mitt romney and newt gingrich hammer each other on the campaign trail with decision day in iowa just 12 days away. >> the heat that's going to come from obama's hell kitchen is going to be a heck of a lot hotter. >> he wants to test the heat, i'll meet him anywhere in iowa next week. and then violence in baghdad, dozens dead as a series of blasts rip through the iraqi capital days after u.s. forces pulled out of that country. we'll have those details for you and a lot more today. hi, everybody, great to have you with me this morning. i'm thomas roberts. and in just over an hour, president obama will renew his call to give americans -- john boehner and his second in command eric cantor are sticking to their guns as critics inside and outside of washington worry that this is political suicide for the gop. >> two-month extension only perpetuates the uncertainty that too many employers already have in dealing with the economy and what's coming out of washington.

listen, i used to run a small business. i can tell you that the language in the senate bill will hurt small businesses. >> just nine days now before 160 million americans in this country face an average tax hike of $1,000. mike viqueira live for us at the white house. we hear the senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell has issued a statement, this after days of silence. >> reporter: it's very interesting what has happened in washington on both ends of pennsylvania avenue today, thomas. a lot of tea leaves being read. there's nothing firm here. but a lot of people seizing on comments made earlier today by the republican chairman of the ways and means committee, very instrumental in all of this, dave camp, said something about a three-month extension, a quarterly extension we heard boehner talking about earlier. and now mitch mcconnell puts out a statement very cryptic. he says house republicans sensibly want greater certainty about the duration of these provisions while senate democrats want more time to

negotiate the terms. these goals are not mutually exclusive. we can and should do both. so the way it's being imagined right now, and i have to caution, thomas, none of this is firm. is that house republicans would come back to the white house or come back to their senate counterparts and say, we don't want the two months, let's make it three months, which happens to be a quarter, a full fiscal quarter, which many businesses plan around, and try to go from there. and mitch mcconnell's statement certainly does nothing to throw people off the trail who suspect that could be the emerging deal. having said that, republicans time and time again in the house have insisted that the deal lasts for an entire year. they say that's what is required. that's the basis of them digging in their heels after everyone thought that 89-10 vote in the senate would be the end of it and people would be flying all out of town and americans would get that extended tax relief for another year, thomas. >> it's been interesting to follow the hash tag $40 on twitter. a lot of people writing about,

what it means to them. and we have this from mamie saying $40 right now means a tank of gas or groceries, one or the other. and kodi writing, it's the additional amount i'll be paying in gas a week to keep my job that's relocating 30 plus miles away. what are we expecting the president to say telling americans today they haven't already heard before? >> reporter: the president will be appearing in about an hour at the white house. this was an initiative from the white house, this #40dollars encouraging americans to write in as you demonstrated there to talk about $40 every two weeks, the $1,000 prorated, two weeks the average paycheck duration. what it means to them, medicine, things of that nature, groceries they could be buying. and this is part in parcel of the political advantage that the white house and democrats really feel that they have here. they're really pressing on the public relations front. they think they got republicans in the corner and the president

himself is going to be taking to the podium with some of the folks writing in to press that advantage. >> nbc's mike viqueira, thanks so much. we want to talk to florida congresswoman debbie schultz. it's nice to see you this morning. and i want to get straight to -- >> good to see you too, thomas. >> we heard in the last hour from the anti-tax man himself, grover norquist speaking with my colleague richard lui on "jansing & company," and here's what he had to say with the clock ticking down in d.c. >> republicans in the house of representatives voted to extend the one-year tax holiday for another year. it's the senate run by democrats, which has refused to extend it for a year. it's the senate which is refusing to come to conference. you can't pass a bill through the house and the senate until the guys in the senate get their act together and actually come to the table and negotiate the bill. >> so it's interesting,

congresswoman, because just over the last ten minutes, we have this statement now from u.s. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell saying he wants people to get together. there's no reason, this is just a portion of the statement i want to read to you. there's no reason that congress and the president cannot accomplish all of these things before the end of the year, talking to quickly make a decision to support thousands of americans with the payroll tax cut extension. when you hear grover norquist talking about this, is that an attack against republicans hold up when senate republicans supported this measure? and as we're hearing from mitch mcconnell, they don't see a reason this can't get through and get done by the end of the year. >> republican hypocrisy on this payroll tax cut extension -- i mean for two months so that we can negotiate a one-year extension is truly remarkable. i mean grover norquist is the puppeteer of the republican party of the republican members of congress. they worship at his altar. almost all of them have signed a pledge to not raise taxes on

