaafrican-american don't have state i.d. and can't vote, it would turn the election, if that's a close state, it would

turn the electoral vote. the impact is huge and that's why we have to stop it. >> the 2012 presidential race looks on a few states potentially that could be tipping points here. notably ohio, florida, pennsylvania. do these three states, do they have the voter i.d. laws? >> there's a movement in ohio. we had a 25-city rally last night in cleveland. the mayor was hosted. there's been efforts in ohio. there are threats in pennsylvania. so, we're looking at ohio, clearly has just dealt with something on the ballot, potential in pennsylvania. and then the south, you've got florida, which is a critical state. i had the florida state legislator that sponsored the bill there, that not only deals with voter i.d., they have cut in half the days for early voting. they stopped sunday voting, which a lot of african-american churches used to march people to the polls, canceled.

what fraud is there? what fraud is it pore people to leave church and go vote at their polling district? what fraud is there in early voting? it's to limit or erase any potential for those areas that are going to come out and vote in a progressive way. it is a design we feel. >> so, what do you hope today does? what do you want to accomplish? >> i think it will highlight on it, october 15th when we marched tens of thousands of us in washington for jobs and on this issue. it was to raise it nationally, going to the u.n. today with a collective raises it again nationally. you must raise an issue in order for legislators to deal with an issue and voters to come out and vote against these referendums. but the state legislators will not feel the pressure to vote against these laws if there's not a public outcry. >> how confident are you that this public outcry will end up going your way? >> i'm very confident. i think the justice department will get in because of some of

these states, they are to be precleared with the voting rights law. i think that some of these state legislators will have to listen because if they see their own constituents, that's why we did the 25 cities last night, if their own constitute yens are raising this, they don't want to have a problem in their own elections. as far as you keep it quiet, people will do whatever they do. when you have it in the open, people have to say, well, wait a minute, i might have a problem here. the genius of dr. king, who we all salute as activist of all time, was he drama tiesed and brought an issue out. he was never a member of legislative body, never passed a law. he influenced how laws were passed and that's what we must build movements today. >> i'm looking at simple math. 5 million votes potentially suppressed for 318, you said -- >> 311. >> i'm sorry. even less. 311 cases of voter fraud over a decade. >> do the math. it's not there. this is -- republicans, democrats, independents, anybody

could support this and say, this isn't fair. >> well, our resident energizer bunny, he'll get out running. >> i'm on my way. >> bye-bye. catch "politics nation" with al sharpton weeknights at 6 p.m. on msnbc. thousands are marching in protest days after a controversial election in russia. several people were reportedly arrested in st. petersburg. the largest rally is in moscow. nbc stephanie gosk is in the russian capital with the very latest. >> reporter: good morning. the snow didn't stop people today. the cold didn't stop people. they came out in the thousands. this is the largest political demonstration that moscow -- in fact, that russia has seen since vladimir putin came to power 12 years ago. most of the people out here today are average middle class russians. they are employed, they are educated, but they believe last weekend's parliamentary election was rigged. they also accuse vladimir putin's government of widespread

corruption. now, the government did approve this demonstration but for this location only. not at a square closer to the kremlin where opposition organizers had originally wanted to hold the demonstration. there are security forces out en masse throughout the center of the city. and the deputy mayor has told russian radio that anyone that tries to protest anywhere other than here is going to be arrested. alex? >> stephanie gosk, thanks for that from moscow. right now, police are evicting occupy wall street protesters from downtown boston. officers moved to that area about 5:00 this morning after a midnight deadline for protesters to leave a city park expired. police officials say it's too early to confirm if anyone has been detained but protesters transmitting live video say officers are taking down tents and making arrests. it is time for "office politics." this week i sat down with lawrence o'donnell and he gave me his take on the republican field and told me about a project close to his heart.

take a listen. >> newt gingrich surge, how do you account for this and can it sustain itself? >> mitt romney is the most hated candidate in the history of the republican party. that's what it's all about. the whole campaign has been anybody but romney, anybody but romney. so, we went through all these phases. now we have someone else who's really not romney, who really is the first legitimate front-runner to get ahead of romney because he has the capacity to stay ahead of romney. >> so, you think this is a surge that can sustain itself? >> absolutely. >> why? >> this is it. this is the race. the race is now gingrich versus romney. and all the strength is on gingrich's side as of right now. >> look, you were a high-ranking official with the senate finance committee and this was during the gingrich running of the opposite chamber chair. how is newt different today than he was then, or is he? >> i don't think he's any different at all. he's always been a shoot from

the hip guy. he's always been saying things that he has to modify or retract. and then he sort of backfills on those things. most of the things that he quips about that way are come from a kind of right wing theology about how the world should work. >> which adds to -- when i've been interviewing democrats, they have been almost giddy, lawrence, at the prospect of opposing newt gingrich. >> oh, yeah. >> do you think democrats risk underestimating him? >> no. i mean, look, it's a very small game anyway. the republican nominee is going to get, you know, at least 45, 47 or 48% of the vote in worst case scenario. the president is only going to be fighting over a flexible 5% or 6% of the vote. that's what the entire campaign is about. he'll end up with maximum 52% of the vote and probably something down in the just above 50% range. so, you know, it's a very small group that's being argued over here. you know, gingrich will be, i

think, a weaker candidate than romney just because romney, i think so to that little 5% or 6% of the electorate, would sound like a more reasonable person. and he would seem unthreatening to them. >> so given your projections 11 months out that this would be a president obama victory by 52% but as little as just barely over -- >> he'll be lucky if he wins and i think he'll win by one of those tiny margins. you know, he'll get 50.1% of the vote -- >> which means you can conception you'llize a president newt gingrich. >> oh, sure. >> i want to get to a program near and dear to your heart. it's evidenced by this desk in the studio. kids in need of desks in africa, ma la we. what was the inception of this? >> it was accidental. a friend of mine in massachusetts, meg campbell told me she had been to africa, she

was in malawi, visiting her niece who was a doctor there and she went to schools and asked what they needed. they all said the same thing. they said chairs. i said, chairs? she said, yeah. they don't have any desks or chairs. so, the kids all sit on the floor and the teachers don't have desks or chairs so they stand all day for seven hours. she described the situation to me. so i had some time and i decided to just go to malawi, literally to the schools meg visited and see what i could do. i found a guy with a very small operation who had one of these desks as an example of what he could make if someone could come along and finance desks for malawi schools. so i just said to him, could you make 30 of those for me? this was a wednesday afternoon. i'm going to have to leave

saturday morning. can you make 30 of those for me so that i can deliver them to a school and fill up one classroom on friday morning? and he said, oh, yeah, sure, i can do that. i said, how are you going to do it? he said i'm just going to hire extra guys off the street and we'll do 24-hour shifts. and a job in malawi is more precious and more rare than, you know, anything you could imagine. so, it was very easy for him to get enough workers to come in temporarily to just work around the clock and deliver those 30 desks to that very first classroom in mal a. malawi. that was just with cash out of my pocket. >> what happened when lawrence took his campaign widely? i'll bring you more information. if you would like to contribute to kids in need of desks you may logauto to

lastworddesks.msnbc.com and you can catch "last word with lawrence o'donnell" right here at 10 p.m. he may be trailing newt gingrich but-m romney leads in a new gallup poll of expectations. 39% predict he'll win the nomination. just last month, 47% thought romney would win. how many predicted a gingrich win? last month only 4%, dare to believe that.

