divides americans, engaging in classç warfare and resorts to distortion and demagoguery. once barack obama appealed to our better angels. now he demonizing our fellow americans. >> joining us now from iowa, john heilemann, national affairs editor and author of ati"game change." >> thank you, alex. >> you are our man in iowa right now and word has it you are following ron paul but i want to start with mitt romney and the fact that he has his knives out as it were for president obama. there's been a lot of talk that mitt is feeling better, if not confident, about an iowa -- his iowa standings. can you give us more intel on that? >> well, i think, alex, they did their closing argument last week in new hampshire and it was sort of striking he did a closing argument in a republican nomination contest where he

focused exclusively on president obama. didn't talk about other republicans. and i think that reflects an extraordinarily high degree of confidence in the romney campaign. i quoted a senior adviser in a column i wrote last week as saying he could not see a scenario in which mitt romney was not the nominee. that is partly because they believe the field is so weak. it's also partly because they think romney is rising, that he's rekofcovered from the gingh surge. even if he doesn't win iowa, they only see one other possible winner here and that's ron paul, who they don't think has any chance of being the republican nominee. it could actually be a win for him either way. but i think that they are probably right. he is in a pretty good position to finish first here and if not finishing first, he's in a strong position to finish second. either one of these things is good news forç mitt romney. >> john, one of the things you mentioned in that article, mitt romney better lucky than loved. i think no phrase stands up to better scrutiny. i also want to bring in here now

with us is mark hall prepren al from iowa. thanks for joining us. the other half of starsky and hutch. >> long as i'm hutch. >> we were talking about the prognosis for the cause kiss, and it sounds like no matter what happens, maybe, it could be good news for mitt romney. i wonder if you look at rick santorum, michele bachmann, no some degree newt gingrich, where do they shake down in all of this come january 3rd. >> in terms of mitt romney's luck, last week the attacks were geared toward newt gingrich and ron paul. there's very little attacking at all against romney. the press wants to force candidates out of the race.

that's part of the way the process works. i think whoever doesn't din initi -- finish high will probably leave the race. if romney doesn't look super strong headed out of here, it's possible they will all stay around and see what happens in south carolina. >> let's go to a little sound -- we talked about newt gingrich briefly. let's talk about newt on the offensive. the teddy bear is mad. let's play a little sound from the man who said he was not going to go negative. >> i'm going to say totally positive. all i'd say, mitt, is if you want to run a negative campaign and you wantç to attack people at least be man enough to own it. you are a moderate massachusetts republican who, in fact, is very timid about job creation. let's get it on together and let's compare our two plans. >> my panel, only newt gingrich, only newt gingrich can say he's going to stay positive and then attack someone's manhood, call them timid and whatever else. >> let's get it on. >> and then also let's get it on. we won't unpack all that, but

what do you guys make of this? is this desperate? is this true colors? what is this? >> yes. no, i think newt gingrich has had a terrible couple days. this is a guys who message has been stop airing negative ads about me and yesterday spent much of the day answering questions about his bus tour in iowa being cut in half for the number of stops which is never a sign of endurance and going forward. and number two, "the wall street journal" reported and this was a really interesting piece, one of the most interesting pieces in the last couple weeks, that newt gingrich, the con supplementing company he ran, one of them had something under the title newt's notes in 2006 after romney care passed praising romney care saying he agrees with it strongly in principle. that is very, very tough to deal with. very tough to come back from. he's been on defense completely in part because he has boxed himself in with this relentlessly positive pledge. he said he would go ahead with contrasts, that would be acceptable, but this is the problem when you are getting knocked around for two weeks and you do not answer it.