anyone ever. grover norquist's pledge and the exception that they apparently are willing to make, thomas, is for the middle class. to allow for 160 million americans to not have a payroll tax cut extension right at the holidays. and apparently they don't seem to think that $40 per paycheck means anything. at the end of the day, there's a bill on the table that the house republicans don't even have to call back into session to pass. they can pass it by unanimous consent. i'm sure that the democrats wouldn't -- that we wouldn't object to that. and we could move on, negotiate the year extensions, and give everybody the certainty and relief that the middle class americans really need. >> as we talk about grover norquist, i want to ask you, congresswoman, as you say, he's basically the puppeteer of what's going on, but who's his puppeteer? and why do they worship at his altar as you're saying? >> well, we can't look at the map of special interest money

that funds grover norquist because it's opaque and he doesn't have to report that. but it's pretty clear that the funding that grover norquist organization is provided by massive significant corporate and special interest money on the right wing is what's driving this here. and that is, again, at the expense of the 99% of americans who are not millionaires and billionaires, who simply need a basic payroll tax cut extension right as our fragile economic recovery is really beginning to take off. we've now had the lowest unemployment filings since april of 2008 and we've got a recovery that's fragile and we need to keep pressing forward and moving forward together to improve upon. but we can't do that while the republicans in the house allow a simple payroll tax cut extension to expire in just ten days. >> when we look at this, it does feel like a political win on the hill. and no matter what for the democrats. but if the tax extension -- >> this isn't about politics.

>> excuse me? >> this shouldn't be about politics. republicans are playing politics with people's lives here. this is very simple. the bill passed 89-10. the "wall street journal" has called on house republicans to pass the bill. conservative republicans in the senate who have called on republicans in the house to pass the bill. you've now had mitch mcconnell who called on the house republicans to pass the bill to extend the payroll tax cut for two months, make sure that americans who are still on unemployment don't lose their unemployment benefits, almost 2.5 million of unemployed americans would get an extension under this bill. the difference that house republicans have shown here to the plight of these folks who are just trying to get back on their feet is really stunning. >> congresswoman, we've run out of time, but as always, it's nice to see you today, thank you so much. >> you too. president obama, once again going to urge the house to pass the payroll tax cut extension. we'll bring you a live coverage

of that right here on msnbc, and we are less than two weeks to iowa and the caucuses, and the man topping the polls is under the microscope. ron paul facing renewed questions about controversial news letters sent in his name the late 1980s and early '90s. among the inflammatory quotes, one says we are constantly told it is evil to be afraid of black men, it's hardly irrational. another comment on the los angeles riots said order was only restored in l.a. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks. and here's what happened when cnn confronted him about this yesterday. >> i didn't write them, i disavow them. that's it. >> you made money off of them? >> i was still practicing medicine, that was probably why i wasn't a very good publisher because i had to make a living. >> there are reports you made almost $1 million off of them in 1993. >> i'd like to see that money. >> so you read them, but you didn't do anything about it at the time? >> i never read that stuff. i never read -- i came -- i was

probably aware of it ten years after it was written. and it's been going on 20 years that people have pestered me about this. and cnn does it every single time. so, when are you going to wear yourself out? when are you going to do that? >> is it legitimate? is it a legitimate question to ask that something went out in your name -- >> and when you get the answer it's legitimate that you sort of take the answers i give. >> these things are pretty incendia incendiary, you know -- >> because of people like you. >> come on, some of the stuff was very incendiary and saying that in 1993 the israelis were responsible for the bombing of the world trade center, that kind of thing. >> good-bye. >> that's how it ended there. our nbc news campaign got a response from the campaign in saying, "this is an old story, his involvement was debunked by the washington post, paul was involved in his medical practice at the time and these newsletters were published under his name unknown to him." they went on to tell anthony that paul disavowed this stuff

and those who know him realize this is not what he believes. matt strom joins me now this morning. it's good to have you on here, and i want to get your opinion of this. what do you make of that encounter? the paul campaign statement and do you think this old story could come back to haunt him? especially now he looks to be on top? >> well, good morning from the hawkeye state, thomas. and that's one thing about the iowa caucus, candidates have to let a hard-working iowan look him in the eye and ask him that question. and the fact that we're 12 days from january 3rd, 100,000 caucus goers will turn out and express their support for a candidate, 60% of caucus goers are telling pollsters they could change their mind on which candidate to support on january 3rd. i think whether it's dr. paul or any of the other five other candidates aggressively competing here in iowa, it's really going to be those 12 days remaining on the ground retail letting an iowan ask him that question because that's the vetting process that takes place