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tonight's debate in iowa say big one. for the first time since the start of his campaign newt gingrich will walk on stage as fronts-runner for the gop nomination. and he's opening a new campaign office in the hawkeye state this afternoon with less than a month until the iowa caucuses, tonight's debate will underscore

the tension between gingrich and mitt romney, whose campaign has launched a full-blown attack against the former house speaker. nbc campaign in bed is joining me from des moines, iowa. good day, alex. >> reporter: how are you? >> great, thanks. i know you've been traveling with the gingrich campaign so tell me about their strategy going into the debate tonight. >> reporter: that's right. we don't expect his strategy to be any different than he's had in the past. you know, gingrich does not want to attack mitt romney. we expect him to stay positive and stay on the message. he hasn't been knocked off it in any previous debates and candidates will be hitting him harder tonight, but he'll stay positive and as he says, stay on the high road. >> what about this new office in urbandale, iowa, and how does this differ from the headquarters in des moines? >> reporter: well, it's one in the same. he's opening -- officially opening headquarters. urbandale is just outside of des moines and him and callista will be there before the debate to

open the office. this is his first office opening in the state of iowa. they are running what they call an unconventional campaign but the campaign has eight staffers, other volunteers and they're very positive that they're going to be able to do well in the iowa caucuses and heading to tampa even with the small staff and office in iowa. >> so they have one office that's empty and another office they're opening up. staffing that would be a little bit of an issue. >> reporter: right. well, like i said, it's just going to be the one office. they're positive this is going to be able to help them, you know, do very well here in the iowa caucuses. >> we shall see. alex moe, good to see you. in the season of goodwill, the discovery of a gold ring in a salvation army kettle shows the true spirit of generosity. a volunteer in spokane, washington, found it wrapped in a dollar bill and could not believe it. >> we could not believe it. is this real? would someone really do that? i must admit i thought, this

sunday real. we took it down to the ju ewell and they was say that it was repayment that the salvation army gave her grandfather years ago. that's a great story. hello, a good saturday to you. i'm bill karins. a nice quiet weekend for a forecast. a few showers through san antonio and florida and maybe a sprinkle or two in seattle. it's not even that cold anymore. we're beginning to warm things up. chilly around chicago and the great lakes and we start to warm

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out of me petition pennsylvania, jerry sandusky is going to appear in court on tuesday. he faces more than 60 charges of sexually molesting 10 young boys. what kind of strategy is his defense taking?

what do you expect to happen? >> i expect it's a preliminary hearing. most defense attorneys waive is because they don't want to get an adversity publicity. the prosecution could put on witnesses, probably detectives to talk about the case. there will be an opportunity for cross-examination and that's it. i don't expect it to be a very long hearing because the publicity that comes with this, i think it's the worse it becomes. >> is that what you expect and he will cross-examine, put anybody else on the stand? >> i think the publicity cannot get any more adverse than it's already been. this is the only time that the defense attorney is going to perhaps cross-examine some of the alleged victims. because they don't have to talk to the defense if they don't want to. if he's going to have it at all, that should be the strategy. test these witnesses to see what kind of witnesses that they will

make. >> they can do it through a detective. we don't know what kind of strategy the d.a. has. >> okay. the new revelation this week and two more young boys coming forward and accusing him, that plus his wife dottie who claims that she was not upstairs when things were happening downstairs, and denying that anything happened downstairs at all. is she culpable in any of this, jay? >> unless there is good proof, she could be a co-conspirator but i think that's unlikely. they could have charged her because they thought she was complicite in this, but i don't think so. >> can we talk about the bad publicity? you would think that the jury for jerry sapd would introduce his client to the media and to the public in order to get people to understand him better. >> to like him, right.

>> so what happened here? >> he's just not a likeable guy. >> but other people think that he is, the second mile, et cetera. >> but on camera he doesn't appear that way. almost as if he could be culpable and then denial. he does not present well on camera. the problem is, what can happen from a legal standpoint, does that warrant looking at these time periods and. >> the answer is yes. by the age of 18 for felonies, pennsylvania has a new law going up to age 30.

but the answer is, maybe a little bit longer. but the reason for the statute of limitations is that there has to be a limit on it with the he can exception of a murder. >> the statute of limitations would apply at the time of the offense. even if it changed tomorrow, it wouldn't help these fine victims. >> the federal government is investigating even though the d.a. said he's not going to go forward. >> great point. always a pleasure. thanks, guys. it won't be as slow as the upon knee express but snal slow is about to get a lot slower. what is in store for you when the post office pulls back. the drone mystery. was the drone that iran showed

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fight night in iowa. republicans all warmed up and ready to face off again. who has the most to gain and who has the most to lose? another oops for rick perry. what he said and what the fallout could mean. the company that's paying you to avoid the madness at the mall and to shop online today. good morning. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." new this morning in washington, president obama says republicans are at it again, blocking his measures to help the middle class. he's calling out congress for refusing to vote on his nominee to head the new consumer protection agency. >> every day america has to wait for a new consumer protection watch dog is another day that dishonest businesses can target and take advantage of students,

seniors, and service members. that's why i refuse to take no for an answer. >> nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house. take us through the top issues here. >> reporter: well, it's very interesting because created under the dodd-frank legislation, richard cordray got 53 votes and needed 60 but the president as he said, not giving up there. it fits into the larger political narrative and it's the big guy versus the little guy and the president is himself really hitting republicans on that. not only in congress but you also see the president and his surrogates take a turn and take swipes at mitt romney as the

republican debates rage and the primary fight continues. there's also the matter of the payroll tax put into effect through a compromise that they had last year at this time. it's due to expire at the end of this month. if it does, it could mean a thousand dollars in taxes to the average american family. meanwhile, john boehner wants the tax to go forward but wants to attach a provision that would expedite the keystone pipeline, the controversial pipeline that runs from canada down to the gulf of mexico. boehner gave the response to the president himself. let's listen. >> now, this is no time for the same old, my way or the highway theet at tricks. it's no secret that republicans and democrats often disagree about the best way to create jobs. but we can't let those disagreements from acting when we do agree. >> reporter: so here we are,

alex. the president is willing to put his hawaiian vacation on hold and the caucus race is just 20 days until iowa. alex? >> i would hope that the first lady and the girls would get to go to hawaii. just a thought. the republican presidential hopefuls are battling it out with the two front-runners taking aim at each other. it targets criticism gingrich made about the budget reform plan headed by paul ryan. >> it's a character problem. >> he doesn't have the discipline that you want in a president. >> he is out basically in the left wing of the republican party. >> gingrich was last to respond. he has a major conservative as a success story and then targeted romney who ran against ted kennedy in senate in 1994.

