hampshire. >> bigot. >> the blood in the water or mitt's millions. >> they were making a lot of money as the company were going bankrupt. >> i thought he apologized for going after my record at bain free intersurprise will be onç trial. i'm not worried about that. >> huntsman hunts his moment. >> can you feel a bit of momentum in the air. >> now it's down to the voters. yes, indeed, voting is under way in new hampshire. the first ballots being cast to choose the republican nominee

for president and front-runner mitt romney facing a moment of truth. governor romney spent the day in manchester, not firing people, but suring up his once considerable support. from the state of new hampshire, the state with tax free liquor stores greeting visitors on the high, with change on the dime or perhaps on a comment. romney has spent the last 24 hours in full damage control mode over these instantly infamous comments. >> i like being able to fire people that provide services to me. if someone doesn't give me the good service i need, i want to say i'm going to go get somebody else to provide that service to me. >> my, my, mitt. only montgomery burns could have said it better. >> i've just robbed a man of his likelihood and i feel empty. have him beaten to a pulp.

>> if mitt has only himselfç t blame, his republican rivals are happy to take the error has an opening for the take. >> governor romney enjoys firing people. i enjoy creating jobs. >> these are cases where they were making a lot of money, while the company was going bankrupt. you have to ask about whether that's responsible management. >> they're just vultures waiting for the company to get sick. then they swoop in, they eat the carca carcass. they leave with that. >> wait a minute. isn't this the party of free market, low tax and deregulated capitalism. maybe they have been enlightened by the occupy movement. the protesters are out in new hampshire in force forcing the

cancellation of an vent at the gingrich headquarters last night wrangling rick santorum. he did get occupied himself but he turned his protest into a procapitalist rallying cry. >> the truth is there's never been anything in the history of the earth that's freed people from poverty like free enterprise american style. >> what about free enterprise romney style? mitt, that does appear to be your problem. we have a two-man brains trust to kick off our hour. in washington, dr. cornell west and on the scene in manchester new hampshire, david korn. david, i've got to start with you. isn't the problem that so many

of these can understadidates ar to be something they are not. romney is trying to persuade us he's not a predatory financer but compassionate and dedicated to job creation? >> that's what campaigns are about. it's telling people what you're not. the problem that you have here from newt gingrichs perspective, there's a lot of problems, but any time he gets out there, it turns out, he does exactly the same thing. while he's going on about mitt romney being at bain capital and sounding like an economic p populous, he's an adviser. he's been making money off the same corporate racket. even though he can make these attacks on mitt romney and they are good attacks. i expect these to continue from

other candidates. newt gingrich nor anyone else can really benefit from these attack themselves. it just sort of boom raperangs ç >> republicans would attack their fellow candidate on the basis of capitalism and greed. i thought that was the duty of democrats. >> or the members of the occupy movement. i'm here with my dear brother tavis smiley. you think of poor people and working people, we hear some truths now from newt gingrich talking about predatory capitalism. we hear truths from rick perry talk about the way in which elite swoop in and run away with the money.

that's what the occupy movement has been talking about. the way in which the men running for president have little compassion. >> it's increased by 27% since 2006. the year before the start of this great recession. were you surprise thad bhoon has been running for president for more than a decade should say thing like he enjoys firing people and he was once worried about receiving a pink slip. >> i think first claim was something that was true. in fact, not just him but precisely what predatory elites do. they go in. they fire. the profits go up. shareholders walk away. workers are pushed out.

they are left with nothing. they walk away withç big profi and receive rewards for being magnificent men and women. they move right in. we just got a new citigroup bank man who is taking over chief of staff in the white house. the same kind of rule in this case, republican more mean shi -spirited but tied to democrats. we're going to see both parties critique in a very similar way and that's when the truth resides. >> david. >> i just have to say this about jack lew. i understand the criticism but he was head of the l and b in the white house and while he did work for citigroup. he's worked for the center for budget and priorities and he created the heating assistance program. i wouldn't rub them together with mitt romney by any means.