here in the iowa caucuses. >> keeps everybody's feet to the fire. the latest iowa state university poll showing that ron paul tops at 28% and followed by newt gingrich, mitt romney, a distant third is opening two new offices in iowa today as we understand it. gingrich opening these offices. so do -- do we think that's going to help move the dial? we've gotten so many reports that the strongest ground gains from ron paul and rick santorum are the ones that think and watch most closely. >> yeah, there's no question there's been a myth out there that the organization doesn't matter anymore this cycle in iowa. and i don't know how you can look at where ron paul is standing in the polls and say that. clearly rick santorum who has essentially lived in iowa over the last few months is starting to see a little bit of momentum with key endorsements and signing up activists around the state. but the other thing you can't discount with mitt romney is the fact that even though he hasn't been here much personally, he's had a team on the ground throughout the summer organizing their supporters from years ago

and i have no doubt they know where their leaders are. but when you have a field as fluid as it is, being here on the ground, i believe all the candidates are going to have bus tours next week, trying to close that deal in person is key. and i think one thing that iowa republicans want to see is somebody that's going to aggressively prosecute the case of a failed barack obama administration but also stand up for what our republican solutions are to the challenges facing america. that's what iowa republicans are going to want to hear from these candidates in the closing 12 days. >> some including terry branstad says if ron paul wins, it diminishes the impact of the caucus caucuses. do you agree with that statement? >> we'll let iowa vote in 12 days before we make any sweeping statements. but the one thing that is irrefutable with dr. paul, he has a great organization in the state and a traditional grass roots oriented campaign. and the other thing with dr. paul people need to realize, look at the message that's

resinated, smaller government focused on reduced spending. his initial ad to iowans highlighted his opposition to increasing the debt ceiling and did very well in ames in that poll. it's the issues of the economy, of reduced spending when you look at dr. paul, mitt romney, newt gingrich, the top three candidates, those are the issues they're talking about. i think that sends a strong signal to washington that when it comes to spending and getting the private sector going again, iowans are frustrated with what they've seen from barack obama. >> the iowa straw poll which michele bachmann walked away with. good to see you this morning. appreciate it. still ahead, a wave of bombings kill over 60 people in baghdad. what does this say about security and u.s. troops? this just days after we left that country. also too hot to handle. it's getting hot between mitt romney and newt gingrich. with gingrich challenging romney to a verbal duel. where? we're going to tell you all ahead. t's go to vegas. alright, let's do it. let's do it, let's go to vegas.

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welcome back, everybody. a large system of heavy rain and thunderstorms is barrelling east across texas, louisiana, and mississippi. some of those thunderstorms could spawn tornadoes. now later today the threat of strong storms and heavy rain will move farther east towards alabama, tennessee, and kentucky. this weekend's christmas holiday could provide a little bit of relief for newt gingrich's campaign in iowa. the super pack that's backing mitt romney and behind the ads attacking gingrich tells the "new york times," they will suspend their negative ads this weekend. but that doesn't mean the candidates are taking the heat off of each other. >> i know that the speaker would like to say, look, we shouldn't have any negativity. look, if you can't handle the heat in this little kitchen, the heat that's coming from obama's hell kitchen is going to be a

lot hotter. >> if he wants to test the heat, i'll meet him anywhere in iowa next week, 90 minutes, no moderators, just a timer. if he wants to try out the kitchen, i'll be glad to debate him anywhere. >> wendy shiller is an associate professor of political science and public policy at brown university. wendy, nice to see you this morning, and i want to show you right after the bat, take a peek of newt gingrich's campaign website. it says solutions on it, not attack ads, then you click on it, it sends you to a recent ad where he says others seem to be more focused on attacks. i need to know, will this stay above the fray strategy help newt out in iowa where he is under attack? under barrage from romney supporters, even supporters from everybody else's camps too. but mainly from romney's camp? >> well, i think it does. because it gives him the opportunity to constantly promote his message, his ideas, his thoughts. if he wastes time getting really toe to toe and a tit for tat