negatives work. this race is the proof of it. >> now seems to be going negative. >> it would be one thing, too, if he had the organization to back up, you know, the attacks on his candidacy for instance, if he was being attacked for two weeks and he had volunteers everywhere to help him out. but he clearly is lacking anything close to an organization. i thought the virginia ba&ot, missing that deadline was just devastating. it symbolized all the shortcomings of a candidate based on momentum and a good book tour. >> what do you think he can do? what choice does he have but to go negative? >> nothing. >> there is no choice. john and mark, you guys are on the ground there. how effective has this barrage of romney super pac negative ads been and, you know, is it too late for newt gingrich to rally? >> well, it's been very effective, alex. i think it's not just the romney

super pac but rick perry's super pac, ron paul attacking newt gingrich. you couldn't turn on the television without see a brutal attack on gingrich. we've seen him lose a lot of altitude because of that and a very wise strategist on the democratic side pointed out to me a couple days ago that iowa is pa momenta momentum game and get hot at the end. it's hard once you've gotten hot and then cold to get hot again. you see gingrich in the most recent polling. he's the only candidate two is trending downward. everybody else is either stable or among some of the second tier candidates ticking up slightly. but he's dropping, still dropping, now more slightly than he was before but i don't think it's at all inconceivable that he will finish fourth our here after having been ahead by 15 points just three weeks ago. >> you're telling me it's like leftover pizza. you can warm it up once, but you can't warm it up twice. >> i don't like the analogy between newt gingrich and anything edible, alex, but

that's bad. >> mark and my panel here, i want to talk a little bit about ron paul. there's been a lot of chatter about paulç coming up in the polls. there's some thinking he may run away with this thing. we have been talking on the show and certainly in the liberal media chattering class about the ron paul newsletter and a lot of the very incendiary if not incredibly racist comments that have been published under ron paul's name. is that getting any pickup in iowa and if it's not, why is it not? >> it's getting some. you know, the challenge for ron paul all along if he wants to be a big player in this fight leaving iowa is to expand the people who would find his message appeal be. there are probably more people out there who would vote for him under some circumstances that are currently part of his camp. the problem is the penal have gone negative on him on things that really cut off the chance of expanding the support into the establishment part of the party which is where most, i think, of the vote is up for

grabs. hitting him hard on his position on iran and israel. that puts ai ceiling on his support. i don't think there's any outcome out of here which allows him to be a major player in the fight for the nomination. >> john, the control room is telling me you're shaking your head. could you not agr do you not agree with that? >> no, i'm nodding my head. i'm nodding my head. nodding. >> i wanted to see if there was some division of thinking on that. >> no, no, he's exactly right. >> tell them to check their vertical hold in the control room. >> check the vertical hold. i have no idea what that even means but we will check it. when we talk about these candidates, there is the question of like, you know, romney got the endorsement of a boston paper the other day, yesterday i think it was -- >> yes. >> and they refer to thisç fiel of candidates as the clown car, which is i will say a metaphor i have been using for several months now. and the question is like we've

done this somersaulting, could it be herman cain, could it be ron paul? at the end of the kday was it nt always going to be mitt romney. >> i don't think romney's campaign always thought it was going to be mitt romney. you saw a moment with the gingrich surge where they were concerned. i think some people thought they were going to in the romney camp. some backers were much more worried than others. he does have the ability had he run perhaps a better effort over the last couple weeks, he had the potential to get organized. he had the potential to raise money. he's a very famous former house speaker. he's a known name. he's a fox news commodity and so forth. i don't think it was always going to be romney. >> romney has been the beneficiary of an immense amount of good fortune. when rick perry came in he was considered a viable candidate. he could raise a lot of money. he was the governor of a big

state. and then it turns out he couldn't speak during a debate. herman cain, the -- >> is that good fortune or being a good candidate? >> in the final days the attacks are going between ron paul and newt gingrich and romney is bale unscathed even though conventional wisdom says he's the front runner. >> gingrich has been attacking romney pretty aggressively. romney got mildly hit. mostly he got a pass, but newt

