of the year. hope you had a fantastic weekend. we're going to get to the president's news conference coming your way later this half hour. first, politico calls it the return of newt skywalker, a reference to his rise in power in the 1990s. the surge continues to wow the political pundits. this "newsweek" cover all but missing a cape. our nbc news marist poll shows beginning rich is up nearly 20 points on mitt romney in south carolina and holding a double-digit lead in florida. the new university of iowa poll out an hour ago shows the former speaker maintaining a hawkeye state advantage. gingrich is crisscrossing new hampshire today talking about his place in the polls and attacks from other candidates. >> you know, everybody is going to try to knock you down, and the question will probably be whether or not the american

people we're in enough trouble in a country than having someone who is determined to be positive is a better outcome than someone who runs negative ads. >> mark mckinnon is the founder of no labels and a contributor to "the daily beast." good morning. these numbers don't seem to be weakening for the former speaker. is there anything other than the candidate that can do to stop his momentum? is there anything that newt gingrich is basically the only person to stop him right now because the other candidates aren't making much of a dent? >> that's the difference. the force appears to be with newt gingrich, and you know, he's a well-known quantity, commodity. people remember his revolution, republicans especially, in that he balanced the budget and reformed welfare. so unlike the other candidates who had temporary surges, voters got to know things about them they didn't already know. this debate the last weekend was key because i think it was an

opportunity where everybody wanted to see whether or not gingrich would take some shots and show some vulnerability. he had a great performance, and now there's not another dpee bait for two weeks. voting starts 21 days from today in iowa. i think at the very least now we can expect a protracted nomination contest at the very least between romney and gingrich, although i think it's very likely we could see other developments now that the romney nomination is no longer inevitable. >> mark, the dnc is out with what may be their first ad targeting gingrich. they've been focusing on romney all along. take a look at this. >> we don't get rid of it in round one, because we don't think it's politically smart and the right way to go through a transition, but we believe it will wither on the vine.

i'm newt gingrich, general chairman of american solutions. i'm going to invite you to a party, a tea party. >> is being linked to the pea party a bad thing for the former speaker, are they looking ahead to a possible showdown with newt gingrich? >> that's a double-reverse by the democrats. it attacks gingrich, but republicans love that. the pea party voters will love that ad, and so, you know, there's no question that the democratic forces would prefer gingrich as the nominee, although, as i said, what voters really like at the end of the day, they don't vote on issues but attributes as president. they like strength and they like their presidents to be bold and brash, and that's what they get with newt gingrich. >> gingrich double-down on his statements that palestinians were an invented people. take a listen to this. >> the fact is the palestinian claim to a right of return is based on historically false story, and palestinian did not

become a common term until after 1977. this is a propaganda war in which our side refuses it to engage and we refuse to tell the truth while the other side lies. >> where does this fall with gingrich and the republican establishment? >> well, that's classic gingrich, professor gingrich schooling everybody on the history of the issue and taking a very bold position. again, he is doing what people like to see in presidents, which is taking a very strong, firm position in contrast with romney, who is coming across as very cautious. that's a problem for mitt romney. >> mark mckinnon. great to have you on this morning. romney is in new hampshire trying to slow the gingrich surge and shake off a wager that didn't go well at the debate. rick perry is slamming romney with a new ad focusing on romney he's ill-conceived $10,000 bet. here it is approximate if you missed it. >> not too many caucus-goers in

iowa would place a $10,000 bet even approximate if it was a sure thing. >> $10,000 bet? >> i'm not in the betting business. >> let's bring in our panel. it's great to have you both here. boris, i'll start with you. rick perry knows how costly a debate slip-up can be on the campaign trail. is seizing on this the right way to go? how damaging do you think this is going to be, the moment, that is, for mitt romney? >> this isn't quite forgetting part of your own policies, which is what rick perry did in the prior debates. i don't think it will be as bad as rick perry's slip-ups have been? why? mitt romney said we've talked about it before. i know what my own book says, and it doesn't say what you claim it says. this shows there's too many debates, and these candidates have launched the same attack on each other over and over again.

mitt romney was almost saying stop. i've already answered it. i don't think it's as damaging as people say. >> if if they play up the bet perspective sdshgs it fall into the lines of being a gaffe because it's part of that story he's out of touch and a one%er. >> it's not as bad a gaffe as perry in prior debates. it shows unfortunately that romney is not parlt of the 1% as he -- of the 99% as he's trying to portray himself to be. long term mitt romney is a candidate that has put out a lot of points on the economy, has shown his past record in the private sector and the public sector, and that's what's important. it's not a gaffe about a small bet. >> i don't think that's a fair characterization. mitt romney is a character who is completely out of touch with average americans. approximate if you and i made a bet right now, boris, we'd bet a six pack or lunch. this man is betting $10,000. for a third of americans that's four months' salary.

