don't wait. call now for free informatn about the additional coverage you may need. ♪ good friday morning, i'm chris jansing. this morning, we are heading into, well, sort of the beginning of the final stretch before voters get to have their say about who will challenge barack obama. republicans made their closing statements at a final debate before the iowa caucus last night. no huge mistakes, but then no commanding win either. >> this is a president with -- that the -- the spy drone being brought down, he says pretty please? a foreign policy based on pretty please? you've got to be kidding. >> i sometimes get accused of using language that's too strong, so i've been standing here editing.

and i'm very concerned about not appearing to be zany. >> let me tell you, i hope i am the tim tebow of the iowa caucuses. >> steve grubbs was the former iowa campaign chairman for herman cain and was the republican chairman in iowa. steve, good morning. good to see you. >> glad to be with you, chris. >> watching those clips, i think it is sort of a good synopsis of last night, everybody had pretty much one good line, like they knew they were going to use and it hit but most of the candidates did seem more determined not to make a mistake than to score a big win. do you think last night would change anybody's mind in iowa? >> you know what, i think it helped gingrich in the fact that, you know, when you walk to your mailbox every day and yesterday was a perry piece against gingrich, you turn on your television, you open your newspaper. he is getting blasted from all sides. and so, he had a chance to respond to some of those

criticisms. he looked strong. he looked smart, as always. and i think he did himself some good. you know, the rest, they -- they needed to distinguish themselves. they needed to take some risks. >> let talk about mitt romney in particular, because he has really been the person who has been hitting hard. he has gone in interviews, in it. v commercials, he has gone after newt gingrich, but not so much last night. it was a different mitt romney. we saw him really going after the president. do you think that was a good strategy? >> you know, i think it was. if you look back to the summer debate, you had michele bachmann, she had some real momentum and i thought her attacks this summer on pawlenty and perry were a little bit too sharp and because they were so sharp, it made her a little bit less likable and you really have to avoid that in the debates. if you don't, you know, you can lose any game you might -- sure you bring down your opponent but you bring yourself down at the same time there is a fine

balance you have to reach. i'm not sure if romney found the balance but at least he didn't make himself unlikable. >> a lot last night in terms of where they stand on the issues, we had a terrific reporter from one of the iowa newspapers on this program yesterday. she was talking about the intangibles, how iowans are looking to somebody they can relate to, somebody they feel is real and authentic. what do you think iowans are looking for? >> well, i know that they are looking for two thing alsos. people want a winner. republicans are wanting to change out the president so they are looking for somebody they can picture in their head go toe-to-toe in debates with the president this coming fall because he does well on television. there's no doubt about that. we have to have a candidate and what republicans are looking for. but second, republicans still need to have somebody that fits their values. for the social conservatives, they need someone who is a little more pro-life and for the business conservatives, somebody who has got a track record creating jobs.

it is a combination of those two things, in my view. >> clearly since your candidate herman cain stepped out, there has been instability, ups and downs in this race. who do you think is gonna win? >> i have stayed this for the last few days, i think gingrich can win this thing if he can make it through the next maybe five to seven days absorbing -- he is absorbing thousands of points of television attacks and if he can continue absorbing those and keep his numbers two to three points above his rivals, he can probably win iowa. but that's big question, because right now, when you talk to iowans, a lot of people who supported him now having questions about that the undecided numbers i think are going up. >> steve grubs, thank you so much. it is good to see you. now, mitt romney, as we said last night, pretty much stuck with attacking the president. the rest of the field went after newt gingrich. >> we know that he cashed paychecks from freddie mac, the

best evidence you can v over $1.6 million. frankly, i'm shocked listening to the former speaker of the house, because he is defending the continuing practice of freddie mac and fannie mae. >> easy answer is that's just not true. what she said is factually not true. i never lobbied under any circumstance. >> speaker had a conservative revolution against him when he was the speaker of the house. i had conservatives knocking down my door. >> charles blow, a columnist for the "new york times" and ari melber, a correspondent for the nation. good to see both of you. so, this is interesting. you just heard what steve grubbs had to say heard the soundbites, everybody going after newt, millions of dollars in television ads, charles, obviously last night, he had to defend himself there's been a lot of speculation on the ground in iowa his numbers are sling. what do you think is going on there? >> that is what we have seen with all the anti-mitt candidates. last night, what you say was mitt romney returning to what