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i'm getting to know iowa, the great state of iowa. was it the buckeyes or -- what are they called? oh, hawkeyes. hawkeye, buckeye, what's the difference? you know, it's 3:00 phoenix time. >> hawkeyes, buckeyes, what is the difference? that was rick perry and his -- >> does anybody know the difference. >> that was sheriff joe arpaio

with rick perry at a campaign event this morning. here is my question. if you are rick perry and you have a history of not saying the most intelligent things on the campaign trail, do you or do you not bring someone who you know is going to be a solid speaker? >> if only that were the worst thing about joe arpaio. >> yes. >> i think the problem for perry was the one thing he had going for him going into a general lex was he actually could harness the power of the hispanic vote, could potentially win some of those states in the southwest. and what does he do? he moves to the right on immigration. he gets persona non grata to be his campaign spokesperson totally abandoning the one pocket of support he had that mightç have made him viable. >> and perhaps burned from his comments about people not having a heart if they weren't sympathetic to the dream act. it's worth noting perry trotted out sheriff joe in new hampshire, which is also be a interesting choice. mark, i know you were with rick perry yesterday. tell us what the general mood is

in perryville. >> i was with him yesterday. i was also with him in new hampshire the day he showed up with sheriff joe. it's very symbolic of how this campaign has gone. it's true the guy symbolically is a mixed bag, but he wouldn't be a bad surrogate but they never introduce him in a way voters understand why is he there? some voters have heard of him but not everybody by any means. perry is a much improbabled candida -- much-improved candidate from when he started. he had talking points he stuck to and delivered well. if you talk about the overall contours of the race and where romney is, romney has improved dramatically has a candidate. the others have improved with baby steps. romney goes out and gives tight stump speeches, well-delivered. perry is still learning. if he had six more months on the trail he would be even better but he's not there yet. his campaign says they hope they can do well enough here. they're clearly not overflowing

with texas-sized confidence. >> aun understatement as it were. perry has made a turn to really court the evangelical and christian conservative votes. his new slogan is faith, jobs, and fre dedom. the general thinking is this is not going to be a candidacy that lasts that far into the future. >> televangelist clearly.ç he has a bright few tiuture as televangeli televangelist. he can get up there and talk about guns and gays and get on with it. >> i want to bring you in here. gary johnson is expected to announce within the hour he's seeking the libertarian nomination and there's been a lot of talk about a third party candidate happening in this race. who does this hurt more, the white house or the republican party? >> well, first of all, breaking news, gary johnson is going to

be a write in on the libertarian ticket. we will all support him on one important plank. >> these assumptions. go ahead. >> i think that hit has shown that almost exclusively that incumbents get hurt by third-party candidacies, whether the candidacies come from the right, whether they come from the left, whether they come down the middle. that might not prove true this time around if someone like ron paul were to run. i don't think gary johnson will have much affect on the race at all runnings a a l s as a liber. you would have to search pretty hard historically to find a candidate, a third-party candidate, who has not in the end been beneficial to the challenger just by creating an additional choice, an alternative to the incumbent. it's just always been the case and even when it's

counterintuitive, it tends to hurt incumbents. they never like third-party candidates. >> but it's not going to be gary johnson. maybe if it's a michael bloomberg who has $1 billion to throw atç a presidential race t there's no signs he's considering it. >> no signs at all. dwyane wade and lebron james of 2012, john heilemann, mark halpren, thank you for joining us. after the break vice president joe biden and mitt romney are squaring off. that's next. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

team obama isç shaping its campaign strategy around the middle class with a message that says companies, specifically mitt romney, will not save the american dream. joining our panel now the man behind the magic, the reverend al sharpton, host of "politics nation" on msnbc. it's a pleasure to have you.

>> always blood to be with you. >> so joe biden sort of went on the attack against mitt romney and accused him of embracing policies that would basically gut america's middle class. mitt romney went back at him yesterday and we have a little sound as far as what he said to the vice president. >> so, mr. vice president, let me be very clear, i am in this race because the policies of your administration have harped the middle class. the poor have a safety net, the rich are doing just fine, but the middle class in america is hurting. >> there are a lot of things to unpack here. the first i think is it's joe biden versus mitt romney here. if you talk about two guys that are fighting for the middle class, you put joe biden against mitt romney, is the calculus not immediate lly evident?

