first,ithout second, maybe even without third, are they done? >> they should be done. nothing has happened according to plan this year, so i don't know what's going to cop out of this, but i think that they all need to make a good showing and happy birthday to iowa as a matter of fact. today in 1847 they were made a state on this day, december 28th. >> how do you know that? >> because i looked it up. >> this is how she does her research for this program. let me play for you all what rick santorum had to say just yesterday. >> if i finish dead last way behind the pack, you know, i'm going to pack up and go home, but i don't think that's going to happen. i think we're going to be very much in the mix and i file very good that we're going to surprise a lot of people on how we finish. >> he is the one person that people have talked about, robert, as somebody who could surprise you. you worked for him. what do you think is going to happen with rick santorum. >> i think it depends how you define a win in iowa. he think he could be the little engine that could. if, in fact, he comes in second

or third place, that's a win for him. and the reason why is because he's been dead last in the polls for quite some time. >> and he has no money, no advertising virtually. >> you're exactly right. if he can come in second or third, maybe even fourth, that's a win for him. he's the only candidate that has major grassroots support in terms of bob van der plat and so forth, major social conservative in iowa, and last but not least, what's interesting about rick santorum is he hasn't had that surge like the other candidates have had, right? so it's very interesting to see how he winds up in all of this, and if he comes in second or third, i think that's a win for him. very quickly, let's remind ourselves that the people that have won iowa in the past have not gone on to be president. look at mike huckabee, look at some of the other folks in 2004 and 2008. ja let >> let's talk about huckabee because here is somebody that really did surprise in iowa four years ago. there's been a lot of talk about who will take that vote, will it be split? which means romney will look all

the better? or could they coalesce behind one candidate and could that be rick santorum. >> they're all playing the evangelical card. you have perry out there, changed his whole motto. >> michele bachmann. >> who is from iowa and santorum. they are positioning themselves as the true evangelical chr christia christians. 52% of iowans are protestant. >> and 60% of the voters in the last iowa caucus four years ago were evangelicals. the thing you could say about rick santorum is like him or not, he's been consistent. >> he's been consistently bad. i disagree with robert, he's not going to have a surge, he doesn't have an it factor. >> there are people who argue that mitt romney is lacking the it factor and that's been his problem. >> but he's still in the lead thanks to the i am pacific ocean. >> this is from bachmann's stump speech yesterday.

>> we need someone who is a proven fighter, not someone who is going to say what people want to hear. we're hearing that from some of the candidates on the ground, they're could ooperating the lae of the tea party. >> robert, not huge crowds. i think she looks a little tired and that's understandable. anybody who has been on the campaign trail knows what that's right. what happened to the tea party enthusiasm? >> i'm not sure. i think a lot of the tea party folks are saying maybe we need to dial it back. perhaps maybe the payroll tax fiasco that happened last week and some of the other run-ins kind of backfired. perhaps they're taking a look at the polls. you take a look at that vital independent voter out there in pennsylvania, ohio, and florida, they're sick and tired of this partisan bickering. tea partiers are like any other americans. they want to win. >> if you want to look ahead and look at the independent voters and we will talk about the evangelicals, who has the best chance of hanging in there?

is it bachmann, perry, santorum? >> that's a good question. i don't think the independent voter out there is really attracted to any of these candidates, quite frankly. i think the independent voter is most attracted to mitt romney. they like his steadiness, the fact he's moderate on a lot of the issues. they like the fact he has a business acumen. the independent voter is not voting in this primary. sendly, they probably had their eyes on an obama/romney match-up in the fall. >> he talks about the things they like about him and there are a lot of things that you could put in the plus column for mitt romney, but he can't break out of that 25%, 20%, 25%. >> he's not trustworthy. they don't trust him to be the true conservative he's claiming to be and he's flip-flopped too often. >> we talk about these independent voters or the more moderate republican voters. >> he's still too weak, you know. he doesn't have the strength. and this is the thing, you know, even hitting newt gingrich as he has over the last couple weeks and he did a moratorium for chris mass, that was weak because he hid behind, you know,

