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the beginning of the end of the mogul's career in politics, or the end of the beginning. the fight for fairness. americans disagree on a lot of things but polls show a broad majority want this country to be more fair, and president obama gets it. >> it's not a few of us doing well and then the rest of us hoping that we get lucky. >> welcome to "politics nation." i'm al sharpton. we start tonight with breaking news. right now the house is debating a republican bill to extend payroll tax cuts to millions of americans. the only problem, republicans have decided they will only help the middle class in exchange for an all out assault on the unemployed. the gop would cut unemployment

benefits by 40 weeks, force those with a high school diploma -- without a high school diploma to enroll in a ged program before they can collect benefits and allow states to do drug testing for those receiving aid. there you have it. this republican house won't even allow a vote on taxing millionaires, won't allow a vote, but kicking the unemployed when they are down perfectly fine. democrats today have been calling them out on their hypocrisy. >> through this sham piece of legislation republicans claim to be creating jobs when the cruel thing is that 160 million workers are given a small payroll tax holiday but the cost is they are held hostage to the tax breaks for the fat cats. >> my friends on the other side of the aisle have no problem bailing out big banks on wall

street, but when it comes to helping middle class families and working people, you know, they squawk. >> they are bringing a bill to the floor today which says they are for a payroll tax cut but has been it the seeds of its own destruction because it has poison pills. >> these are poison pills, and because of them, the white house has threatened to veto this bill saying it, quote, plays politics at the expense of middle class families. republicans are using this bill as an excuse to hurt the country's most vulnerable right when they need the most help. it's not fair, and it won't work, and the president knows it. >> most fundamentally underst d understanding that we're all in this together. it's not a few of us doing well and then the rest of us hoping that we get lucky but rather everybody as a team moving this

country forward. >> joining me now is congressman donald payne, democrat from new jersey, and jared bernstein, an msnbc contributor, and former chief economist for vice president biden. thank you both for being here. >> good to be here. >> thank you. >> congressman, what do you make of your republican colleagues who would rather help the rich than the unemployed and even kicking them down or kicking them while they are down and putting all kinds of requirements on them to receive their benefits? >> well, it really shows that the republicans are not serious about trying to deal with the whole question of unemployment. they have put more unrelated issues into this bill which really makes no sense at all. there are some issues that should be debated on their own such as pipeline, but this is

not an area that should be put into an unemployment bill where people's benefits will be expiring in a couple of weeks. >> now, congressman, explain to me what is -- what was the mood like on the floor? i mean, you're talking about requiring people without a high school diploma to go in ged to get your benefits and drug testing. i mean, what was the mood on the floor while they were raising these kinds of proposals. maybe if we drug tested the bankers before we bailed them out. people would be saying what are you saying about them? what are you saying about the unemployed? >> there's -- we're getting to the point of being angry. this is not a legislative process. what the republicans are doing is trying to dump on people who are having a tough time. they give subsidies to -- to

agriculture, billions, hundreds of millions of dollars. they don't ask them to have a ged. they don't ask them to take a drug test, and as you mentioned, that whole wall street situation, i think they would not ask for any assistance from the federal government if they had to go through some kind of drug testing. it is wrong, and it's once again the 1% is trying to jump on the 99% of this country. >> jared, the national employment law project came out with these findings today. they say that unemployment would hurt this economy if in fact they got their way with employment -- i'm talking about the gop bill. >> yeah. >> says it would cost $22 billion in last economic growth, a loss of 1 to,000 jobs next ye year.

i mean, how will this impact the economy in your opinion hearing from the national employment law project? >> i think those numbers are very much in the ballpark. let me throw out two other numbers that are extremely relevant right up in the -- in the heart of this conversation. the bureau of labor statistics this morning released a report saying there are about 3 million job openings in the country right now. this was actually for the month of october. in the month of october there were 14 million unemployed people. 3 million jobs, 14 million unemployed people. you see that imbalance. now, this is a -- an economy that is unquestionably not generating enough employment for all the job seekers we have. it is very bad micro and very bad macro to not extend, continue these unemployment benefits. on the micro side. families are just trying to make their budgets, man. this is not about -- this is not

about a pipeline. this is not about geds, this is not about drugs. this is not about families trying to make ends meet, and if we take these policies away for them right now, it's bad for them, and as the numbers show it's bad for the overall economy. >> now, congressman payne, you know, this gop proposal is really chock full of non-starters for democrats. remember, the gop house won't even take a bill, they won't even allow a vote on a millionaire's surtax, but they think that democrats will back this, delays environmental regulation, fast tracks on the oil pipeline, cuts unemployment benefits, repeal health care funding, freezes federal worker's pay so they are saying no, you can't vote on a millionaire surtax, but you guys vote on these things that are basic to the principles that democrats have represented. >> they absolutely really want