>> he was running to the left of teddy kennedy in massachusetts in 1994 and he said flatly he wasn't for the reagan-bush policies, he was an independent, and he couldn't possibly have been for the contract because, how do you run in massachusetts to the left of teddy kennedy and have a beginning hitch contract? >> here's where the candidates are today. newt gingrich will open an office in iowa. jon huntsman will hold a town hall in new hampshire and all of the major gop candidates, except huntsman, will participate in a debate in des moines. good saturday morning to you, mark. >> good morning, alex. >> so who do you think has the most gain in tonight's debate? >> two people with the most to

gain and the most to lose are newt gingrich and mitt romney. newt gingrich has been surging in the polls. this looks like iowa could be his state to win as well as those other states that we would have in the early nominating contest except new hampshire. if he goats unscathed, it's going to be very hard to see how i en he ends up losing in iowa. if he somehow has a poor performance and some of the front-runners have had poor performances, it could make the iowa contest a wide-open affair. as far as mitt romney, his poll numbers have been slipping somewhat. you see a hard effort by his cane to question newt gingrich's leadership and also his character. we'll see if that goes on. the risks for mitt romney is, if he goes on the attack and if

iowa voters and republicans are tuning into this debate and it somehow turns him off, that could be tough for mitt romney. >> do you expect the gloves to come off with gingrich being the new front-runner? >> al electric, i think they have to. there's going to be one debate tonight and one in iowa on thursday and that's pretty much going to be it as far as when all of the candidates are on the stage together. if you want to make a move right now, you better do it because we're heading into the christmas holidays. we're heading into the chicago bowl games. there is a fine window to actually make your sale to the voters here and then all the republicans across the country. >> there's this new gallup poll, mark, about this presidential race. and right now 49% say that they are more enthusiastic in voting for 2012 than they were in the

last election. when you compare it, not so much. things are coming down to the wire. don't you think voters should be more excited? what do you think is behind the dropoff? >> almost every other poll that i've seen there's more republican enthusiasm than democratic enthusiasm. in the last 2 1/2, three years, all of the political focus has been on president obama, the democrats, what they have been up to. it's really been the only last three or four months where the intense political focus has been on the republican candidates and if there is actually something going on, it might be that. that republicans that were to defeat president obama a year from now but all of a sudden the story has changed. their successes, their failures and they are on full display for everyone. >> okay. let's discuss those couple of

gaffes from rick perry about the supreme court. i'm going to play this one. >> activist judges, whether it was zosonia sotomayor. >> and in that same interview a little later about prayer in schools -- >> i trust independent school districts to make those decisions better than eight unelected and frankly unaccountable judges. >> eight supreme court justices. what do these comments say about rick perry? >> well, another oops moment for rick perry. alex, presidential candidates, any kind of candidate makes gaffes. we've seen them from president obama, hillary clinton. the problem is the narrative, that all of a sudden they start to add up, they pile up, and

they become manage where people begin to ridicule you. for rick perry, it seems like we're on gaffe number six or seven. he looks great on paper. his conservative credentials are unparallel. he has so much money he's spending nearly $6 million on the tv ads. but these gaffes have are been a very big problem for him and when you look at his poll position and his debate position, that explains what going on with his campaign. >> okay. mark murray, thank you. >> thanks, alex. >> we invite you to watch our next hour. i will have a live interview with former new mexico governor gary johnson. now, the biggest money headlines generating the most buzz this morning, snail mail redefined. amazon's pay to play, and feel good shopping. let's go to vera gibbons.

>> how are these going to affect us? >> going to give new meaning to snail mail, alex. the post office lost over $5 billion and they are trying to stave off bankruptcy. next year, as a result, as part of the plan, proposal, they are going to close 252 processing plants and in the process eliminate 28,000 postal jobs. no more overnight first-class delivery. there is talk about eliminating saturday delivery. if ever there was a time to consider paying your bills online, now may be the time to consider doing so. >> you make a good point. what about amazon, peak speaking of paying online, they are going to pay their shoppers? >> they are trying to sell their

comparison app. you use the app when you go into the stores, you scan the bar codes and when you share the price information with amazon, you are entitled to up to $5 off, three products per person. they are not making a lot of friends with this promotion because they are just saying looking to squash small businesses, it's predatory practice and it does remind us that these physical retailers are really in a tough position because people are using them for showrooms and then going online where people are making the purchase. >> in terms of shopping, we are not only spending more but we are looking for instant gratification. what is that about? >> we are spending the same amount of our incomes as in decades past but we are spending them more differently. we are spending them on sporting events, luxuries that make us

feel good, wine, shampoos, cosmetic purchases up as well. and we are spending the highest share of our income on record on psychological counseling. that's very surprising. so we're feeling that if we need to feel better, we're willing to actually spend for it. >> okay. that all sounds good. just no wine for the pets. >> there you go. >> all right, vera, thank you. the story behind the downed drone and how damaging it could be to the u.s. plus, the new voting laws that could be called modern day new crowism. and what would happen if the election were held today? you're watching "weekends with alex witt." . the droid razr by motorola.

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new polls this morning giving us a better picture of how president obama is doing leading up to this election. 54% believe president obama should not be re-elected and 54% say that president obama does not share their priorities and 7 775% say they are headed in the wrong direction. as you were an early supporter of candidate obama in 2008 and you'll certainly be campaigning for him this time around, how

much do these numbers concern you? >> well, the numbers worked a whole lot worse than these. the numbers are tough but these are tough times. but my vikings got surged last sunday and i wish you could at this point count the game over before it's over. the reality is we are going out to campaign and we're going to do a good job and telling the american people if we really want this american economy moving forward, the republican party, especially those in congress, have to stop blocking things that are going to make this economy better. we need more protection. >> ron, i want to bring you in here. even as you look at these numbers, the president is beating front-runners in some key states. so at this point do you wish you had another candidate from which

to choose? >> no. good morning, al electric. i think whoever the republicans put up will be re-elected and they don't think he's getting the job done. 54% don't believe he deserves to have another shot at this office. the president came in, he had a campaign of hope and change. he said he was going to turn things around and also interestingly, alex, he said if he couldn't close the deal in three years, he thought he was going to be a one-term president. he has no signature accomplishment to say, if it wasn't for me, things wouldn't be this bad. now all he has to do is bash his opponents. i think he's in a very weak position coming into a re-election right now. >> president obama is really striking the theme that he's there to help the middle class. let's take a listen to part of what the president said.

here it is. >> i believe this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, when everyone does their fair share, when everyone plays by the same rules. these are republicans values. these aren't 1% or 99% values. they are american values and we have to reclaim them. >> now, despite the resounding applause there in the heartland of america, 54% of the public, mr. mayor, in this new poll says that president obama does not share their priorities. why do you think that is? >> well, i think what we're going to be doing is talking to the american people about what the president has accomplished. by the way, when i heard the point that he has no accomplishments 21 straight months of economic growth is pretty good. >> but you're making these

points and you're talking about what you're going to be talking about but why is it that people aren't getting it yet? >> we have a year before the election, almost a year before the election. we're going out and talking to people about it. but there's no question about the fact that the president has been deemed president and our job now is to make the case over these next few months. we'll be doing that. and the american people are moving in the right direction. but it's going to take a while and it's not a surprise. the reality is, we have a record and more important we have a choice. the choice we have is between a president who has led those 21 straight months of economic growth who has now got unemployment moving down against the congress and a republican party and whoever the heck they wind up putting up who basically have tried to block every single thing that the president is trying to do. right now in washington we have a choice. the economy collapsed because regulation was removed and people weren't watching wall street. so we have a consumer protection agency. we have a great person who's been supported by republicans

and democrats, to be that watch dog that the american people need and the republicans are blocking it again and we're going to continue to make that case. we have people going into the holiday season -- >> now, ron, you want to say something, go ahead? >> i do. with all due respect to the mayor, you're absolutely right. the president does have a record. there have been 1.9 million jobs lost in the private sector since he took over. the president promised that his stimulus bill would pass but we wouldn't have unemployment at 8% and now it's at 8.6% and recently it was at 9.1%. all the things that the president has told the american people, mr. mayor, have been proven not to be true and i think that's why 54% of the american people don't believe that the president shares their values and that he deserves to be re-elected because what he has said, mr. mayor, and what has actually happened are two different things and people think, i'm hurting, hi family's