mitt romney should be doing, realizing that mitt is running against mitt. and everyone else is running tonight person who is the last man standing against mitt. and so what gingrich has to do is to survive. he has to survive and have the arc, the arc of his rise -- >> what does it mean to survive? >> well, i mean, he has kind of peaked right before the voting -- well, not voting in this case it is a caucus, but right before people start to cast ballots or whatever, however you want to describe it. he has to survive until they make that determination and he can be the -- he can win iowa. >> is it just about having a steal jaw, ari, or not -- is it getting thin skinned and saying something he wishes he hadn't? what does it mean for newt gingrich to survive? >> i think for speaker gingrich, it is about credibility. as charles said, there has been this cycling, as we all know, of different potential anti-romney candidates and each of them has

been rapidly discredited. gingrich is seen within the party as both an ideas person and as a big risk, someone who is peggy noonan, a reagan speechwriter, a human hand grenade. what he is doing now and the reason why his ascension has been so different than all the others, he is not only not attacking, he is barely responding to the attacks on him. he is trying to say i'm tall. >> one of the things i was most curious about i'm going to those caucuses, i'm in iowa and hearing him say i got a million six from fannie mae, which we all know is considered the devil. and i didn't influence peddle and i didn't in anyway lobby, you know, i was a historian or i was a -- i was a consultant. are you buying that or do you care? >> i will tell you, i mean, i worked -- eight years ago, i was on the groundworking in the iowa caucus, i was on the democratic side but what both parties, both activists, groups of activists do in this is they talk through the issues the way you just did,

chris, they talk through the details, i think on the republican side, you go through the details, the fact that these guys made a lot of money in their lives when they weren't in government, as a general matter, is not a big hit against them in a hard-core republican primary, maybe independents, a lot of disaffected, economically struggling voters will don't like that later on, but if you are talking about the activists who show up on the republican side, it's god, it's guns, and it's money and they like candidates who have made a lot of money as a general matter. >> but in addition to that, what newt's debate strategy is a very interesting one, which is that he has become the fax maven. he says that 5,000 times every debate, you have your facts wrong, and basically, he skates around whatever question is being thrown to him. make a reference to what he did as speaker of the house, as if there was no president when he was speaker of the house, he says i did this thing as speaker of the house.

and that's 20 years ago, then make some reference to a dead president. he goes so wide it is really hard to catch him on the fly unless you are also as tuned into history as he is. and so what these -- >> and few people are. >> and very few people are. and so these candidates always come up kind of stuck. in fact, heard michele bachmann who made one of the strongest attacks on newt gingrich last night on the abortion issue and she had to come back and say he keeps saying my facts are wrong and i'm a serious candidate. it was the saddest moment, i think, of the entire debate. >> poll lit facts said i was right. >> which was wrong. >> another hot exchange over iran involving michele bachmann. let me play that for you. >> i think i have never heard a more dangerous anticipate for american security than the one we just hearted from ron paul. >> the danger is really us overreacting. >> the problem would be the greatest underreaction in world

history if we have an avowed madman who uses that nuclear weapon to wipe nations off the face of the earth and we have an iaea report that recently came out that said literally, iran is within just months of being able to obtain that weapon. >> there is no u.n. report that said that. it is totally wrong on what you just said. >> i found this so interesting is because even though iowa isn't a predictor of who will become president or even become the nominee it can help winnow the race, it can really affect the momentum it can affect the future of who continues on. either of them help themselves, a guy who is going toe-to-toe there, you know, in the race for the lead. michele bachmann, who looked at the time of the straw poll, like she was the person to beat. did either of them help themselves? >> ron paul is in a statistical tie for second place in iowa. he may not ultimately win this race, what everyone says. hillary clinton didn't ultimately win her race either but she had a huge impact on it and then wound up in government.