gridlock. they do not want to see progress in this country. as mitch mcconnell said the day after president obama was elected, that his number one concern and plan will be to bring president obama down. in the process, he says, evidently he doesn't care how many people he brings down, how many institutions he brings down, how many houses he puts underwater, how many young people give up because of despair, how many kids drop out of college. this is draconian, evil. it makes no sense, and we've got to put an end to it. we need to pass a bill so that the payroll tax will be extended so unemployment will be extended and in addition to that they have reduced unemployment benefits from 99 weeks down to 59 weeks in addition to all of the other things that you've mentioned. this is wrong. >> jared, let me just say this, because if i appear to be a little outraged, i am.

>> well, you should be. >> in fact, i'm a lot outraged because just today the national center on family homelessness said child homeless is at an all-time high. the fact is they came out today, ironically the same day that they have made these proposals on the floor of the house, this comes out 1 out of every 45 children in this country is homeless, 1.6 million kids is homeless. when we ought to be talking about how we deal with the homelessness of children, they come with these proposals? >> listen, i mean, think about what that does for your life trajectory when you start out life in those -- in those key formative years as a homeless child. i mean, it's truly unconscionable. i want to pick up something the congressman articulated that's very important to amplify here. when a lot of these republicans would like to do is to go home in a couple of days and say hey, we tried. they blocked us. what's very important is to tick through the list that you did,

reverend, and that the congressman did to show the extent of distractions, of poison pills, of the gridlock that these folks are trying to -- to jam into the system when we're talking about two very simple ideas, the payroll tax holiday and unemployment extension that by the way are already in the current economy. these are not new. they have been in this economy in 2011. we're just talking about extending them for another year. to allow these folks to run away and say, oh, yeah, we tried. they blocked us, again, is unconscionable. >> congressman donald payne and jared bernstein, thanks for coming on the show tonight. >> thank you. >> one note, we'll continue to watch this vote throughout the hour until it happens. we'll let you know as soon as it does. coming up, the results of our brand new nbc poll on the republican presidential race. why both newt and willard could be in big trouble.

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who's -- whose side are you on? that old school-yard taunt has new meaning for fairness in this country. we'll tell you the new numbers and numbers are not wrong. we'll explain next. [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition.

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welcome back to "politics nation" live tonight from washington, d.c. we all know when it comes to politics this country is very divided. it is tough to get people to agree on anything, but you know what americans do agree on, injustice in this country. 87% of democrats think the economy is out of balance and favors the rich. 79% of independents think so, too, and get this. 61% of republicans agree. those are amazing numbers. aside from mom and apple pie, can you think of another thing some americans agree on? more than three-quarters of all americans, yet on this issue,

fairness, the people's will is clear, and today president obama showed he is listening. >> a country where fair play applies across the board. that vision in contrast to a vision that basically says you are on your own is what this election was about in 2008. it's what this election is going to be about in 2012. >> but you know who is playing deaf and dumb, the republicans who want his job? according to the tax policy center newt newt's tax plan gives more than $600,000 in tax cuts to people making more than $1 million a year. in fact, newt's plan gives the very rich nearly $2 million in tax cuts each and every year. those are jaw-dropping numbers, but they put newt right in the mainstream of his party, the party of the 1%.

joining me now is national political reporter for the associated press, casey hunt, and joe madison, host of "morning with madison" on sirius xm radio. thank you both for being here. >> thank you, al. >> casey, doesn't newt's plan to help the rich seem at odds with a broad majority of the american public? >> well, one thing that is -- that you can note about newt's plan is that it's actually significantly different from one of his rivals, mitt romney. romney, of course, has fought off accusations or charges from critics that he's too moderate to win the republican nomination. romney's tax plan is actually different from gingrich's in that he would end capital gains taxes and taxes on dividends only for people who make $200,000 a year or less, whereas gingrich's plan essentially eliminates those taxes for everyone. >> yeah, but it's -- you're right. it's different, but it goes in the same direction. if you're going in the wrong