>> he wasn't actually betting that. >> whether you look back at romney's record, this falls perfectly in line. the same person that said corporations should be taxed as people and the same person that said banks should kick people out of their homes. it's a bigger and broader narrative about how out of touch he is. his tax plan would give a windfall of $6.6 trillion to the wealthiest americans. >> if you went to the debate, mitt romney was not saying let's bet and put $10,000 on the line. it was clear he knew he wouldn't take a bet. it was a way of saying i answered this attack before. you know what my book actually says, and you mischaracterize it. >> i don't think that's how people at home are going to hear it. >> you're right. a lot of people out there say this is mitt romney being mitt romney and being aloof. as the republican electorate goes to the polls, what do they about? mitt romney offered a bet to rick perry on december 10th, or this is a candidate who

succeeded in the private and public sector. >> i think they're going to be praying for another candidate given this is the parade of horrors they've been offered. >> let's not forget, four years ago mccain was in fourth place right now behind giuliani, huckabee and fred thompson. there's a long way to go here. >> i'm going to bet you both 20 bucks i'm out of time. great to have you on this morning. right now president obama and iraqi prime minister nouri al maliki meeting in the white house oval office. they'll hold a joint live news conference in less than 30 minutes to put the two countries on strong diplomatic footing as u.s. troops prepare to leave iraq by the last day of the year. nbc news political director chuck todd has more on the meeting. chuck, doecember 31st marks the end of this nine-year period, the war itself. how important is a milestone like this for the president? obviously, sewing up a campaign

promise and delivering on it. >> he brings it up and talks about it. they did not come to an agreement with the iraqis about an extension of an agreement that would have kept troops in there longer after december 31st of this year. remember, this deadline was actually negotiated by the bush administration. there was a renegotiation, an attempt to renegotiate to keep u.s. troops in there longer by the iraqi government, but the iraqi government couldn't agree on the terms of how the troops of sort of the legal status of the troops in the country after december 31st. so the president, when he announced it, thomas, he talked about it as fulfilling a process. that promise was on the campaign trail. the white house believes this is an enormous accomplishment for them to take to the voters when it's time for re-election. >> what does it also mean to families that may have lost someone in iraq to see the fact

that this is shoring up and the fact that there are people -- there was a soldier, iraqi soldier in "the new york times" talking about the fact there's big holes in security in iraq when american forces are are gone? >> ted koppel, our new colleague doing a story tonight on "rock center" will talk about these issues am december 31st. there's a lot of americans there, 17,000 americans still in iraq many in harm's way. it's unclear what kind of security they'll have, particularly at a consulate not very far from the iranian border, for instance, and according to ted's reporting, they receive rocket fire semi frequently from there, from the iranian side of the border. so this is a -- you know, there's a lot of what-ifs here. what if something bad happens? what is the security situation for members of the u.s. community that are still going to be in iraq after december 31st?

>> chuck, while we have you real quickly to the economy. the president talking about how tough the challenges are facing the narc during a "60 minutes" interview last night. take a look. >> i didn't overpromise or underestimate how tough this was going to be. i always believed that this was a long-term project. that reversing a culture here in washington dominated by special interests was going to take more than a year, more than two years. it was going to take more than one term. probably takes more than one president. >> we digest that. obviously, there is truth there. he came into the oval office carrying that torch of hope, but it's a truly sobering he reality. that helpful for the relocation campaign and seeing the president in what seemed to be tired in that interview? >> well, i hear you. it's interesting about steve kroft's questions.