negative battle not only wastes his opportunity to send his message, it renews the charges against him. gives everyone else an opportunity to keep hitting him and hitting him. it's a very smart thing to do in iowa because the news media will cover that debate and newt's great at debating. this catapulted him to the front of the pack. if he gets a debate with romney, who should not agree to do that, by the way, then he can spread that message, people will be watching it and he can refocus the message on what he can do, his intelligence, his experience rather than all of the side show stuff that's being emphasized in all of the negative ads. it's a smart maneuver. i don't see romney taking the bait, but it's a smart maneuver. >> do you think this strategy will politically play out? >> i think that nobody knows what's going to happen. i also think this congressional mess in the house is really probably going to hurt newt gingrich the most because when he brings up speaker, speaker, speaker and all that house is experience, the house republicans are not popular people right now and they seem

to be sitting on a tax cut and not moving on it. that cannot help newt gingrich as he's campaigning in the last few days in iowa and could overshadow the entire iowa primary if they don't pass the tax cut. >> when we talked, though, about the negative ads, they do work, wendy, right? >> they do work and we've seen this with gingrich. guess who they're working the most for? obama? if anybody's been watching these polls, as gingrich has risen in the polls, so has the president's ratings. the more they attack, the better obama is doing, and republicans have to figure out who they want to run and figure out how to be on the same page sooner rather than later or they're going to continue to watch this president's poll numbers go up. >> thank you so much. i appreciate it. walmart pulls a popular baby formula off the shelves after an infant dies. plus, he said what? one congressman admits he owes the first lady an apology.

what he said that really raised a lot of eyebrows. that's coming up.

well, just days after the last u.s. combat unit left iraq, sectarian violence has returned to baghdad. at least 60 people were killed there today. after more than a dozen bombings ripped across the iraqi capital. bob, explain to all of us what does this really mean for the security situation on the ground in iraq? and i don't want to seem jaded with this question. but it was expected that we would see an uptick in violence like this. >> i think it was expected, but what we are seeing in terms of frequency of crises in baghdad and also the intensity of this particular attack is a bit surprising. this is a rather large attack, it's the largest attack in years, and it comes on the heels

of the vice president of iraq having to take refuge. now you have running together series of attacks, large-scale attacks and at the same time a constitutional crisis. >> what does this say about the iraqi forces being able to handle the situations that they have ahead of them in that country? >> i think that's highly questionable as to whether they can handle it. and we're also talking about iraqi intelligence. now, certainly the u.s. has left intelligence assets there. and that is important. because they're the ones who can be supplying the iraqi forces and quickly move on these sorts of intelligence. the question becomes also whether they want to do it and whether they are capable of doing it. it's a two-part question. >> it's a commitment for the long-term for sure. bob, great to see you this morning, thank you. >> thank you. >> president obama's christmas gift from the gop, how the president benefits from the payroll tax cut fight. i'll talk with the vice

president's former economic adviser jared bernstein. plus, more americans are back to work, another good week to talk about for the unemployment numbers. we'll have the specifics. also, three more days until christmas. we're heading live to the north pole first, but first, a little cheer from saturday night live to get you in the mood. ♪ all i know is that santa's lay is making its way to the usa ♪ ♪ i wish it was christmas today ♪ ♪ i wish it was christmas today ♪ o you think it all comes from? elves. [ laughs ] [ thunder crashes ] hurry up, lads! storm's brewin'. ♪ [ woman laughs ] stop it. ♪ yes. but lately we've been using k-y® intense™. it stimulates arousal so the big moment is... (announcer) k-y® brand intense™ - intensifies female satisfaction.

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for you today ? we gave people right off the street a script and had them read it. no, sorry, i can't help you with that. i'm not authorized to access that transaction. that's not in our policy. i will transfer you now. my supervisor is currently not available. would you like to hold ? that department is currently closed. have i helped you with everything you needed ? if your bank doesn't give you knowledgeable customer service 24/7, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. welcome back, everybody. president obama is ready to put real life faces on the debate over extending tax cuts for millions of americans. in just over 30 minutes, the president will be joined by middle class americans urging house republicans to join their senate counterparts in supporting the short-term payroll tax cut extension. nbc's luke russert is following the latest for us. and luke, there's been a response now from speaker