direction does it matter if you're going 70 miles an hour or 20 miles an hour? you're still going in the wrong direction. >> that's certainly what president obama is going to argue. you start to see him lay out this broad philosophical case as you mentioned about this speech that he made in kansas saying that this is a fundamental, philosophical difference between republicans and democrats. we're looking for a square deal whereas republicans want to let you fend for yourselves. he's counting on that argument to carry him through what promises to be a pretty nasty general election. >> joe, when you look at all of the plans on the other side of the argument in terms of the republicans. when you look at newt's plan. when you look at willard's plan. when you look at rick perry's plan. they all want to lower taxes for the rich, lower taxes for corporations and repeal financial reform so they really all are basically saying the same thing. >> and here's another graphic

that you ought to consider at some point in time. in other words, what does it mean to the treasury? most experts will tell you that it probably will be an $800 billion cut in the treasury. now, that means something else is going to have to be cut, and then when you follow the ideological line of newt gingrich, of mitt romney, of perry and the other republicans, you know what's going to be cut. those very programs that you talked about earlier, medicare and -- and i would also imagine social security would be on the table. you know, i thought in coming over here this -- and also, you know, newt's plan allows you to op out for a flat tax, so that means -- >> right. >> that means that the middle class will pay, if you make about 40,000 to 50,000, you're going to pay about 12.7%.

the very wealthy will pay less at about 11%. it's what i refer to as the 7-eleven plan. why do we go to 7-eleven? because it's convenient. what happens at convenience stores? you pay more for bread. you pay more for milk. who needs it the most? it's the middle class people so they will rend up really paying more. >> well, it -- it does sound like that, casey. it also sounds like for me poor people a wish sand wish, two slices of bread and you wish you had some meat, wish you had a job. but let me ask you. given these numbers how do the republicans plan to win? i mean, casey, the politics of this, are they tone deaf, or do they don't care, or are they so much idealogs that they can't get beyond their commitment to

their grover norquist kind of commitments or pledges or ideology. >> well, as far as trying to figure out how to win, i think you've seen some challenges in recent days on the republican side. newt gingrich and mitt romney have room -- have really gone after each other. gingrich has accused romney of laying people off and making money from it and romney has accused gingrich of taking money from freddie mac and has challenged him to in fact return that money, so right now the republican party is having a conversation about which one of its millionaires should give its money back to which private organization and in the long run that's something that you've seen in recent days the obama officials and folks that are planning obama's re-election campaign basically sitting back and smiling about. >> the banks seem to speak as to

who they are supporting with their dollars. president obama does get some money, $198,075 but donations to willard are $813 p 300, so clearly when you're looking at banks who were bailed out, by the way, that would give a possible nominee as insurgent much, much more than the incumbent, that makes a statement within itself. >> well, you know why? it's -- it's the dodd/frank law. all of them have pledged to repeal t.banks would love for that to happen, and look what happened, and then we have these banks sitting on top of trillions, trillions of dollars to the point that small businesses can't even get loans. talk to most small business people right now who want to either maintain the division that they have or start a new division or restaurant.

they can't get money from the banks and that's why you're seeing them because they are pledging to go right back to deregulation of these banks that got us in the trouble to begin with when we had regulation, so that's what you're seeing here. >> casey hunt, joe madison, thank you both for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> ahead, newt vows not to attack willard a day after he attacks willard. is the war of words over? and the scott walker recall fight turns ugly. intimidation and harassment caught on tape. >> you're mooching off the system. yeah, yeah. >> well, we're not scared. that's next. how can you get back pain relief that lasts up to 16 hours?

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the fight to recall wisconsin governor scott walker is moving full steam ahead, and it's getting ugly. volunteers launched a campaign to recall walker last month. over his law that cuts collective bargaining right for public employees, and this week a man was arrested after he allegedly harassed two volunteers collecting signatures. one of those volunteers taped the incident for a local news report. >> then he let loose with a

torrent of abuse and obscenities. >> i'm sorry. >> no, you don't pay health care. you're mooching off the system. yeah, yeah. moocher. >> the video goes black as frisby grabs the camera. >> turned around and jammed the camera back in my chest and put his fist to my face and said how do you like that? the man in the video is facing charges of disorderly conduct, but this isn't the first time that walker supporters used some dirty tricks. earlier this month two other people were arrested for tearing up recall petitions and skrachgs out recall signatures. it's clear why they are resorting to this cheaper tax. in the first 12 days of the recall effort, more than 300,000 people signed petitions. more than half the total amount needed by january 17th. some say desperate times call