he tried a bunch of different ways to get the president to admit he underestimated something. the president just wasn't having it. no matter how steve kroft asked the question, the president seemed to steer it back to, look, i didn't underestimate this. i knew this was going to be this hard and take this long. that i found interesting about both the questioner, the intent to ask him these questions, and how on message and on point. there was no way to allow to show a moment of weakness, right? when you go back in recent presidential history, that so-called malaise speech where jimmy carter didn't use the word "malaise" but talked about the negatives in such a public way ended up hurting him. it was like the president wanted to draw the line there and didn't slip into that territory. >> chuck todd, thank you sir. i want to pass along the programming note. the president is due to speak at 11:30 eastern time. we'll bring it to you live as soon as that happens. we also are keeping a close eye on things.

breaking news from the supreme court. the justices are taking up another political hot button issue, immigration. plus, face to face. the alleged victims in the jerry sandusky sexual abuse case prepare to testify against him in court tomorrow. so what is it like for a victim to face their abuser? we'll talk about that. first, let's take a peek at the markets as everyone returns to work this monday. here's how wall street is looking. red arrows aacross the board with the dow jones down nearly 170 points. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates.

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welcome back. breaking news from washington. the supreme court will way in on arizona's controversial immigration law. nbc justice correspondent pete williams has the latest from d.c. first the health care law and now this.

what provisions of this law will be ruled on in court today? >> reporter: the most controversial part is the requirement that arizona -- this is on hold, but this is what the law said. if arizona police when they stop anybody for whatever reason, if they suspect they're in the country illegally, they must detain them and check on their immigration status. the federal government argued this is a federal responsibility, not a state responsibility and that the constitution prevents laws from -- prevents states from passing law that interfere with federal law. how the supreme court rules on this case is important not only to arizona but to other states trying their own tough immigration laws, most notably alabama, which has harsher laws than arizona and other states are following suit. one quick note here, thomas. one of the justices, elena kagan took herself off the case. she doesn't say, but it's presumably because of the work she did on the issues when she was a solicitor-general before she came to the supreme court.

only eight justices hear this case. you're right. it's going to be big political issues in the supreme court. health care, immigration, and congressional redistricting, the case the court agreed friday night to take up from texas, thomas. >> pete williams, thanks so much. appreciate it. former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky goes face to face with some of the young men accusing him of sexual abuse in court tomorrow. prosecutors plan to lay out new details of their case calling some of sandusky's alleged victims to testify in public for the very first time. in the mean time in an interview with nbc news, sandusky's attorney suggests the alleged victims may be working together, and that may be motivated by money, an allegation that one victim's attorney vehemently denies. >> at least one of the accusers, that's all the accuser and his family are talking about, what they will do with all the money they're going to get. >> the idea people with coming forward with a financial incentive is ridiculous. >> prosecutors may have a new

problem. grand jury testimony by penn state offensive coordinator mcmcqueary is now being called into question. he told a grand jury he saw sandusky sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in the penn state showers in 2002, bullet nbc news has confirmed a mcqueary family friend has testified that when he met with mcqueary that same evening, mcqueary lsaid he only heard se sounds from the shower. big difference there. only hearing them than actually seeing them. now let's bring in daily beast contributor patrick mcdonald, who is also a member of r.a.i.n. network. a reminder when patrick was 12 years old, he was sexually abused by his scoutmaster. i know you know first hand what it's going to be like for these alleged victims to go face to face with sandusky in court tomorrow. explain to everybody how difficult that is for these kids to turn around and face their

abuser. >> it is -- the level of discomfort they must be feeling today in advance of tomorrow is something that -- it's even hard to talk about. you may have the talking points lined out in your head, but the moment you see him walk in, everything you thought you may say kind of goes out the window. that's -- even when you can control the discussion, if you're going to be cross-examined by somebody and you don't know the questions that may come your way, you get thrown off of how you're feeling. it can be an incredible discussion for these guys. >> sandusky and his attorney have gone after the credibility of these alleged victims. we hear amendola there saying they're after money and even sandusky's wife saying there's no way there was a young boy screaming in the basement for help while she was there. these are the new things that have come forward in light of the most recent allegations after the first 40 charges were leveled against him. will these alleged victims be