boehner's office from mitch mcconnell's statement. bring us up to speed on the back and forth over the last half an hour. >> this is a very big news day in terms of the issue of the payroll tax cut extension, thomas. about half an hour ago, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell issued a statement essentially echoing what harry reid had been saying which is that the house should pass the senate two-month extension of the payroll tax cut extension. and then after that is completed, then harry reid should appoint conferees to work with the house about ironing out the differences. speaker john boehner's office responded to this from spokesman michael steele who said "the house and senate have two different bills but the same goal, that is why we believe that senator mcconnell should work so we can provide a full year of payroll tax relief and do it before the year's end" that's kind of a vague response to mcconnell's office. but essentially suggests the same thing that they should work

together that she should accomplish this by the year's end. it's hard to see the way forward for the house gop to stand off, thomas, if you have mitch mcconnell, the senate minority leader saying, look, just pass the bill that got 90% approval in the senate, it was a two-month fix, then we can go back and negotiate after that so we can eliminate this uncertainty and worry. it is really hard to see how they move back from this, not to mention the fact they've had the "wall street journal" and even carl rove saying their strategy is flawed. if they keep on fighting, it'll surely be interesting to see how long they keep it up, thomas. >> luke, great to see you, thank you. >> take care. >> jared bernstein is a contributor for msnbc and cnbc and serves as a chief economist to vice president biden. this new gallup polling out today, just 17%, that's it, 17% of americans are satisfied with the way things are going in this country. so what we're seeing now on capitol hill is really setting the tone for what the country is having to look at. but back at the white house, president obama is carrying this

flag for the middle class. how important is it for americans to see him lead the charge on this? and see it done successfully? >> i think it's extremely important. the american people know one thing. they're not focusing on the pay fors in the various versions of the bill jumping around, dueling statements, they're focusing on the fact that a 2% boost to their paychecks may expire. the odds it could expire are way too high for comfort. people on unemployment insurance, millions literally could lose their benefits. that's what they know. the president needs to explain every waking hour as far as i'm concerned who's standing between them and this potential expiration. >> you talk about how occupy wall street has played a small role on how this debate has moved forward. talk about how you see the connection of the two.

>> look, i've been in this business trying to amplify issues of basic economic imbalance and justice and levels of inequality, the absence of opportunity, accountability. all for decades, and occupy wall street comes along and in about two months they've elevated these issues to the national level. i'm not endorsing the movement, i'm not sure where it's going. they've done so. i think that feeds right into this dynamic as to who's fighting for the middle class here and who's fighting for those, the narrow slice at the very top of the scale who has been benefitting from so much of the economic growth. not just over the past couple of months, but over the last few decades. >> if we talk about, though, the overall tax issue, jared, the pew research center saw a big dip in the amount of people feeling overtaxed since 2000. how does that translate politically for both parties? >> i thought that was a

fascinating poll result, thomas. a 17 percentage point decline over the last decade in people who say, you know, i'm overtaxed, basically. and in the same poll, it said they don't feel that the wealthy are paying their fair share. and interestingly, the numbers bear this out. it's actually a reflection of the reality on the ground because people's tax liabilities have fallen, that's pretty sharply over the last decade, in part because of the bush tax cuts and more recently because of the recession. now, what you constantly hear from repeated in the polls is that when it comes to something like a millionaire surge charge to offset the cost of a middle class tax break, it's widely supported and i think this poll result corroborates that. >> i want to paraphrase, you said if your adversary is punching themselves in the face, go sit in the corner? >> well, yeah. what i said, twa ilactually is old adage, when your adversary's

punching yourself in the face, go sit in the corner. i think that's not ought what the president ought to do right now. point out to american citizens who are ten days away from an expiration. this economy has a little bit of momentum. we've seen decent numbers including ui claims, pop in gdp, to undermine that right now with the uncertainty around this political difference is terrible policy. >> thank you, sir, i appreciate it. just a programming reminder, we're going to be hearing from the president about 45 minutes from now. stay tuned to msnbc for live coverage with my colleague alex wagner. she'll have it for you. with his family in hawaii, president obama took time out from the payroll tax debate to do a little shopping. his first stop was petsmart with dog bo in tow. then it was on to best buy where he brought -- or bought, excuse

me, a wii video game for his daughters malia and sasha. i hope they're not watching. >> in case you're wondering, just dance for the wii. the girls beat me every time on these various dance games. >> all right. so the president didn't answer a question about whether he would be personally delivering those gifts to hawaii or not. so the number of people filing for unemployment has fallen to its lowest level in more than three years. the number of new applications for benefits was down 4,000 last week to 364,000. this was a decrease the lowest numbers since april '08. a sign that hiring is getting stronger these numbers were a christmas gift because on wall street, stocks went up right after the opening bell. and here's a look at some other stories topping the news now. walmart pulled a batch of baby powder formula from over 3,000 of the stores nationwide after