>> it's not identical with the version. >> the states almost uncannily matches the battleground stateso play a greater role in this election in 2012 than perhaps previously thought. ? >> i don't think in terms under that name will there be a lot of campaign debates. i do believe we will see a fundamental clash of values and policies in the general election. barack obama hacç a view that yu use government prudently, fiscally responsibility, but use it to try to nudge the economy in the right direction and help people and create and preserve a social safety net. mitt romney and all the republicans who are there

campaigning here, sort of equate that the with socialism. the way they are talking is the government shouldn't do anything. it shouldn't redistrict any money. by what mitt romney has been saying the past week, you believe he wants to get care of medicare entirely, pell grants and everything. what we do as a country to grow the economy and improve the middle class, to help those up, it's going to be at the center of the debate in those states that you just ticked off. >> i would want to push brother dave on this. if the journalists do their job, if issue of poor and working people can be at the center. they are continuely questioned. i appreciate the kind of work you do in allows for those voices to be heard. it's journalist who is are failing on the job of not asking these kind of questions to our politicians.

>> dr. west -- be. >> i think -- >> we know republicans have plan top get the economy going. i want you to take a look at the graph showing tax change frs the 1%. mitt romney is a bleeding heart socialist compared to newt gingrich. you know he'sç a historian, no an economyists. perhaps he will revise that now that he is taking on the 1%. >> i wouldn't hold my breath. . it's not the candidates. it's the social forces behind them. it's the big money relation of gingrich. >> david corn, final question to you. you have to accept that professor west had a well made point. we've seen the occupy protests

throughout the country. education for the poor. these never seem to arise. it doesn't seem to focus on these issues. last night we saw in new hampshire, a number of occupy protesters making their voices heard. >> when the white house and the democrats fully engage on the presidential level, you'll see -- go back to what the president was talking about a year ago in his state of the union speech about increasing inve investments and education. not with the emphasis on poverty. >> no mention of the poor. >> in terms of talking about working class issues, he's talking about that. we'll see a lot more of that. i agree with you totally. the media needs to focus on this more.

i believe it's going to be aç central part of the campaign. >> we hope so. >> we don't have enough time. >> thank you. >> thank you so much for joining us. >> stay with msnbc throughout the evening as the primary results start to come in. prime time coverage will again at 6:00 eastern. what happens to mitt rom fl kn romney in new hampshire could mean a lot. >> why is mitt so far ahead of you? >> he's a home boy. >> you are the first person to call mitt romney a home boy. [ male announcer ] is zero worth nothing? ♪

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it's primary day in new hampshire. since 1980, no republican has won the nomination without winning south carolina. mitt romney is the favorite to win new hampshire tonight. the other candidates are looking ahead. one of them the rick perry who was campaigning there today a. >> you go to gaffney and that little company down there shut down. there are people out of work because of whatç mitt romney a bain capital did. >> not to be out done, newt

gingrich in a full blown media offered this on the issues that he think will hurt romney in south carolina. >> clearly governor romney's support of gun control would be an issue. >> still, perry is struggling to catch romney as the latest poll reveals. romney is there at 37% with santorum and gingrich fighting it out for second place and perry behind at 12%. thaur thank you for joining us. your state is about as red as it gets. shouldn't that favor rick perry or santorum in the primary? >> it should if you were to look at things politically.

it's not always political thought that drives primary voting. people in south carolina or pretty much like people everywhere else. they would like to be with a winner. i don't think that republican voters in this state on the 21st, i think is the date of the primary, are going to stray too far from what they think is possible. if romney were uó win, comfortly, in new hampshire, i think he'll win in south carolina as well. >> do you believe that mr. romney's claim that he is the capitalist, the businessman that america needs at the helm to lead us completely out of recession, do you believe his claims about himself? >> no, i don't. i never have believed them. i don't think he is stuck with any one plan long enough to make

any of it believable. the fact of the matter it, it's pretty much a set conclusion that mr. romney will try to find which direction the winds are blowing, and try to get out in front of almost any issue. what i think is going to happen here is if he wins, he'll do fine. if he were to finish second in new hampshire or too close to first, in first, he's going to have real problems in this state on the 21st. the big question is, will it will santorum or newt gingrich that benefit from that. i don't think it's going to be -- >> how badly damaged, do you think mr. romney has been by some of the comments of gingrich

and perry. particularly, rick tyler who says he's nothing more than a predatory paper shuffler. his business successç comes fr raiding and destroy businesses and rick perry saying he was a vulture who swooped in, took the best bits and left the carcass behind. >> i would not be that colorful in my explanation of it. i would not disagree with that at all. i said to a friend of mine last night, it's clear to me that more bain, more gain for romney and his colleagues. the fact of the matter is, the economy in these local communities did in the gain from bain's involvement in their local structures . the fact of the matter is, he's point at staples and other