hurting, i need a job, my folks need a job. and the president's leadership hasn't delivered. that's the true distinction of, has the president made this country better under his stewardship in three years and i think the answer is, no, he hasn't. >> would you like to comment, mayor? >> i would love to. 700,000 jobs a month under george bush. we were under an untractable war and the president has made tremendous progress and you bet i'll talk about health care and i'll look at health care. people like my niece who have tough diseases and are going to be able to stay on their health insurance. that is a record, sir. this president has done all of that with out a single ounce of help from the republican party. it's time to hold people accountable and i can't wait to

go into that election and prove that. >> somehow i don't doubt that. i think you're itching to go and get into this election. >> i can't wait. >> i've got to cruise along. thank you so much. >> take care. >> we've been asking all of you which of the current front-runners and here are some of your tweets. romney, the dirlt on newt is just too easy to find. repout 77 says newt because he is crafty and a politician. and a romney and paul ticket will be hard for obama to beat. paul would pull the young vote and tea party and romney would get the base. keep on tacking to me. my handle is @alexwitt.

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welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." people are taking a stand on voting rights. the challenges they pose for some of the most disenfranchised among us. it would require voters to present an official photo i.d. in order to cast a ballot and plus cutting sunday voting and early voting opportunities. al sharpton said that the claims of fraud don't add up. >> the south, you've got florida which is a critical state, the florida state legislature that sponsored the bill there. that not only deals with voter i.d., they have cut in half the days for early voting. african-american churches used to march people's souls to the

polls. >> now, one of the states getting a lot of attention is south carolina. some are calling the new voting laws there modern day jim crowism. one south carolina town, with a good morning to you, mara, what have you got to tell us? >> it's estimated that the blacks are twice as likely to not have a government-issued photo i.d. and along with the elderly and the young. we spend time with young woman in south carolina who is working around the clock to help people get their proper i.d.s and she quickly realized the challenges involved. these days in sumpter, south ca carolina, they have a lot of questions. this is an informal meeting.

the topic, voting. >> you wouldn't be allowed to vote as you usually have. >> reporter: why? this year south carolina passed one of the strictest new voting laws, requiring everyone to show a government-issued i.d. at the polls. >> now, you had a photo i.d. before, right? >> reporter: yes, ma'am. >> she is volunteering to help people who doesn't have a photo i.d. and getting one is not so simple. >> reporter: but we must get your divorce decree first and your marriage license. have a seat here, please. >> reporter: it's a process dr. williams has been through with dozens of others in the area. almost all poor african-american or both. but it's not just happening in south carolina. voter i.d. has become one of the biggest legislative issues of our time. 31 states now require a form of i.d. to vote, including several 2012 battle ground states. the strictest laws passed this

year. now, advocates say it's an effective way to prevent voter fraud. >> thank you for that update. appreciate it. overseas, mass demonstrations going on throughout russia. controversial election results at the heart of those protests. tens and thousands have taken to the streets today and nbc's stephanie goss is there. good day to you. >> reporter: good morning, alex. thousands poured into the square and they were peaceful but they had a message for vladimir putin. they want a new election, after being widely viewed as fraudulent. they also want eventually putin to go. they told me that this is not a revolution. they want to vote him out. they are frustrated by his government. they say it's corrupt and they are tired of it. but this is the largest demonstration in this country

since putin came to power 12 years ago. alex? >> the call -- what about the call from miguel gorbechov to have a recount of the vote in anything with that? >> reporter: well, now this is going to have to be what putin decides to do in the coming days. the opposition and their organizers have called for a revote. what they do with these election results could determine whether or not this movement as it has become in the last week has any momentum in the future. the government was very savvy, al electric, in talking to protesters this week about this protest today. they allowed them to protest. they gave them an area and it turned out to be very peaceful with no incident. so it seems that they have to

make some kind of opposition. >> stephanie, thank you for that. iran has made what they are calling hostile behavior. the aircraft was on display on iranian state tv after seized last weekend. how the droned was downed is still unclear. joining me from washington, good morning to you, joe. good to see you. >> it's really in mint condition. >> yes. >> it looks worldly like something that e.t. would have flown. i keep thinking if they would have put a green dumb knee inside of it, they would have had an ufo instead of a drone. the fact that it's not heavily damaged, they didn't shoot it down, clearly, and this idea that iran could have brought it down through controlling it,

people mechanical failure, it's a light aircraft. it had some kind of soft crash that did not cause a lot of damage. we can't see the backside so we don't know what the damage was. >> there is a discussion that this could be a mock of the drone. has the military came out ae said, this is legitimate, this is the real thing? it went missing and we believe they have an actual drone? >> yeah, i haven't heard anyone say that they think it's a mock. we lost the drone and there's no doubt that it probably is. maybe it's a big trojan drone and we wanted them to get something intact for whatever reason but that's just a theory. >> so let's speak to the secrets that iran could get from the

drone if it's legitimate. u.s. intelligence, how much is that at risk. >> the cia was upset that the iranians gotted this and we contemplated the idea of going after it and trying to destroy it but that seemed to be too risky. really the damage is not all that severe because these systems are so advance and tolerance so precise that even if you can get a sense of what the materials are, it's hard to reverse engineer. it would be more viable to other countries and the speculation that the flights through moscow and russia are very crowded coming into tehran. >> they suggest a new approach by the obama administration to stop the nuke effort. how so? >> well, you know, this is the administration that has had to harden its approach. they came in suggesting that they were going to turn a page. obama said that we are ready to

extend a hand to iran if they clench their fist. but it's nothing really, no serious negotiations, more provocative behavior. there's a view now that the only way to get iran to change is to make the price for the nuclear program so dear to them, that you do that through sanctions and tightening the economic screws and also through covert activity. >> do we have any idea how long the drone operations have gone on and what we have learned from them? >> we've been told about two years, maybe more than that. and it's a measure of how effective they are in terms of their invisibility. this is the first that we've seen that they've made public. it's very hard for us to operate on the ground inside iran. it's very difficult to get agent there. this is a way to find out what their abilities are. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. an explanation from the woman accused of dousing

shoppers with pepper spray on black friday. you're watching "weekends with alex witt." for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace."