under the microscope as much as sandusky obviously to figure out whether or not they're credible? they wouldn't be in a court of law going through the criminal process approximaif the prosecu wouldn't put them on the stand and think they were credible? >> that's true. their credibility is questioned by people that think they might have other motives for this, most notably financial. i can't think of anybody i know of, certainly myself, where we want to expose this part of our past for money, for any amount of money. a million dollars, 5 million. it does not matter. none of that will take away what we experienced as children. i can't imagine somebody fabricating this to put a dollar amount to it. what these guys are going to go through in the next couple of days, the amount of courage they have demonstrated to date and will demonstrate tomorrow, they just want to take this guy off the streets. that is what their driver is. it's not about a dollar figure. >> daily beast contributor,

patrick mcdonnell. thank you for joining us. we'll be back in a moment with how newt gingrich's wife calista saved his presidential campaign. "news week" is looking at the resurgence and it could be because of that woman right there. we're back after this. in america, we believe in a future that is better than today. since 1894, ameriprise financial has been working hard for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout. helping generations achieve dreams. buy homes. put their kids through college. retire how they want to. ameriprise. the strength of america's largest financial planning company. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you, one-to-one. together, for your future. ♪ ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm!

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continues to mount "newsweek" looks at how it came back from the dead thanks to calista. peter boyer wrote this week's cover story and joins us now. we remember the problems at the beginning. the massive staff walkout, the money issues, the overspending at tiffany's was a big story and his credit line there. you write in your piece that calista talked him out of quitting this race.

how important has she been to the campaign at its point right now and the standpoint that gingrich's strategy is starting to work? >> sure, thomas. it's good to be with you. thank you. that is absolutely true. he was, indeed, i have to say i covered newt gingrich for a very long time. i thought he was dead as a candidate in june, and he did, too. three times he told me during the course of the summer, three times he thought of quitting and went to calista and she said, no, wait. wait for the debates. she prevailed. he waited for the debates, sxan you know, his debate strategy basically became his campaign strategy. he had little choice, and we see where he is now. she was right. >> peter, gingrich has addressed the issue of fidelity and did recently at the debate. look at how he addresses it currently. >> it's a very, very important issue. people have to render judgment.

in my case i set out front openly i've made mistakes at times and went to god for forgiveness and seek reconciliation. i'm a 68-year-old grandfather and people have to measure who i am now and whether i'm a person they can trust. >> calista and newt's affair beginning during his time as speaker and married to his second wife. his original staff not fond of her influence on newt. could her prominence hurt her husband down the road or is she paying off as a secret weapon? >> it depends, i think, on how overting prly prominent she is. she will prominent until the moment he wins or drops out. she's probably the single most important influence on the campaign. i don't know how out front she will be. i think newt is saying a little bit less of the calista and i preamble that he used to utter in almost every sentence, but

she's going to be very influential on how she will wear on the electorate. we don't know. i think that gingrich gave a very smart answer. i mean, portraying himself -- it answers everything. it was specifically referring to the infidelity, but when he says i'm a 68-year-old grandfather and he likes like a portly 68-year-old grandfather. it answers the infidelity thing and sort of answers the bomb thrower thing. when you look at that figure and think of a 68-year-old grandfather, it seems stable. >> you think nor gentile. can we show that "newsweek" cover once again. how did you get newt to pose like this? it looks like he just took the cape off. it's a great picture and great article nonetheless. thank you, sir. appreciate your time. >> thank you. glad to be with you. we're keeping our eyes as promised on the white house right here where we're expecting the president to speak shortly. there are live protests going on

outside. president obama expected to hold this joint press conference with iraq's prime minister nouri al maliki in a few minutes. we'll have a look back at this nine-year war with former defense secretary william cohen and nbc's richard engel, the very first reporter in baghdad when that war began. back with much more right after this. [ female announcer ] we never forget the nearly 12 million cancer survivors in america today... and the countless lives lost. we owe it to them to protect funding for cancer research, prevention and access to care. congress, make cancer a priority and give millions of americans what they need most.