>> i think, first of all, if i was mitt romney, i would not have fought joe biden. i would only fight barack obama. somebody in his campaign should teach him you don't punch down, you punch up if you're running for president. so that's -- >> which, of course, you know having run for president yourself. >> exactly. the fact that he could be baited into a fight with joe biden tells you all that you need to know what's going on wrong with his campaign. but the other thing to getç in this fight a week after they fought against the payroll tax cut extension which is right at the middle class, the timing of this -- i would have -- if i was romney, this was not the right time and biden was not the right guy to fight. all of that spells that he knows they're vulnerable with the middle class. they're looking at the poll numbers of the middle class so they're reacting because they know they have to because there's a vulnerability there. >> doesn't it sort of get to how much of this election is really out of the hands of the candidates themselves?

if the economy stays at its current state and nothing happens, then, of course, obama is in a very dangerous position and it doesn't matter if mitt romney has gone over joe biden or barack obama because the economy is going to basically cloud the minds of voters. if it continues to improve, then, yeah, the president's hand is better that way and it's just remarkable we have all this theater in front of us. we have all these speeches and these attacks, and the real fundamental determinant is going to be the economy. >> sam, that might be true if the polls didn't say that in all of this bad economy the way they played it, the president is actually going up, and i think -- >> the economy has been improving very recently and obama has also -- >> but you don't think the payroll tax -- >> i think obama spent the last three months talking strictly about job creation. he didn't get his job package. he got about one-tenth of it tops, but he's been talking about it and you have republican candidates who have basically been talk on austerity. >> and a republican congress that was not cooperating with its candidates or the sort of long goals here in terms of what

they were doing on the payroll tax cut. what's interesting is romney's doubling down on this rhetoric. you know, if we listen to romney speaking about entitlements, i'm not going to play the sound but i will read. once we thoughtç entitlement meant americans were entitled. it's as if they say it's a party of millionaires. it's almost as if romney is falling in line with the idea that the way to solve our economic problems is trickle down economics. >> i assume it message tests very well. number two, i actually don't mean that totally ironically. i think it proves effective, especially with independents who he is trying to woo because you do have a realtime model of sort of problems that can come in europe and whaetion happening rig right now. number two, this has sort of been the whole republican mantra, right, for months? i don't see how the guy who is concerned about being called a

flip-flopper is going to start moving past what he has been saying. >> i do think there's something to unpack in terms of when you talk about it being entitlement programs, that's something where you have negative reaction from independents. when you talk about social safety net programs and helping the poor and food stamps -- >> the question is whether entitlement -- how negative is a word is it compared to welfare. it's interesting they've tried to rebrand it to entitlement. i think it's a complicated term. i'm not sure people understand what that means. i think it's a difficult message to get across. >> when you get it down to the specifics, they're going to cut your medicare, democrats win that argument. >> and that's exactly -- >> and as -- i agree with them, it can be interpreted by anybody because it's so -- one of those terms entitlement that's not so well-defined. so if i'm out there running against romney, i would say they're going to cut your medicare, your medicaid, your social security. itç can be whatever i want it

be because entitlement is in the eye of the definer. >> romney basically dispatched rick piry perry by attacking hi going after social security. >> now he's lumping food stamps in with deficit cutting. we will be back with more on talk of the nation and the future of america and the future of our energy policy. next on "now." .

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the average member of congress is nine times wealthier than the average american voter who puts him or her in office. is this the reason for everything that's wrong with washington? is it, reverend? >> no, i don't think it in and of itself is. >> it would be nice if that was it though. >> let's be fair, roosevelt was wealthy. >> yeah. kennedy was wealthy. >> kennedy. i don't think one that is

wealthy is necessarily anti-poor or lacks sensitivity. i think what's wrong with washington is what's wrong with washington, that you have some policies that clearly are insensitive to a lot of the american population, and you have this whole trickle down economic theory, many of whom were very nonpoor -- nonwealthy i should say right wingers that developed this in first place. i don't think wealth in and of itself defines it. i think the insensitivity. >> it's not the wealth of the candidates. it's the wealth of the campaigns and how much money is actually in the process. >> and that's a very good point. "the washington post" actually has a story on this as does "the new york times," and it talks about a guy returning home from the steel mill and deciding that day i'm going to go run for congress, and that was 30 years ago, and the question is can you still do that in this day and age. can you be a working class guy and decide you want to represent your state? >> evidently not. >> well, i think you can if you