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the tejts texas governor already reeling from gaffes. perry referred to eight supreme court justices. there are nine. he also slipped up on the name of one of those justices. >> activist judges, whether it was -- um -- not motomayor. >> sonia sotomayor? >> sotomayor. >> carrie dann joins me from iowa. you are following the perry

campaign. how much did you say, oh, that's not good. this is another gaffe to deal with. this is in iowa weeks from the caucus. >> good morning, alex. the campaign will say, he's h human, he doesn't have practice responses. he's going to slip up from time to time. the more he makes them, the smaller his margin of error is. if another candidate would make the same mistake, it would still be written about. but for rick perry, ree, that margin of error is very, very small. >> how about the level of confidence going into the debate? can you get a feel for that? >> the campaign is feeling very good about iowa. they are looking at numbers and spending a lot of money on ads and going into double digits

here. they say that the race is very fluid. going into this debate tonight, you've got a big chance i think for perry because newt gingrich is in the spotlight. for him to have another swipes at gingrich or to see how this thing with newt plays out. >> carrie dann, thank you so much. >> thank you. a woman who used pepper spray on black friday. the woman's lawyer said she did it to protect her teenage children. they were upset as other children tried to attack them. the family did not get an xbox after all. they left the charge. no charges are being filed against the woman. lindsay lohan is back in the news. you may remember this, the cover of her playboy shoot. there is more to the story. let's get those details. alicia, good day to you. >> good day to you. >> so the photos of the shoot were actually leaked online. you've seen some of them and your take away is --

>> they are turned inspired old hollywood. so if you're into "playboy," it's a must see. for the rest of us, it's a must avoid. it's not going to enrich our lives at all. >> let's talk about the new movie coming out new year's eve. here we go, everyone. >> i've hated him for leaving me like that. and then he just shows up on the biggest night of my career? what kind of karma with that? >> what? that you made love with him or that you're catering -- because i hear he's good. >> can i do the expensive eggs? >> yeah. >> you cannot deny that, katherine heigl, sophia, ashton kutcher. >> you would think that this would be a must see. >> this is a must avoid.

our movie critics gave it 1 1/2 stars out of 4. >> you're going to feel the same way this with thun. if you want to see some stars, go ahead. just don't go high with expectations. >> what do you sthi think is so bad about it? >> there's so many stories so you don't get involved in the characters. >> all right. another comedy out this weekend is called "the sitter." let's take a look at that. here's a clip. >> i'm going to wear shiny things to my favorite hot nightclub, okay? >> you guys okay in here? >> what's up?

yeah. i'm just with this little angel right here. >> yeah, we're just chilling. >> must see or must avoid? >> must avoid also. our movie critic gave this 1 1/2 stars out of 4. imagine the worst baby sitter ever taking care of your three children. that's what you have in "the sitter." it's a one-note story and falls extremely flat. charlize theron? a must see or avoid? >> a must see. she plays the girl that you loved to hate. she's a wroth encharacter. she goes back to find the love of her life. there's nothing likeable of her and she owns it. but you know what? pat saves the day. he's loveable. the guy that was bullied in high school and the two of of them formed this bond. it's a must see. >> i love the scene where she's trying to check in to the hotel with a dog.

she's like, what are you talking about. >> take your daughter to this one. >> thank you for the good advice. >> no problem. it's time now for a quick look at a list of number ones. the healthiest states in america. they are based on number of factors, including how much people eat, drink, and smoke. the state getting the best health report card, vermont for a second straight year, new hampshire, connecticut, hawaii, and massachusetts make up the top five. conversely, mississippi was judged most unhealthy, alabama, arkansas, oklahoma and mississippi is at the bottom. the rich evidence zip code in america? palm beach, florida. thanks to the smashing success of the film "twilight," kristen

stewart ranks first because $56 for every dollar that she is paid. anne hathaway is second and stewa stewart's twilight co-star robert patti son. adele was named artist of the year and album of the year. on my phone, i got internet! hotspot five dollars. hey, hey, hey, hey. i can see who's on my network people! lance? lance? yes, yes you are next. all right. dave, i'm in. ♪

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and we're giving you a look at the march that is scheduled to begin in about a half hour

from now. it's a protest for attacks on voting rights. college students are struggling to comply with new voting i.d. laws. they have to have official government-issued i.d.s. glad to have you here. >> good morning. >> let's talk about these voter i.d. laws that are now going to be shaking up college campuses around the area. what is the issue? >> it seems like it was scaring a few people in power and rather than try to win their vote, the action has been to suppress their vote. you take states like texas and those who are in power are saying, yeah, i want to decide who votes for me. so if you have a gun license, for example, from the state of texas, you can use that to vote. if you have a driver's license from the state of texas, you can use that to vote. but if you have a student i.d. issued by a state university in

texas, you cannot use that to vote. >> okay. so what kind of i.d. do the college students need now? >> in state after state, they are passing these laws that say a state-issued photo identification card, which is a driver's license from that state. but if you think about it, there are so many out of state students who, for example, i'm from new york and went to school in north carolina, you're just moving there before the registration deadlines. you can't use that out of state i.d. so those students used to use their student i.d. or out of state license. both of those are being outlawed across the country. >> how maybe people do you think this may be affecting? >> tens and thousands, hundreds of thousands. when you add in the driver's license, not just for students but for young people, they are not driving at the same rates. >> exactly. >> they don't own cars in this economy. they are taking the bus.

they are not getting their driver's license at 16 at the same rates. and these -- take milwaukee. 18 to 24-year-old african-american men, 80% of them don't have a driver's license from the state of wisconsin. they don't have the i.d. they need to vote. >> so what is the solution for this? is there one that you think is sur mountable and you can actually affect the change with? >> it's a daunting problem that we are doing something that is opposed to controversy. we are making it harder for people to vote. so what we're doing is engaging in these marches around the country, talking to young people and making sure that the laws and rules of the game have changed on them and they have to do something different. but then more than that we're actually making sure that we upgrade the election system and make sure that it meets the voters' needs. >> thank you so much.

>> thanks, alex. fight night in iowa. what to expect from tonight's presidential debate. also, part two of lawrence o'donnell's words of the use middle class. ew. hey, mom? what? pay you? for what? for unloading the dishwasher?! kid, you need to pay me for making this delicious -- whoa. hold on there, mom. kitchen counselor. um, mom, i think what she means is "greasy dishes." yeah. in fact, check it out. cascade complete pacs are the ones with the real liquid top. they fight tough greasy messes better than the other tablet, which can leave more tough grease behind. oooh, clean. there's only one cascade. love it, or your money back. ♪

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up next, a new poll of the americans about what they think of the president. also ahead, we have "office politics." plus, it's a cry for the right to vote. it's a manhattan project of protests. and to russia with anger. the historic wave the protests sweep from moscow and beyond. good morning. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." thousands are marching in the streets of new york right now rallying against new laws critics say attack voting rights and scores of civil rights, labor and community leaders are taking part in today's stand for

freedom events. todd johnson is at the rally. a good day to you. what's the scene like there? >> reporter: al electric, how you doing? things are starting to pick up here at the press conference and leaders that are gathered here and they are starting to kind of get the crowd going, fired up, ready to go with something that i've heard over and over again. benjamin, the president of the naacp, just took to the podium about ten minutes ago and he was talking about how the efforts of some of these states in questions, the voter i.d. laws, are not he can pandi expanding the vote but they are restricting the vote. that's not what democracy is all about. that's what i heard from any number of people. these new voter i.d. laws that require a government-issued i.d. for people to have when they go to the polls to vote are seen as restrictive by the people gathered here and by opponents of this law because it's one

thing to think on the surface that everybody has a driver's license, everybody has a social security card or passport but that's just not the reality. so those pockets of people, the de demographics, primarily african-americans, the young people are feeling squeezed out of the vote next year. i talked to a doctor down from south carolina who came up here for this rally. her name was brenda williams and she's been working to inform people about these new restrictive laws and she says that she's here for a very specific and very powerful reason. >> this rally today is very important. basically because there is such a thing in this country, in this world, called freedom. we have guaranteed rights, 14 amendment guarantees us right.