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for the coming year? those of us with doers on our lists. and because it's always better to give than to guess, we can take these last few days of shopping and our holiday budgets a lot further. ♪ more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. this 18-volt ryobi starter kit is just 89 bucks. ♪ welcome back, everybody. developing now. president obama and iraqi prime minister nouri al maliki are about to hold a joint news conference at the white house. they've been talking for about two hours now about the future of the iraq once u.s. troops leave at the end of the month. joining any from baghdad and richard engel who was the first journalist in iraq when the war began nine years ago, and former secretary of defense william cohen joining me this morning as well. it's great to have you both here. richard, i wanted to start with

you. what are iraqis feeling as the drawdown rate gets closer? >> reporter: iraqis are obviously very concerned about their future. u.s. troops have mostly been on their bases for the last year or so. so most iraqis aren't concerned there will be an immediate outbreak of violence because iraqi forces have been leading this country for the last year. what they're more worried about is what happens over the long term here, and they're concerned about sectarian tensions, there are the kurds in the north and sunnis in the center and shooiis in the south. the shiites hold the prime ministry. there are concerns that iraq has become a shia state for shia citizens. >> one iraqi in "the new york

times" says there will be a whole insecurity when the u.s. forces leave. does the country appear stable enough for u.s. troops to withdraw? i want to point out to viewers there is a protest outside the white house in washington right now where hundreds of protesters are calling on the president and prime minister to protect camp ashwad, a settlement of iranian exiles located outside of baghdad. how do we successfully do all of this, secretary, under the purview of what you understand is now a withdrawal of the troops that are remaining? >> i think there are major gaps in the security as far as the iraqis are concerned. i think they have very limited capability in terms of air defenses. they have limited capability to defend their borders as such, and they have limited able to function at night in terms of a counterterrorist or counterintelligence mode. the united states furnished all of that. that's going to be missing. the question is can they over a period of time develop that capability with the assistance of the united states being

stationed in countries in the region? that's going to be the strategy at least for the immediate future. try to reposition some of our forces in kuwait and perhaps other gulf states nearby. it's not as good as being there, and it certainly won't give great comfort on the iraqis. on the other hand, the american people are tired of this long campaign and war. there's going to be celebration on one hand, some sadness and some apprehension and frustration that the job wasn't really completed, we should have stayed a bit longer to make sure that the democracy seeds are more deeply rooted than they are. >> richard, there's the well-discussed fear now that iran will try to exert its influence over iraq after the successful troop withdrawal. how big are those concerns to iraqis? >> reporter: those concerns are enormous. i think it's hard to overestimate how seriously iraqis are concerned about iran's influence, which is already felt on the ground. iran is a major trading partner.

according to officials i've spoken to, more than 2 million iranians come to visit this country every year. i was at the airport when i arrived here. almost every single person i saw in the arrivals hall was from iran. they get visas issued at the airport. iran is the most influential country on the ground right now, even with about 6,000 u.s. troops remaining, that number going down to about 200 who are going to remain as these sort of liaison officers after all the rest of the troops leave by the end of the month. >> what does the president need to do right away to make sure that strong ties remain -- the there's a strong bond with nouri al maliki and the american influence in iraq over nine years, but we don't want to see the country fly on its own completely without knowing we're there to support it and see its

success. >> one of the reasons that prime minister al maliki is it in washington today is to try to strengthen the economic relationship. i would hope the president would press him on saying, given what we have invested in your country, given the sacrifices our men and women have made and we've expended a trillion dollars, you would expect some concessions in terms of providing business to the united states in a way of at looets acknowledging the kind of contribution we have made to your democrat stee and to your future prosperity. there have been too many contracts in my judgment that have gone to other people, other countries holding our jackets while we've been carrying on the war campaign. so i would hope that the prime minister would acknowledge that there's a real obligation on the part of him and his government and his business community to start doing a lot more business with the united states on favorable terms. that would help solidify the relationship. secondly, on the military side of it, we've got to make sure that they still want us to be

involved with them and need to be supportive of whatever training missions can be conducted in the reap john so that iran doesn't think that they have a free hand to rule the region. >> defense secretary william cohen and richard engel, thank you so much for joining me this morning. i appreciate your time. >> good to be with you. two candidates and one state and plenty of question marks as we get closer to the first republican primary voting. newt gingrich and mitt romney are crisscrossing with campaigns going in different directions. the latest polls show gingrich narrowing romney's lead. jennifer is a contributor to the huffing ton post. new hampshire has seen like mitt romney to lose all along. he has to win the granite state, but is there any real chance gingrich could topple him there or so close new hampshire is a nonissue as the primary fight