pacs and other people. he didn't even come out strongly to hit him in the way perry did in the last debate. perry actually stands the most to gain from all of this because he hasn't hurt himself in the last couple debates. he hasn't put his foot in his mouth and has a record. >> i'm going to bring you back, but thanks for now because i want to go to somebody from the perry campaign. just six days left to the first caucus obviously. we have talked about the fact that time is runningbrg in re s the communications director for the perry campaign. good morning. >> good morning, chris. >> in august your guy was leading in iowa. now he's fourth after paul, romney, gingrich. where do you have to finish to show you still have a chance? >> i think that is up to the voters of iowa. we have to do well. we feel like we've got the momentum on our side as someone mentioned a minute ago. >> they're not going to -- the voters of iowa are not going to determine whether or not you continue your campaign. where do you feel you have to

finish? >> we need to finish well, chris, and we're confident we will do that. i think it's too early to say whether one, two, three, four, five, whatever is the cutoff point. we will make that assessment based on what the voters of iowa tell us and what our prospects are in new hampshire and south carolina. again, we feel like we have strong momentum. the governor is out on the stump talking conservative principles and values. we're in the midst of a 44-city bus tour that's gathering great crowds across the state and as someone mentioned on the show a moment ago, he really is the only one with a record of balancing six budgets, of creating a million jobs in our state while the rest of the country lost 2 million, and being rock solid with the fiscal, social, and tea party conservatives throughout his career. >> but let me ask you kind of a reality check question beyond some of the talking points because you mentioned new hampshire and south carolina, and even though iowa is not a predictor of who gets the nomination, it can propel people

who have been in trouble to be in a better position. frankly, your guy is in trouble. he's polling at 1% in new hampshire right now. so i want to go back to my original question. do you have a sense of where you feel you need to be at the end of the day next tuesday? >> we feel like we're gaining ground in iowa and are in really good position to come out of iowa in a strong position, chris. i can't predict that future. we're going to make those decisions after the iowa caucuses, but obviously one, two, three, you're in solid position to move forward. and it really depends on how close the race is at that point on whether the individual candidates can proceed accordingly into the other states. >> clearly the reason we're still talking about these other folks is because there are a lot of people who, as we have been saying, feel uneasy about mitt romney, and one of the things that has stuck on him, including some questions raised by your

candidate, is that he's a flip-flopper, and then yesterday rick perry changes his stand on abortion. here is the moment, let me play it for you, and then we'll talk on the other side. >> you're seeing a transformation, and -- >> what is that transformation? >> that was after watching the dvd "gift of life." and i really started giving some thought about the issue of rape and incest. >> so he used to believe in an exception for rape and incest. now he opposes abortion in all cases. do you understand that given when he said that, that some people will say, wow, this transformation comes at an opportune time, one week before the iowa caucus. >> chris, the governor has always been pro-life, he will always be pro-life. he was deeply touched, as you saw in that clip, by meeting a woman -- >> but as you know for

evangelical christians, there is no dividing line. life is life in their view, and you don't make exceptions for anything, including rape and incest. so pro-life is a different definition than one that he subscribed to up until yesterday. >> i don't think that's the case, chris. i think the governor has been consistently pro-life, and you saw him speaking from the heart yesterday about his encounter with a woman who was the product of one of these relationships and grew up and became a successful professional woman, and that has to touch anybody regardless of your position on these issues when you see someone like that and realize that had her mother made a different choice, she wouldn't be standing there having that conversation. that's what the governor was speaking to yesterday and speaking from the heart. again, he's always been pro-life and always will be. he's not gone back and forth like some of these other candidates in the race. >> let me ask you one more thing that's been in the news in fact just yesterday. you didn't get enough

signatures, as newt gingrich didn't, to get on the ballot in virginia. but now you're suing because you say that this is a violation of rick perry's constitutional rights. i mean, at this point really in the campaign is this worth your sort of focus, effort, time, money? >> absolutely. virginia is a really important state. we want to compete there. we feel like we made a strong effort to get the signatures we needed, but keep in mind there are 119,000 republican voters in the 2008 primary. each of the seven candidates has to get 10,000 republican voter signatures. that's a huge hurdle, and that's our point is the hurdles are too high. they don't allow out of state folks to come in and get those petitions signed. that has been overturned in other states as unconstitutional. we feel like we've got a good case, and really just want to get on the ballot and be able to compete in virginia and give virginia voters the option they