>> reporter: and you can hear that passage coming from dr. williams and she's someone that we covered earlier this week. they are going to speak longer and then they are going to march from here to near the u.n. because today is national human rights day. we'll be covering that throughout the day. al electri alex, back to you. well, al sharpton, host of "politics nation," will lead that march. earlier this morning i spoke with him as to why he feels it's necessary to take up this cause. >> you can't fix a problem that doesn't exist. now, the national republican and went back all the way to '97 and said that there are 311 cases that we came up with. clearly the results of these new laws impact african-american

voters and seniors and the data shows that. >> reverend sharpton will be joined by the naacp president as well as others. new poll numbers on president obama and the mood of the country as the president pitches his middle class. 54% say that he doesn't deserve a new term in office. one in five americans feel that the country's going in the right direction. and the overall approval rating standses at 44%. we are bringing in our big three panel early today. joe watkins is a republican strategist and former aide to george h.w. bush. there you are. good to see you.

all right. joy ann, a lot of people don't want to believe what is in these polls. what is your take? do you have any concerns? >> these are not good numbers for the president, obviously. but what they can take heart in is that we are a year out and when there's a republican to compare barack obama to, what the president supporters are hoping is we may not be thrilled with him but we don't want this other guy. >> let's face it, even with these bad numbers, the republicans are not beating him. >> joy made a great point which we are a year out and once we have a republican nominee, we'll have a better idea of where we stand. it's not so much about like or dislike. almost everybody likes president obama. he's a very likeable president. he's certainly seems to be a good man working very, very

hard. if you didn't like president bush and you were working and didn't like president obama and voted for him and you're not voting, you're probably not very happy. and whether you vote for the republican or vote for the president again will depend upon whether you think the new person has a better chance to get you back to work. >> yeah. >> so that's the issue with the president. >> well, it is. and we've seen some numbers that suggest that things are moving in the right direction with the economy. so if that sustains, does this bode well for the president? i mean, do you think it will be enough? do you have a measure of how much good has to come, the bottom line baseline good for the president to win? >> a lot of analysts say that unemployment needs to get below 8% and obviously we know that on friday it fell to 8.6 but that could only be temporary. the thing that i would point out about these poll numbers as a note of caution, sometimes polls don't necessarily say, we're not going to vote for you in a year. it's sending a message of, you're not doing enough. we want to see you do more. he's giving all these speeches

but they want to see him doing more. >> okay. i heard just a little bit of a tease from each of you. we're going to have you back again, okay? and i know my friend joy ann is getting coffee right away. we'll be back with the panel to talk about tonight's republican debate. meanwhile, the three gop front runners are criticizing each other with just weeks to go before the iowa caucus. >> he is out in the left wing of the republican party. >> meanwhile, gingrich is painting romney as a liberal during a podcast interview, gingrich taughted the contrast of the '90s as the most conservative and modern platform of all time. and the massachusetts senate seat back in 1994.

>> he was running to the left of teddy kennedy in plas mass in 1994. and he was -- and he said flatly, he wasn't for the reagan h reagan-bush policies and he wasn't possibly for the contract because how do you run to the left of teddy kennedy favoring a contract? michele bachmann on health care told a crowd in des moines, iowa, on friday. >> newt gingrich also said that he believes that all americans should be forced to have to purchase health insurance policy. we need to look very clearly at what this means for all of us. we've seen the model play out already. we've seen it play out in massachusetts where mitt romney was the governor. they put this system in place. what did this mean? the system in massachusetts meant that health insurance policies went up dramatically. >> donald trump says he might have to scrub the upcoming

december 27th debate he's planning to moderate. so far newt gingrich and rick santorum are planning to attend. all candidates except jon huntsman will participate in a debate. be sure to check out firstread dot msnbc.com. following the penn state case, now the former head of the amateur athletic association is being accused of abusing two young basketball players. nbc's jay gray is in state college with that. good morning. as we were discussing earlier, kind of hard to believe that all of this -- it just seems endless, these accusations. >> reporter: it s. aleis, alex.

the man at the center of the controversy. >> this morning, there are shocking new accusations that the long-time president and ceo of the amateur athletic union, robert bobby dodd, sexually abused young basketball coaches during the 1980s. >> that was his m.o., coming in in the middle of the night when you were asleep and trying to assault you. it must have been 3:00 in the morning, i was dead asleep and i don't remember anything but waking up and he's trying to put his hand in my boxer shorts and i jumped up, straight out of the bed, and he's not there but he's laying on the floor next to me down on the bed. of course i was freaked out. >> reporter: nbc news has been unable to reach dodd on the comments and written statements released overnight. both the aau and memphis police

confirmed that they are investigating the ablg cue sagss. while at penn state, federal police, local university and big 10 conference all maintain separate investigations as jerry sandusky and his attorney prepare for their first court hearing next week. >> this is going to be a one-sided proceeding. this is going to be a proceeding where the commonwealth are going to call witnesses and say all of these horrific things happened. >> reporter: sandusky has repeatedly denied abusing any child. and those witnesses that his attorney was talking about will be the actual men who are accusing him of the abuse. the first time they've seen each other face to face since all of these allegations came to light. as far as the aau, they are continuing their investigation. i talked to a coach who was once prominent in the aau but in the last couple of years has backed away from that organization.

what he told me, and i want to get it right, there was a lack of oversight, supervision, and an absence of integrity and that's why his team and his club decided to move away from the aau. >> thank you for that report from state college. thank you, jay gray. >> thank you. he's a republican running but he won't be at the debate. what keeps gary johnson in the debate. rick perry's new ad. what did he say about celebrating christmas in school. and in the season of generosity, it's better to give than to receive. many holiday shoppers will beg to differ. that's next on "weekends with alex witt." usa prime credit... this peggy... hi, i'm cashing in my points... peggy? no more points - coupons now. coupons? coupons. coupons? next, you convert coupons to tokens.

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well, six of the major republican candidates will be debating tonight but one that will not be attending is gary johnson. he joins me this morning from san francisco. good morning to you. >> alex, thanks for having me on here this morning. and it's about a message and i think it's about a message that's really not being delivered. i think the fastest growing segment of the republican party is the libertarian leaning republicans, if you will, and right now i think ron paul is providing a voice to that message but it needs to be in

stereo. it really needs to be in surround sound because i think it's a message that is not being heard. >> governor johnson, you talk it about it being a message. how frustrated are you and do you understand that if you were more about a message than really being the occupant at 1600 pennsylvania avenue, some of the republicans, or those who organize the debates are saying, well, you know, maybe he's not actually going for the top spot so that's why we keep him on the side lines. has anyone described it that way to you? >> no, i really don't think so. i think, though, that being excluded from 14 of the 16 debates has had a self-fulfilling prophecy. look, you're not in the debates, are you even running? and more than that, alex, i'm not in the polls who determines who gets the debates.

the last fox debate that i was in, fox chose to interpret the rules as the last five national poll where my name appeared. so i thought that that was really fair. really, i feel like i've been screwed in this process and that it is about the message and that message really starts with fiscal conservatism. painting with a broad brush, i believe myself to be fiscally conservative, as i think most americans do. and i believe that i'm socially liberal, which i think most americans put themselves in that category. so promising to submit a balanced budget to congress, promising to advocate on the part of throwing out the entire federal tax system and replacing it with the fair tax, so much of the inequality that exists today is just that. this country should be about equality and freedom and it's a message that i really think is

not being heard. not even being presented to be heard. >> well, i'm glad that you've been able to present the message here on my broadcast but i do want to ask you about newt gingrich and the surge. would you be comfortable with him as the gop candidate? >> you know, newt gingrich in 1997 proposed the death penalty for marijuana -- for possession of marijuana above a certain quantity of marijuana and yet he is among 100 million americans who smoke marijuana. so i've advocated since 1999 legalizing marijuana. now 50% of americans support that notion. i would love to have a discussion with him on the fact that he smoked pot and under the wrong set of circumstances he proposed the death penalty for something potentially that he had committed? i have troubles with that.