paul is someone who, yes, with his very unorthodox criticisms of foreign policy, the thing that jumped out to me, i'm glad you ran the sot, he got applause for saying iran could be another iraq. that's where the grassroots republican party is. it is not the entire party, but you have an applause line there that you would have never seen in a debate four or eight years ago. so he helped himself in saying i'm different than these guys on substance, not just made-up attacks. >> charles, gentlemen, fascinating attack. can you believe no more debates before the caucus? >> i'm exhausted. every three minutes, i think. >> ari admitted last night, fed been alone, we have just checked out. we thank you for your honesty and analysis, gentlemen. an 11th hour deal, in the meantime, should keep the government from shutting down, but why can't congress come to an agreement on ex-second the payroll tax cut that would impact 160 million americans? congressman chris van hollen will join me at 10:40. big payout from last year's gulf oil well disaster.

cameron international, the maker of the failed blowout preventer, has agreed to pay bp $250 million. that money will go into bp's $20 billion victim's compensation fund. both companies agreed to drop claims against one another. it means neither of them would have to admit any liability for that massive spill. [ male announcer ] vicks nyquil cold and flu. the nighttime sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep you ever got with a cold...medicine. ♪ try bayer advanced aspirin. it's not the bayer aspirin you know. it's different. first, it's been re-engineered with micro-particles. second, it enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. the best part? it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin. test how fast it works for you. love it, or get your money back.

president obama's campaign has produced a brand-new video on how he is keeping his campaign promise to get out of iraq. >> the war in iraq will soon belong to history. your service belongs to the ages. i could not be prouder of you. >> house minority leader nancy pelosi says it's tough to work

with the gop when their folk discuss on making president obama a one-term president, but on "the ed show," she gave them credit for something. sort of. >> you have to give republicans credit, they really stick with the guy that brought them to the dance. >> protect the wealthy. >> they protect the wealthy. and it's hard to understand because they said these taxes at the high end, they are going to create jobs. they didn't. >> a gop victory in the bat over the light bulbs, politico reports the final omnibus bill, the one that avoided the shutdown, will block new standards for incan des cement bulbs. this became a human fight over government intervention, even though it was supposed to be for a better environment. big endorsement today from nikki haley. haley said romney can create jobs and turn the government around even though she dodged the question whether romney is a true conservative. >> what lets me know on top of that, and the bone us in of all that that this is right, is that

governor romney is the one candidate that president obama consistently tries to hit and get out of the way. that lets me know he is scared of him. it also lets me know governor romney has got a good fight in him and the one president obama doesn't want to have to go against. time now to put the candidates' statements from last night to the test, truth or twisted? "washington post" fact checker glen kessler is on the case for us. good morning. >> good morning. >> all right. let's start with the front-runner, newt gingrich, who made this claim last night. >> i balanced the budget for four straight years, paid off $405 billion in debt. pretty conservative. the first wealth entitlement reform of your lifetime, the only major entitlement reform now is welfare. >> are his conservative credentials as stellar as he says? >> those are conservative credentials, the problem is he is taking claim for something which he can't fully take credit for. there was a president at the time, bill clinton, who had something to do with the budget.

and he is also adding together years of balanced budgets when he was no longer speaker and we had earlier this week actually looked in this claim and given speaker gingrich three pinocchios for making this claim. >> talk about mitt romney, a blame about president obama and the debt. here it is. >> we all understand that the spending crisis is extraordinary with $15 trillion now in debt, with the president that's racked up as much debt as almost all of the other presidents combined. >> has he really? >> well, romney gave himself an out there, when he said almost all. he said all president's combined and used $15 trillion figure, which is gross debt, there's, you know, obama not nearly come close. saying almost all, including everyone but george w. bush, he might get there if -- or if you had used a figure, a different figure for debt, $10 trillion in publicly held debt, then a lot of it was run up in the last few years. >> oh, how the numbers can be

flexible, glenn. >> yes. >> let's talk about michele bachmann, who made a claim about the facts. >> after the debate that we had last week, poll lit fact came out and said that hefring that i said was true. and the evidence is that speaker gingrich took $1.6 million. >> is that right, glenn? >> no. you know, if you are going to quote fact checker, you should get your facts right. >> like campaigning 101 don't challenge the fact checker. >> that's right. michele bachmann has actually earned more four pinocchio ratings than any other presidential candidate n this case, she actually, for that statement, poll lit fact gave her their payments on fire rating because they never rated her comments on fannie mae, and in fact, ding herd payments on fire for stuff she said about obama. >> that is hilarious. glenn kessler, it's always good of you to come on. i know you are up late into the night checking these things, so,