deserve for a myriad of candidates and not just having those two folks on the ballot. >> thank you for taking the time to talk to us. let me bring robert and karen back in. i never thought i would see the day when we would hear a rick perry official quoting you. >> it's karen hunter, by the way. you know what's sad listening to that? it's like these candidates, a lot of them are pandering to the lowest common denominator, but they're not thinking about being president of the united states. rick perry had a very reasonable position on abortion. at least a woman should have a choice in that situation. i find it a little insulting someone who lives in this country to hear these candidates just go out and pander to just get a vote and not concern themselves with what the country needs right now, which are jobs. >> robert, do you think to the evangelicals in iowa it's going to come off in pandering?

>> yes. iowans are very smart, astute voters out there. especially that state of new hampshire. i think that's the reason you see the polling numbers look the way they look in terms of the candidates out there. they know exactly what they think, meaning the voters know exactly what the candidates think, and at this late in the game if you're changing your position or even shifting it, it looks like that perhaps maybe you're just picking your finger and putting up to the wind to see where the wind is blowing. >> robert, karen, good to see both of you. >> thank you. >> the road to iowa's gop voters drug drive time radio host simon conway, but don't expect an easy ride with simon. he's coming up next. and the occupy movement heading to iowa as well for tuesday's republican caucus. hundreds of protesters are expected to try to disrupt the gop hopefuls outside campaign offices and at some of their events. out west the movement will hit pasadena's annual tournament of roses parade. police have give permission for occupiers to march down the parade route after all the official floats pass by.

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mitt romney is having a little fun at newt gingrich's expense talking about newt's failure to get on the ballot in virginia. >> what do you think of speaker gingrich not getting enough people to get on the ballot? >> you know what? i think you compare that to was it pearl harbor? i think it's more like lucille ball at the chocolate factory. so, i mean, you got to get it organized. >> here is how gingrich responded. >> i have a very simple message for mitt romney, i'll meet him anywhere in iowa for 90 minutes, just the two of us in a debate

with a timekeeper and moderator. i would love to have him say that to my face. >> mitt romney picked up enrsement of "the herald." they wrote, we don't need a buddy in the white house, we need a leader, one that can work with a deeply divided congress and a deeply divided nation. gingrich isn't talking about a controversial issue with his divorce. his website reads its jackie that asked for the split. >> it's 30 years old. you can read my younger daughter's column and talk to her. she covered it i think more than adequately and that's all i want to say on it. >> well, even though the court documents would seem to contradict gingrich's version of events, he's still battling for the lead in iowa. there's a checklist of sorts for presidential candidates hoping to win. attend the fair, marvel at the

butter sculptures. constant town hall meetings with evangelical voters, check. this year there's also another requirement, an interview with conservative talk show host simon conway on des moines's powerhouse radio station who, and he joins me now. good morning, simon. >> good morning, chris. how are you doing? >> i'm doing well. and i think that your meteoric rise has held unlike some of the candidates in your state. what do you think, is there anything that some of these candidates can say or do in the next five days that they haven't said or that people haven't heard in these countless tv and radio ads to sort of turn the tide? what are people looking for? >> you know what, chris, you're absolutely right. iowa has absolutely not decided yet. there's still plenty of time and i think what people are looking for here is a consistent message. they're also looking for someone they believe is strong enough to go up against the president.