>> pot smoking aside, i'm not sure that's going to be on the forefront. but what i would like to ask you is why you think every gop front-runner has collapsed so far. >> well t. is, it is a focus. it's a process of where the light shines on you and you get the scrutiny and survive it or you move forward. it's been kind of a whack a mole process to this point. i wish the light would have shined on me. it didn't. newt gingrich over the last four years collected $36 million in consulting fees from various corporations. isn't this the problem that we have in this country? is that politicians really have their hands out and that the whole system is up for sale? that politicians take the money? they grant special favors, they grant loopholes to individuals,

groups, corporations that are willing to pay for it and you know what, hands to politicianses to do that and that's the root of all evil. >> you should have been at the dinner table when we were having this discussion at my house. mitt romney can't seem to get over a certain threshold with gop voters. >> you know, i don't know where mitt romney stands on these issues and i don't want to be flip here. but when it comes to getting out of iraq and afghanistan, when it comes to balancing the federal budget, i am advocating a balanced budget. i am promising to submit a balanced budget to congress in the year 2013 and believing that we're going to experience a monetary unless this happens. so without exception on the issues, i have problems with mitt romney not understanding where he is on these issues. >> now, you have mentioned a possible third party run, governor. doesn't the mood of the country

suggest that this would be a great time for a third-party candidate with the public dissatisfaction with the incumbent, gop seeming dissatisfaction with its own candidates? what's going on? >> well, the excitement for me about potentially running as a libertarian is the ability to continue to deliver a message that i think is not being delivered and that really resonates with most americans. so, yeah, most americans are opened to a third-party candidate. i saw polls the other day, you probably reported on it, 81% of americans right now would consider voting for a third-party candidate. >> does that mean that you wouldn't -- >> if i wouldn't have been given a fair shot at presenting this but i have not been given a fair shot. i've been excluded from the table and i think the republican party could have stood up and very simply said, look, you've got to include gary johnson in the polls that determines whether or not they get in the debates. that's all i'm asking for. >> and as a third-party

candidate, are you going to do it? >> well, it's something that i'm really considering and it's an exciting notion that actually potentially beyond the ballot in all 50 states in the general election at a time like this when i don't think anybody is really talking about the issues that are facing us and then you've got to have a resume to go along with the issues. i mean, what's to suggest that just because you say x, y, and z, that you're going to go out and do that. >> former governor of new mexico, gary johnson, thank you for your time. >> thank you, alex. motorists would rather do without $448 billion on gasoline so far this year, so says the oil price information service. that makes the old record set in 2008, more than $100 billion than last year. progresso. it fits!

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buyer beware. shoppers should be critical of their credit cards because scams are on the rise this year. vera gibbons is here to tell us what credit card customers need to do to be aware of these scams. >> you have to be vigilant. we're in an electronic age. and it can happen to anyone. you can get an e-mail disguised as an urgent message from itunes or apple. you've got to be syringe lanlt and check your statements. people make a small purchase to see if you are paying attention and then go on a shopping spree. >> but if you're a big online

shopper, what can you do? >> if you're at home, shopping from your electronic device, tablet, laptop, make sure you've got the anti-software spamming software so you can protect it and i wouldn't shop at a public wi-fi network. people are doing this. they are going to a hot spot. somebody can pluck your credit card information right off the bat. you have to be very, very careful. secure networks only. >> how do you know when you're on a secure site? >> well, you're see the little lock in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. if you double-click on it, you'll see that you're protected. also, https, not http. the s means that you're secured. >> a lot of people eat out.

some skimming goes on. we saw a big rise here in new york at the steakhouses. the server will take your credit card, record the information, and then go on this major shopping binge. they charge over a million dollars in new york at these stake places. it's a very sophisticated crime and you wouldn't know it because when the server walks away with your credit card, you wouldn't know where they are going with it. you could poe technically be -- >> every time you give your credit card. >> you don't know where it's going. >> gas stations doing it and atms. >> yikes. >> that's right. >> thanks, vera. more and more people are jamming the stores and may be searching for that perfect gift, but it's not for someone else, it's for themselves. 60% of shoppers will be buying nongift items and shelling out $130 on average and another

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welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." front-runner newt gingrich may here a lot from the other contenders and they will probably have something to say about president obama, which brings us to this morning edition of "fact or fiction" and joining me is david hawkings. rick perry is spending a lot of money running an ad in iowa that says, kids can't openly celebrate christmas or pray in school. is that fact or fiction? >> that is a fiction. it's not the kids that can't

pray or celebrate christmas, it's the schools themselves. in other words, what the constitution says about the freedom of religion is that the governments themselves can't establish a religion. a school can't say we're only going to celebrate christmas, hanna ka, they can't spend money to celebrate one religion over another. but that can't prevent kids from praying over the launch hour, in the library, wearing christmas shows, or exchanging christmas presents at recess. >> both george bush and president clinton tried to make a promise during the candidacy once you're actually in the white house. fact or fiction, moving the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem is an empty promise? >> it's proven to be an em trpt

promise in the past. they have been talking about it for years. ultimately the united states policy has been that it should be left to those two sides to negotiate on their own and for the united states to essentially move its embassy from tel aviv would you be set that apple cart entirely, would be dangerous politics, upset the entire arab world and even as you said, george w. bush and president clinton decided after they were president to not move it. > . >> here's what the president said about taxes on the wealthy. some billionaires have a tax rate as low as 1%. >> that would also seem to be fiction, although we can't quite prove it because we don't know what every billionaire pays. there are only about 400 billionaires in the united states and the irs has actually revealed to people who have tried to drill down on this that

there are about 30 of them who pay less than 10% as an effective tax rate. as you and i have discussed in the past, they have loopholes and ways of diverting their income and lobbyists who get out of this. so we know that maybe 30 of them pay less than 10%. we don't know any of them that pay 1%. even warren buffett, the billionaire who has made all of this noise about paying less tax than his secretary, he's not gone below 17%. >> david hawkings, we'll see you soon. thank you. >> thank you. now time for my interview with lawrence o'donnell. i talked about his own mission to help kids get their. >> president obama gave us a glimpse into the focal point of his 2012 campaign when he was in

kansas and used the word middle class 18 times in that speech. is that the path to re-election? >> oh, it's what it's all about. and i'm so glad you pulled it up. because that is a poll-driven phrase. whenever you find that, whenever you find a candidate, which the president is, a candidate out there, using a phrase repeatedly, i promise you they have found in their polling that that's the key words. >> so how do you analyze the president's handling of the economy? do you think he could have done things differently? could he have put an emphasis on it at times? >> this is the single funniest thing about american politics. it's the biggest lie in american politics, especially as told by republicans. republicans are the people who tell you that this is a great capitalist society. they tell you that there is no socialist in america, none.