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welcome back to "politics nation." we're just three weeks away from the iowa caucus and the brand new nbc/"wall street journal" poll released minutes ago shows willard romney way behind front-runner newt gingrich. newt has a commanding 24-point lead, but even though newt's the clear front-runner, republicans don't love him. more than half the republicans say the candidates are average. they are not crazy about any one of these guys. how is this all going to shake out, and what does it mean for the president's re-election? joining me is bob shrum, democratic strategist and professor at nyu. today he's writing about newt's staying power, and mark mckinnon, co-founder of no labels and former advisor to

george w. bush and john mccain. he's released a new reform plan for congress today. we'll talk about that in a little while. thanks to both of you for being here tonight. >> glad to be here, reverend. >> bob, there's some good news for president obama in these polls in head-to-head races. he's beating both newt gingrich and mitt romney. >> bob? >> yes. >> your reaction. >> look, i don't think you can take a head-to-head number for the president right now and when he's two points ahead and assume that says that he's in great shape. i think he's in better shape because his approval numbers in these polls have gotten better. he's getter stronger. i think he's found a voice and a message, but this could very well be the kind of close, tough tight election we had in 2000 and 2004, and one thing you can count on from obama and the chicago campaign, they are not going to rest.

getting ready for romney and going after him and they will get ready forever gingrich, and it's going to be a very tough fight you. >> took my second point because if you look at the president's approval numbers in this poll just released minutes ago and his disapproval numbers, he's starting to go up in his approval numbers, and his disapproval numbers are going down, and if that trend continues that becomes better and better for the president, wouldn't you say? >> sure. i think it reflects two things. first, there's some indication that the economy is getting better. the unemployment rate is down. there are dangers from europe. all of this could become very much more difficult if we don't extend the payroll tax and don't pass unemployment compensation extension so people can get their benefits when they are off work, and the second thing i think it reflects is the president has stopped trying to be mr. nice guy. he stopped trying to arbitrate between all sides. he's out there and articulating a message, a pretty clear message. he's not going to let this be a

referendum on him. he wants this to be a choice, and the question he's asking people is who is going to stand up and fight for you? >> now, mark, how do you look and analyze the fact that newt gingrich is way ahead but that many republicans in this poll have said they are not really in love with any of the candidates and they consider them average. how will that play out? what does that mean in caucuses in iowa and in the early states that are going to face primaries? >> well, the one thing i think we're sure of at this point is that we're not sure exactly what's going to happen with newt gingrich, but he's showing staying power. i think at the very least it suggests it's going to be a long drawn out nomination contest. we've already had 15 debates, 15 more scheduled, and so this thing can get very drawn out. what we're seeing is the more the republican voters see their candidates the less they like them, and that's a problem.

the republicans are perfectly capable of clawing their way to the bottom which they are doing this now and making this a real contest when it shouldn't be in november. i think that it's highly likely many more things are going to happen. i think jon huntsman could pop in new hampshire. i think rick perry or michele bachmann to surge in iowa. there's going to be a third party next year and i think there will be third parties. i think it's highly likely ron paul will run as a third party, the americans elect platform, so this will be an interesting election with lots of things yet to happen. >> third party, if there's a third party that builds up any steam, will that help or hurt the republicans, mark? >> it depends on who is on the ticket. >> well, say it's ron paul. >> well, if it's ron paul, that's obviously going to hurt the republicans. >> you were in the mccain campaign. let me bring back -- bring you back to the republican primaries. contrast for me what the mccain race looked like in the primaries with what's going on

now at this same stage in 2008. >> well, it reminds me exactly -- the gingrich campaign is so similar to the mccain campaign because like -- like knut's campaign, the mccain campaign melted down in june and was breck and our strategy was to make it until december. there's physics to these primaries and you've got to be there when voters are looking. the question is gingrich timing his surge right or is it too early? they are throwing a ton at him and given his performance at the debate the other night, the first and best opportunity to slow him down and they didn't, so i think -- i think it's unlikely now that gingrich is going to be substantially slowed down. i think he's going to be a big factor in iowa and then on through the rest of the primaries. >> so bob, willard needs a little represent. well, let me see if i can help him. let me show you a tape of willard in 2002 when he was running to be governor and this tape surfaced today.