>> well, if you're looking for a consistent message, and i know you don't like to talk about abortion on your show and i agree with you, you can just sit back and people would just call in and you wouldn't have to talk for the entire length of your show, but it is interesting -- >> absolutely. >> -- to hear what rick perry did. you know, he made the decision he says after seeing a film that he was now against abortion in all cases where as previously he was -- thought it was okay in cases of rape and incest. do you think the people of iowa are going to see that as a pandering or are they going to see it a an ah-ha moment for him and give him credit? >> i think the people that it matters to are going to be impressed by it, but the bottom line is elections are always, as you know, chris, about the economy. that's what it's about. if you're looking for comments on governor perry, his running the 13th largest economy on the globe, and compared to the rest of the country you could say he's doing pretty well. >> you know, he didn't look so great in the debates. you have interviewed all of these candidates.

give me your sense of them. i think everybody but romney, right? >> yeah, and i have the governor on today on my show. >> all right. >> yes, i have interviewed them all, and, you know, rick perry did not do very well in the early debates, but actually in the last two debates i thought he did exceptionally well. i thought he won the one at drake university. his message has been consistent, but there are other candidates. "the boston herald" compared those other candidates besides romney as to candidates in a clown car compared to the guy they're endorsing, who is mitt romney. what was your sense of them? were you impressed because there certainly is a sense that this is not the republican field that at least many in the republican establishment circles would have liked. >> well, and that maybe is the problem, that it's republican establishment circles is what got "uss to this point perhaps and now you've got more

grassroots people getting involved. we all saw what happened in november of 2010 with the election and that had nothing to do with establishment republicans, as you know. so you've got a very decent field, some great candidates. i don't see that there's a real problem in the quality of the candidates. the bottom line, chris, is this. these are the candidates. you can say, oh, i wish paul ryan was in or i wish sarah palin was in. they're not in. these are the seven. these are the choices people have to make, and they're looking at them and there are some very serious candidates, and i believe pretty much all of them could probably take down the president electorally come november of next year. >> and you have made news a couple times with the candidate interviews you have done. what do you want to hear from mitt romney? what do you want to get out of him that he hasn't already said or answered? >> i want to know from mitt romney more detail on what he's going to do with the economy. i don't think we want to see 57-point plans. i think we want to see something more simplistic that we can

understand and i want to know that he's not going to do a john boehner trick and cave. >> all right. well, we'll be interested to hear that interview. simon conway, it's great to finally have a chance to talk to you. hi to all the folks in iowa. >> absolutely. my pleasure, chris. anytime. >> thank you. well, we all focus so much attention on iowa because they're the first state in the nation to vote because they're the first state to vote on the presidential candidates. but if you kel me with gop presidential account has made the most visits to iowa since june? who is it? let me know at twitter. do it fast because we'll have the answer when we return. on m, i've learned that when you ask someone in texas if they want "big" savings on car insurance, it's a bit like asking if they want a big hat... ...'scuse me... ...or a big steak... ...or big hair...

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so which gop candidates have made the most visits to the hawkeye state, iowa? the answer, ding, ding, ding, rick santorum. 245 visits, including all 99

counties. michele bachmann second with 184. john hutsman has just one, but we know he's focusing on new hampshire. a belated christmas present for republicans hoping to win the senate next year. conservative democrat ben nelson has said he will not run for a third term. look at this. before nelson you had kohl of wisconsin, akaka from hawaii, bingaman, webb, conrad, joe lieberman all of them bowed out. how many of those six democrats -- how many of these seats are vulnerable. >> quite a few. it tells you why republicans have a good chance of taking back the senate. perhaps the most vulnerable are nebraska and north dakota mainly because of their red state nature. they're very republican-leaning states. >> i guess in nebraska unless they can convince former senator

bob kerrey to run, there doesn't seem to be a nebraska democrat who can really make that seat competitive. >> that's right. and democrats say he is considering a run -- >> oh, he is? >> but we'll believe it when we actually see it. it's not a sure thing that he would actually end up running after his absence from politics for quite a while now. >> six dropouts, twice the number of republican dropouts. already those numbers are putting the democrats at a disadvantage. is there any good news out there for democrats? >> well, chris, probably the best news for democrats is that this ben nelson news really doesn't change things at all. nelson was already going to face an uphill climb for re-election given the poll numbers that he had had, and you look at everything that's out there right now and if president obama ends up winning re-election and if elizabeth warren out in massachusetts can beat republican senator scott brown, democrats have a very realistic chance of holding onto the senate probably in a 50/50 tie

with vice president joe biden in 2013 breaking that tiebreaker. of course, a lot of things have to go their way, but democrats, if they can win in massachusetts, in president obama holds on to win, they can still lose four senate contests, including in nebraska and north dakota and perhaps in two other states and still hold on to control the senate. >> i love -- don't you love just playing these numbers? looking at all the different permutations. >> it's you a some. awesome. >> we've only just begun with the senate. >> thanks, chris. >> the u.s. government sanctions against iran could cause massive retaliation against the u.s. with a major oil block clade. so you earn 50 percent more cash. if you're not satisfied with 50% more cash, send it back! i'll be right here, waiting for it. who wouldn't want more cash? [ insects chirping ] i'll take it. i'll make it rain up in here. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash.