an infant given the mixture died in missouri. the 10-day-old child suffered a bacterial infection and was taken off life support on sunday. now this recall involves 12.5-ounce cans of enfamil -- gosh, you can tell i don't have kids before. enfamil lot vp1k7g. newborn powder. the recall has been ordered, so you want to look for that on your cans. bank of america paying $335 million to settle allegations of racial discrimination by its home loan unit according to the department of justice. b of a's country wide unit unfairly hiked fees and interest rates of over 200,000 african-american and hispanic home buyers despite them having good credit profiles. an incredible story to tell you about. a survival, a college student stranded for ten days, surviving on candy bars and melted snow,

23-year-old lauren weinberg's car got stuck the in snow. they found her hungry and thirsty, but otherwise okay. the pew research center released new analysis on the role of women in military. the number of women in the ranks has grown by more than 120,000 in the last three decades. there are more officers by the ranks of women. it's also more diverse racially and serving women are less likely to be married. and with thousands of u.s. service members making their way home from iraq, that leaves ample opportunity for holiday surprises, and it's the kind of surprise that we never get enough of. a soldier showing up at a sporting event or to school or like a scene from college springs, iowa. >> oh, my god!

my daddy! >> did you miss me? >> that is some good stuff right there. after six months in iraq, he surprised his 10-year-old. that's one christmas gift obviously she is never going to forget. and with christmas right around the corner, there's only one place busier than capitol hill, that's the north pole, of course, santa and his elves are in crunch time to load the sleigh. we want to check in on santa's status with bob. how's it going up there? >> reporter: it's going okay. good morning to you, thomas. the camera angle's a little odd. we didn't realize that santa requires us to use a local photographer. so that's the reason -- >> yeah. >> reporter: yeah, and i -- you know, he can go back now behind the camera. thank you. and i tried to talk to him to try to get us our own tall photographer, but you can't argue with someone who is 2'4" because that too big to be messing with.

anyways, all the other elves and santa are in the workshop behind me, getting all of those toy requests filled in time for christmas eve. they'll soon be doing a preload on the sleigh right here, hitching up the reindeer. and if you don't mind, i want to check on the shot and see how they're doing. we've got dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen in the back there, comet, cupid, donner blitzen, go back, no, no, the other one. the other one. the other one's donner. bottom line, everything's a go for christmas eve. everything's going to be on time there, thomas. >> is this elf union? i want to make sure that we are crossing our ts, dotting our is. >> we are, actually. there's a bunch of them actually standing over there. so if i were to boot him out, i'd have a bunch coming in to replace and it probably wouldn't work out well for me.

>> bob, thank you, i appreciate it. >> reporter: merry christmas. >> you too. dysfunction junction. remember that song from "schoolhouse rock?" of course, well, that's what americans think of congress. plus kim jong-il was known as many things, a dictator, a tyrant, but you may not know some of the more bizarre aspects of his life. we have that coming up on our flip side. don't go anywhere. un. see? he's taking his vitamins. new one a day vitacraves plus omega-3 dha is a complete multivitamin for adults. plus an excellent source of omega-3 dha in a great tasting gummy. one a day, gummies for grown-ups.

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you get down to a choice between a massachusetts moderate and a southern conservative in virginia, we'll have a good chance at the primary of winning it. >> moments ago, newt gingrich working to get his name on the ballot. other comments are topping our side bar. congressman will be calling the first lady today, the congressman from wisconsin wants to apologize for something he was overheard saying at the airport, "she lectures us on

eating right while she has a large posterior herself." his campaign said "he was referring to to the first lady's healthy food initiative. he doesn't think the government should be telling americans what to eat. he plans to contact the first lady's office to apologize for his comments." the first lady's lest move campaign encourages children to eat healthier. mitt romney says president obama's uncle should be deported. he was arrested in august for drunk driving, also an illegal immigrant. romney says the nation's immigration laws should be enforced. now, former governor jon huntsman doesn't win the gop nomination, he could always get a gig playing in a band. he rocked out with paul schaefer's band playing a little bit of "johnny be good." ♪ go johnny go, go