mitt says he's not a partisan republican and that he's moderate. look at this. >> i think people recognize that i'm not a partisan republican, that i'm someone who is moderate and that my views are progressive and that i'm going to go to work for our senior citizens, for people who have been left behind by urban schools that are not doing the right job, and so they are going to vote for me regardless of the party label. >> bob, if that tape gets around, and you know many republicans watch "politics nation" with al sharpton. >> they do when mark is on. >> will this hurt willard? >> just reinforces the impression that he'll say anything. look, he says he's progressive in there. at least to me he is whatever the market demands, and the strength that gingrich has, even if people have their doubts about him, is they think at heart he's a conservative. he speaks their values. he resonates with their feelings. now whether he can sustain a long campaign isn't entirely

clear, although john mccain in the end did it, because he doesn't have a lot of money. he doesn't have organization in these states. if he does very well in iowa, wins south carolina, if he wins florida, that money is going to come, and i'm not sure that a romney long march with all of the baggage that he has, they keep talking about newt's baggage. romney has a lot of baggage, including the fact that republicans increasingly don't find him very likeable. i'm not sure that would work out very well for him. i think in the end -- let me put it this way. i wouldn't bet $10,000 on romney being the nominee. >> mark, you are a moderate, and -- and to support bob's statements that i happen to agree w.look at this poll of conservatives and moderates. with conservatives, gingrich is ahead 57-29. moderates, it's almost the reverse, gingrich loses,28-53.

willard. >> they don't, and -- and -- and that's the problem because it's a very conservative primary, and -- and despite his orchestrations to -- to suggest that he's a more conservative candidate, got these tapes and he's got his history that he's got to live with, so -- so that's a big reason why gingrich is doing so well because despite even some of his history he is the guy that started the revolution in -- that brought the republicans back to power. he is the guy that helped balance the budget and he's the guy that passed welfare reform. people know the history of both of these guys, and they see the history of newt gingrich as much more conservative than the history of mitt romney. >> bob, how can willard romney take the lead again and how can he even in a long run in terms of this process becoming long and prolonged, how can we hinn this? >> three ways. one, he can hope that newt blows himself up though so far the

verbal gaffs have tended to come more from romney. two, he can hope that in a long war of attrition the amount of money he has, the organization he's built in these states is going to sustain him, although that could fail if newt did very, very well at the beginning and people began to say, look, it's him and we've got to move to him, and the third thing he can do, and he's doing it right now, is throw every bucket of mud he can throw at gingrich, fair or unfair and hope it sticks. i don't think it will. they know he sat next to nancy pelosi on that couch but as mark said and mark is absolutely right, they know he's one of the seminal figures of the conservative movement and they think he's a real conservative. i happen to think he's a real conservative. i hardly agree with him on anything. >> but you're not voting in the republican primary. >> no. >> mark, your group no labels unveiled a plan to fix congress through a 12-point program, and you wrote about it in "the daily beast," some of the key points

that they are advocating. explain it to us. >> thanks. no labels organization, 180,000 strong now since the launch last december, came out with a 12-step program to make congress work today, and 11 of these 12 require no legislation. these are just rules that congress can pass on its own, things like no budget, no pay. if they don't pass a budget, we don't pay them. just like most people in america, if you don't do your job, you don't get paid. that would be an incentive done. no budget in two years, four budgets in 20 years that have been passed on time. an up or down vote in presidential appointments in 90 days. i got appointed from president bush and for four years i wasn't confirmed. in fact, i was never confirmed, along with a lot of other people in the federal government. no wonder it doesn't work. half of the positions aren't filled. want to fix the filibuster and fast track legislation with majority support and eight other significant measures that we think make common sense, not ideological, not partisan or political. both sides of the aisle can agree on these, get them done,

campaign on them next year and pass them all next deese esber. >> mark, i'll have you back and you can help lay it out. just tell all your republican friends i do allow them to lay out their programs on "politics nation." >> thank you, reverend. >> bob slum and mark mckinnon. >> thank you. i would have voted to confirm him. >> thank you, bob. >> ahead, donald trump pulls out of the gop debate, and he's trying to spin his way out of the embarrassment. jonathan capehart talked to the donald yesterday, and you won't believe what trump told him. [ male announcer ] if you think tylenol is the pain reliever orthopedic doctors recommend most for arthritis pain, think again. and take aleve. it's the one doctors recommend most for arthritis pain... two pills can last all day. ♪

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do represent cans have a plan to chase away hispanic voters? sure seems like that to me.

last night gop senators blocked president obama's choice to stay on as ambassador of el salvador. they opposed her not because they thought she was doing a bad job but in large part because she wrote an op-ed in support of gay rights, really outrageous, and just the latest anti-hispanic move from the gop. at a debate rick perry got clobbered when he said he didn't want to punish kids brought here illegally by their parents. >> but if you say that we should not educate children who have come into our state for no other reason than they have been brought there by no fault of their own. i don't think you have a heart. >> why they should be given preferential treatment as an illegal in this country? that's what we're saying. >> now all the top candidates

tow the party line, and there's this. the supreme court is set to rule on arizona's extreme anti-immigration law by next summer guaranteeing that the republicans' discriminatory agenda will be front and center in the 2012 elections, and a new poll shows 73% of latino voters view the republican party as either ignoring them or outright hostile. hispanics are a powerful and growing bloc of voters in this country. they are part of the future of america, but republicans are stuck in the past. [ male announcer ] juice drink too watery?