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coffee. >> i have lived the american dream, and i want to be able to bring the promise of america to all of our people and make sure we send president obama back to his hometown where he can go back and learn what it's like to work in the private sector. it's time for him to have that experience and time for us to take the white house back and to keep america strong. >> nbc campaign embed garrett haik is traveling with romney. there's the press bus. what's is like on the bus? when you're on the about us with mitt romney, is he like energized all day long? is he shooting down red pull? what is it like for him? >> they keep the energy level high. he can't drink coffee because it's forbidden as a mormon. he's a sugary cereal guy. >> he's a sugary cereal guy?

>> he's a sugary cereal guy. he made some joke about it last week in new hampshire that he had frosted flakes with chocolate milk and he was going to be bouncing off the walls all day. >> something i did not know. thank you. let's talk a little politics now. he does seem to be calling in every favor these days. he was with aaron chuck this morning. i don't know how many folks in iowa know about that illinois congressman but, you know, the campaign keeps projecting confidence about the nomination overall, but are they worried about iowa? >> look, they have said all along trying to keep expectations relatively low, they don't feel they need to win iowa. they have a big firewall set up in new hampshire. as long as they can outperform expectations and not look like they're trying that hard here, you know, that can be a win for them. as far as shock is concerned, why bother to have the big endorsements if you can't use

them. his district shares a little bit of the media market in northeastern iowa. people probably saw some of his campaign ads when he was running for congress. >> excellent point. you have been tweeting your little heart out. we have a picture you just tweeted a little while ago of an empty field in iowa. there are a lot of those. i have a niece and her family who live in iowa. i have spent time there with family as well as on the campaign trail. what's the point, although it's a pretty picture of a field. >> it's an ongoing theory where political yard signs are a big deal in new hampshire but out here it's not as big a deal. i went cruising down the highway and you have acres and acres between houses. your little one foot by one foot mitt romney yard sign does not have quite the same effect as it does up north in new hampshire. >> so many things, a new perspectives we got this morning from garrett haake.

>> thank you. >> part of mitt romney's pitch is he is in the best position to beat barack obama. jennifer horn is backing mitt romney. she's a conservative and heads the nonprofit we the people freedom forum. good morning. >> good morning, chris. >> are you backing mitt romney because of who he is or because you think he's the only candidate who can beat barack obama? >> i'm backing mitt romney because i think he's got the full package, 25 years of experience as a conservative businessman, successful executive experience in the public sector as governor of massachusetts, and a man who brings tremendous personal character and integrity to everything he's done in his personal life as well as in his business life. i think he's got the character and integrity it takes to lead. we need a leader. >> you know what critics, say. they say he's winning by default "the boston herald" described the rest of the candidates to a team on a clown bus. you, in fact, originally endo e endorsed tim pawlenty. is romney the guy republicans are reluctantly settling for.

>> i don't see it that way. >> he wasn't your first choice. >> you're absolutely right, he wasn't. i was an ardent support of governor pawlenty. i think what we're seeing happening in the race is they take this vetting process very seriously. they have looked at all of these candidates in great detail, and we're coming down to the wire here. the election grassroots campaign in place, that he's well-positioned to beat barack obama, there's nothing wrong with looking at that and saying that's one of the reasons why you're going to vote for him.