national groups that may be doing well today. all of that came long after he was no long we are the company. if you look at the "wall street journal" story and it's clear that what they were doing is going in and making 5 and 600% profit on companies. anybody can do that if you fire everybody and go to the bottom line. there's been no compassion in anything that mitt romney has done his entire life. i've looked for it because i was very fond of his father, george romney. back in my days when i was following closely and viewingç myself somewhat as closer to republicans than i was to democrats. i knew his father and his politics very well. if you go back and check you will see when he was running for president, he made one of his

early visits here to williamsburg county, south carolina. i watched closely what he did and was very fond of him, but, mitt romney got all that inheritance from his dad and he got no compassion. he didn't develop any in trying to get along, trying to make it in the world that most of us live in. it mak he makes it clear to remind us that he's not one of us and i don't think he can be no matter how much he tries. >> wow. thanks so much for joining us, sir. >> thank you. >> stay with us. our top line primary day edition are coming right up. >> you're mad at mitt romney. it's like mitt romney answered the republicans e-harmony ad and now you're saying it's unfair.

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twhiel republican candidates focus their toengs on new champ r hampshire and south carolina, obama is dealing with a serious event regarding iran. let's go to kristen. dennis ross who served two years on the national security council have said the iranians should ever think there's a reluctance to use force. we know they are patrolling. is there any sign from the white house that weç may be inching closer to some kind of clash in the gulf? >> reporter: i couldn't say we're inching closer to a clash. i would say tensions are

mounting. iran has threatened to close off the straits if the oil exports are blocked. just yesterday, ron sentenced an american iranian to death for being a spy. the obama administration has been quite clear that the person is not a spy, has urged iran to let that man go. obama administration officials are taking these signs from iran to mean iran is really feeling the pressure of increased sanctions. president obama just approved sanctions on iran's central bank set to go in affect over the next several weeks. we have seen iran's currency really tumble. right now nay are focused on sanctions antd putting pressure

on iran in that way. no options are off the table that i understand are watching what happens very closely. martin. >> thanks so much. coming up, rick perry may not be in new hampshire, but you can get he's in today's top lines. >> i would send troops back into iraq. >> yes! about time. let's get our tr]ops back into iraq. we've been out for almost two weeks now. plenty of time for them to get wes of mass destruction. ♪ s fish box. i opened the first sammy's back in 1966. my employees are like family. and, i want people that work for me to feel that they're sharing in my success. we purchase as much as we can on the american express open gold card. so we can accumulate as many points as possible.

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home boy. >> i like being able to fire people that provide services to me. >> is capitalism about a handful of rich people to manipulate the live offense thousands of people and walk off with the money. >> they handed out pink slips. there's people out of work because of what mitt romney and bain capital did. >> you're mad at mitt romney. it's like he answered the republicans e-harmony ad, and now you're saying it's unfair. >> it's very weak. maybe like got 37% in '92 and lost to clinton who got 24. he didn't meet expectations. >> where does ron paul stand on zombie preparedness? >> me dad said never get involved in politics. if you have to win an election

to pay mortgage. >> what a relatable story. mitt, remember only run for office when you're rich. >> we're drifting to a society where millionaires buy office and it's very dangerous. >> this is make or break moment for the middle clasç class. >> the new hampshire primary is tomorrow. if romney sees his shadow, six more weeks of campaigning. >> why is mitt romney so far ahead of you? >> he's been here for a whole lot of years. >> you're the first person who ever called mitt romney a home boy. >> the home boy with the freshly minted mba. joining me is melissa harris perry. soon to be crowned with her own show on msnbc.