rolls on? >> if romney can't win new hampshire by 10 points, it will look like he lost it. he doesn't have a firewall state other than new hampshire. that was his firewall. voters have gotten to know him very well in new hampshire and they're lukewarm. they're not affected by the mass mailings and all his money and organization. so there's a real opening for newt gingrich to come in and pick up, especially the more conservative activist voters who turn out in primaries. >> just to remind everything this is romney's backyard. he has a home in new hampshire. it seemed to be the only early voting state where he's well-liked. what does it say about romney's appeal approximaif gingrich wig and truly challenges him there? >> that's the key. this is a place where people know romney very well. he's been campaigning there for five years. there are a lot of exhigh patriots from massachusetts who didn't like the health care bill that moouchved up to hamsnew ha.

there's tax refugees that don't trust romney. a lot of independents vote in the primary, and they can vote as republicans or democrats in the primary. huntsman is picking up some support. romney is getting squeezed from the left by people that like a more moderate candidate, as romney has moved to the right. but people don't believe he's a true conservative the way they know the in their gut that gingrich is a true conservative and they've known it for decades. romney is squeezed from the right by gingrich. it's a very interesting dynamic where you see all the money romney has thrown into the state may not serve him well if it's his only major investment and only firewall state. >> with jon huntsman, let's talk more about that. gingrich is sneaking up on governor romney. does it make jon huntsman more of a factor? it opens up the flank for jon huntsman to sneak in. why is he someone to consider while we watch new hampshire?

>> i've heard anecdotal about a lot of democrats planning to vote in the republican primary and cast their vote for jon huntsman. he appeals to independents, and i think also there's a protest vote against romney because in new hampshire the voters like to surprise. they don't like to be told who the front-runner is. they don't like to be told who to vote for. romney has already been there too long. they know him too well, and he lacks a real conviction in his beliefs. they don't like that. he's staled over time. doesn't have the option like john kerry did in '04 of going all in in iowa now and to reintroduce himself in new hampshire. romney is capped in iowa and can't complete there aggressively. haez to rely on money and campaign ads, which right now he's probably oversaturated voters as it is already. anything gingrich does is an introduction, and that's what voters are looking for at noint. >> we have three weeks to go. the use hour institute's

jennifer donahue. thank you. a live look at the south court auditorium of the white house. president obama expected out there any minute to be joined in a joint press conference with iraqi prime minister nouri al maliki. we'll get to that when the president shows up. we'll back with you after this. stick around. [ female announcer ] that's the all-natural sugar she puts on her grapefruit. but is she eating sugar this week? maybe she wants the all natural, zero calorie stuff. but if you're wrong, you're insinuating she's fat. save yourself. it's only natural.

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welcome back, everybody. we're still on stand-by for the joint press conference with president obama and iraqi prime minister nouri al maliki. they will take questions to discuss the next phase of the relationship between the u.s. and iraq. we're talking about the fact that the withdrawal of all american troops will successfully take place by december 31st, marking the end of a nearly nine-year war. we will take you to that joint press conference as soon as it begins. it's time to move to the political sidebar. governor rick berperry is catch heat for this campaign ad run inning io

running in iowa. >> i'm not ashamed to admit i'm a christian. you don't need to be in the pew every sunday to know something is wrong with this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't pray in school. as president i'll end obama's war on religion. >> all right. so for the first time since that ad began running on thursday, perry got an earful from voters in iowa. one heckler asked him why he demonized gay people. he left the coffee shop and didn't respond. he was wearing that brokeback mountain jacket. i'd like to ask him about that. president obama's election came tan is taking its fights for jewish vote to facebook. they sponsored an ad because gop sa attacked the president's record. the obama campaign is pushing back trying to show he's loyal to israel. facebook is a good place for the

president. he has more than 24 million likes on his page. and the reverend al sharpton goes from primetime to late night. take a look at this. >> joining me tonight are kelly o'donnell and msnbc analyst here in our studio. >> nice to be here. >> and jim vander hee hoe of pyrotechnical notice period come. >> it's vand dehi. >> a big vand dehi back to you. >> you can catch the real reverend al sharpton on politics nation tonight and every weeknight at 6:00 p.m. eastern only right here on msnbc. both sides of the aisle believe there will an extension of the payroll tax cut. harry reid says house reps' plan includes the keystone pipeline and has no chance of passing the upper chamber. speaker boehner is still adamantly against a surtax on the wealthiest americans.