>> let me go back then though to what you said because it's true, it's true what you say about his record as governor. so why is it that so many conservatives feel he's not conservative enough? why can't heç get past that 25 or so that he's stuck at in so many places. ? . >> sure. that's interesting you look at him as being stuck at 25% or 30%. with six folks in the race he's the only one that's been able to maintain 25% or 30% with the other 70% split between five other people. i think when -- i think what you're seeing, chris, honestly, is just the normal process as we go through all of this. you know, what i was going to say earlier is what we are united in as conservatives is that the greatest threat to preserving freedom and prosperity in america is another four years of a barack obama administration. so looking at mitt romney and saying he's got a strong conservative record, that he's got a strong record of

leadership, and that he's actually able to win this thing in november, that's the package that we're looking for. >> it's no revelation that he's been accused of flip-flopping, and it has stuck in many circles on issues like -- and these are core issues -- health care, climate change, abortion rights. that's what makes a lot of conservatives i think uncomfortable with him. >> sure. >> so how does he turn that because is this going to be a situation where assuming that he does, as a lot of his top campaign aides have suggested, if he does win the nomination, does he become the person that they rally around or do a lot of conservatives stay home? >> no, i'm confident if governor romney wins the nomination that the conservatives will rally around him. and it's interesting to me because, first of all, every politician on the stage just about has shifted their position on one issue or another, and when i look at governor romney's record, i see aç man who has lived a very conservative life

personally, who is a conservative businessman, and politically over the years where he has shifted his positions, he has shifted to the right. and as he's campaigned throughout the cycle, he's been very clear and consistent on his positions on all the issues you identified and i'm confident one of the reasons i decided to endorse him is i'm confident he will lead from the right, that he will lead from the conservative positions that he has articulated throughout this election. >> jennifer horn, good to see you. thank you so much. >> my pleasure. a check of some other stories. tens of thousands of north koreans waited out in the snow and cold to catch a glimpse of the funeral procession for skim jong-il. good morning, adrian. >> good morning, chris. well, the north koreans kept everyone in the dark about the timing and the details of kim jong-il's state funeral. in fact, it was without warning that the state broadcaster began transmitting what appeared to be

a live feed of the funeral. it was about four hours later than what the south korean media had been anticipating. you could see a long line of vehicles basically snaking its way through the capital, the north korean capital, pyongyang, led by a limousine bearing a portrait of the former leader, the man that the north koreans call their dear leader, and a car carrying the body accompanied by kim jong-un and his uncle. now, thousands of north koreans turned out for a very public display of mourning. rows and rows, very neatç rowsf military troops were in the main square and then there were civilians lining both sides of the roads of the capital. many of them were shown sobbing and shouting, dear father, please don't leave us. now, it must be -- it's worth reminding everybody that this footage was only available

direct from north korea, so it's unclear how much of this mourning was real or staged. back to you, chris. >> adrian, thank you so much. iran is threatening to cut off a fifth of the world's oil supply if the west tightens sanctions on its shipments to punish iran for its nuclear program. they're threatening to close the strait of hormuz. that's the vital waterway where all that oil is transported. there are concerns about a possible military conflict with u.s. naval forces stationed there. big headache for the producers of "the hangover ii." louie viton is suing over the use of this clip. >> don't be ridiculous. >> that a is a louie vitton. >> they have been very stringent in fighting the knockoff. that's pretty much what's behind this, right? who knew that was not the real thing. >> it's exactly what the lawsuit

that louie vuitton is all about. they use a counterfeit bag and louie vuitton says it's around infringement. they objected to warner brothers after the film's opening, but the company still released the film apparently on dvd with that footage included. msnbc did reach out to warner bros. but at this stage ut declined to comment, chris. >> lewis vuitton, not like they pronounced it in the movie. i never saw -- >> i never saw it either. >> it is that time of year we make our resolutions. i think the number one resolution is to lose weight. now there's an insurance company to will pay you to lose weight. >> the concept isn't really new. a number of companies have made similar offers to their employees for years as a what i to reduce obesity and lower health costs but there's one

insurance company in colorado that's offering cash to any adult in colorado to lose weight and to keep it off. it is one of the first programs in the u.s. to make such an offer. so the participants in this weigh and win program earn anywhere from $15 to $150 every three months to lose those pounds. i guess the insurer is hoping the program will eventually be funded by other cities and weight loss programs saying weight loss is as effectives a mammograms or cancer screenings when you talk about reducing the costs of what you need to do to live longer and healthier. >> it's so much harder to say no to chocolate cake. >> but if you get paid to say no it might make it easier. >> thank you. this year online holiday shopping was about more than just bargain hunting, more about convenience. there's a new study for the first time since 2008, e shoppers valued product info and selection.