from washington, jonathan capehart along with republican strategyist tray harden. good afternoon to all of you. what will mitt need out of polls today to consider new hampshire a victory? what percentage will he sneneed? >> i think he just needs to win by 10%. >> he was 41 a few days ago. >> i think the campaign writes off ron paul. they sees whatever percent as not real. i think they see that as their vote. >> jonathan, melissa says just 10% more. what do you think? >> i think he needs to do as well but definitely better than he did inç 2008, which was 32%. otherwise, it will be iowa all

over again. the same percentage he got in iowa last week is pretty much identical to the percentage he got in 2008. from the romney campaign perspective. i think they will take 32%. they will take winning by 1% over the next person to just make it through this. >> what about you, trey? >> i agree. a win is a win for any of these races. 30% is the number. he's got to stay above 30%. if he gets below 30% it's going to change the momentum of some of the candidates. probably make south carolina a little more interesting. i expect him to get above 30%. with respect to the 41%, polls always, always get -- come a little closer together. >> melissa, based on that

analysis, i'm assuming that second place becomes the critical position. we know that romney will win. who comes second and third, presumably? it's critical for their future. >> if jon huntsman comes in second, he lives another day, but only if he comes in second. if he comes in second can me make a case to the voters in florida. if he's not in second, he's done. i think santorum, the real question is, can he remain the alternative because perry, in south çcarolina, looks much mo plausible as the mor alternative. >> trey, what about that point? >> south carolina, to me, the biggest front on this war is south carolina. mitt romney is --

>> you're calling this war? >> that's what it's turned to. i don't want the add or promote or talk about or bring attention to the negative campaigning and the inner party fighting that's been going on. at the end of the day it's got to stop. it's part of the campaign and it will be in south carolina. there's been a lot of ads that have been cently purchased there. a lot of air time. i think it's only going to get worse. we have to come together and focus on what we have to do in november. >>onn john, i don't want to spa your blushes. i read your column about his lack of authenticity. how does mitt's inabilities to swallow humble pie affect him going forward? as you say, he's likely to win

in new hampshire. what will happen if he can't display a little more authenticity? >> he has this uncanny ability to get himself intoç trouble wn it comes to making himself seem like someone of humble other begins. he's the son of a wealthy businessman p a former governor, a former republican presidential candidate. as i wrote today, i know whap it means to work for a super rich person running for office. when you have a super rich person running for office, people assume that the rich person is bored and looking for gnaw toy to play with and they assume that person is completely unable to relate to the lives of every one else and particularly they will use their perch in government to hurt the poor and the disadvantaged. as we have seen after ten years

of bloom berg as mayor, that hasn't been the case. new york is running just fine, thank you very much. the problem that mitt has is he doesn't have the humble rooms of a mike bloomburg. he has no trouble telling you he is super rich and he has no trouble telling you how responsibility he is for giving back. we don't get that from mitt. >> the fact is that george w. bush was such an extraordinary campaigner because you never felt like he was some rich guy whose father had been president. it didn't feel like the bio had to be determinative if you're a great candidate in the way that george w. bush was. >> isn't that the point thatç melissa makes here that frankly, mitt romney se a very bad actor. he tries to perform. he tries to reach the people and

be this dude who has known the anxiety of a pink slip and comes out with things i like firing people. >> i knew you were going to go to mitt's donald trump moment. none of these candidates are perfect. mitt, at times, may not be on his game when he's on the stump. again, with respect to the negative campaigning and the discussion about bain, every time mitt jumps out and defends himself or takes that bait, he is taking the discussion away from what voters really want to talk about in this election, the economy and electability. that's what they want to hear. >> i guess that's the nature of campaigning. thank you so much for joining

us. >> thanks. tomorrow, mitt romney joins "morning joe" live. that's tomorrow morning right here on msnbc. despite everything, the president still has a tough hill to climb handicapping his re-election chances when we come back. ♪ can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the storybook narrator... [ man ] you're left with more electric trucks. more recycled shipping materials... and a growing number of lower emissions planes... which still makes for a pretty enchanted tale. ♪ la la la [ man ] whoops, forgot one... [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter. ♪ imagine zero pollutants in our environment.