luke russert joins us this morning. where does this back and forth leave us today? >> reporter: we're just getting started in the crunch start of this debate, thomas. what we're going fooz is tomorrow the gop plan to extend the payroll tax cut extension, could be voted on on the floor. we think the debate will start. what's in that plan? there's a few things. it would extend the payroll tax cut holiday but force the president of the united states to make a decision on whether or not to let the key stoin pipeline to be constructed from canada all the way to goulf of mexico. no longer can you be on unemployment benefits for 99 weeks. it goes down to 59 weeks. a medicare fix that medical physicians don't see a 28% decrease in pay. that's attached to a pay for, which is a freeze on all federal workers' salary, possibly until 2015. so there's a lot of elements in this plan that are deeply unpopular with democrats,

speaking unemployment going from the 99 weeks to 59 weeks. the keystone pipeline is unrelated to anything to do with the payroll tax cut haul daily. it will go out of the house with all republican support and maybe a few democrats on the way. boehner said this bill can pass the house. we can't anything else. this is the best i can do. what can you give me harry reid? reid will deny it. the one caveat is john boehner has said the house will not be going home for christmas until all these legislative things are accomplished starting this week. so we very well could have a weekend session coming up this saturday and sunday and possibly have a continuing conversation going all the way up until the 23rd. what we really do know is it involves some sort of negotiations between john boehner, harry reid and president obama. >> with the holidays on the line, we shall see. the end of the war

approximate in iraq is drawing near. right now the president is in talks with the iraqi prime minister at the white house. the two are expected to speak any minute. we'll americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪

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as promised, any minute, president obama and iraq's prime minister, nuri al maliki, expected to speak in a joint news conference coming to us from the white house. this kicks off a week in which the white house will end the nine-year war in iraq. joining me now is nbc's pentagon correspondent, jim miklaszewski and jim cohen as well. it's erroneous it's going to be a complete withdrawal of the american forces by the end of this month?

>> reporter: that's right, thomas. it's obvious that all american troops are going to be out of iraq probably within about ten days or so. it's going to come rather rapidly. but that doesn't mean they'll all be coming home. the u.s. intends to keep as many as 5,000 forces there to put together a brigade in kuwait as a stopgap just in case things should get out of hand and the iraqis need some kind of support. now, that number of troops is not going to make a huge difference in iraq. what we're really talking about is that the u.s. military wants to keep a military-to-military contact with iraq. eventually there will be trainers, there will be advisers inside iraq in small numbers. but it's not only about keeping that contact but keeping the kind of influence that the u.s. military would like to maintain with the iraqi military in the future. those kinds of connections, it's believed not only this iraq but

in other countries around the world, are vital. >> secretary, i know that they're expected to be at a replaying by 12:45, also taking questions here from the reporters on the scene to go over this joint press conference. but what do you think the hold-up could be? are there sticking points at how they want to come out and show themselves as this unified force? >> well, it may be that the prime minister is getting briefed in terms of what types of questions our press are likely to ask him n terms of what kind of security does he feel he has right now in terms of preparing any external force from destabilizing him. what is he doing in the way of consolidating his power? are we seeing democracy fall victim to a strong man once again coming in his form? so lots of questions are going to be coming from the press. 150u78 he's getti i assume he's getting prepped by his own group. >> that's going to do it for me. live coverage of the president's

news coverage right here on msnbc. al lex wagner picks up right afr this. ♪♪ ♪ if you're like my patients, you want to hear you've done a good job caring for your mouth. that's why i recommend a rinse like crest pro-health multi-protection. it helps you get a better dental check-up. because not all rinses provide all these benefits. so be ready for your next dental check-up. crest pro-health multi-protection rinse. [ male announcer ] try any crest pro-health rinse. complete satisfaction

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19, that's the number of days remaining until all u.s. combat forces are out of iraq. but will the job ever really be done? it's monday, december 12th, and this is "now." joining me today, "the huffington post's" john ward and walter shapiro, a former co-worker and working for the nation and an msnbc contributor, r.e. melber. thanks for joining me, guys. we'll get to obama and prime minister nuri al maliki in a bit. he should be starting his press conference any minute now. but first i want to talk about the news of this weekend which is the gop debate. i want to play a