thank you so much. >> you're welcome. hundreds of students from florida a & m university marched outside the governor's mansion last night. they are angry over governor rick scott's calls to suspend the university president. now, it all goes back to the death of a member of the marching 100. that's famu's famous band. police are investigating whether hazing led to that student's death last month. here's what another alleged hazing victim said happened to her. >> the first day, like everybody would, not everybody would, some -- a good few people got hit. >> we need to stop. >> okay. >> i'm not comfortable. >> okay. >> i'm not comfortable with -- with you asking her details about what she has gone through. >> three band members have been arrested for yet another alleged hazing incident and the band now isn't allowed to perform at that historically black university.

incredibly graphic testimony coming from penn state football coach mike mcqueary, about just what he saw when jerry sandusky was in a locker room with a young boy. details just ahead. we know a place where tossing and turning have given way to sleeping.

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welcome back. in case you missed it here is the holiday family photo of the obamas that just came out, really, really nice. but this might be my favorite white house photo ever. yes. that's nancy reagan on the lap of mr. t, kind of the "a-team" meets flotus. from jacqueline kennedy to michelle obama, each first lady has put her own unique stamp on the holidays at the white house. joining me now is the author of "christmas with the first ladies," colleen burke, who is also, by the way, part of the white house decorating team in 2008. welcome. >> thank you. >> you got to put that picture in some context. what was mr. t doing with nancy reagan? >> i love that picture, too. nancy always had a celebrity santa and one year, it was mr. t. and i guess he pitied the fool

who went to the white house for christmas. perfect picture. >> what inspired -- we said you were on the decorating team, but what inspired you to write a book about christmas at the white house? >> actually,s just wanted a souvenir book when i came home, learn more about different first ladies and their styles, i couldn't find what i was looking for, i decided to write it and i was just amazed by all these great pop culture moments in our history. >> well, let's start with jackie keep kim. you profile each first lady's design, including nancy reagan's interest in renewing a child-like sense of wonder. how did she accomplish that? >> well, nancy reagan really loved to think about children at christmas, so she actually had teddy bears decorating the white house, snowmen, and she also really loved glittery, fancy stuff and she had thousands of gold snowflakes everywhere. >> there was a quote in here from laura bush. i'm going to see if i can find it because obviously, there was a christmas not long after 9/11

and she talks about the stillness in the room at the white house. that season, the white house had the quality of stillness after a snow, almost no one was allowed in to see the decorations. and i thought that was, in a way, such a sad couple of sentences and so erock is cattive there are a lot of erock is cattive pictures in this book. >> it puts history in the context of christmas, which i never looked at that time before and that was actually the bushes first christmas in the white house, they didn't have any visitors and no public visitors for about four years. i mentioned that you were part of the white house decorating team what is that like? 'cause i always wonder, you see the trees and they are beautiful and you see all the decorations, but what goes into that? >> well, the first lady is are the commander in chief of christmas, but it is the most amazing experience. and when i was there mrs. bush, very elegant style. she loved to decorate with snow and it was put more snow on, take this snow off, put it back on, it is a process, but it was a lot of fun. >> do you have some favorites in this book of your own?

>> i have so many favorites. i personally love the private kennedy christmas, which is there for us to share. >> this picture, we were talking about this. >> yes. >> are those parents that love their daughter? chelsea, of course, now a member of the nbc family, but look at that picture, you just see how happy they are. it seems like a very private moment in a very public way. >> you see the love in that picture. those were the type of pictures i tried to choose because our first families are real people and that emotion comes through in the pictures. okay. wither going to show the kennedy one now, no, that's not kennedy. >> there is the kennedy. >> look at john john. >> if a picture says a thousand words, that's it. i mean, president kennedy, john john, the year before he was assassinated, a moment in time, sweet snapshot. >> just one more, i will drive the operator crazy, you have to see this because it is bill clinton again, but he is opening up one of his christmas present and it's -- it's a sweatshirt and, there. he has got a look on his face