>> that's all him, and he's really good at it. congratulations going out now to former congressman anthony weiner, and his wife, they are the proud parents of a baby boy jordan zane weiner born last night. house republicans and their decision to hold up the short-term payroll tax cut extension isn't making americans' grim view of congress any better. with senate minority leader mitch mcconnell joining democrats in the support of the extension, the pressure's on house speaker boehner to find a solution. former pennsylvania congressman and naval officer joe sestak and former louisiana congressman bob livingston. gentlemen, great to have you here this morning. congressman livingston, i want to start with you because you served with speaker boehner. getting in and out of these political scrapes, how does he get the house republicans to the finish line? and backing good graces with middle class americans who are

obviously frustrated right now with what's going on in d.c.? >> actually, thomas, i served with newt gingrich. but i think this deal right now is a goat rope. the president said he wanted a year of this tax reduction for the cost of social security, that's what the payroll tax is. the house gave him a year, the senate turns around, gives him two months, then they go home, then the house goes home, and where do they fit together? now, normally the two houses would come together in a conference committee, but evidently the senate's not interested in that and now it's become a political issue. and i think the republicans have probably on the short end of the stick on this political issue. so it appears that the house is going to have to come up and meet the two months, but they've got to handle the full year or else it's a ridiculous issue. i think it is a situation where you don't like laws and sausage

being made at the same time. >> forgive me, i've been saying so much about john boehner today, i put him in there right away. congressman sestak, we'll talk to you about john boehner because it seems the democrats have the advantage here. the political points are at distant second place when getting this thing passed. what is the strategy for nancy pelosi and harry reid over the next week? >> well, i think on this particular issue, the democrats obviously politically have the upper hand. i mean, everyone knows that our economy next year is only going to grow about 1%. which is basically stagnant, instead of 2.5% if this is passed. so i think that is the most important issue to keep in mind. and i'm sure that the democrats will beat up the republicans on it. it's why you saw the elephant basically fly as somebody said today when you saw senator mcconnell support senator reid, very unusual. but the bigger issue i would argue, thomas, is for both parties that we no longer have

the type of leadership that we need in the senate or the house of representatives when bob livingston, for example, entered in the 1970s. you had leaders who were willing to say in a veryway, this is the problem, this is what i think, based upon the fact of what we have to do. these are the benchmarks we've got to hit. and i'm willing to be held accountable for it. that lack of pragmatic leadership is so absent today, where they just gang up for the next election, and i think that's why americans have lost all trust in washington, d.c.. >> i just want to remind everybody, as we get that countdown clock back up, as we look at it, we really just have 9 1/2 days to go gentleman, as we watch it go down to the wire. we'll see how this plays out for us. former congressman joe sestak and bob livingston, thanks so much for your time today. appreciate it. >> good to be with you. we just got this update on the president's event with the middle class -- middle class americans, that is. it's now being moved to 1:00 p.m. eastern time. he'll be putting pressure on the house to pass the two-month

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you know, while kim jong-il's death is a source of great sadness in his country, when it came to global parody, dear leader made a lot of comedians pretty happy. he's the focus of today's flip side. folks at "the hollywood reporter" gave us a sample of just how openly he was spoofed in film, tv, even commercials. for instance, madtv portrayed him as the host of the kim jong-il show. >> give me a woop woop! >> woop! woop! woop! >> hey, that guy not woop-woop. [ gunshot ] >> good one, my friend! >> israel also had some fun at kim's expense in this rocky-inspired sprite commercial. yep, give the dictator a soda

and you watch him dance. his likeness even appeared in a fake internet ad for eharmony, although it seems his perfect match didn't do so well. he was also lampooned by comedienne margaret cho as a deranged weather forecaster on nbc's "30 rock". >> north korea, everything sunny all the time, always, good time. beach party. back to you. >> all right. but by far, his most celebrated mock-up came when he was turned into a singing marionette for their international action satire team world america police, where he took out his anger on another famous "30 rock" actor. >> you are worthless, alec baldwin. >> yeah, alec baldwin not being able to catch a break on that one. also, did you know that kim jong-il was a big fan of elizabeth taylor, rambo, as well as daffy duck. to be fair, he was also a fan of

rabbits, but he didn't exactly keep them as pets, he preferred to cook and eat them, apparently. so bugs bunny, catch your blessings on that one. that's going to do it for me, today. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. jackie gingrich cushman joins me to talk about her father's presidential campaign. and until then, follow me on twitter @thomasaroberts. don't go anywhere. "now with alex wagner" is next. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain

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