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by a vote of 234-193, house republicans have just passed their far right republican may roll tax bill. joining me now is jonathan capehart. opinion writer for the woesht

and msnbc contributor. jonathan, what about that. >> well, what about that. we're about to see a showdown between the president and congress. it doesn't stand a chance of passage in the senate but let's say it does. the president has made t clear he will not sign any bill that has attachments like this, the pipeline from canada to mexico that the president doesn't want to do right now. >> and other things that we've been discussing right now that i think is a war on the unemployed. now it goes to the senate, and you say it's not like ly to pas but if it does the president is likely to veto it. >> the president said he'll veto this bill. he's made that very clear many times. >> all right. no surprise the house passed this pill. let's talk about donald trump. cast a big shadow on the republican race and today the gop king-maker has officially

trumped the shock. 11 days after announcing he would moderate the news max gop debate. trump is out, done, fired. but here's how he's spinning it. >> they want me to announce that i won't run as an independent candidate, and i won't do that because if the republicans pick the wrong person i would in fact seriously consider running, but because of the fact that the republicans are upset and because of the fact that i refuse to give up the possibility of running as an independent candidate, i've decided to cancel the debate. i don't want to waste a lot of newt's time or rick santorum's time or donald trump's time. >> really. really? you don't want to waste time. i've got two words for you, donald -- >> you're fired. >> jonathan, you just talked to donald trump yesterday. >> yeah, yesterday. >> what did he tell you about

the debate then? >> well, then he told me, because i -- as i wrote today, i felt a tremor in the force. something told me that donald trump could possibly pull out of debate given all of the criticism that he was getting and news max was getting and also because there was no one showing up except rick santorum and newt gingrich and i called and asked and said folks in the republican party who want me -- who said if i no longer did the debate, that the candidates would go and do the debate because why would they want to give a platform to someone who could possibly run against them as an independent, and he told them he refused to do that and we talked about what kind of debate he would do with those two candidates and maybe we'll do it as a chat. >> so he might still do this. >> maybe gingrich and i will do it as a chat so i was very surprised this afternoon to find out -- not surprised but he changed his mind and decided not to do this debate. >> what changed his mind? he's just so embarrassed that he can't get with two candidates?

>> look, i don't know if it's embarrass president because as we both know donald trump i think is incapable of embarrassment, but i do think that what we see is donald trump being very aggressive in protecting the one thing we know he holds most dear, and that's trump. >> well, i think no matter how he cuts it though this brings him down as a perceived power broker. how much power do you have when you can't get the leading contenders to come to your forum? >> he would argue he did get the leading contender to come. newt gingrich said yes right away. >> newt, leading contenders. >> true. >> you've got to have willard, bachmann, perry. >> you're right this. does take some of the luster off donald trump's brand, and i think a lot of people look at donald trump in what he's doing inserting himself into the republican primary process is a bit bothersome and meddlesome,

but you and i both know if they do not choose a candidate who he thinks, who donald trump thinks can lead the republicans to take over the white house, he will jump into the race or at least make enough noise to mix up the race, the campaign between the republican nominee and president obama. >> jonathan, you know, he's going to be missed in this race. he's been great for comedians as well as those of us in politics. watch. >> donald trump has been saying that he'll run for president as a republican which is surprising since i just assumed he was running as a joke. >> no one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the donald. and that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like did we fake the moon landing?

>> what really happened in roswell and where are biggie and tupac. >> i want to see your long form birth certificate. i don't think you were really born in new york. >> the president did release his birth certificate. >> really are all i saw was a notarized form from the state of hawaii showing the date he was born, the names of his parents, his social security number and listing the hospital in honolulu where the birth took place signed by the nurse and attending physician. if that's your idea of a birth certificate. >> the try is a clown. only with more makeup. now i can say that because donald's a friend, tremendous guy. he's great. we have the world's number one rated friendship. having said that, he's a joke. >> a big cuckoo lunntic. i wouldn't trust him with a burnt match. >> donald, all is not lost. you may run as an independent if