that i think everyman whoever got a sweatshirt for christmas has. like, oh, big smile. i'm so happy to have a sweatshirt. right? it's hilarious. thank you very much. >> right. even the president gets a sweatshirt for christmas. >> well, let me tell you, it is so much fun to look at and we are very happy that on this weekend before we head into christmas that you are able to come. colleen burke, thank you so much. >> thank you. now, straight ahead, penn state football coach mike mcqueary, key witness, of course, in the jerry sandusky sex abuse case, he is on the stand right now. we will have more on his testimony coming up. who wants some holiday tunage?

[ both ] ew, i do! let's see what i pull up here. oh, this is a good one. ♪ grandma got run over by a reindeer ♪ really? ken. ♪ walking home from our house christmas eve ♪ ♪ you can say... i had the right of way! oooh...man. turning off the music. sorry, nanna. [ male announcer ] get low prices, every day, on the latest smartphones starting at 97 cents. save money. live better. walmart.

try bayer advanced aspirin. it's not the bayer aspirin you know. it's different. first, it's been re-engineered with micro-particles. second, it enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. the best part? it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin. test how fast it works for you. love it, or get your money back. here is a look at other stories people are talking about right now. today, barry bonds faces the judge and could get up to 21 months in prison when he is sentenced for obstruction of justice. bonds lied to a grand jury about using steroids or human growth hormones. in a filing late yesterday, prosecutors called it part of a calculated plan and recommended

he get 15 months. today, private bradley manning is facing his accusers in court for the first time t is called the largest intelligence leak in u.s. history, but a short recess was called after private manning's attorney asked the presiding officer to step down. this preliminary hearing will determine whether private manning will be court martialed for allegedly leaking half a million secret state department documents to wikileaks. the serial burglar who earned the nickname barefoot bandit for committing crimes barefoot is expected to plead guilty today. colton harris-moore eluded authorities for two years while on a nationwide crime spree. he was arrested after crashing a stolen plane he flew from indiana to the bahamas. prosecutors are asking for a ten-year sentence there. chicago bears receiver sam heard is under arrest, caught, police say, with a kilo graham of cane. that's lot. the 26-year-old allegedly told a federal inform map the he was willing to spend $700,000 every

week, on up to 10 kilograms of cane and 1,000 pounds of marijuana. hurd was trying to set up a drug deal network allegedly. what goes up must come down what an unmanned probe exploring one of the moons on mars will apparently have to do it. is expected to come crashing back to earth in january. the failed russian probe got stuck in earth's orbit after its launch in november. russia's space agency says several dozen fragments weighing more than 400 pounds will fall to earth between january 6th and january 19th. it wasn't santa but a 20-year-old who had to be pulled out of a chimney this is our stupid criminal award. find out what he was doing there when we go down to the wire in -- well, he is not a criminal really. i overstated that. but still, not the brightest bulb in the block. dramatic testimony at a hearing right now for two former penn state officials, gary schultz and tim curly, both fighting charges they didn't do what they should have nine years ago after they heard that former

assistant football coach jerry sandusky was allegedly sexually abusing young boys. nbc's michelle franzen is live outside the court nous harrisburg, pennsylvania. michelle, assistant coach mike mcqueary has been on the stand. i have been reading some of the testimony. it's, frankly, hard to even read. it is. it is graphic testimony. and it details what mike mcqueary says he saw and heard back in 2002 in that locker room. the penn state locker room shower room. what he has been telling the court the last hour is what he had told the grand jury in that report that was released in early november. he told prosecutors today that he heard noises coming from that shower room and looked in a mirror and saw jerry sandusky with a boy in that shower back in 2002. and he says he believed that -- he believes that he saw jerry sandusky molesting that boy. of course, there is other testimony about mike mcqueary, the then-graduate assistant, now