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don't care who i am. >> he's for small businesses. no, he isn't. he's not. >> you're going to be on a lit list, you know that. >> oliver stone eat your heart out. joining us now is debbie s wasserman schultz. i have to read a quote. a predatory paper shuffler that comes from success of raiding and destroying businesses. isn't it time to disband the production department because newt gingrich has done your job. >> well, you know, message is about reputation and making sure that very busy people understand that mitt romney is a person who not only has little conviction but is willing to say or do anything to get elected. his appearance ha that he keeps

touting is not appearance that anyone should want in the white house because his job was to out source jobs, cut pension programs and devastate the lives of thousands of people. he's demonstrated he has a callous disregard for that as evidence from yesterday as he said he enzo6 firing people. >> we can take that out of context. the fact is he was referring to selecting particular insurance providers and if one didn't provide a satisfy ri service then he can fire them. >> he didn't say when i don't like any insurance company, i get rid of them. e said i enjoy firing people.

i don't care how poor your employment relationship is with someone or with an organization or a company, it's never enjoyable to fire people. that's just a pattern of mitt romney's. he said remember that corporations are people. he said that in nevada we shouldn't do anything to help people remain in the homes and let investors come in and buy out the property and resale them. this is pattern of callousness. when he was in florida, he said he was unemployed and without a job and that's why he could identify with people out of work. it's just unbelievable. >> it's not his fault. he's a millionaire. >> multiple times over. >> not only is mitt romney ahead by two points, the president is running neck and neck with ron paul. yes, ron paul.

what does it siay when republicans are fielding not one but two candidates whenç according to to a poll like this could beat the president. >> the president head to head beats any of the republican field. at the end of the day, we're 11 months from election day. when the republicans choose a no, ma'am mi it will be a stark contrast between the way president obama is taking the country and wlp it's mitt romney or any of the rest of field who have been focused on making sure people that are doing well, do better. that's a clear contrast. >> isn't it indicative of romney's staying power and perhaps his teflon nature that despite and no with standing the horrendous attacks, he's still

holding firm in the national polls and he's going to win new hampshire. that does prove he is going to be a formidable opponent if the president faces him in november. >> well, we know this is going to be a challenging election regardless of who is the republican nominee. mitt romney has a pretty high bar to get over tonight. he's running in this primary in his home state was governor of the state next door. be he doesn't at least get well north of 32%, but i think if he doesn't do better than 50% of the vote, it will be a loss for him. >> come on. 50%. let's be reasonable. >> in isç his home state. he has family home here. he was governor of the state next door. there's real clear lack of enthusiasm.

he limped into new hampshire. most the most and spent five years trying to win iowa only to beat the guy who spent the least by only eight votes. because he doesn't have any conviction, he's willing to conviction, that is the resulting support for him has really been unremarkable and unenthusiastic. if you look at the last nine days, he's dropped 8.5 points in the last nine days because as more people get to know him and what he stands for, the less they like him. >> thanks so much for joining us this afternoon. >> thank you, martin. >> coming up next, we clear the air. but first jane wells has the cnbc market wrap. >> a good day on wall street. stocks hitting a five-month high thanks to good news out of china. the dow is now up over 67 points. s&p over 10 points. the nasdaq up 24 points.

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it's time now to clear the air. and one of america's finest actresses merle streep has just delivered a performance as margaret thatcher, the daughter of a shopkeeper who grew up to be britain's first female prime minister. her performance is being mentioned as oscar worthy and is a remarkable achievement of impersonation. but the problem facing some of the republican candidates is that they are not very good actors. in fact, some of their it performances have been absolutely terrible. take newt gingrich, who spent weeks trying to play the role of a ngnmobbyist. >> i have never done any lobbying. every contract written during the period when i was out of the office said i would do no lobbying. and i offered advice. >> forget about the oscars.

newt wouldn't win a golden turkey for that performance, especially since we now know he banked millions of dollars for advising pharmaceutical companies and other health care providers. but if he is only a mediocre actor, mr. romney is catastrophic. he cannot find any authenticity whatsoever. no matter how he hard he tries. take his performance yesterday as he tried sympathize with those in new hampshire. >> there was a couple times i thought i was going to get a pink slip. >> do you believe him? no. this from a man who has been rehearsing for the role since the mid-1990s. but therein is the trouble. both gingrich and romney are trying to be what they are not.

they want to play the lead on the greatest stage in the world, but after eight months of performances, the people, well they remain unconvinced. in fact, compared to them, merle streep would probably make a more authentic president. thank you so much for watching. dylan ratigan is here and his show is up next. have a good afternoon.

a beautiful and lovely tuesday afternoon to you. i'm dylan ratigan here in new york. and today, of course, the big story is the ongoing auction of our çgovernment. we call it auction 2012. a huge show for you today. but the big story, as we are just hours now away from the results of the new hampshire primary