and at the same time they tell you that the economy is the responsibility of the president of the united states, that is beyond insane. we have a free economy here. the government does not control this economy. the truth of the matter is that the president does not deserve credit for a good economy and the president does not deserve credit for a bad economy. presidents don't run the economy even in controlled economies. >> and how does this president win next year? >> there's only one way. the republicans have to nominate a loser, which they are very luxury of doing and that's the only way. >> kids in need of desks in

malawi. >> these kids have never seen a school desk in their lives. more importantly, the teachers in the classroom have never taught in a classroom with desks. they don't know the experience of being able to see every one of their students at the same time because they are crowded on the floor together and after a while it's physically painful and they start to slump on to each other's shoulders and it becomes a really grueling day for them and so the excitement of this arrival of desks at the schools is like something you've never seen. >> have you seen it? >> i've been there twice. >> and what's that like? >> it's a really moving experience and an exciting experience and the kids -- it's a very musical country, you know. people burst into song. there's a west side story aspect for the cultural when you do collective joy breaks out, no

one has to say anything. they just start to sing. and the kids will just start to sing and they run when the truck arrives and they unload it. i always make sure that they participate in the unloading of the truck. there is always these guys that show up from the factory ready to unload these desks and the kids take them in and boys very proud of themselves, some of them were by themselves able to carry one into the classroom and you fill up a classroom with 30 desks in what feels like 30 seconds. it's stunningly fast. i'm not selling it this way as some miracle working device. but because it occurs in the educational setting, it carries the capacity for miracle. it carries the possibility that somewhere at the back of the classroom there is a kid sitting behind another kid that the teacher can't see, they are not making eye contact and that kid,

once he gets elevated to that desk, develops a different relationship with that teacher and that may be malawi's nelson mandela? >> lawrence's efforts has ratesed some $2.3 million so part and he says 50,000 desks are on their way to malawi right now. if you'd like to contribute to the kid in need desk fund, go to msnbc.com and catch lawrence o'donnell weeknights at 10:00 p.m. eastern here on msnbc. can i say on a personal note? all of you parents out there, it's an extraordinary gift to give a desk in the name of your children. i did it and it means a lot. how many more of these gaffes can rick perry afford? you're watching "weekends with alex witt." ♪

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the big three and we're looking at gop stumbles. president obama talks about unemployment on "60 minutes." that's set to air tomorrow. take a listen to that. >> do you think you might have the unemployment down to 8% by the time the election rolls around? >> i think it's possible. but, you know, i'm not in the job of prognosticating on the economy. i'm in the job of putting in place the tools that allow the economy to thrive and americans to succeed. >> our panel is back. erin mcpike, joy ann reid and joe watkins. would it be possible low enough politically speaking at 8%? >> 8% is the number that be a lifts are looking at and if

obama can get below 8%, they are in great shape. it fell below to 8.6 last friday but it could be going back up again sometime early next year. we'll see if he can do it. he didn't really sound optimistic in that interview. it depends. >> well, among things that we're considering in that 8.6 drop from 9 was the fact that 300,000 people said, i'm done, i can't even continue looking for work and there's a lot of part-time retail hires. but you're take on this, joy ann, in terms of what threshold the president needs to get to? >> i think it's entirely psychological that we need to be under 9%. i think the president being at 8.6 is going to be good psychology for the voters but i don't think there's a tit for

tat. >> if the unemployment rate drops below 8%, which would be good for all americans, or do you think they would listen to mitch mcconnell, which would be to defeat the president? >> the gop would like to win back the presidency but i think they also agree that it would be great to get that unemployment number down. we want to put americans back to work. as long as you have 14 million people who are not working and want to support their families, that's not acceptable to us. we want to make sure people get a shot at getting back to work. >> i was spying on joy who was shaking her head. >> i don't know about that. >> come on, joy. >> i hate to be this cynical but i really actually think that republicans like the idea of never seen such a concern for politics. i think they are all about the

politics right now. >> okay, guys, i do want to talk about this. the different gop stumbles in the spotlight. two of them. the supreme court math error by rick perry. let's play that. >> i trust those independent school districts to make those decisions better than eight unelected and frankly unaccountable judges. >> okay. and then here's the one where he forgot justice sonia sotomayor's name. are we going to play that one? we don't have that cued up right now. joy-ann, what does this tell you about rick perry? >> first of all, which character is playing george bush? i'm confused? it seems like he's on "saturday night live." it's incredible. i really don't think he wants to be president. i think he was compelled to by

other people. please, let him withdraw. >> you don't think he wants to be president? >> well, listen, fourth graders should know that there are nine supreme court justices. if front runner, yes, it would be a bigger deal, but at this point people expect it. >> joe, what does this say about people who can run for president? >> well, you have governors running for president and other people who have been in elected office. rick perry has had a successful tenure on more than one occasion, been re-elected as governor. so he has a track record that people can look at. these things happen to candidates. >> does it suggest that maybe just because you are successful at running one of the 50 entities in this country, that may not translate if you extrapolate that out to running the whole shabang. >> i would say the same thing andy reid of the eagles says,

you've got to do better. >> all right, everybody, stick around. i'll have all three of those guys stick around and they'll rate the week coming up. laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] now there's a mileage card that offers special perks on united, like a free checked bag, united club passes, and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ okay. what's your secret?

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there were -- there was no palestine as a state. it's part of the ottoman empire. i think that we've had an invented palestinian people, who in fact were arabs and were historically part of the arab community, and they had a chance to go many places. >> newt gingrich being interviewed on the jewish channel, and he was talking about, of course, the middle east peace process there. back now with my panel. we're going to rate the week overall. erin, i want to talk about rick perry who spent the most on ads in iowa, but money can't buy back the gaffes. if you had to give a letter grade, rate perry's week for me.

>> rick perry is at a d or f. he hasn't been able to resurrect himself yet. yes, he is spending more mopey on ads than any other candidate and he's continuing to make these gaffes. he's not doing so well. >> i want to get to the blatant gop guy in the group there. a through f, with that and everything else, what is your grade on newt gingrich? >> it would be an a. i think he had a great week. he continues to lead the field. he's gaining in new hampshire, leading in south carolina and florida. and nobody doubts newt gingrich's understanding of domestic or foreign policy. >> really? you think there's no concern uttered by anyone regarding what he said there to the jewish network? >> i think what people know is that newt gingrich is a very strong supporter of the state of israel, and i think that gives a lot of people around the united states a great deal of satisfaction. >> joy, once again listening to

you, she said she loved you earlier, although she's shaking her head. >> i love you like a brother, but i think what newt gingrich said was so patently offensive. how incredible to say out loud that the palestinian people don't exist. i've heard it before from some far right wing elements of the likud movement in israel, but ettet utterly offensive. >> israeli leaders themselves don't show those concerns there. >> they're negotiating with the palestinian people. >> they believe that is the path to peace. mitt romney, joanne, his week, rate that for me. >> i've got to give mitt romney a d. it's incredible with all the gaffes, with all of the embarrassing displays by the other gop candidates that he still can't get out of the 20s. he can't get traction. >> okay. erin mcpike, joe, joanne, great to have you guys. thank you so much. that is a wrap of this edition of "weekends with alex witt."

i'll see you tomorrow morning. stay with us, headline updates, breaking news as it happens. and up next, another msnbc docu-mystery. have a great day. that's why i recommend crest pro-health clinical gum protection. it helps eliminate plaque at the gum line, helping prevent gingivitis. it's even clinically proven to help reverse it in just 4 weeks. crest pro-health clinical gum protection. usa prime credit... this peggy...

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