assistant football coach, family friend, who said that he had spoken to the grand jury, said that he had testified and told him on the night of the alleged abuse, mcqueary said that he had only heard noises. so, that coming out. mcqueer rib, of course, is at the crux of this case here against tim curley and gary schultz, the former penn state officials who either stepped down or resigned and they are accused of like to the grand jury, saying that they were not informed by mcqueary that he had told them that sandusky, indeed, been seen with a boy that day. we will hear more on the cross-examination that's under way today, but certainly, at the crux of this case here in harrisburg, is what penn state officials knew, when they knew it. chris? >> i want to bring in, if i may, more on the case, criminal defense attorney, karen de soto. reports inside the courtroom that mcqueary has been very calm, very stead don't stand. what do prosecutors need to

accomplish here today? >> this is a preliminary hearing. we just have to determine whether there's enough information to go forward. both curley and schultz have two charges. they have giving a materially false information to a grand jury and also failure to report. so, the judge is probably going to lean toward the grand juries on a lot of that there is a credibility assessment with that really, this is a fishing expedition for the defense attorneys to maybe get information to use at trial that's what i use it for and i'm sure that's probably what they are using this hearing form. >> so tell me what kind of things would you be looking for if you were in their position. >> detailed descriptions of what happened, when it happened, timing, calendar, how they present themselves on the stand. >> defense will want to trip them up, the first question, do you know whether it was 2002. relatively sure it was 2002. >> on or b little things like that but in this case, there's two -- curley, actually, the material false information had to do with whether he had mentioned to anybody that the -- what he saw was sexual in nature, or reported sexual in

nature. so i would do a lot of questioning, well, did he say horseplay? did he say there was conduct going on? did he say sexual? but you know, obviously, they are in the showers, they are naked, so the credibility assessment, you are going to go toward those grand juries and what they have to say. >> if we go back to the jerry sandusky case, and a lot of people questioned some of the moves they have made, obviously, they waived their preliminary hearing, he has gone on television, or given several extensive interviews, but now, and this just came out overnight, a new lawyer on jerry sandusky's legal team says that by way of explanation for why he was showering with young boys, it was to teach them hygiene. >> hmm. >> and we were talking about this morning, i sort of took a poll, you know, of folks who work around here and i would say that if they are sending up a trial balloon, that was not a great explanation, the reaction to it was pretty visceral. i'm wondering what you think is going on here.

>> i think they are just grasping for straws at this point. obviously, listen, i don't know anyone, i have had brothers, i was involved in high school sports, hygiene? like i have never even heard of a coach taking a shower with anyone. so, that's -- i mean, really, you're grasping at strauss, at some point if it is ridiculous enough, the jurors are going to look at you and say what are you doing? sometimes it works. >> do you think in spite of their denials, they are thinking plea bargain or talking about a plea bargain? >> i would say since he waived the preliminary hearing, may think plea bargain. once all that information gets out, obviously, you will have a tough row to hoe, because there is more of a public outcry to string him up and send him to jail for life. >> christmas with the family, sort of put this off a while. >> i don't think he is going to plea. this is a man on the cover of "time" magazine. i think he is going to go through the whole gambit. i don't think he will give it up. >> karen desoto, thanks so much. >> thanks, chris. no election has been flooded

like this before, facebook ads hitting all-time election highs, candidates tweeting to win, 140 characters at a time. msnbc's richard lui is here now. okay. so let's go into iowa, my friend. which candidate is leading in social media? >> well, you know, the election social media fight is a squeak squeaker here, chris. good morning to you. beginning rich, you take a look at the data, he is tops in social media strength with a 36%, as you can see on this chart here, strength is basically how likely somebody is talking about you right now on social media. this according to online analysis company social mention. now, romney leads on facebook, but his strength rating is the lowest. paul at 36, ties for the lead there. and president obama, who ruled social media in 2008, has a middling 31 score. but look at those two peaks there, both of those two candidates, strong with the tea party and they are strong online. overall from october, when i last looked at this, all strength numbers grew, people talking about decision 2012.