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reframe the 2012 debate as those republican rivals relentlessly try to blame barack obama for the dismal job market. david lautner is the washington bureau chief for ""the l.a. times."" >> good morning, chris. >> the economy is still in the doll druges adrums and to say w getting there just nots a quickly as we'd like is not a great stump speech. so what's going on in the war r room? >> the obama campaign would like to reframe the debate. they would like to say, look, you need to look longer than that, the middle class has been under stress for many decades, three decades or a generation, and the real choice in the coming election is which party has got the policies that might help the middle class over the long term. it's not enough just to solve the recession. it's got to go further than that and deal with the growing income

inequality that the country has been surfing from. >> what is the upside of the debate? >> it gets him out of the trap of having to argue about each month's economic statistics, each time the unemployment rate comes out mitt romney or whoever the republican nominee is going to be is going to say barack obama has failed. they obviously want to avoid having to have that argument every single monthç and they would like voters to foe quus on a broader, longer term look at the economy. but that's a tough trick. >> but is that going to be -- is that going to be one of the key debates of this campaign? once the republicans choose their nominee, is that what it's going to focus on, the rich versus the poor? is this going to be class warfare? >> the democrats willa they're just trying to get a fair shot for the middle class. you will be hearing that a lot. president obama will be talking over and over again about a fair shot for the middle class, and

he's going to be making the argument that if you choose a republican president, you're going to be making the income inequality that the country has been suffering worse, not better. the republicans are going to argue that's class warfare. >> in the final analysis i'm wondering does an unemployment rate stuck above 8% trump any clever strategy by the obama campaign? >> it's a difficult trick for the obama people to pull off. it's going to depend a lot on how bad the unemployment rate is and what the direction is. if people feel that the economy is slowly getting better and, in fact, the last couple months the consumer confidence index has indicated that people are starting to feel that way, then president obama has got a shot at making that argument. if people feel things are bad and getting worse, than that argument becomes much, much harder to make. >> david, great to see you.

thank you so much. >> my pleasure. >> i love this tweet of the day. it comes from "washington post" reporter david nakimura who posted a photo and çwrote, hawaiian shirt alert. obama's secret service detail embraced the spirit of vacation. [ coughs ] what is this shorty? uh, tissues sir, i'm sick. you don't cough, you don't show defeat. give me your war face! raaah! [ male announcer ] halls. a pep talk in every drop. it comes from "washington post"

let's get down to the wire. this is a battle for the ages. crocodile versus lawnmower. okay. it wasn't actually that much of a match. crocodile wins. the mower going down to elvis a 16-foot long 1,000 pound saltwater croc. crews are putting the finishes touches on the new york city tradition. the 12,000 wound wall is covered

with waterford crystal triangle. in algeria you don't need ski to snow. the big festival is sand skiing no lift either, you have to walk all the way up yourself. and this prank got a boston transit worker in hot water. >> fa-la-la-la-la. >> he reprogrammed the voice with tells you what the stop is. a serious pusnishment isn't expected. and which famous do you want to live next to, tim tebow, the jolie pitt family, and jennifer aniston. on the flip side you don't want to live here the "jersey shore" cast, charlie sheen, or lindsay lohan. nothing compares to you singer sinead o'connor announces he's ending her marry.

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six days to go and six candidates are blanketing iowa ahead of that state's first in the nation caucus and it's getting ugly out there. >> if you want to run a negative campaign and you want to attack people, at least be man enough to own it. >> newt gingrich unleashed, unloading on front-runner mitt romney, and that's nothing compared to what he had to say about ron paul. looks like newt's positive campaign is gone for good. plus, wailing in the streets as an emotional scene as north koreans say good-bye to their so-called dear leader.ç hi, everyone. i'm milissa rehberger filling into today for thomas roberts. the race to win iowa kicked into high gear this