can get the billionaire that owns the steel mill to back you. >> right. >> but he's probably running himself. >> it's worth taking a look at who are the incomes of the ripest lawmakers. darrell issa has $448 millionç estimated largely from the sale of automobile related products, including car alarms. >> you go through that list and it's real estate, a couple lawyers. you're like, oh, my god, lawyers? they make that much money? number 14 on the list, her husband's legal fortune and i gather his investments did very well. >> marrying wealthy people seems to be a way to in turn become wealthy yourself. but i guess there is a question though, especially on the heels of the payroll tax cut debate, when you have folks that are worth this amount of money and you're talking about $40 in the average american's paycheck, there is some, if not being out

of touch, i think it's easier to sort of overlook the impact that that has on your average american. >> these people live in one-quarter of washington, d.c., in the wealthiest quarter of that. they aren't surrounded with the housing crisis. they don't know what it's like to have to struggle for a meal every day. when they go home they fly on an airplane. they don't have to bus it home, figure out how to car pool. their lives are by definition sheltered from everyday america, and that's always going to be a problem. there's just no way around it. i don't really know what the solution is. >> they really have no appreciation for what $40 in a paycheck means or $1,000 because it is not an immediate concern of theirs. and i think when you become -- whether you're wealthy or not, when you become detached from everyday people that you're making decisions for and what it means to them, not what it means to you, then you're going to make judges that will hurt people and you really don't think you're hurting them. >> and i guess is question is how does the cycle of sort of having to makeúaç certain amoun

of money just to get into auft, how do we break that? especially when we have estimates -- i think it's the center for responsive politics predicted $6 billion will be spent in the 2012 races. >> that's nuts. >> a shocking figure. >> the average -- >> it's definitely possible and i guess it's a question of like whether the message works for candidates, small-time candidates who can start promoting that message and making it work. and it's possible, but a doesn't seem to be happening. >> i was shocked by this statistic. paul blumenthal reported $1.5 million was already spent on ben nelson's re-election campaign before he announced he wasn't going to run again. what a waste of money. a lot of people could use that $1.5 million. me, too. >> sam stein was taking donations -- >> imagine you spending $1.5 million and saying i'm going to move on. >> you bring up an interesting point and ben nelson's personal net worth is estimated to be about $7 million. roll call ranks him as the 38th

richest. when we talk about who is serving and who is attracted to public service. there's been so much vilification -- rick perry is talking about a part-time congress and the idea of nobly serving your country for the right reasons, this is increasingly a career you go to after you have made your money elsewhere, is it not? whether you're an oil magnate or a real estate mack gnat magnated of a bow, right? >> you're looking at a number of teem who got wealthy after they went into public office. rick perry is among them. >> newt gingrich. >> mitt romney would be an exception. so i don't know that you can say that we're seeing a trend one(

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president obama has until the end of february to approve or kill plans for an oil pipeline from canada to the gulf coast. the controversial keystone project had been under the radar for months until it became a political football during the payroll tax debate. joining us from washington is energy expertç rhonda udone. rhonda, thanks for joining us. >> sure.

good to be here with you, alex. >> let's talk a little about this. the republicans made this a big issue in the payroll tax cut -- i keep calling it a debacle, debate that happened at the end of the year. the general thinking is though that the party may have in fact killed the project by putting it on such a tight time line because the obama administration was ultimately going to put the nails in the coffin. what do you make of that? >> well, alec, actually it hasn't been under the radar screen. it's been an issue for the past year seeing that the administration both the white house and the state department had to actually approve plans for the keystone pipeline. and the way that the obama administration sees it and so do republicans frankly is twofold. one, it's a matter of national security. the majority of our oil imported into the united states comes from canada and mexico. and so we need to keep that flow from canada coming certainly. it's not from the middle east. but purely from our neighbors in canada and mexico. so it's a matter of national