a little bit more. if we dig into gingrich's social power, his reach, this number right here, is at 36%. good but not great. reach shows, though, how many unique authors are talking about him. top keyword, republican. last mention, just now. and in terms of average time between each mention, milliseconds. they are definitely talking about him. romney twrals 30 in strength, just mentioning, he beating gingrich in this category here, passion, a 33. how likely people talk about you repeatedly. top keyword for romney, gingrich. last mention, just now. however, a much longer time between mentions. let's move over now to ron paul. he has a passion score, when you talk about passion, got to talk about ron paul, 37, a lot of young voters thought causing that. top keyword for him, iowa. average time per mention, milliseconds there everybody talking about him. finally, president obama, when we take a look at his numbers, this is where he rules, in reach, he has got a very large base, as we know, over 24 million supporters on face

facebook, his strength is middling. top keyword for him is owe bomb ma. we look at the piece of time between mentions as well as the duration, the last mention, two minutes ago, this is a long time in online time here two minutes. so, not a lot of people necessarily talking about him right now. chris, almost one in four adults online use social networking sites to learn about the 2010 election. that's according to pew. and you and i both know, a lot has changed in just two years. >> wow, i'm actually surprised by that number that's impressive. richard, thank you, as always. well, the holiday shopping season is in full swing and the government is issuing an important warning for parents. you have got to watch out for those dangerous kids' toys. cnbc's mandy drury is here with what's moving your money. and mandy, if you're trying to sell your product right now, you do not want to be on this list. >> absolutely. and you know what the u.s. customs and border protection has even put on show certain toys they feel are either choking hazards, suffocation dangers or perhaps traces of

lead. most of the toys, i should say, were seized entering the u.s. and represent more just a lack of knowledge about american standard as opposed to an act of smuggling. let me run you through the things displayed or on lists. kinder eggs, chocolate eggs, a choking hazard. riskses of suf foe kachlgs and hannah montana backpacks, dora the explorer lunch boxes, imported from places like china and peru, which obviously don't have the same regulations for lead contents. what can you do to ensure you don't accidently purchase a gift like this that might harm your kids? buy a reputable brand from a reputable store or check out some of the lists out there online about some of the hazardous toys. >> good news this holiday season, so, there are ano mouse donors who are spreading some christmas cheer at kmart. >> this is such a lovely story, a real warm story. kmart stores across the country, we have been seeing some anonymous donors stepping up and paying off strangers' lay away

accounts, buying perhaps the christmas gifts other families can't afford, like toys and children's clothes. at one particular store, chris, in indianapolis, a lady paid the lay away orders for as many as 50 people. on the way out, happened out $50 bills and paid for two carts of toys for a particular woman in line at the cash register. said she was doing it in memory of her husband who just passed away and she said she wasn't going to be able to spend it all and make people happy with t she did not identify herself. she's true and anonymous good samaritan. >> she did make people happy, without a doubt. >> she did. mandy, thank you very much. happy holidays. >> you, too. big see questions at theaters near you this weekend. your mission, should you choose to accept it, "mission impossible, ghost property come," tom cruise is back at ethan hunt, forced to go rogue with his team to the clearism mf name. robert downey jr. and jude law back as sherlock holmes and his sidekick, watson in "a game of shadows."

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morning, everybody, i'm thomas roberts, next hour of msnbc, penn state assistant coach mike mcqueary takes the stand and swears he witnessed jerry sandusky raping a boy in the locker room showers, full report coming your way. mitt romney picking up an endorsement today, south carolina governor nikki haillism will she help them with the tea party vote. what the candidates are saying about lgbt rights. we will talk with soldier steven hill. you will recall he was wood at a republican debate and we will talk about why this election matters to him. that and much more. cs i? >> thank you very much, thomas. charges coming for six former executives for fannie mae and freddie mac, according to

the securities and exchange commission. these former execs will face charges for securities fraud and making misleading statement. with he will get more information at a news conference that's scheduled for about an hour from now. meantime it looks like the government won't be turning the lights out this weekend after all. after a four-day standoff, congress passed a $1 trillion-plus spending package, ending the threat of a shutdown. now, senate leaders say they are very close to a deal and could vote this weekend to renew the payroll tax cut. joining me live from washington is democratic congressman chris van hollen of maryland. good morning to you. happy holidays. >> good morning, chris. happy holidays to you, too. >> since i have come on the air, i'm told that john boehner came out and spoke and just said he will add the keystone pipeline to any payroll tax bill that comes over from the senate. is that a deal breaker? >> well, as you said, there has been some good news today, which is we do have an an agreement to prevent a government shutdown. the house will vote on that bill shortly and then the senate will take it up. that's the good news.

the bad news is we continue to not have agreement on the payroll tax cut, although we are working on it. as you know, one of the big sticking points was that republicans refused to ask very high incomers, people earning $1 million a year, to help fight offset to provide a payroll tax cut to about 160 million americans. since they have refused to pay for it that way, we are looking for other twice pay for it, that is one issue. the other issue is what you said. let stop there, there have been accusations the democrats folded on that is that a fair statement? >> well, i think what the senators -- the democratic senators in the senate faced was the proposition do you provide tax cuts of 160 americans. the republicans were prepared to have an increase on those 160 million people in order to avoid asking the folks at the very top to pay more. those discussions are ongoing,

look for other twice cover the costs of that payroll tax cut in addition to the issue you just mentioned, which is the house republican leader, the speaker of the house, said he is going to insist on the pipeline any short-term extension of the payroll tax cut. we should be dealing with those issues on their own merits. let's get the payroll tax cut piece in place and not add these extraneous matters. those should be debated with their own merits. >> boehner has drawn a line in the sand here, accident hear it this is what i'm being told, just came out and said this will be part of a deal. is this a deal he can accept? >> he said that would extend the payroll tax cut only two months. one of the things people have been looking at is a longer term extension of the payroll tax cuts which is, of course what we wanted originally, we wanted a full year extension of the payroll tax cut. the issue is if you're not going

to pay for it by asking millionaires to help cover the cost and help share the burden, how else are you gonna pay for it? and if you go toon 11-month payroll tax cut, you have got to find the offsets, republicans proposed increasing medicare premiu premiums proposed reducing the pensions of federal employees like the folks at the cia helped track down osama bin laden, like thank you very much for getting him, now we are going to cut your pension. that's their proposed way to pay for it instead of asking folks at the very high end of the income leader, people over $1 million to pay for t that's why we continue to have these discussions. how long will the payroll tax cut be, two months or will it be longer? as you just reported, i'm understanding that the speaker also said, speaker boehner, that if it's only a two-month extension, he will insist on the keystone pipeline and the

president, as you know, has said that's not gonna happen, that's separate issue, deal with it on its own merits. >> congressman chris van hollen, i know you rushed out of a meeting to come and talk with us. we appreciate it. thank you so much. >> thank you. happy holidays. >> happy holidays. this morning, we asked to you send us your favorite debate moments on facebook and twitter. today's tweet of the day comes from you, morris epstein, a friend of the show tweeted, mine was bachmann, i am a serious candidate. ron paul's clear statements exercising caution before rushing into war with iran from jack hunt, clear, courageous. on facebook, brian gould posted, rick perry's tim tebow reference was painful to watch. edward wrote, the end.

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britney engaged, stuck in a chimney and i have been jib jabbed. go down to the wire. britney spears may be headed down the aisle once again, tmz

reporting that her boyfriend, jason trott wick, will pop the question tonight in las vegas. big secret. she supposedly knows it is happening and jason did the old-fashioned way, asking her dad. a teeny tiny manuscript by the author of "jane air" and "wuthering heights" fetched for $1 million dollars. it was on 19 pages, measures 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches. written in 1830. despite the time of year, he wasn't playing santa, but firefighters still had to pull a 20-year-old out of the california chimney. he reportedly was trying to sneak in after skipping curfew. and a little more holiday fun this friday, courtesy of the guys at jib jab, who sent me this. ♪ rocking around the christmas tree, at the christmas party hop ♪ ♪ mistletoe hung where you can see ♪ >> doesn't look anything like

me. [ laughter ] i deny all -- i don't know who that is, although i do bake pies. that is gonna wrap up this hour of january sing and company. i'm chris jansing. going to be taking a little time off for the holidays, i want to wish you and the happiest. and thomas roberts is up next. i love the holidays. and with my bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i love 'em even more. i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. that's 1% back on... [ toy robot sounds ] 2% on pumpkin pie. and apple. 3% back on 4 trips to the airport. it's as easy as 1... -2... -3... [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. [ toy robot sounds ] try bayer advanced aspirin. it's not the bayer aspirin you know. it's different.

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