security to build that keystone pipeline. the second issue is the obama administration is the one who says our economy is inextricably linked with our energy policy. and this administration believes that energy policy is about job creation. and certainly all depending on the estimates you look at, the keystone pipeline can create anywhere between 10,000 to 20,000 jobs in the united states at a time when we need it. i think the republican majority was smart in including it to force a decision by the obama administration because they are the ones who decided to defer the decision. >> i have to interrupt you t-cause the estimates of jobs place. cornell -- you cited 10,000 to 20,000 jobs. the state department says 6,500 temporary construction jobs. cornell university says only 50 as in five-oh permanent jobs. >> i don't think they're inflated. if you know anything about

building pipelines, particularly in the united states think about this. geographically the pipeline stretches from canada through the united states all the way down to texas. that's a heck of a lot of geography to say it's only going to create 6,500 jobs besides the fact the state department is biased observer having deferred this decision until next year after the election is over. i'm not so sure -- >> rhonda, with all due respect they're no more biased than a report that was written by -- that was asked for by transcanada. transcanada paid for it. that's where we're getting these wacky, 10,000, 20,000 numbers. >> i would love to ask the u.s. labor department, who is in charge of jobs and the economy in the united states, to estimate how much jobs they think it's going to create. >> rhonda, let me ask you, you mentioned national security. sorry, that was alicea menendez before. its alex wagner again. is the environment, global warming and climate change, not also an issue of national

security that should be factored in here. bill mckiben, the noted scientist and environmentally said right now they have a straw into that formation but they want to quintuple production over the next five years. they want that stuff out there and they have to have some kind of pipe to get it out. stopping keystone will buy time used for the planet to come so its senses around climate change. why is there so little attention paid to environmental issues? >> actually, alec, therealex, tt of attention paid to the environmental issues, but the reality is when we're talking about national security, we're talking about protection of the homeland. we're talking about our citizens. we're talking about our jobs. we're not necessarily talking about the environment as a whole because when you do bring in global warming issues, you start to bring in the views of other countries around the world, and when you're talking about national security, national security can be a very selfish thing. we have to decide what's best

for here -- us here in the united states, and when we're talking about national security, we're talking about keeping the domestic supply of oil at a reasonable incoming rate so that we do not have either price fluctuation or -- >> you have the obama administration increasing domestic production of oil. you have us less reliant on foreign oil than we've been in a generation and yet we don't see republicans meeting the president halfway on this. he gets absolutely no credit for what he has already done to upset his environmentalist friends. so we talk about national security, national security is about creating a long-term policy here. it's not about a pipeline that runs through nebraska so that we can sell oil to china. >> no, that's not what it's about actually. a lot of the oil would be used here domestically and i think the obama administration -- >> actually though it doesn't actually reduce the cost of energy. which is supposed to be the point of this whole thing. it's all based on a bunch of

numbers and facts that don't exist. >> there's something to be said for a lack of a nonpartisan assessmentç of what the impactf this is going to be. i want to bring you all in here -- >> why? >> some people have been noticeably silent. there is news in terms of iranian sanctions. they have threatened to close the strait of hormuz which is where one-fifth of the world's oil goes through. this has repercussions on gas prices around the world. if we're talking about this politically, the republicans have latched onto the job creation aspect of this. certainly a rise in gas prices gives keystone more -- gives more currency to the notion that keystone has to be built. >> it's a terrible time to be an environmentalist when the economy is suffering because you just can't win the argument. it's very dwifficult to say lets make moves towards conservation or renewable energy when people just want cheap gas. and you know, there's a reason that labor unions have ostensibly give their support to constructing the keystone pipeline because they want jobs,

too. it's ironic temporary jobs are fine when it comes to chi stone but when you're talking about being american roads and bridges which are temporary jobs republicans -- >> the economy is not temporary. i think all jobs are temporary. >> true. >> i think what you say, sam, is exactly right -- >> i know. >> i'll leave it there. but i think it's interesting where you see some of the mainstream environmentalists, the rhetoric really getting heightened because of that frustration and because i think it was one climate scientist who talked about it was game over for the climate if this went through. you're like, well, not really. it's obviously a big issue and a big problem and i think what mckicken said is right, it's a stalling tactic toç see if whe the economy recovers if the environmental movement can get off the mat and start converting people? >> when was the last vic four for the environmental lobby?

>> you can argue president obama trying to punt the decision until after 2012 was a vic four f -- victory for the movement. rhonda, thank you for joining us. >> sure. good to be with you. >> thanks a lot. when we come back, where can you get free coffee in these tough economic times and who tops the list of the most admired people for 2011? that will be next on "now." i'm chris sill lis sa. coming up on andrea mitchell reports, on the road in iowa. nbc's chuck todd sat down with newt gingrich. we'll have the first look at that one-on-one interview. a mitt romney now the man to beat in iowa? new sign that is romney could have the race all wrapped up. politico's jonathan martin joins us. plus, a rare glimpse into skr

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welcome back. it's time for what now. joblessness leads to higher use of stress medications and antidepressants and in these tough economic times some mcdonald's in northern california are offering free coffee. we know that anxiety, unhappiness, so on and so forth, rise and fall with the unemployment rate. does a free cup of coffee make you more depressed, more anxious, or does it alleviate those things? >> it might make you more anxious, it's coughy. >> call me when star bucks is handing out free coffee. mcdonald's, i don't think i want it. >> alan greenspan was monitoring for underwear sales. that was sort of a disturbing image all around. >> say nothing ill of alan greenspan before we go to -- let's move on to the next topic which is the most admired people in this country according to a

"usa today"/gallupç list. hillary clinton is the most admired woman. oprah is number two. michelle obama is number three. and for the men, obama is at the very top, george bush is second, bill clinton third, and the reverend billy graham and warren buffett died. >> donald trump, that is appalling. >> the fact that dron nald trtr of the pope is scary. >> it makes you feel this is less most admired and best name recognition. >> in fairness to trump we're at a moment where people really like capitalism and like the sense of somebody earning money. that is his brand. >> billy bram and warren buffett. >> a final farewell to kim jong- jong-il. a soldier says how can the sky not cry? the people are all crying tears of blood? is this stockholm syndrome? >> i don't think that begins to

describe it. that's very mild compared to what these poor people are suffering. it's hideous and sad. >> the level of pathos n these images cannot be overstated, and i will say when this show ends, you should see the control room, the staff on the set, similar outpouring of grief -- >> every day. >> bring it back in can it be two hours? >> reverent al says he wants that in brooklyn when he dies. >> never mind. we don't look forward to it. we hope it never happens. thanks again to hugo, alicea, maggie, and sam. that's all for now. i'll be back tomorrow at noon eastern and, of course, you can always follow us on twitter @nowwithalex. chris cillizza is in today for andrea. how goes it? >> it goes well. a roll lickiicking good time on "now" with alex set. coming up chuck "today" jotodd

after wrapping up his interview with mitt romney. and fixing foreclosures. do the republican kads have a pl plan to repair the housing market? "andrea mitchell reports" is coming up next. after a difficult day yesterday with that big rainstorm on the east coast, a nice quiet day for travel today. the only real travel trouble spots are the pacific northwest with more rain and snow. as far as the forecast goes, eastern coast, no problems. new york, d.c., atlanta looks nice. a little cold in detroit. west coast, no problems either. have a great day.

right now on "andrea mitchell reports." start your engines. the republican candidates are racing in buses around iowa in the final days before the caucuses. nbc's chuck todd is on the trail with newt gingrich. his one-on-one interview this hour. >> there's no question a very tiny operation has been growing very, very rapidly. we are in good shape in iowa and new hampshire, south carolina, florida. playing to win. mitt romney spent months keeping iowa expectations low. now, he may be poised to take the top spot. rocking the vote. could ron paul